The Stand Up Journal comes to town...

I was surprised and stoked to get a chance to meet and surf with Stand Up Journal Associate Publisher Steve Sjuggerud. And, yes, I did get a preview peek at the forthcoming summer issue- it's a winner, you're going to like it and the photos are, once again, pretty amazing. Speaking of photos- Imperial Beach local boy, Manny Vargas scored the table of contents spread with his photo of ripper Sean Poynter. Check it out: 

Manny, stoked. You won't find a harder working surf photog. Manny's up at dawn, on the phone, on the web and on the gas pedal getting himself to the best surf, the best light... and probably the best breakfast burritos. Seriously, homey knows where to find the best food in any town on any continent. Congrats Manny!

Fact about Sjuggerud: The guy is full-on surf stoked. He may be a writer/publisher but he's undoubtedly a surfer first. I appreciate that. In fact, the first thing Steve wanted to know was if the left off the pier was working and, secondly, were we going to be able to pull off a session before I had to get back to work (I actually took a sick day- not everyday I get to find out how it's done in the big leagues). I instantly liked the guy- no surf mag cheesiness, no name dropping, no "hey bro" cool guy attitude- just a dude who can't seem to fill his personal wave quota... something I understand.

Sjugg smacks it- the big guy surfs well, handling the windblown slop and making something out of nothing.

I got a wave or two as well. It ended up being a fun little session- although I did end up freezing my ass off.

Of course we finished the day in the customary fashion...

Even better: The summer issue is a good one- but, I have to admit, I did get a double hush-hush peek at an article that will be featured in the Fall issue... that's one to look forward to. Can you say, Cloudbreak?