Pictures from Pier Today

There was still quite a bit of swell in the water, but shape was just ok. Some makeable shoulders, but mixed in with alot of close outs.

Happy 100

I am proud to announce that this is the 100th post on my blog, at least according to my blog stats. I love blog stats. I am now averaging about 50 hits a day with the best day ever peaking at 79 views. Watch out Perez, I’m coming up. Speaking of blogging, I met up this weekend with fellow blogger and rabid snowboarder, Erica, from snowboard-women.com. She fit me in for a coffee on Saturday for this one weekend she was in town in between all of her fabulous trips to Whistler, Vail, Mammoth, etc. One of the things we chatted about was the incredibly positive experience we’ve had from blogging – the online presence that gets established, the reader feedback, and cool social community that grows out of it. We strolled down to ZJ Boarding House near my apartment to do a little shopping and check out their gear. I had to pick up a new travel bag for my upcoming weekend to Tahoe, and she had never been to ZJ’s. I used to think that ZJ’s was the pinnacle of board shops, but it doesn’t impress me at all any more. They seem to have really fallen behind in terms of customer service and product knowledge, but boy do they seem to do great business. I guess if you’ve been around as long as they have, it’s just a given.

On the surfy front, I survived my nomats session on Saturday without succumbing to any major bacterial ramifications. Once again, the good news is that I was able to paddle pain-free. Once again, the bad news is I suck. That’s all I really have to say about that. Surf was solid on Sunday morning at the pier, but I didn’t paddle out. There were a bunch of guys killing it, though, including Alan Sarlo, Ron Jay, Scott Anderson, Jim Muir and all the other legendary Venice dudes. Fun to watch. It got really big in the afternoon. I heard Sunset was double overhead.

Gonna try to fit in a morning session this week before leaving town for Tahoe. I have to get more consistent with my go-outs if I’m ever going to get back in shape.

Pictures from Pier Today

The pier looked super fun this morning. 3 – 5 foot and good shape. A little slow on the high tide (seems like I’ve been writing that phrase alot lately), but good. I took a few pictures, but once again, my camera shut down after about the third shot because of low batteries, so I missed a bunch of super fun looking waves.

Nomats Session for Saturday

Have a nomats session scheduled for Saturday so I can’t be a wuss. A nomats session means we have to paddle out no matter what. That includes gale force winds, squalls, hail storms, tornadoes, cyclones, flat surf, macking surf, close outs, everything. Ok, maybe if it involves putting our lives in danger we could pass, but really, it is no matter what. I say that for a nomats session, you can’t even do surf check first before paddling out. You show up, put your wetsuit on and go. Annika says that we can look at the surf first, but just can’t let it sway our resolve to paddle out. We’re still fighting about that one.

On a separate matter, BP has a birthday this weekend so happy b-day BP.  Can’t wait to see you next month!

Dogtown Ink

A friend of mine has launched a new website, Dogtown Ink, described as “a cross between The Onion and a local color ‘zine for Venice Beach.” I think it’s hilarious. Check it out.

Surfing? What surfing?

Did I happen to mention that I’m a wuss? Yes. I think I did. Went to the pier early Saturday morning to paddle out, but I didn’t. It was cold and kind of big and kind of closing out, so I wussed out and didn’t go. There were guys out so it was surfable, and in a different time and place in my life (last year for instance), I totally would have said what the fuck and just gone for it. Where did that girl go? Nope. Not now. I stood shivering on the pier for about 1/2 hour and then opted to meet up with Nerd #1 for breakfast instead after her yoga class. So no surfing this weekend. And it is supposed to rain off and on all week, so if I’m going to get in the water anytime soon, I have to get my ass out of bed early before work tomorrow to get in a quick session. But given the fact that I’m a wuss, I wouldn’t bet on that either.

It looked fair today at the pier. 3 – 4 foot and average shape. A little slow on high tide, but there were about a dozen out on the south side and about 1/2 dozen on the north side. Should have paddled out this morning, but I didn’t because I’m a …. well you know why.

Pictures from this morning

Here are a couple of pictures from VBW.

Beautiful morning with small scale surf.

Strong side wind already putting some texture on the surface.

Cold and small!

Venice pier surf report today – see above. A few out, but you need a bigger board to catch something. Burrrrr. How is it that I used to paddle out in the freezing cold dead of winter? I am such a wuss. Where did that girl go? I did paddle out for a quick session yesterday morning before work, but the sun was out. Waiting for the weekend when the weather is supposed to warm back up a bit. I know BP is thinking, “you don’t EVEN know cold, girl!” I know, it’s not even that cold. Like I said. Wuss.

Went “surfing” this weekend!

Met up with nerd #1 and paddled out for the first time since surgery!

The good news? I was totally pain free. The bad news? My confidence is in the tanks. I paddled out on Saturday and felt very timid and scared. It wasn’t even very big but there were a few set waves in the head high + range that came through, and of course I got totally worked trying to duck dive under one of them. I was able to duck dive completely pain free which was great, but I was also nervous and hesitant the entire time I was out there. I got tossed bigtime after having been out for about 30 minutes, held down and caught up in the washing machine, scraping for the surface. Welcome back to surfing. After that, I decided to paddle in. I was not really tired yet, but I was pretty shaken up so decided to call it quits. Didn’t catch a wave. Woo hoo.

Sunday was a bit better. The waves were smaller and I paddled comfortably for about 1 hour. I duck dove cleanly under about half a dozen waves, no problem, no pain. And yes, I actually got two waves. Not impressive in any sense, but I was up and riding.  The weather was so amazing that if felt awesome just to be back in the line up.  Can’t wait to get my confidence back and really start surfing.

Boarding with the boss…

Was great!

Ok, technically, he doesn’t even snowboard. He is a skier. But am I complaining? Hell no. We had a great time. The conditions were perfect. Sunny warm day. Not too crowded. Snow was exceptionally good for local mountains. We were on the hill from about 9:30 am to 2:00 pm. Back to town before traffic was too heavy. All in all a great day. We actually talked work alot and strategized about a number of clients and the future of the company, but this sure beats sitting in his office for strategy meetings. And the best thing about the day? My shoulder felt great. No pain whatsoever. I was super careful not to fall, didn’t go on any jumps, jibs, rainbows or flowers (like I could even ever attempt the rainbow), but more than anything, it was a huge confidence builder. It’s so much about that. The first couple of runs, my heart was beating in my throat and I felt super stiff and awkward, and was worried about falling or having others run into me. But after a few runs, I loosened up and felt really good. Yesterday, snowboarding. Tomorrow, surfing. I love my life.