Vax Sessions

[INTERN]

Got my 2nd, so ready to get some long overdue water time. Even sewed up a cute little longboard sling so I can carry it down to SS.

Somebody has a kooksandz instagram that I see sometime and it makes me want to go down there less and less, but alas...

Guess I'll have to spend sometime hunting gaia maps and old posts on this site for the low down super secrets...

[Major Lazer]

The Sharts kookery went viral on the Influencers in the Wild page, which happens to have 4.1m followers at the moment.

https://www.instagram.com/p/COwQzGVlRlj/

As for the shortieskookcam feed..... they are doing an awful job. So much content yet so little posts. Must be once a week at best Val surfers.

[Howly Wolf]

I'm not really a fan of localized kook pages-- mocking barneys for embarrassing themselves at a beginner spot is low hanging fruit; a trend that fits right in with today's lowest common denominator assimilation masquerading as "surf culture". I'm not above laughing at others' expense, especially when they're a proper kook, but at the end of the day, I'd rather surf like Duke Kahanamoku than Jonathon Wayne Freeman. Aloha is dead; long live aloha.

That said, I might also be traumatized by jerks zooming in on my @ss when you could still do that with the lanai cam. I should talk to a surf therapist about that (yes, that is now a real "profession").

[Major Lazer]

Some are better than others. The Govy500 is well done with an overall positive vibe leaning towards road safety.

Kooks of the Cape is OK. Don't think I've seen any surf content, just the rigs getting stuck, content they may have lost? Whatever happened with banning beach driving?

But Chartsands, truly a beginner spot? I've seen some helicopters (360 air) and other flippy tricks recently. Even a chandelier on a sizable day about a month ago. Perhaps a juxtaposition of abilities due to persistent wind blockage and fairly serviceable waves for Oregon (sand bar dependent off course)?

[Howly Wolf]

Did this "sizeable day about a month ago" happen to coincide with a film crew taking over the south lot? That was a very interesting day indeed.

I'll defer to Tex on whether Short Sands is truly a beginner spot, but I think the daily soft top parade speaks to what the general perception is. That said, it's probably best not to underestimate it (or any other spot, "beginner" or otherwise) given the nature of Oregon surf.

[Major Lazer]

Nope according to my log a week or so prior..... on a Sunday nonetheless! Prob only weekend I have surfed this year.

.............. 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 back into power source 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.

That day was pretty solid too thou, but super wonky and windy. Next day was a lot more serviceable, surfed twice, yet still had a wonk. A testament to persistence and the rewards of the multi day post up. This past week and upcoming forecast not looking so hot. Rain in the forecast is a good thing thou.

[Major Lazer]

Got my 2nd vax exactly a week ago now. Felt kind of crappy the day after, but not as bad as after my 1st. Recovered just in time for the weekly midweek sessions. Opted for a change of scenery as I am in a bit of a limbo stage between jobs. Surfed a novelty I haven't surfed in years that had pleasantly warmish water. Unfortunately I had suited up in my 5 mill and opted for the gloves given the ocean water temps recently. WH but long and bowling workable walls on my quad fish peeling around a gravel bar. Then surfed one of my favs, if not fav wave for 3 days in a row. Feasted on caught crab and local oysters and surfed some legitimately good and barreling waves. Only regret was not paddling out on the Ghost the one session it really turned on and could have used the extra foam and paddle and entry magic the design seems to offer. Note to self: never a bad idea to board up on this particular wave.

[Tex]

shite...what a month.

Both my kids got the COVID. My wife had been fully vaxxed so she was good. I was 1 shot in and luckily did not get it. The boys powered through, toughest part was being on full lock down for them.

Got my 2nd shot on Tuesday. Felt like dog shite yesterday but normal today.

Took my oldest son to Manzanita last Friday-Sun. He has not really embraced surfing-spends all his free time training MMA but he was down for some 1:1 time with the old man.

We have a cabin on Carmel Ave. that family friends have made available to us since '86. They only charge us $60 per night which is pretty sweet.

The kid likes to sleep in so I did dawn patrol in the area. Manzanita beach was not protected enough and tide was coming up. Checked a couple spots but surprise surprise, ended up making the hike down to SS. Sat AM around 7:00 was super chill, not a ton of surfers but my bet would be there were more women than men.

Conditions were not great, high tide and smaller swell period. I dont even know how long its been since I last surfed but I was effing rusty. Been doing a lot of training but it never really translates or replaces water time. Three times my brain said POP....but back, hips and arms didnt respond as I expected. KOOK town pops and over the falls many times. On one wave, I did not get enough separation from my board and caught a fin in my low back....GOOD TIMES. I ended up getting a couple but couldnt be to pissed since it is simply rust. It did make me think that it is time to maybe look at a board over 7ft at some point. In fact, I did see a couple of SUP boarders and they were slaying in....I guess if Laird and Jerry are down, why should I continue to dismiss that type of board riding out of hand?

I do not see SS as a beginner spot. Beginners should go there because it is a protected cove with easy access. The beauty of SS is that it offers waves for all surfers along the continuum. It also is not a "local" spot so very inviting for first timers. Like ML says, there are surfers out there nailing a ton of technical tricks, so it enables surfers with more skill to maximize wave capacity on any given day. I continue to be curious about that spot even after 30 years of surfing there.

[Tex]

shite...what a month.

Both my kids got the COVID. My wife had been fully vaxxed so she was good. I was 1 shot in and luckily did not get it. The boys powered through, toughest part was being on full lock down for them.

Got my 2nd shot on Tuesday. Felt like dog shite yesterday but normal today.

Took my oldest son to Manzanita last Friday-Sun. He has not really embraced surfing-spends all his free time training MMA but he was down for some 1:1 time with the old man.

We have a cabin on Carmel Ave. that family friends have made available to us since '86. They only charge us $60 per night which is pretty sweet.

The kid likes to sleep in so I did dawn patrol in the area. Manzanita beach was not protected enough and tide was coming up. Checked a couple spots but surprise surprise, ended up making the hike down to SS. Sat AM around 7:00 was super chill, not a ton of surfers but my bet would be there were more women than men.

Conditions were not great, high tide and smaller swell period. I dont even know how long its been since I last surfed but I was effing rusty. Been doing a lot of training but it never really translates or replaces water time. Three times my brain said POP....but back, hips and arms didnt respond as I expected. KOOK town pops and over the falls many times. On one wave, I did not get enough separation from my board and caught a fin in my low back....GOOD TIMES. I ended up getting a couple but couldnt be to pissed since it is simply rust. It did make me think that it is time to maybe look at a board over 7ft at some point. In fact, I did see a couple of SUP boarders and they were slaying in....I guess if Laird and Jerry are down, why should I continue to dismiss that type of board riding out of hand?

I do not see SS as a beginner spot. Beginners should go there because it is a protected cove with easy access. The beauty of SS is that it offers waves for all surfers along the continuum. It also is not a "local" spot so very inviting for first timers. Like ML says, there are surfers out there nailing a ton of technical tricks, so it enables surfers with more skill to maximize wave capacity on any given day. I continue to be curious about that spot even after 30 years of surfing there.

[Howly Wolf]

Somehow managed to surf pretty much every day the past three weeks-- not bad for a landlocked working stiff. Missed a few decent days, paddled out on a few questionable ones, navigated wobbly right hand novelties, leveled up on a few slightly OH left hand runners, groveled in shorepound, scored a few times and/or sacrificed better waves for preferred scenery and lp south swell. Enjoyed roughly a dozen spots up and down the coast, mostly solo and sometimes terrifyingly so... always valuable to cast the unblinking eye on my own surfing capability, mental chatter, defaults, etc. and deal with it. I even got to like surfing around people again, well at least until a recent evening at short sands.

OSP went down in the midst of all this, which means the waves got good. Did anyone else surf memorial day? LP groundswell snuck in under the radar, stacking up to 6-8 ft. easy. By no means winter hammers, but much more kick than the average windswell projected for the day. Surfed popular north coast spots practically by myself and it was good.

Now time to readjust the balancing act by focusing on work and relationships. Hopefully more surf soon... hopefully.

[Major Lazer]

Caught one on the way home Memorial Day. Nothing special, but there was swell in the water esp considering the day before was pretty flat. Was more surprised the wind held off. By the time we had breky and packed up camp, it was mid morning. CH to HH and pretty walled at an open beach break that ropes in anything. Still some punchy drops and some corners were had. Hadn't surfed this spot in a bit and ran into X OSPer 48degrees, who happened to be one of two surfers out, and was good to catch up.

Highlight of the weekend was surfing with the Gromitas at Otter Poops. One day they paddled out with Mom while I was suiting and finishing a cold one and my youngest caught a bomb for her size. She lined up, paddled in, and stuck a legit drop all by herself. Proud Dad moment. They both enjoyed the peeling left back into the cove and were triming the good ones to the beach. On Saturday a pod of Orcas came through!! Always a rare treat!

Started a new job last week and well.... the midlife, midweek, midday streak I was on may have come to an end for now at least. Seems I have one meeting if not 3 a day now. I did manage an afternoon evening aka "Blue Collar" sesh thou late week. Actually cut out a bit early and took a call on the drive out, which put me ahead of the after work crew. Checked the 1st spot and was surprised how much swell was on tap Wind was kinda up too, but not as bad as it has been. To much swell for a spot that cant seem to hold jack most of the time so motored down to Sharts.

Pretty quiet, but 1st hour was mostly frustrating, the zone I have been milking was weird and ended closer to the south end. Surprisingly punchy thou. Crowd filled in quick and some tempers seemed to be flaring as a bit of local drama went down. That on top of annoying guys that paddle for every wave even when your deeper and have it. A bit of snakage as well by a valley kid who's maybe lived over there a few years now at best Insta loc just add water..... Almost froze out and gave up, but then it started to get pretty fun. Paddled back to where I started and flurries of fast workable lefts were coming through. Even saw a goofy get a cheakey quick in and out on an OH kinda solid one. Took one of the best waves I saw that went unridden on the head and sent me to sand and pinned me pretty good. Came up laughing. That never happens at Sharts.

[Howly Wolf]

Left that session kind of bummed out. Not sure if it was the whole drop in drama or the backpaddling red-hot rippers or the too cool Torryn Martin wannabes, or just being overly critical of my own surfing. Probably the latter combined with those lefts getting really good after I was already smoked and suited down.

Saw a whale calf a bit outside the line up tho, which was pretty cool. Waves were fun and some damn good surfing went down-- I recall getting a few satisfactory lines as well. Tripped out on the glowing grey glass sunset. Weird vibe, yes, but a good evening for the all rounder.

[Major Lazer]

Ah you were out there Thurs eve too eh?

[Howly Wolf]

Yeah, I don't think I burned you tho.

[Major Lazer]

Ah OK Did you see the guy with the dual cams, one on board and one on mouth? Guys been down there almost every time I surfed Sharts this Spring.