Vax Sessions

[Major Lazer]

Get vaxed and post reports here.

[Major Lazer]

April Fools LP pulse from rare 249 seemed like an April Fools yet offered up lully but shapely chocolate chip peaky left wedges with running walls. Butter glass conditions and only 10 to 12 heads to boot. Fun sash on the trusty quad fish and even ran into SG on his new Buzz out dere.

Checked a bunch of spots yesterday. Most promising was a corner at an open beachie with 2 heads pulling into super fast running barrels only to be gobbled up. Looked promising. Took my 9:30 stand up call only to find the wind puffing onshore thereafter by about 10:30, so met a buddy at Sands for a lunch sesh. Wind had some west in it so kinda ruffled. Couple here and there, but mostly maintenance. Lulled for about 15 minutes at one point. Water is still frio especially after spending Spring Break back in Florida swimming in the flat yet warm Gulf of Mex Hoping to get vaxed up this week and pull the trigger on a south swell surf trip!

[smithgrind]

I'm getting the first pfizer jab on Tuesday. I hope to surf better and more often after
getting on the vax train. Fun sesh on Thursday and good to catch up with ya, ML.

[harg]

just got my first shot last week and on saturday I surfed freer and looser than i've felt in months! Then, after two waves, i got a bit cold and my back hurt and I realized I was still old and stiff and not as good as I wish i was. didn't matter tho, cause SS was having it's own post-vax party and it was a damn fine spring day, so I went til my arms wouldn't cooperate any more and smiled all the way home.

[BOX]

Dabbled a bit in the water yesterday for an after work sunset session. Didn’t expect much quality with the stiff onshore wind but had time to go out so went anyway. Checked out first spot and it looked flat and blown out with only one head out. Seemed to confirm my suspicions about the conditions.

Drove to another spot north that looked like it had some catchable sets coming through. Mostly waist-to-chest high. Maybe 5-6 heads in the water total. Vibe was good. Got some hand waves and said some hellos. Caught a few fun ones and enjoyed my time. Not necessarily glorious but definitely a good day in the water. Gotta still work on my conditioning but stoke fully intact.

Vax shot appointment tomorrow morning.

[Howly Wolf]

mRNA technology is a game changer and Covid is just the beginning. Right now, inoculations for HIV and Malaria are showing high efficacy in initial trials. It's an age of miracles, gentlemen, good on you all for taking advantage of it.

As for surfing, March was largely a bust for me-- got in a few decent sessions in first half of the month, but a combo of knee & shoulder complications and work drama kept me dry the second half. Got back to it on a five day run of wobbly spring swell this past week. Mostly opted for a 6'4 utility shortboard that I've been neglecting lately. Generally prefer this one as a quad, but laced it up with Archy's signature CF tri fin and the weight/stiffness clicked real well, providing a combo of drive and pivot that I really dug. Bit of a rat swell out with tide and wind not quite lining up. Closeouts were common fare, but a few options out there for the discerning eye. Scrapped with the masses plenty, but also scored two prolonged solo seshies at a very popular spot. Conditions were meh, but beautiful and challenging with a few satisfying lines for good measure. Aside from these lucky breaks, saw what's in store for the spring/summer and definitely need to shelf my winter lone wolf mentality for a more approachable summer good time vibe. Shakas, stoke, and sage brah, it's a party wave-- let the good times roll! And so on.

[Major Lazer]

Kinda got waxed pre vax. Remembered why I often pass on 8 seconds. 90s yellowed fun board kinda saved the day, but still summer meh. Been antsy in town with the weather and caught a nice crispy sunset anyways. Got stabbed with some Pfizer next day. Even had a few beers in celebration. Why not? Joined the Vax Partay and it was Fryay Woke up about 12 hours later early Sat am with hot sweats, a pounding headache, and probably a low fever Tylenol to the rescue. Weak and tired and on the couch most of the day Sat

Sunday was a family beach day. Slept in... lazy start. 7' groundy on the buoy Wind was up, so did the best to get out of it. Lot half full at noon on a Spring Sunday? Very clean in the lee, brown lumps pulsing, looked promising but not very productive. A little flooded perhaps. Ate lunch and surfed with the eldest gromita. Her 1st sesh of the year and she racked um up on her own and with some Dad assist. Powerful foam walls to get to her feet and then she'd trim left or right to find a bit of an open face to glide on. 10 to 15 second rides at least. Kids got a smooth LB steeze and hasn't missed a beat. Grabbed the Ghost afterwards about 2 hours into the suck out and glad I brought it down, almost never do. Bit of a paddle to an outer bar. Thumping peaky HH OH classic lefts being held up by the NE wind. Big drops to racey open walls on the tapered peaks that came though. Burning speed off with big hooking turns felt so good. 6 heads scattered about and only few putting it together. Where was everybody? Had a great view of goofy air drop into a pit that was throwing a barrel and after a couple slashes kicked out way down there. After a few hours the icy water got to me and the flurries of good ones became more scarce. Caught a crappy one in and enjoyed an oddly quiet early evening chillin with the fam.

Swell sure died fast.....WH, thin lipped, and weak today. Good shape early thou. Wind came up hard and fierce around noon. Kinda crowded too. Shoulda trolled open beachies early. Oh well da Covid sessions continue for now.

[BOX]

Got out last night for a sunset session. It was windy, choppy, and the waves were small and mushy. Made the best of it and still had some fun. Not a bad day in the water.

[Major Lazer]

Few fun ones last week on that small LP pulse. Looked around both days, CB is a sorry excuse for a surfable zone, so fickle even when conditions are perf Ended up at the same sand bar, same tide window, and Friday had a bit more power. Looked super fun and glassy with a very light offshore when I got there and no one was putting it together at the bar I've been on. Opted for no gloves. By the time I got out one guy had dialed into to it and got a nice long one. A bit inconsistent, but the swell was pulsing every 10 or so. Very workable lefts with one turn at least on every wave, many had 3. Air was warm and popped the hood off here and there for the 1st time in 6 months. Noticed a large rat pack on the south end, but only a few heads around the peak I was surfing which was quite nice Blew a drop on what seemed might of been my best sized wave. Prob coulda been on the 5'11" SB esp on that wave, but quad fish is always a go. Tide started to flood it after an hour or so and wasn't as crispy. Ran into old OSPer Nasty out there towards the end and caught up for a few. Watching another peak turn on almost double dipped it was so nice out, but opted for trying to beat traffic which was not as successful as I hoped for. Things have definitely ramped back up.

[Major Lazer]

Midlife
Midweek
Midday
Midtide
I think I have finally achieved Doc session status......... Rona sessions roll on

And for the record it's still possible to surf super fun waves alone for 2 hours 70 or so miles from PDX

[Howly Wolf]

Ah there's that FOMO I've been missing! Ever notice that the OSP goes down after good stretches of surf? Suffice to say April was a banger.

On the topic of solo session, have scored my fair share this month, sometimes in unlikely places.

Ever seen that Twilight Zone episode where the nerdlinging bankteller is reading a book in a vault and when he comes out, the world's blown up? Time enough at last to read all the classic works of literature and then in cruel twist of fate this nerd goes and breaks his glasses!

Had a similar moment on an early early AM all or nothing after a 3 day blitz of damn good surf. Checked a few spots, but wasn't quite happening. Figured if junk surf was it, I'd just go to Indian for kicks. Get there, lot is empty, one guy out, nice little sunrise, the layer descends and socks it in, surf is gash, whatever. The guy leaves and I'm solo-- still no one out, so surf for awhile longer until I'm smoked and ready to bail. Lot's still empty when I get back and I figure it's still way early and the masses are surfed out and sleeping in. As I'm about to leave, I find a ranger note on my windshield that says "Please leave area road is closed". The lack of punctuation throws me off-- I look around to see if I'm not blocking an area road... Then it sinks in: I have Indian all to myself. As long as I want. Then I look out at the ragged surf and feel a stiff onshore breeze on my face. "It's not fair... it's not fair at all...." As I exit the park, I see car after car with longboard, softboard, eggboard, etc. ascending to the road to disappointment and just laugh. Somehow the worst surf can be the most memorable in it's own right.

[Major Lazer]

Covid session log #72. Its been about year now since I broke out of the Stay at Home order and killed a heavy case of valley rot. A year ago I never woulda thought I'd still be 100% remote, nor did I realize I'd be living the costal lifestyle (at least 2-3 days a week) I left behind to many years ago now. Nice to be reminded that time and flexibility can pay off greatly. So many rushed sessions and not enough time often resulting in disappointment and frustration as on average good windows at sand bars are often for only 2 hours with the big tide fluctuations.

Anyways 3 fun ones last few days. Highlight was an early AM session to kick off Cinco De Barney at a undisclosed and off radar sand bar. Beaut of an AM. Light offshores, clear as a bell, and warming by the minute. Juicey rip bowl peaks solid overhead and throwing barrels here and there. Great to feel some deep water power focusing on a shallow sand bar which lit up my 5'11" magic retro 80s schtick. Also glad I swaped the quad config out for thrust as it was pockety surf. Bit of paddling to stay in position, but par for the course. One other head had sniffed it out too and was good to have some company as his vide was friendly. Maybe to friendly as he wanted to strike up conversation, while I wanted to concentrate on surfing. I've spoken with many more fellow surfers lately then I have in past. My assumption is after this past year, with lock downs and whatnot its only human nature. After all we are social beings.

[bluesilver]

got the first Pfizer shot, second in a week. NGL the first shot made me feel like I got hit by some kids shitey Honda Civic.

[Major Lazer]

Still 1 in and been putting off 2nd. Was scheded for last Fri, but blew it off. Didn't want to kill the weekend if I had another reaction. I'm not to concerned about getting number 2 honestly as you are 70 to 80 percent with one, but will geter done at some point.

Anyways, skunked at a bar I was hoping for yest am. Tide and swell was there, but wind was nukeing at 9:30. So much for the early start Ended up at Sands. Dude was riding an e-board with surfboard under arm down there. Techbros Dead Stellar Sealoin on the beach was quite stinky esp down wind. Crisp and clean at first, but kinda small and inconsistent. Pack on both of the 2 good peaks. Felt off. Waters freezing. Amazing what not surfing for a week (and not really working out) will do Wind starting nukeing side shore making it hard to get in and when you did you were kinda fighting it. Good case for Egg or LB I guess. Sand seems to be filling in the good bars as well. Some substantial rain to flush the creeks would be probably good? Who knows pretty bored with the waves down there anyways. Funny shite I've seen there recently:

Guy riding e-board on the beach
Huge production crew filming commercial on the trail and closing south lot
Someone snorkeling in the line up
Guy swimming out with flippers barebacking it
Guy walking down trial with wetsuit on inside out
Guy in the lineup with back zip fully unzipped
Guy with camera mounted on board and one in mouth
WA vanity plates "SOL SRFR"

[Howly Wolf]

To anyone who still thinks surfing is cool... please refer to above list.

Been surfing quite a bit lately, but that seems to have increased my odds of getting skunked and/or making questionable choices. Some fun ones here and there though-- and if worse comes to worse, good exercise.

Also my longboard might be trying to kill me... took a rail to upper leg so hard I thought I shattered my femur. The next day took a fin to the back of the head (no stitches and brain seems to be intact fortunately). Dumb luck both times, but think I might keep that board dry docked for a bit just in case.


(weird, the osp changes longboard*-- I mean "longboard"-- to log automatically?)

*I keep writing l-o-n-g-b-o-a-r-d