My son Robin had been counting down the weeks. I’m not sure how far in advance you can actually reserve a site but, it was some time back… and the week finally came. Our annual surf and camp trip.

Last year we scored a great session. There was a small swell and we got it one day with just a couple other guys. This year there was a bigger swell and we were there on the peak day. It was crowded but there as enough surf to go around.

The last day of the swell we thought we’d get up at first light and get the place to ourselves again but we slept in a little too long. There were just a couple guys in the water which was nice but the tide had dropped to much by the time we got to the beach. We surfed for awhile but had to give it up because the kelp on the dropping tide was making things do difficult. I think I lost 3 set waves because my feet got tied up in the kelp when I turned around to take off… stuck while the wave passed me by.

So that wave time continuum thing that we all have that is filled with the memories of great rides and surf sessions has a new entry for me. The peak day of the swell we got some good surf. One wave in particular for me… probably the largest wave I’ve ever ridden at that spot. The place usually closes out when the waves have faces of 8 feet or better. The one I got I thought for sure it would close out but I turned around and stroked into it… taking my chances. I think maybe the first three or four waves of the set filled in the reef with enough water so the wave held up all the way down the beach.

So that was last Wednesday and I can still see the waves of that set. I missed a couple of them. I stroked into one looked over the edge but thought I wouldn’t make the drop. Backed off, turned around to see another one coming. Stroked out side a little farther as the wall stood up in front of me, turned around and was scooped up on one of the waves of the day. And I still remember thinking after taking the drop and turning off the bottom that I’d see, just down the line, the wave pitching over and closing out. But no, it stood right up for me all the way down the beach.

I straightened out way down the beach and cruised into to sand. Walked out of the water and said to the guy standing on the sand that was watching “ I don’t think I’ll get another like that so I’ll call it quits for now”.

D.R.

Cone Head and the Barbarian after dawn patrol and breakfast.

Wetsuits drying while I work on our lantern

If you had deep pockets…

And, you wanted to move into a market it might be best to bet against the competition when the market is in a recession.

Why? Because if there are only a couple of local stores that you would be competing with they may not be able to whether the business down turn especially if competition comes into the area and takes some of the market share that has already gotten thin because of the business climate. Having deep pockets could allow you to operate at a loss until the market turns around. If the local stores can’t keep their doors open you end up with all the market in the end.

Lets take Ventura, a smaller town known for it’s surf. A local surf community and a destination spot for inland surfers. There are retail locations very close to the beach so everyone that comes into town as well as the locals can stop by the surf store and not have to go very far from the beach… in the case of Ventura only a block or two.

The big brand companies in surfing have deep pockets. Even though they have local stores that have been faithful retailers for them for years they can and do move into a market and in the case of Ventura could quite possibly squeeze enough market share so as to make the local long established stores struggle to remain open.

It seems that it’s pretty much only a numbers game to the big brands. They want to grow, open new stores based on numbers. I read a book last year about the corporate CEO and how they have changed from seeing their companies as people and families that are loyal workers and innovators that make the company what it is that not only make a profit for their share holders but gives value to the stock that the share holders have, to just a numbers game. There was a quote from a CEO of a multi billion dollar company that said ‘it was the companies moral obligation to make money for it’s share holders”.

Personally I think that’s mess up. As well, if the big brand surf companies move into areas like Ventura with little or no consideration for the local surf community other than what it will do to their own numbers... God help us.

D.R.

Surfing after a long layoff

As surfers we generally forget how physical surfing is. If you’ve been surfing regularly for a number of years or decades you are most likely in decent enough physical condition to spend a couple hours in the water and taking some lickin’s while out. You may be tired but you’ve been paddling around catching waves paddling back and forth in the lineup for an hour or two you should be a little tired.

But take some time off and away from the water then go back and just the paddle out can be tough. Real tough if there is surf and you have to paddle through a couple sets.

Paddling in can get you too, depending on where you are surfing. While on Kauai the day I went for a surf after a lay off I ended up staying out longer than I should have. Paddling back in was though. I was wondering if I’d make it back to the beach even though I was paddling in the channel. I had to paddle against the trade wind… was hard. When I made it to shore I almost had to crawl out of the water! I was so beat.

So the best way to get back into it is slowly!... wouldn’t hurt or even be best to start an exercise routine and work on getting in shape a number of weeks before getting back in the water. Or have an exercise routine going all the time so when you do go back to surfing you’ve still got some conditioning. Running, cycling or swimming for lung capacity is a good thing too.

Sometimes if you haven’t surfed for a long time you can be really desperate for a go out so you’ll go out in almost anything… not a good idea. The best time to surf after a long layoff is when the surf is not really pumping but the conditions are as close to excellent as possible.

Surfing junky conditions after a layoff will be frustrating and tiring. It’s hard to get a decent ride and most likely there will be no memorable rides. You can finish your session tired and disappointed. Usually after a layoff it takes a bit of time to get your rhythm back and junky conditions don’t help that at all.

What is best is getting in some surf that is as close to your favorite conditions as possible. You will be stoked and your chances of getting a couple good rides is better. A good memorable ride will build your excitement and help you tune in and tune up. As well, get you wanting more.

It can be difficult getting back into surfing after a long lay off. Surfing is not easy, but the feeling of stretched muscles and sun soaked skin with the vision of waves in your head left after a nice surf… is there anything better?

D.R.

Scott buries a rail on the H2 Mini

Matt buries a rail on a Retro Hull

The lost surf spot.

Ventura point used to be different. I’ve talked about the by gone days a number of times. As well talked about the point and changes here. So things are changing at my home break…. again, but this time of year always makes me think of a spot that is gone forever and has been gone for 42 years now.

There are generations of surfers that know nothing about this local surf spot. That it was the go to spot in spring and summer. That the prevailing winds didn’t hurt the surf there. In other words, when every spot around was blown out because a weather front had been passing the area for the last 24 hours this spot was clean. And the winds could even give a little bounce to the overall size of the surf.

There were left and right peeks. So both regular and goofy foot guys were stoked. Because it would only get junky on a south wind you could surf the place any time of day… or all day.

There was a little county camp ground right next to it so you could set up a tent and stay over night. Surf until dark, sit around the camp fire, sleep and hit it at dawn the next morning.

The paddle out was short and you could park you car right in front of the place to check the surf. Sit in you car and watch the guys in the water. Pick the peak you’d like to surf, suit up when you were done eating lunch or what ever and have a good ole time in the water.

The place was very easy to get to, right of the highway. Man I liked surfing there. Still can see the line up in my head… some 42 years later. Can still remember getting together with my friends after work or on days off and saying “ there ain’t no surf in town so you know where we’re going.”

I can still see those clean breaking waves in my head too.

D.R.

Tom Morey surfing those clean breaking waves of Stanley's back in the day.
Read a little more of the story here

Another year, another Mothers Day.

So here’s a post from Mothers Day… May 2009

http://drsurfboards.blogspot.com/2009/05/today-was-mothers-day.html

My cell phone… beat up and dirty with resin. My dirty phone always makes me think on my mom… Why? check the last paragraph in this post of November 2006

http://drsurfboards.blogspot.com/2006/11/my-story-post-6-thinking-back-to-my.html

Happy surfing!

D.R.

My story post 52

Spring time in my neck of the woods usually doesn’t produce much in the way of surf. But what did I know when I was 19 or 20 years old?

What I did know then was the days were getting longer and warmer and my, at the time girl friend, later to become my wife… loved hanging on the beach at Rincon while I was in the water surfing.

We get wind swells this time of year and back then I’d find myself checking the inside at Rincon for waves. Suzi loved walking around the beach there or just sitting in the sand so she’d come along for surf checks and when there were waves enough for me to ride she was happy as a clam… or happy with the clams that could be found under the rocks at low tide.

I was a pretty lucky guy having a pretty girl happy to hang on the beach while I was doing what I liked to do… surfing for hours at a time. Then getting out of the water and walking up to the tanned gal in the bikini. Both of us with smiles.

She still likes the beach but it’s too cold for her now days. But our years on Kauai we’d go down to the beach all the time. In summer I’d surf Centers and she’d sit on the lawn in front of Beach House Restaurant and do her needle point. She didn’t like to swim there because the waters edge was too rocky. If we went to Poipu she’d swim for awhile when I was surfing.

So I married the girl who liked the beach. She’s always known I would go off to surf. If she wasn’t up to coming along and hanging on the beach she was happy to see me off and when I return. Both of us have smiles.

D.R.

This past week I stumbled upon a story that doesn’t surprise me but still really turns my thoughts sidways about the surf industry and or related surf industry stuff.

Some how over time the people that surfed and lived to surf turned what they did into a lifesyle. It definatly wasn’t intentional, planned or devloped by any one person or group of individuals… It just happened. Surfers had a way to talk, certain clothes they would wear and planned what they needed to do in the way of work and responsibilties around their time to surf.

Somewhere along the surfing history time line that lifestyle became a marketalbe thing. And the companies that marketed the lifestyle were started by surfers. But something has changed, it seems that along with surfboards being mass produced over seas and marketed globally, which for the core surfer is unauthentic, we also have our lifestyle being marketed by a Company that is no where close to authentic...

I think it was a year ago when I was in the mall with my wife during the holidays I noticed a Hollister Co. store. I didn’t go in the store but wondered where it came from and what was behind it.

Below taken from a Transworld Business article from '08.

==

The concept for Hollister Co., the “surf-inspired” mall-based retail chain, was built around a fictional background story created by Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries to provide a more “authentic” atmosphere for the Hollister shopper.

The fictitious story claims J.M. Hollister founded the company in 1922 as a “Pacific merchant in SoCal.” On its Web site, the company defines itself as “Inspired by the sun-drenched spirit of California, and the surf and soul of the Pacific Ocean, Hollister is a laid-back, aspirational lifestyle destination.” In reality, it was launched in 2000 out of Columbus, Ohio by Abercrombie & Fitch, which was struggling at the time to reach a younger customer.

==

For the complete article click here .

I feel cheapened.

D.R.



I do my best to limit and manage waste. So I collect my color overages and pass them on to Donna von Hoesslin of Betty Belts and she makes jewelry with it.

I find it interesting how our brain works, or at least our memories.

I was involved in a small car accident this past Friday. What happened took place in a matter of maybe 3 seconds, probably 2 seconds but I can play those 2 or 3 seconds back in my head at will.

I got to thinking that’s the same thing that happens surfing. We pull off some maneuver or connect a number of moves on a wave that all totaled may only be 8 seconds… most rides may be shorter than that… but that one killer rider we can pull up and run it in our heads at will for a long time.

That may be how we all progress in our surfing. Reliving rides and maneuvers over and over in our heads thinking about what we did right or wrong and how we may need to make changes in timings or foot placement or, how we had the whole string of moves connected just right and let that get etched in our heads for future use.

How does that happen? Three seconds gets broken down into fractions of fractions of seconds stretching those seconds into life time memories. Strange…

Could that be the addicting part of the surfing experience? We become hooked on the intensity of thought that keeps us coming back for more? The intensity of thought along with the thrill of the ride… the sensations of motion coupled with the excitement of playing with the energy in nature?

You really can’t explain it… I know I can’t anyway.

D.R.

If you take your car to the auto body shop to have a dent or ding fixed and the fixed area color matched you most likely will not be able to see any color difference around the fixed area and the rest of your car when the work is finished and you pick up your car.

If you go to the paint store and hand over a color chip the person behind the counter will scan the color or check the color number and be able to mix a new can of paint that will be the color you’re looking for. Body shops have the same type program.

If you go order a custom surfboard and say I’d like the board color to be a medium green you most likely will not get the color you asked for. Why is that?

Well first off, what is medium green? What you see in your head as medium green most likely is not the medium green the guy that mixes colors sees in his head. And, without a color sample the person that mixes colors has no idea what you think is medium green or what ever color you ask for.

So it’s a good idea to pass along a color sample of what color you’d like your board to be with your board order so that at least the person that mixes colors can get an idea of what you’d like. But keep in mind that the lam shop that does the color work on your board, whether the plan is for a spray color or color lamination, does not have an expensive computer color matching program to get exact color matches.

In fact the only program the lam shop has is a bunch of different water base colors for spray jobs or a bunch of different pigment colors for color lams. And the way colors get mixed is by hand, trial and error, until the color that gets mixed is close to the color being asked for. Sometimes they come out real close to the exact color and sometimes they don’t. It all depends on the color. Some colors are good right out of the pigment jar. Some colors need to be mixed with a touch of three or four different colors and getting the right blend is almost impossible. And to think that the person mixing the color is not paid by the hour but takes extra time to work up a color match?

Keep in mind that if you email a color sample the color you see on your computer screen may not be the color the gets printed on the other end for a color sample hard copy. Colors do get lost in translation… in more ways than one.

D.R.

My story post 51

Sometimes you just happen on to surf. This particular time it happened a couple days in a row and it was great while it lasted…

Before going into the shop to work, I think I’ve said this before, Mike, Richie and I would go look for waves. It was summer so there wasn’t much usually. But this particular day there were some head high peaks running along the stretch of beach between Hobson’s and the back side of Pitas Point. I don’t know if there is a formal name for the spot, but I remember Mike calling it Froggy’s.

Usually that stretch of beach is pretty walled off and most of the waves coming through were, but at the end there on the back side of Pitas the waves were well formed peaks. Thinking back I’d guess there was a decent south swell that got crossed by a west wind swell that made the waves so nice. Funny, I’ve never seen the place break like that again.


Anyway, as we were driving down PCH watching these waves we stopped at the last spot you could park before the road side railings that follow the curve at the top of Pitas Point. It was sunny, warm and light variable winds. Not another surfer or surfboard in site. Just us three guys looking at some really inviting surf. And we were on it. I remember get really tired after catching so many waves I went in and sat on the beach watching Mike and Richie. Then paddling back out for more. Then because I had rested I ended up in the water by myself because Mike and Richie whore themselves out.

So much fun, wave after wave with just us guys and no one else in site. We had to have surfed a good 2 hours before the tide and wind got to it. The next day we went and checked it again. It was still going off so we hit it again. Repeating what we did the day before, surfing until we could surf no more.

After that we’d drive by almost every day for a surf check but never could catch it. We’d end up going as far down PCH as Over Head before giving up, turning around and heading up to Santa Barbara to work. Sometimes we’d get a few at Over Head but we never did get Froggy’s again.

D.R.

From my point of view..

Having to choose between a good shape or a good glass job is really no choice at all. Of course it’s easy for me to say, because I make my own boards and don’t have to choose. I’ll make myself a good surfboard from start to finish.

But I also think no one should have to choose one or the other either. But, if you’re not a board builder then maybe you have to choose even if you shouldn’t have to.

The dilemma is cost, and, surfboards are no different from other things that are hand made… you get what you pay for. If you want a board that is laminated well and has a well thought out and tested design it may cost more than what you think you should pay.

There are US made short boards that cost $600 or more. There are US made long boards that cost $1400 or more. They are well designed and well built boards.

I know how much time and effort it takes to make a good surfboard. I also know how much they should cost… especially if the craftsman needs to make enough money to live on.

A good board craftsman knows you shouldn’t have to make a decision on whether you’d like a good shape or a good glass job. Because he will make sure you get both.

D.R.

What’s more important, a good board shape or a good glass job?

What if you have your most favorite surfboard of all time but it has been laminated poorly? What happens usually is the board just doesn’t hold up very long. Dents and dings easy and generally needs fixing in short order. Patched dings put weight on the board that you don’t want… usually… and over a little bit of time the board almost becomes a throw away.

What if you have a board that the shape is not that great but the board has a primo lam job. The board will hold up better and if you decide you just can’t handle the shape you can unload the board without to much difficulty because it’s in good condition. Besides, you may not like the shape or maybe the shape is bad, but, someone else may think the board shape is nice and like the ride a lot… funny how that is sometimes.

I do know one thing, it’s really disappointing to have a board that you aren’t happy with for one reason or another… shape job or lamination. If you think a board is not shaped to your liking then it most likely won’t surf to your liking either. Surfing is mostly mental so if you think something is wrong then something is wrong until you convince yourself other wise.

Now if you have a board that’s laminated poorly you don’t have to convince yourself, it’s a fact plainly seen, by you and everybody else that sees the board. You may really like the ride but you’ll be disappointed with the lam quality and sooner than later you’ll be “over it”.

I’ve heard guys say that surfboards a disposable. If you don’t take care of them then I guess that may be true. But it’s not suppose to be that way. A board that you like, that is laminated well and is well cared for should last quite a long time, depending on how you surf it at any rate.

Of course if you don’t go the traditional route and get a molded board what happens? You”ll buy a model that is tried and proven, you may not like the ride anyway, but it is tried and proven and you can sell it off to someone else if you don’t like the board. If you like the ride then you’re good to go. Take care of the board and it will hold up for you for what? Years?

What if you had to choose between a good shape or a good lamination? What would you choose?

D.R.

Surfing and injuries.

Lets just say if you have injuries for what ever reason it’s no fun. And of course injuries can keep you out of the water… no surfing when you hurt. That’s double no fun, or that just plain sucks.

Since my thirties I’ve had a few physical problems from time to time that have kept me from surfing. Like when I broke my heal. I’ve also suffered from swimmers shoulder, though in my case it’s surfers shoulder.

The shoulder thing would flare up every now and then and it has again. Though this time not from surfing I went on the injured list just from over work or sleeping wrong or what? I don’t know.

Last winter season we had some really good surf and I missed much of it from January and February because I got a really lousy cold. Now my shoulder went out last week and there has been some really nice surf, as well, the forecast is calling for a string of new swells this coming couple weeks… dang!

At least I seem to be on the mend but, I’ve got to go real slow and let the shoulder heal well before I can put any stress on it. Other wise I go down again and have to start all over with the recovery process.

There is not much worse than an inflamed shoulder. You can’t move without feeling the thing. It screams with every heart beat. The slightest move and.. OUCH! If the prettiest girl in the world came and gave your shoulder the softest little kiss you’d knock her on her butt with your good arm. And all you can think about is, “I hope this dang thing gets better so I can surf… I hope I can surf again”

Actually thinking about surfing may help you get better. I have a friend Kevin, that years ago hurt his leg. The doctors said he may never surf again, that he was going to lose movement in his foot because of the nature of his wound. I remember him saying he’d lay in his bed and look at his feet and try to get his foot to move, because he couldn’t move his foot, and he’d keep trying and trying. He kept telling himself to move his foot. Over time and continually doing this mental to physical exercise he said he started to see the tiniest movement. That gave him hope so he’d stayed at it until he could do what the doctors said he would not be able to.

He couldn’t stand the idea of not being able to surf again so he made himself do the impossible. He got better and went surfing. And, is still surfing some thirty years later.

So I’m getting better, hopefully I’ll be surfing again in a couple weeks.

I was sent a few pictures today from Fabio, he bought himself a new Tip Tool. It made my day!

D.R.

The ability of the human senses in crafting and making things is truly amazing. We don’t think about this much or take much more than a casual look but, what we are capable of making with our hands is pretty incredible.

I got to talking with Sammy the foreman at the FCD lam shop one day this past week about this very thing. Sammy had been setting fins and was showing me his system for getting the fins set right when I sited one of the boards and mentioned that the trailing fin looked off a touch.

We got to talking about how tricky getting fins set right can be when you’ve got to deal with the minor variations that can show up in the production process. For fins it can be a stringer that isn’t quite in the center of the board or is curved a little in stead of dead straight.

Then we got to talking about machined blanks and how they can be off, like one rail being thicker than the other or the outline not centered. We both agreed that it is easier to shape a board from scratch than to make certain corrections that may be needed on a machined blank. I probably shouldn’t but, I do get a bit frustrated when I have to do fixes on machined blanks… Why should I have to fix something a robot did?

Surfboards don’t have to be perfect. You know that as soon as you ride a board a few times the decks may have dents in them and if one side is not exactly the same as the other it may not matter. After all, you only have one rail in the water, or one side of your board is engaged at a time for the most part. And, asymmetrical designs are valid. That said, a good craftsmen can tell when something is off, and we do our best to be accurate… at least I do and others I know.

Reality is with repetition, looking at things over and over and handling things over and over again, you get to the point that you can see and feel the most minute details… in my and Sammy’s case… it’s surfboards. And it really is amazing that we can take a planer and some sand paper, cut and carve a piece of foam, shaping a surfboard and then get another piece of foam and do the same thing and have both shaped blanks be so amazingly close in size, shape and detail that it’s next to impossible to tell if they even are different in some area, like one rail being thicker than the other of shaped ever so slightly different.

So if a machined blank is pretty darn good and the same size and shape board is hand shaped, like a certain model, one machine cut and one hand cut, what’s the difference? Only a human has emotion. Some how that gets transferred into what we make.

D.R.

My story post 50

Moving is not easy… it can completely turn your life upside down. Moving right before the holidays may not be that smart either… but we didn’t have much of a choice, things just turned out that way.

So now I live farther away from the ocean than I’ve lived for some 43 years. But the nice thing is I’m still about 10 minutes from the beach…. The point no less. How could you complain? I can’t see the ocean from my bedroom window anymore but what I do see is oak trees, sycamore trees, peace and quite.

A new routine is getting set up. Gotta have my gear with me when I head into the shop. You know, just in case I need to surf. Gotta be set up with a couple boards when I head out from the house so I’ve got what I need for what ever the situation calls for surf wise.
Gotta be prepared. This is going to be a good thing.

D.R.

The old view

The new view

The pool view

My story post 49

What’s happening with my life?…. The house my wife and I and family have lived in since 1974, except the 9 years we were in Hawaii, will soon no long be our home. We are moving just out side of town to the place we plan to make our family compound.

So, I will be off line for the time being and will talk story after we get set up in our new place.

Until then, happy surfing!

D.R.

My story post 48, surfer attire.

Huarache sandals, you got them in Mexico. White Levi’s, not the white like painters pants. The surfer wore more of an off white Levi’s jeans. Then after awhile there was the light blue Levi’s, not the regular Levi’s jeans color after they’ve been washed a hundred times, but a light blue color.

Converse tennis shoes were good, or Purcell’s. Both were the low cut type not high tops. You were good to go in deck shoes as well. To stay warm you had to have a Pea coat. That double buttoned heavy navy coat.

Plain white t-shirts with a pocket or maybe a white t-shirt that had a surfboard label on it. And over the t-shirt it was the Pendleton.

Honestly I don’t think I needed a surfboard but if I wore the right clothes I was a surfer. Actually I don’t think I had a surfboard when I first started wearing the attire. I was learning how to surf so… I wasn’t to much of a gremmie.... nah, I was the typical adolescent that wanted to be identified as a surfer.

The Pendleton was the shirt though. Not cheap either, so you had to really bug your parents for one or work hard and save some cash to get one. They were only available at certain stores too, so they weren’t to easy to come by. I still like those shirts… believe it or not I’ve got 11 of them. I’d have more but stopped wearing the plaid ones… at least for the past few years. I like the solid color ones, I’ve got two of them. It’s hard to catch my size on sale in the solid colors though.

Did you know that there was a band named The Pendletones? Yeah, they started as The Pendletones before they changed their name to the Beach Boys. That’s probably why they where wearing Pendleton’s when pictured on their first records. With white or light blue Levi’s and a white t-shirt. Don’t know if any of them were surfers, but they knew how to dress like one.

D.R.

Surfing with friends always makes surfing better…. Though there may be a limit to how many friends you may want in the water at any given time.

Friday I took off work at mid day. The first sun we’d had in almost two weeks showed itself late morning. I knew there was a little surf so I took off, got my tip tool (the waves were small) and spent almost 3 hours having some fun and spending some tip time.

After an hour or more my friend Donna came paddling out, said hello and introduce me to her friend Rob. The three of us were enjoying the sun and small surf with a small group of other surfers doing the same. Rob would be all smiles as Donna or I came riding a wave down the point while he was paddling back to the line up after a ride.

Rob asked me if I found a new friend when a person dropped in on me at the inside section. Then wondered if I’d just found a new best friend after seeing me hanging on the tip for a couple seconds then franticly back peddling and straightening out, though not fast enough, to avoid banging rails with the guy that blindly dropped in on me as I came flying along. After all, what are friends for?

This morning I went for a bike ride up the beach. I thought it was such a nice sunny morning, besides I wanted to check out how the demolition project was going in the Fair Grounds parking lot. So why not jump on a bike, get some exercise and see what’s up?

I peddled up the promenade through the 2 dollar lot, around the construction work via a detour lane and stopped at the Ventura River. I hung at the river for several minutes watching about 8 or 10 surfers play with the inconsistent but nice clean peaks along that stretch of beach from the back side of pipe maybe a hundred yards up to hobo jungle. I wouldn’t have minded at all to be one of those 8 or 10 surfers.

After day dreaming for awhile about days long past and un-crowded waves I headed back. Down past the 2 dollar lot I decided to see what the surf looked like on the back side of the point and up to pipe.

What’s left of the 2 dollar lot was full. There was a contest at pipe so that added to the amount of vehicles and bodies that wanted to use the short couple hundred yards of beach. And, the number of people in the water, hoping for a chance to catch one of the few waves that came through every 4 or 5 minutes? I tried counting, but stopped at 40.

That’s a lot of friends… I began wondering how many of them actually got out of the water after an hour and got a chance wave? The words survival of the fittest came to mind.

How curious later at home, what my wife called me in from the front yard to show me through the kitchen window. A hawk on the back neighbors garage roof eating what I think may have been a squirrel. Talk about survival of the fittest.

D.R.

Being motivated to surf, sometimes you don’t have it, sometimes you do.

What I remember of my younger years was that I was almost always motivated to surf. So why is it now that a lot of times I go to the beach when the surf is not great but surf able and I’m not that interested in going out?

When I was younger if there was anything in the water that would propel my surfboard I was on it. And in Hawaii, unless the winds were not favorable, which was seldom, or it was over my size limit, which could happen, I’d go surf. On the main land, I look and start thinking… nah, it’s not consistent enough, it’s small, it’s to cold, the wind is picking up so it will blow out by the time I reach the lineup, it’s a waste of time right now, I’ll come back later… but don’t, etc, etc.

Having a surf buddy helps with this type of problem. You get to the beach see something you could surf and say “what do you think?” Your buddy says “we’re here.” You say “yeah.” He says “we came to surf so.” You say “ok, let’s go out then.” Done deal.

After you surf you can make the assessment.. you say “ I saw you got a couple good ones”. He says “yeah, it was fun… you got some too”. You say “yeah, I’m hungry lets go get something to eat”.

When you’re alone you can’t do that. Well, you can talk to yourself, and end up either talking yourself into going out or not going out. But after a go out? Was it worth it or not. It’s almost always debatable, unless the surf was really good and you had a really good session.

So what happened yesterday? I went for a surf check, the conditions were really nice and I saw a couple good sets. Went home and got my stubbie…I’m so addicted to that board right now… but the surf just didn’t have the juice. I should have gone down with a tanker. I got a few nice ones but wished I had a tanker. My thinking stole the fun.

With a surf buddy, we would have debated first about what board would be best. He’d say “what board you gonna take?” You’d say “The stubbie.” He’d say “again? You always ride that board and then complain you should’ve taken a long board. I’m taking my long board, It’s not consistent enough for something short.” You say “yeah, I’ll take my quad long board then.” You both catch lots of waves and have fun…. Get out of the water, talk about your rides as you towel off and get in dry cloths. Then go get something to eat!

D.R.

These three guys have been surf buddies for over 40 years

The changing face of a beach area.

The beach access area in Ventura town is going through another change. If anyone has come into town this past week and gone into the Fair Grounds area you’d have seen the construction is starting… actually the demolition is what’s happening, construction comes later.

The 2 dollar fair grounds parking area and up to pipe is being rearranged. If I understand correctly the parking area is being relocated back to the street that currently runs between the parking area and the fair grounds. The current parking area will be removed and combed over with a more natural cobble and sand approach to the waters edge.

Sounds all reasonable.. we’ll see how it plays out with what the ocean wants to do over time.

There is another part to the changes which will take place below Figueroa st. along the promenade. If I understand this will change beach access by removing the inside point stairs and relocating them a couple hundred feet toward the pier from where they are now. As well, more large rocks will be added to the revetment in front of the promenade a couple hundred feet above the existing inside point beach access stairs.

The problem with the promenade is that the ocean wants the area where new rocks are going to be set. The ocean wants to remove the inside stairs… the ocean wants it’s space back… and then some maybe. But, a certain group of people wanted to take that space away from the ocean and they don’t want to ever give it back. In order to protect what the group of people did they must add to what they did so as to stop the ocean from doing what it wants to do. Lofty plans that over time have consequences.

Consequences from the first set of rocks for the revetment changed the way surf breaks along the point and, maybe more importantly, how sand is distributed below that particular stretch of coast line.

I remember how the surf at the point was before the current revetment…. It was better. I don’t think adding to the revetment will make it better than it is now, it will probably be a change for the worse… or is it another change for the worse?

D.R.

A flat seven foot high tide winter morning after some rain at the top of the point before the group of people started doing what they’ve done to the area.