Huge no name storms come along and give waves as good as hurricanes sometimes. Warm water, sunny skies- sunburned face today. Muscles really sore from six hours of paddling, feels great.

I met a guy taking pics and he gave these to me. I’ll put his name up when I get it.

Yesterday I dropped forever on a very large wave when I was out before many people came, huge drop, bottom turn, sailed along the wave forever for a long paddle back.

Check out this surf report! More Hawaiian-type surf tomorrow. I know exactly where I’m going and why, knowledge gleaned from decades of interpreting reports vs reality and listening to elders. Trick is to rest up, sleep well, get your equipment ready, make sure you are covered at work, blah blah blah.

Every hour that goes by, the waves grow in predicted heights. Gonna be a doozy!!!

LETS GIVE THIS ANOTHER TRY!

Computer projections ain’t always right, found that out several times, yesterday was one of those times.

I watched the flag swing slowly around the pole like it was supposed to and confident that that would continue, I got in. The wind never slackened and the wind never finished its swing around to NW so I paddled patiently for a few hours in the still-warm crystal clear water till I realized that I’d been tricked again like when Lucy pulls the football away just as Charlie Brown is about to kick, making him fall on his back. He falls for it every time and so do I.

The look on charlies face is the same as mine when I get out of the water when the surf stinks. At least my pulse went over 65 bpm for a few hours.

Wetsuit dripping, I drove to another spot where it wasn’t much better, realized that it’d be best if I just got dressed and drove back home, tail drooping between legs.

Ive worked hard for a long time without play. Tomorrow my drought for surf ends!!!!!

Im still in great shape after September so it is with great happiness that the forecast is getting nasty with this coming storm. The “fetch” stretches from Florida to Canada which is awesome and the relatively sizable waves are with us for three days.

... surf coming next week!!!

Winter surfing is a lot easier now with really great thin warm wetsuits.

Adults will endure discomfort of 38f water in pursuit of surf, kids won’t. Don’t waste good money on a winter wetsuit for your kid unless it’s for fall/late spring. Winter surf for kids will just cause friction because no matter how much YOU like it, kids just get too kkkkkold.. I learned from experience that I should have waited till he was 13 or 14 to even try. He wants to try again this winter but some things just have to evolve on their own, we shall see! I’ve never seen a kid in the waves after October and before June so it’s a tribute to our relationship that Kyle even tried.

Some days you get lucky, like this picture, Christmas Day two years ago- 60f sunny and Fun! He will never forget it!

Im sitting lazily on my couch writing this with jealousy in my heart. Hurricane Ophelia did not bless us with her presence, going to the Emerald Isle instead. I’ve met British and Irish surfers at the hostel in Hawaii and not only are they really tough gutsy surfers but also so much fun to hang around with... jokes hidden in normal conversation. You gotta pay attention or they pass right over your head. So I guess I shouldn’t begrudge them for stealing my hurricane, my waves, my endorphins- I guess they have rights too.

Here on the home front, there ain’t any surfing in sight, not even ripples, all we can do is think back to 9/26/17 and be happy with our memories.

I guess thats the price we pay for choosing this sport. It’s kinda like fishing or hunting I imagine, when you come home empty handed.

Ophelia is the surfer’s version of:

​”you shoulda seen the one that got away!”