Shoulder recovery

After much and much consideration, I've decided to take a break from surfing until my injured shoulder is fully healed and strong enough to endure surfing. I've lived with this on again, off again shoulder impingement for too long and I've finally accepted that if I don't do something about this now, it will most likely end in surgery.  The last surf session ended with a really sore shoulder and it hasn't been the same since. I'm headed toward the end of my 6 week ortho rotation for physical therapy and have been treating people with rotator cuff tears, post surgeries, etc. I can no longer ignore my own problems, especially since my shoulder not only effects surfing, but my own career! You know what they say, Practice what you preach!

My clinical instructor and I have formed a treatment plan and I've been my own patient these last few weeks. It's slow going, hopefully things will improve soon. This decision was the hardest ever, but I will not be a stranger to the beach or to the DRC. I plan to be the unofficial photographer (Klaude's dad is the official one), jog on the beach, and be the #1 spectator.   

Thankful for one wave: Thu 11/24/11

I woke up this morning excited to start this 4 day weekend and Thanksgiving day at the beach. I got to 26th a little late, and knew I would probably be running into my friends as they were leaving. The swell was firing this morning, with big dumpy sets coming in. I had some major doubts looking out at today's waves, and fear was upon me. I actually found street parking this time, so I took my time stretching on the sand, waiting for an opportune time to paddle out. As the waves died down, I decided to paddle for it. I didn't get very far though, the waves started up again, and I kept getting pushed back to shore. I decided to just get out and try again when there was a longer lull. As I was getting out, I spotted Klaude! He was on his way out, he had already been in for 2 hours. He said he got separated from everyone pretty early on, so he wasn't sure if they were still out. He said the waves were tough and closed out and he didn't have a very successful time getting any substantial rides. After he left, I waited a little longer and decided to try again. This time I followed a few other surfers who seemed to know what they were doing as they were paddling out. We were in a good spot, because this time I got out fairly easily. My heart was still pounding though, and I was paddling like my life depended on it, not wanting to be caught in another set.

So I immediately decide to just start paddling north, to get warmed up and to also see if i would run into anyone. I ran into Miles. He's a really good long boarder who's an older gentleman that's always wearing sunglasses. Klaude said he lost an eye while surfing and I've always wanted to ask him about it, but I'm too scared/shy to.  He was catching a bunch, even with these big close outs, he seemed to stay on the face just enough to get a nice ride. I stayed around with him and this was when I caught my one and only wave. It was a nice medium sized one, I paddled into it easily and glided for a few glorious seconds. It was an actual corner, but I managed to get off pretty quickly, because I wanted a short paddle back to the line up. It was a nice wave, nothing spectacular. It was early on in my session, fear and fatigue hadn't settled in yet. Since then I kept trying to paddle for waves but they just weren't breaking right. I decided to paddle further south, and that was when I eventually saw Christina and Apolla. They had just gotten in again by 26th, after drifting down toward the pier. It was really nice seeing them! We continued to paddle for waves. I attempted a lot, Christina got a few, and Apolla was going for the big ones! She's fearless. After about a half an hour, I had gotten thrashed around enough, and decided to call it a day. I had some Thanksgiving linner calling my name, and I had to get home to help! It was a quick sesh and frustrating session, but I never regret coming out. 

Cold wind in the FACE! Sunday 11/20/11

I've been on a roll lately. This is my second, 2 day in a row, weekend surf sesh, this month! Maybe it's my lack of weekend plans, or shear willpower from missing so many weekends previously, but I was pumped to surf this morning. Even despite the gloomy weather, the pending rain, and my warm cozy bed.

I was at 26th at around 8, and the water was much more calm than yesterday, and the waves a lot smaller. As I was getting ready, Francis walked by who had parked up the hill to score free parking. I knew Christina and Klaude were already out there, so I hurried up to get in the water so I could actually hang out with them this time. The water actually didn't feel much colder than yesterday, it was just the lack of sun and the freezing cold off-shore wind, that made it cold.

Today was definitely a long board day, the waves were slow rolling and there were a good amount of shoulders to get on to in between a lot of close outs. Christina was catching a bunch of waves, some early, some late, and always going to shore. Apolla was doing super well for starting so recently, she caught a few too on her 7'6" fun short board. I've gotta remember to ask if I can try riding it someday...I think I want to purchase a good in betweener board like that. Klaude and Francis were staying more in the inside catching short rides and competing with all the long boarders dominating the line up. I caught a nice bunch, a few standouts on the face of a few waves. Today's waves were nice and gentle, a nice transition from yesterday's washing machine. Christina and Apolla left at around 9, they had a yoga class to get to at 10:30. Props to them  for cross-training, in the same day! I'm spent after surfing usually.

While sitting out in the ocean, all around us the clouds were dark and you could tell it was raining in the distance. About an hour in or so it started to sprinkle, and when I got out to my car another 45mins later, it started to rain harder, and harder, and harder. It was a trip trying to get out of my wetsuit, scramble to put my board on my car, and try to not get my stuff too wet in my trunk. I ended up changing in my car with the engine running and heat blasting. It's always a treat to end at around 10, and listen to cartalk on NPR on the ride home. All in all, a good mellow surf sesh, however cold, to end the weekend. 

Saturday 11/19/11

Surfline reported this weekend to be at 1-2 ft, so I expected pretty flat conditions. I got to a late start (no big surprise there) plus I spent some time trying to take off my broken fin from last week, which didn't budge. So I just left it on, and filed down the tip so it wouldn't gouge someone's eye out.

I arrived at around 9, and from the parking lot I could see shoulders peeling everywhere. It looked niicceee and the sun was out shining bright. There were tons of parking spaces too, which confused me because of the good conditions. However it was late, so I assumed people had just left from their morning sesh. I smeared on some of my warrior paint, my blue zinc stuff, on my nose and cheeks, and was off. 

I paddled out and saw Shan, Shan the man, Shannie-Shan, right away. I've seen him sporadically lately, he's usually hovering in the outskirts of the pack or getting to the beach wayyy late when everyone is leaving. So we catch up a bit and he said he was leaving for Hawaii the next day, lucky duck. The waves were coming in super consistent. Klaude came by and said the waves were just getting better and I came at the right time. Score! It was pretty crowded, and guys were going for every wave, there were enough for everyone! Roy was having a field day, and was practicing his kick back maneuver. Man he's good.  He said, "Man, I know I should go, but I can't! The ocean won't let me!" 

I caught just a couple that day, the waves were fast and it was tough finding a good shoulder without someone else going for the same wave.  Christina and Apolla were out this morning too, but I found out they were just coming in when I was coming out, so I had just missed them. :( 

Klaude stayed out for a good while longer but went in maybe a half hour before I went in. The waves were definitely gradually getting bigger, with sneaker sets coming in and washing everyone back to shore. I was stuck a bunch of times in the inside, fighting the strong current and the walls of endless white water. I was getting tired toward the end of the sesh, my arms were spent and the water was getting choppy, so I took a last one in with Bruce and the other older woman who's on the foamie and is always wearing a hat. Bruce was super nice and helped unstick the broken fin for me. He tapped it a few times with a wrench and that unstuck it. He said that the salt water can get in the fin box and cause it to stick sometimes. 

The good and the bad: Sunday morn 11/13/11

This morning began with a late start but well worth it because my mermer, Silverton, came along with me! It's a warm and sunny morning, no more grey clouds or rain! woo! As we walked to tower 26 we see Mr. Kimura out with his camera again. Silverton takes off on his jog, barefooted, down the beach while I hop into the water. It's super calm this morning, with beautiful consistent 3-4 footers coming in. I find the gang easily, seeing  Christina with her Warrior I stance and KK riding the same wave. I say hi to them, Fransauce and later the regulars, Roy, Don, and Bruce. Everyone looks cheery from a morning full of fun waves. Dais and Khang come about 30 mins later, and it's the whole gang together again, minus Matt who's on a mini vacay to SF and his journey to see Cosmic John.

Overall we had a great time. I was catching some really nice rides, with a few big drops. Mr. Kimura got one of them on film, can't wait to see it! Christina started the seaweed war, and KK gave a fashion show with his seaweed hair extensions. However, it turned into a day of accidents, and not so great ones. Ever since riding my long board more regularly, I've had difficulty keeping the board with me when ducking under waves. It's gotten me into trouble in the past, with my board onetime hitting Khang in the back. Sorry Khang :( So today, as I was trying to turtle roll under a wave, I lost my grip and the board got caught in the wave. When I came up for air, I found my board was tangled in someone else's leash and this guy was in obvious pain. I'm like CRAP, this is not good. He said he hit is knee, and I looked at my board and one of the fins broke off into a sharp little point! Some how in the wave tumble, My board's fin and this guy's knee hit, and the fin broke clear off. Miraculously, the fin box was still in tack though. I apologized profusely and he said he was okay, but he was obviously hurt and he paddled away. Hopefully the wetsuit padded him enough so that he'll just have a big nasty bruise. Klaude happened to be right there and he said he had an extra fin I could replace it with. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to unstick the fin, probably due to how small it was, so I ended up surfing on the gimp fin for the next hour. It actually didn't feel much different while riding it.

The rest of the hour the waves kept on coming! The conditions stayed the same and I wish I could have stayed out forever. There were a few big sets that I got caught in though, and I was trying my best to keep my board with me, but a few times I just couldn't keep a hold of it. So the second of the accidents was less catastrophic. I was trying to get my last wave in, so I was going for anything. Bad idea. I took this wave, dropped in front of a guy I didn't see and heard the dreadful sound of board on board. We checked our boards, I didn't see any damage and I don't think the other guy had any too. WHEW. I was out of there after that, not wanting to spread any more bad luck.  I guess it was just one of those days.

Silv and I were starving so we headed to Rutt's and shared a King sized Royale, an omelet scramble a top a bed of rice. Nomnomnomnom. Later on though, I started feeling this sharp pain in my left hip. My hip has been causing me some grief lately and I'm pretty sure it's due to the multiple pulls of my leash on my left ankle. So now it hurts when I put weight on my L leg, and now I'm limping around and using a crutch to not aggravate it some more. Sooo yet another reason I really need to start getting better with my turtle rolling. :-/ Or go back to my smaller board, hehe. 

Enjoying the show: Sat morn, 11/12/11

Talk about a great weekend of surf.

In spite of the on and off showers this weekend, I was motivated to get in the water because of my non intentional hiatus from surfing this last 4 weeks. A pretty nice swell came in with the storm this weekend, with 3-5 foot hallow waves Saturday. The off shore winds were so strong that they created so much spray it blinded me with every attempt to get a wave.

photos courtesy of Christina

Saturday was pretty gloomy, it was cloudy and cold, but luckily no rain was falling that morning. I got to 26th at around 8:00, greeting KK and his dad in the parking lot. Christina had already been in the water for 30 min, and was out feeding money into the meters. She exclaimed she was out of breath after the first 10 minutes fighting to get into the line up. The waves were pretty big and with a lot of power. We chatted with Bruce for a little while and saw perfect a-frame waves forming and a guy get partially barreled. Amazing.

Christina and I were on the sand stretching and contemplating about today's wave size. I was hesitant of getting to the line up because I was on my long board and i'm not very good at turtle rolling or getting over  large waves. Klaude's friend Tom had just got of the water and said he lost both his contacts from a few wipeouts. Crap, these waves are so powerful they knock the contacts right off of you! We psyched each other up and as Mr. Kimura was setting up his tripod, he asks if we have life insurance. Great.

The water was freezing, probablu a good 5 degrees lower than when I had last surfed. Christina made it out to the line up pretty quickly and I was right behind her. However, I got caught in the impact zone and was stuck there for a good 10 mins. I gave up after awhile and tried to catch the inside waves with no avail. Finally there was a lull and I made it out. There were less people where I had drifted down to, and the waves were slightly smaller. But after another 15 mins of not catching anything and with mostly close-outs, I decided to join the pack where Christina and Klaude were, despite the much bigger waves. It was pretty crowded, and some guys were getting some long rides, hacking off the top, and making it to shore. Khang and Dais showed up, and out of all of us Khang had the most success that morning. He caught some head high waves and Klaude's dad got some good photos of him that I have yet to see. Big Wave/One Wave/Deathwish Dave made it out too! He was on his long board and we hung out mostly in the outside, avoiding the sneaker sets. However, he lived up to his name, paddling for the biggest outside waves, making spectacular wipe outs, crashing into people, and partially getting up on one wave. Go Dave!

I ended the day with zero rides, only multiple attempts and wipeouts, enjoying the surf show and the company. Don't worry though, I made up my lack of waves the next day with an awesome morning of pristine surf conditions.

surf sesh 10/8 and 10/9

FINALLY. A great surf session yesterday, it's been so long! Yesterday proved that long boarding is for me.

"Pinky," my mini fish board, resurfaced Saturday. It was such a huge jump from my 8'6" that I wasn't able to catch any waves. Super frustrating, but I also got there late and the waves seemed to turn off right after I got there. I was paddling super hard but it felt like I was going nowhere.

So after a disappointing Saturday things definitely turned around the next day. I got to bed early Sat night so I could catch the dawn patrol line up. I woke up with relative ease, and made it in the water by 8. I took out the trusty old long board again and there were beautiful peaks breaking everywhere. I spotted Christina first and paddled toward her. Her friend Apola, from yoga, was out this time, and I got to finally meet her. Yay for more surf chicas! Hopefully surfing is her thing and she'll be another member of the DRC.  I later found Klaude with Roy and Bruce, the old regulars at 26th. While with them, I caught some of the nicest and longest rights and lefts. They helped call me on to waves and man, I had such a great time. I am getting the hang of controlling the board while on the wave, slowing down, speeding up, staying on the face. What an awesome feeling. Roy called out this big wave for me to start paddling for so I said, F it, I'll go for it. Well, who do I see, but Klaude also going for it, right beside me. I tried to avoid him by paddling more straight but this messed everything up. I nose dived, and I was flung forward over my board. Klaude also ate it, and we were in a white wash tumble. Everything was fine, just that initial shock of going through a bad wipeout. That's what's great about surfing with friends, when one snakes another, you just snake them right back. You both brush it off in the end and it all works out. :)  So what a BIG difference from Saturday to Sunday, I'm so glad I made it out again. What a beautiful weekend.

Full moon surf w/ bio glow

WHOA MAN! WHAT A NIGHT!

     A last minute decision led to meeting Christina and the Santa Monica Surfers at Bay St at 9PM, Wednesday night for a full moon surf.  Christina called me at 8 saying the water was glowing a bright turquoise from the red tide. I've seen this phenomenon only once before, while at a bonfire at Dockweiler Beach. The thought of actually being in that glowing water excited me to the nth degree. I dropped my plans of watching America's Next Top Model, got out of the house in 10 mins, and dropped by CVS and bought a couple glow sticks and bracelets. I high tailed it to Santa Monica and the parking was surprisingly packed by the beach. I eventually found a spot a little far in and it was a bit spooky changing in my wetsuit right off main st in the middle of the night. I kept expecting a homeless man to jump me at any sec.

    So I rushed down to the sand and found a girl with a million glow bracelets sticking out of her hair tied into a bun by the life guard tower. Quite a sight. She pointed out at the little group of surfers bobbing in the black water, with a tiny glint of glow on them. That was them! She helped me tie my glow sticks to my zip pull string and I was set. As I paddled out I couldn't see any of the people's faces, so I just let out a general HI! Christina recognized my voice and she happened to be right there. Awesome! I met the other guys surrounding and everyone was stoked on the glow from the water. Each time I reached my hand in to paddle forward, a bright streak of light turquoise trailed from me. Watching others paddling for waves, it was like they were on this bright pillow taking them into the wave. Each time the waves crashed the white foam glowed blue. Words can't describe this amazing-ness, I just wish I had some pictures to document the beauty. It was interesting trying to judge the waves, it was so dark that all you could see was a darker park of the water moving toward you. That was the only sign one was coming. I tried paddling for a bunch of them but most of them were close-outs, nothing out of the ordinary from good-ol Bay St. I hadn't surfed here in agesss, probably more than a year ago. This was the birth place of me learning how to surf, and the start of the DRC. Such good memories :)
    Even though there was just a small pack of us, we were nudged pretty close to one another, I think from fear of drifting too far off in the dark abyss. The problem was that I think there were a lot of newbie surfers, and due to the dark and everyone paddling for same wave, I procured a ding on my rail somehow. I was sooo bummed. I didn't want to get out at all, so to help prevent water from soaking more into the foam I crammed a bunch of wax in the dent. I hope it helped somewhat. Glad I stayed in because I was able to catch one stand out wave that took me all the way to 2in deep water. I didn't stay long, my back was starting to ache and I gave myself til 10 since I had work early the next morning. As I was getting out I saw a guy with a tripod and camera set up on shore. He was filming a guy and a girl jumping and doing funny poses. I get closer and see a camera rigged to the nose of one of boards. I chance it, and call out. "J?" Low and behold it was J who had just traveled to Baja with Matt. Maybe he got some good shots, I hope he posts them. In the mean time, I found this you tube for you to enjoy.