Superbowl Sunday Contest at Army Navy Academy Beach

The ISF contest this weekend is on Sunday at the Army Navy beach. They have a surf team with a few good surfers.



Well as a parent I have placed my kid in the car very hard and driven him to the Academy.



Me- "Here is where you are going to school!" (add expletives and shouting)

Kid- "________" (Total silence) I did not raise stupid kids.

Me- "What do you think of that?" My bluff is called and he knows it. I had picked up the brochure and a quick calculation is about 20k a year.

Kid- "________" (Total silence) The ancient Chinese proverb is 'I know that you know that I know that you know etc.'


Kids will do that to you. Right when you are thinking everything is going great they will do something that will have you thinking 'Military School'!



Thank god my parents did not have the means when I was in High School or I would have been there. Probably not in Carlsbad, but in Kentucky or some other awful place.



But the grades came out today and no military school needed! This weekends foray to the school beach will be about noserides and turning on the tail.

The drama will be tense. Middle School reputations made and lost on a day we should be on the couch drinking beer or surfing while other people are on the couch drinking beer. More to come

Black Cab Sessions Badke Quartet minus 3

I grew up with chamber music. If you were to show up to my parents house at any time you would hear classical music. If you can stop the groaning of my kids, Here is a great Black Cab Bach Session

Black Cab Sessions Fleet Foxes

I got stuck watching these Black Cab Sessions. It's one of those things that you run into and you are sucked in for the duration.

San O' Sunday from the water

Last night was good. I went back surfing at Gradview about 3:30 and it was firing. Which almost is gauranteed bad surf the next day. When I woke up to south winds and bad conditions we just put the boards in the car and headed to San O'.



I got this cool camera that takes water shots and decided it was time to take it out. With trepadation I tied it to my leash and here is what I was able to get.

Coming at me.

Logan's left

Some style pose.

It even looks good with my thumb on the lense.

Here are the guys waiting for a set.

In the end it is always better when you go surfing. We had a blast.

Surf, Eat, Sleep, Repeat

Surf

Eat

Surf, eat, sleep, repeat
Sleep

Repeat

You know it was a good day when......

1) You blew off everything to surf till dark.
2) All of your friends found ways to surf till dark
3) David Gray was on the beach taking pictures
4) Your wife tells you 'you better go surfing'
5) It's 75 degrees and sunny in January with a building swell
6) As Ed says "the sound of a thousand pintails being dusted off and pulled off the racks is heard"


Yes after looking at my Minnesota brothers I was overdressed with my hood and gloves.

14 years ago I could could surf better than Ed.....Really 3.0

It was fun and worth the go out......Tomorrow with the swell building I hope it is fun and the waves hold up without being closed out.

I am trying to decide if the Dugan paddle out should be down without a wetsuit. But if the waves come up as they are predicting the only one that could get out would be Dugan..

Minnesota v Leucadia January 09

So after going to Minnesota before Christmas for a work party, I am all in for the Minnesota people. It was like going to a town and everyone was as friendly as missanne. I have to say I love it back there. Now I find out they surf! Check out the article in the New York Times (all the news that's fit print!) 'Hanging 10 (Degrees)'

Here I am in 75 degree air worried about 58 degree water with my wetsuit. My wetsuit post really becomes wimpy and embarrassing after looking through the Lake Superior guys posts.

They have some good waves in Minnesota. Here is some real stoke and dedication.

There were girls on the beach wearing bikinis today! We were kinda self absorbed waiting for a big swell and just got some shoulder high stuff.

In the meantime, Minnesota was firing! They have some good waves out there. My boss from Minnesota is coming out on Monday and I have just been sending him pictures of my dashboard with the temp at 80 degrees this week while it has been down to -40 in Lake City Min.

Not bad line up out there. Oh you betcha, Okie Dokie!

Anyway back to Leucadia here is Guy living the good life from a hilarious post courtesy of The Leucadia Project

And yes Ed got all the best waves today

Here is Paul sporting the coveted Avocado Street Local Hat. ASL Yes it was like summer today and everyone was out.

Yet WTF!!!! Here they are in Minnesota with Icicles! Icicles I tell you, we wouldn't even know how to get out of the car.

Well I am going to try and surf there. I welcome any Lake Superior locals to Avo's and I hope to put on the 6 ml and do the Minnesota thing.

Low Tide at Pipes

Waxing up

Towel Change

Stairs

Low tide challenge

Locals

-2. something low

A quick video

Dugan left us

For my non-surfing followers Dugan was one of the 'good guys' in life He really was a part of the fabric of surfing Leucadia. He must have been a good 15 years older than me. And, Dugan would be out surfing when the waves were huge... mostly sans wetsuit suit even in the winter.

From the Leucadia Project

"Anyone who knew Dugan had respect for him. He was a one of a kind sort of guy who was a living link to surfing's past. For the past 12 years that I have surfed Grandview I have been both inspired and humbled by him. On the days that I would wear a 4/3 he would trunk it. On the days that I was nervous to paddle out, he would be out at the crack of dawn (in trunks) taking off on the biggest sets. On the small days when the surf was flat he would entertain me with stories of the places he's been and the people he met along the way.
Dugan was a true waterman, a living legend, and a friend to all he surfed with. He lived life to the fullest and made a lot of friends along the way. Personally I will never forget him. This world and our little surf spot he called home were better places for having him.
Good bye Dugan. We will miss you."
Ed

I can't say that I knew him all that well, yet it really hit me when I read Ed and David's blog this morning. Dugan always went out of his way to say hi to me and he could not have been more stoked for me as my kids started surfing. I can say that he always put a smile on my face when I saw him.

'If the waves are big and the only other guy out is Dugan, It's time to go in' (my axiom on when the waves are too big)

"True religion is real living".... Albert Einstein

Thunderbirds are Go

I wanted to be Jeff Tracy.

Top 3 surfing friendly jobs I have had

As I left the house this morning around 6:30 with blackberry, laptop and various mapquest print outs, I had to do that drive up to Orange County when the waves are good. Not that I am complaining (in this economy you need to be happy to have somewhere to go with your blackberry and laptop). But it did look good. You could see those little glimpses of surf off the 5 in Camp Pendleton. It was glassy and there where some waves with just a touch of offshore.

I started thinking about jobs that I had in younger days when I could surf a bit more.

So Chris Miller told me about one of his college jobs:

"I had the best college job as a "bellman" at the Miramar Resort in Montecito (next to Miramar Point and Hammonds Reef). We got/had to ride beach cruisers to assist clients. One night, I get a call for 3 bottles of "your best champagne" to a beach front suite. Knock on the door and Jan Micheal Vincent invites me in. He's hammered!! as it's his post-wedding bash. Insisted I party with them.... so I did!"

Well that is hard to beat but it brought to mind my 3 favorite jobs for being a crazed surfer:

1) College Student; Undergrad San Diego State University 1980

Major- Business Administration /Minor- Pub Consumption

Strengths: College Student

Weakness: Eventuality of graduation

Opportunities: I lived right on the beach by the Mission Beach jetty.

Threats: Quantitative Business Analysis Class

Pay: not bad see my Wetsuit Post

2) Dish Machine Operator (DMO) El Camino Hospital Mt. View CA 1978

Strengths- Hours were 2pm to 10pm during the summer. All my freinds worked there.

Weakness-Dishes were kinda gross

Opportunities- You had an hour between 2-3 to eat and it was good food while you were on the clock.

Threats- Every once in a while a hypodermic needle would come down on the tray. End of summer

Pay-The pay scale got out of sorts with the Nurses union and we were making about nine dollars an hour which was a fortune back then. The work day started at 2pm and they had free food. So for one summer we surfed all day, went to work at 2pm and ate until 3pm then worked to 10pm.

3) Territory Sales Representative Guinness Import Company 1987

After my Minor in Pub Consumption I was ready for this job. Before they decided to promote me several times proving the Peter Principle ("In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence." Dr. Lawrence Peter)

Stengths- Beer what else can I say.

Weakness- Beer before I understood moderation

Opportunities-Expense Report

Threats-Promotion

After a winters break the reality of life comes calling

And we thought it was tough going back to school from break. It wasn't. We should be so lucky.

How I spent my winter vacation

Well the holiday is winding down and I spent quite a bit of it complaining about the waves and all. But I have to remember that if I were a grom, this would have been the best winter break ever!

Their Christmas alone was a giant score.

There were some fun days at Cardiff.

And San O was a blast. Here is Logan on the wave in front and Lucas in the back.

This was cool. Here is Logan taking off on a wave with Joel Tudor and his kid Tosh. Tudor has his kid on this 11 foot board and he takes off with him on his back and then lifts him over his head and puts him on the nose of his board.

In the end " The time you enjoyed wasted, is not wasted time" Betrand Russell

Can't. Take. Another. Day. Of. No. Waves.

Need swell Scotty

Pipeline

The Chantay's