A good run, but nice to be home.

Had a great trip up the coast. Shacked up at a cool little hotel with a bunch of crazy Canadians- these guys would go to town on the complimentary wine that the place served up each night. They must've gone through eight or nine bottles, just killing it. But it was fun- must be a cold winter back in Calgary.

There were a couple of swells in the water but the direction wasn't just right for the area's window. Still, a little hunting around payed off- we scored some fun, uncrowded surf at some really beautiful spots. A good friend also came up and we managed to get in a couple of cruises up the coast. Funny how twenty minutes of paddling will still buy you waves all by yourself.



Nice to roll back into town and find that those two swells that were missing up north were pretty much lighting up the beach break in town and that the water's warm enough to trunk it. Lifeguard Hans and I surfed the north side this morning after peak high tide- fast lefts but good fun if you've got quick feet. I'm really digging my board more and more- turns well, goes fast and wraps sweet cutbacks, it'll even go up into the lip if you've got the legs to get it up there.

Big Catalina race coming up for those brave enough to go for it. Start carbo loading now!

Mobile Surf Blog

Greetings from the road. I've got to pull my head out of the sand- there's a lot of cool tech stuff that's evidently happened without me knowing much about it. Some of you are going to laugh at me but check this out: Here I am on the road, sitting at a "hotspot", linked up to the 'net, logged into my blogger account getting myself ready to tell you about my surfing day. And, oh yeah, I'm sipping one of those giant blended coffee drinks that's really just a caffeine milkshake. Now that's progress!

Notes from the road: Had a fun morning of surfing with Tim Stamps. Funny, how I can remember to bring three paddles, two stand up boards, three wetsuits, five leashes and my toothbrush but I can remember to toss in my camera's upload cable. If I had remembered to bring that little piece of wire you'd be looking at what I surfed this morning instead of just forming a picture of it in your mind's eye. (Don't worry I'll post some photos once I'm back home.)

Let's just say it's a relatively new spot. I won't name it out of respect for the small handful of guys who've got it dialed (including the guy on the yellow fish who was ripping it) but I will say that sometimes a man-made bump in an otherwise stretch of straight beachbreak can produce little magic peaks. I'll call it Nooks and Grannies. Heres why: there's a couple of little, hidden, tucked in peaks (the nooks) and there's a couple of SUPerfect outside sandbars (the grannies). The trick at this spot is to link the Grannies into the Nooks.

Imagine taking off going left on an outside wedge, you cutback a couple of times all the while looking over your shoulder at the oncoming right hander. Time it just right and whack! You can bounce off the oncoming right and ride it all the way to the inside. Like surfing a curving bobsled course with a couple of lip whacks and a cutback or two thrown in for kicks. Good fun, but in all honesty, not an easy place to do stand up. There's a lot of refractory wave action, a big rip creating a weird, semi-standing wave and shifting peaks- the good SUP guys (T. Stamps included) make it look easy, effortlessly finding themselves in the right place at the right time.

I had a rougher time. And this is funny because coming from my home beach, which is not an easy place to do stand up, I thought I'd developed some pretty strong stand up skills. Wrong. One hour of paddle surfing at Nooks and Grannies just about did me in; I was beat! It remains a universal truth that in the world of SUP, just when you think you've got it down, you find out how much more you have to learn. A humbling, but fun day.

More paddling tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.

Blogs, Boards and Babes: Well, more or less

Popped into the Stamps Boardworks about a week ago to check out a couple of new stand ups Tim's got in the works, here's what I saw: A solid wood plank being carved a pass at a time with a Skill 100 planer. Now that's cool stuff! Wall hanger or not that thing's going to look cool when it's done.

Here's a couple of blogs I think are worth supporting. I support blogs with original content, people with their own creativity. My picks:

Jim Brewer up in Santa Barbara is just hatching his blog which chronicles the stand up community on that beautiful stretch of coastline. His photos are great- check out the one with the sheet glass wave- it's
driving me nuts!

Definitely check out Dwight and Jacky's NC Paddle Surf Blog, another excellent source of original content in the paddlesurf blogisphere.

A must check is the original, the first and still the most informative and eclectic: Billb's Pono House blog. The guy's funny, informed and fired up to provide useful paddlesurf information.

Middle Photo: So you think you're a shaper? Then you'd know your way around these: A couple of Skill 100s, some planes and a hand saw; tools of the trade reserved for those who've paid their dues.

Giapetto Report: Got this photo (last photo) from our intrepid NorCal boardmaker late last night. The guy's focused like a GBU Bunker Buster- laser guided none-the-less. Here's a rough fit, preliminary look at the internals of the board. Now squint your eyes, take a pull off that Bloody Mary and imagine it planked up. It's starting to look like a board. Keep us posted Giapetto!