Fall 2022 Surf Log

[Major Lazer]

October started on point. Finaaaalllly some playful open walls and the opportunity to lay into some turns on the new shred stick, which did not disappoint Board skates! Tons of built in speed with 3 fins and big sweet spot in the back means foot doesn't have to be exactly on the kick for quick snappage. Loose as a goose and turns on a dime, but drivey and stable when you want it to be. Highlined it from the outside through 3 sections on one with speed to burn for big gut back on the inside shoulder. Nor easties kept it clean all day and crowd was chill. Surfed myself silly, ended with some happy hour cruisers on the middy, and in bed by 9:30. South wind reversal offshore kinda killed the party yesterday adding a lump to the equation, but beggars cant be choosers. Ran in to Howley in the lot and made the best of of some wonky weirdness. Handful of cruisers on the ones I didnt get pitched on trying to go late on the middy. Not the best board for those situations, but still fit the bill. Good start to sober October and hopefully a sign of waves to come.

[Chanel Derrière]

Found some lonely corners not far from the hoard on the first day of Oct. Had the wife and dog in tow so wasn't a marathon sesh but got a crap tonne of waves in 1.75. Mostly short rides but each one had a whackable section that was highly satisfying. Last wave in was a solid righthand runner into my favorite secret-not-so-secret little zone. Warm water and feeling loose on the 6'2" twinny. A little coast range exploration with the fam on the way home and then totally blew it and went straight to the dog house later that day but that's another story... Stoke level would have been 5.25.

Hoping for a couple of go-outs this week. Saved some PTO for this season.

[Major Lazer]

Bodhi's rights huh. Don't blow the wad just yet. Hopefully we're just getting started? Maybe late week.

[Chanel Derrière]

Further south today but pretty much a replay. SoCams. Milk glass shapely peaks. Occasional long period pulse coming through. Surfed the Yolo sled and had a nice time.

See you 'late week.'

[Major Lazer]

Blew the wad, meaning gas money I didn't have. Not to mention emissions, I really didn't want to emit. But..... on site workday. Didn't feel like cycleXmax schlep. So.. drove. And why not sneak the boards and wettie in at O Dark:30 when the wife still asleep? Skeptical on afternoon winds and mosdef didn't want to end up at Softop Sands for the closeout buffet, so drove past work exit, hit the bossman on teams with lame excuse before I was out of range and raaaailed west to where its best.

Glassyassy gun barrel grey as it’s been past few. WH, maybe nipple on sets. Reminiscent of maybe a May distant southern hemi day with good shape despite being a WNW. Perhaps typhon swell from across the Pacific Rim? Bit of a crowd of noobs and a handful of competent shredders, most probably a decade or more younger than me. Word is out. Kinda frustrating at 1st with the crowd. Not quite enough to get the new shred stick up and running. Too much hyper pumping and not enough speed to set up gutbacks on first few waves. Went in and grabbed 5'9" homeshape quanfish. As waxing old reg asked if it was a Christenson. While flattering, must of know my soft spot for the hipster shaper and his 1+G shapes Anyways much better…. started to sync, easier entry and speed right off the bat, and a little less length to turn in the tight little punchy pockets. Steep short one hit lefts, slopier longer carveable rights. Best wave was down a bit with less crowd, a wave a women gifted me as she was in position. Bowley right with nice clean ramp with lip coping off the drop and actually had a few to think….. disaster fins out to reo Or conservative mid face turn Opted for the later cause in my head knew the stakes were high and I hadn't had a ton of good ones. Glad I did cause mid face turn led to a surprising chandler head dip with a quick little view. Not sure how that happened on a nip high wave but hey will take it A kind gesture and thanks for the wave! Will gift one next time.

Worked for a bit and clocked back in as SG was clocking out who timed the shift change nicely. Set the new shred stick as quad but was almost worthless as wind was up and waves textured. Got a few but it was dismal. Highlight was sea loin jumping out of the water literally feet from the only other head out and scaring the living shite out if him. Guy let out a huge scream. Only a matter of time until someone else shows up with all the activity I’ve seen. Worked a bit more and rolled home for dinner around 7:30. "Yep. Long day at the office."

[Chanel Derrière]

Corners no crowds. Crowds no corners.

Oregon surf is a funny old thing.

Think I made one of my top three back hand slashes today.

But

other than that

just waiting for Putin to make a bold move.

65,0000 dead salmon washed up on Vancouver Island.

I always knew I'd be right here, right now.

[smithgrind]

Rory has a Warhawk on order…can’t be too long now. YOLO Up Now, incoming is inevitable.

[smithgrind]

Someone put the bro back in the Hampton on Wend’s day.
I scored hard Socam to Nobo. A frames for all.
ML stoke in the south lot and a prime time episode of Cheers at Sporty’s post surf.

[Major Lazer]

Bhodis rights now Red Dawn? Imagine an OR surf version with the infamous locs holding it down from the Red Army. Lobbing grenades at submarines from a stronghold bunker on the boulders Anyways Friday was fun and super quiet mid day on my lunchie. Continued oil greybrird glass and mysto LP pulse was back on the buoys. Several feet bigger than mid week. HT was slowing things down a bit, but still some long workable walls. Kept the Hayden quads in from Weds dub and fit the bill nicely allowing the board to get up and go, plane though flat sections, yet still allow precise turns when the bouncy bowl sections presented themselves. Been collecting as many rights as I can being deprived for quite some time, but as the tide sucked out paddled to the left down the way which started peaking up like a teardrop walling to the sand. Seemed like a 30 min flurry and blew a few I shouldn't of, but the ones I did get made the sesh. Sealoins were all around me playing, so close I could smell their stinky breath, a few daring to swim under me. Seems their rafting on the north side. Finished work, blasted a little deeper in hopes of some punchy peakage Sat am. Scored a walk up campsite around 5pm, which is good to see happen these days. Sat was socked in and lumpy, calm nearshore, but NW winds were ripping it up out at sea. A beggars can't be choosers weekend warrior sesh. Good practice I guess and better than the gym. Surfed then returned to the endless summer in the val. 0-2 for on quality combo days this month, but hopefully that changes this week.

[smithgrind]

It's still summer in October, not fall.

[Major Lazer]

Octugust. Indian Summer? The surfers summer. And better than summer. What early fall is all about. Get it while you can. Be gone before we know it. This last swell was a little lumpy and pretty north tho. Kinda like one of those 6-7 foot late August bumps. Dubbed up yest. Lunchie was pretty utility. Not focusing on good bars, so surfed another zone. Had some size, but was more focused on outside bar. Got some roll ins to the inside, but not much to work with other than occasional hail mary lip tap on the close out. Evening conditions were butter, just gorgeous, focusing on good bars during the suck out. Still despite the classic Octugust conditions still had a lump putting kinks in the wave faces or just in front keeping it from wedging up properly. Still some fun ones in the mix, just had to get the set waves with a bit more power to get in. Opted for shorty, but coulda rode fish or middy, which is currently dewaxed and hotcoting some minor glass cracks. Mostly working walls to try and make sections, but some kid was linking some combos. Very light crowd. Epic sunset. Lunchie today was smaller, shape maybe a little better on push at a few feet off the low. Nother beaut of a day. Clean ocean air, crystal clear water, and more of the same serviceable surf. Until the next swell........

[smithgrind]

Back to the epicenter to see if I could make it 3 out of 3.
Took another swing at Socam Nobo and went yard all day long once again. Pinche myself if
this October run is for real. Hard pressed to recall going back to the well two weeks straight
and getting buckets every time.
Sunny and somehow glassier as the afternoon progressed. Dry hair paddles back out
after some long reeling rights. Slotted pockets, full wraps, and stalling for cover ups…
all on the same wave.
If it weren’t for the water temp I thought I was still in Baja.

[Major Lazer]

A little windy and wonky yest mid day. Crowd was right thou. Shared occasional OH thumpy lefts with 2 friendly gents. Fog cleared mid morning today and was pretty buttery. Unfortunately pretty walled despite the period dropping a bit. Took a sicky yest, scored a discounted tank of gas, and after checkin a spot I've had luck with recently decided to push deeper as it looked pretty lack luster. Change of scenery was nice. This spot typically doesn't let me down in Oct, but really wasn't doing it's thang. Might of been lack of east winds, but sand seemed off, at least for a solidish fall swell. Better than grovlin and 1st Ghost seshies of the season. Hold downs, deep duck dives, and alligator wrestling. Good to feel some juice, breathe clean marine air, and sun has been quite nice per late Checked that one off and guess this ole salt cant complain to much. Fall water time is always good.

[BOX]

I hope everyone had a fun summer/fall in the water. Mine was the best in years. Looking ahead at the weather and conditions for the next couple of weeks, it seems like my sessions may be put on hold for a while. Figured it was a good time to catch up with an end-of-season report.

In a post earlier this year I vented my frustrations on my stalled progress. I asked for that post to be deleted out of pure cringe on my part but wanted to sincerely thank you all for some great advice. I took it all to heart. To recap for anyone just now tuning in, basically I'm an adult learner who started out on a soft-top a number of years ago. Started progressing and picked up a 7’6” egg that I loved. Everything started out great but after a couple of years I started to regress majorly to the point I couldn’t even paddle it any more to get into waves. I got super frustrated and whined about it here online. Instead of being rightfully laughed off, people here shared some great, practical advice to get that stoke reignited again. Here are the three things I think helped the most:

I bought a longboard late last spring. It’s a Shuler “Nosetradamus” noserider 9’x23.75”. Dims don’t mention thickness but this thing has got to be at least 3” if not more. This thing’s a tanker. Took me a few sessions to dial it in and find the sweet spot, but I’m loving it and having tons of fun.

I surfed more. I’ve put in 49 sessions on the new board so far since late May, averaging 3x/week up to October when the daylight got too short. Mostly all dawn patrols with a weekly long evening session. I schedule surf around my work hours, so I pretty much surfed in whatever conditions were on that day at the time I could go. Some days were windless, glassy, and on the mid-tide and some days I was shooting foggy closeouts in shallow water right at minus tide. Other than getting a different board, this has no doubt been the biggest factor in my progress. For other improving surfers reading along, this really is the best advice you’ll hear: surf more. Don’t make excuses, get in the water.

I lost weight. No wonder I was having more trouble paddling that smaller board than when I first got it. I had gained at least 20 pounds during COVID. It crept up on me so slowly I didn’t even realize it until I stepped on the scale. I’ve since lost about 15 or so of those pounds, most of it coming off once I started surfing 3x/week. Now that winter’s here and the Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas food binge trifecta is starting up, I’m hoping to try to at least maintain where I’m at. If you need me, I’ll be doing laps at the pool…

Anyway, thank you all again for the advice and I hope King Neptune has paid you all back with some tasty waves. Stoke level right now = Wolf-Rayet.

[Tex]

BOX....super stoked on this report! Glad to know you stuck with it and seeing progression in the water. Keep up the good work my friend and keep sending those reports.

I am contemplating a new board myself, first one in over 9 years.....maybe just in time for my next trip North first week in Nov.