who here has been surfing this week?

Really fun session last night. Walked out and it was one of the local regular's birthday on the beach. Excellent vibes all around.

I paddle out an start catching waves. Maybe my 5th wave or so I drop into a walled up left. One pump to get some speed, grab rail and angle my LB down for a nice little cover up. I come flying out and over the back.

The wave was cool but the best part was my bud on the beach coming out and saying my wave looked so good he had to come back out and try to snag one. On the drive home I was thinking about how gratifying it is to get a compliment from an older dude who has surfed longer and surfs better than you. After surfing for so long there only about a handful of waves I can pick out and actually remember the ride, but when someone takes the time to compliment one of my waves I never forget it.

Got home and the wifey pulled the bones from a rotisserie chicken out of the freezer. While she was prepping the pressure cooker I went out to the garden to grab some aromatics; parsley, rosemary, and basil. 45 minutes later we had steaming hot chicken, veggie, and rice soup. Topped it with some pecorino of course.

 

i couldn't wait til lunch today. it cleaned up since dawn. Chest to shoulder hi. Long paddle out by the pier, guess we're still getting king tides or sumtin. lil drift, but even a btch getting back to the beach. Some solid rides. Got a buddy running by in an hour for the lunch sess, gonna be good

 

same size as earlier, easier paddle out at Washout. had only a handful of rides in the hour but they were nice rides to cutback and chase down the line. Broke a bit weird, got used to sitting a lil in the inside. Took the 6'4 Alchemist, forgot i had the twin set up, but it worked out. Last ride was a beaut, 3 cutbacks and chasing all the way to shore. Great way to finish out probably for the day

 

Had a great trip to Mexico saw some great waves but only rode the ones I was capable of riding. Flew out of Orlando went through Dallas and connected in Mexico City to a flight to oxico h u x Airport we were able to rent a car there and drive into zipolite. Solid surf the whole time I was there . easy walk to everything and stayed right on the beach .found the break that best suited my needs rented a board and had a blast. It's a quiet little surf town and super friendly people. You could literally walk to any break you wanted to for your skill level. Lunch was an average cost of $6 dinners for an average cost of 10 to $12 and we stayed like I said right on the beach for $22 a night. We didn't have air conditioning and I thought that would be a problem but it was not a problem at all the breeze was consistent in the temperatures were moderate in the evenings. The water was warm I would say about 86 degrees. The travel was easy if anybody's looking to go somewhere and I've heard bad stories about Mexico I would say give it a shot and you'll be as impressed as I was to the kindness of the people and how accommodating they were

 

Had a good day, checked it early and saw potential, but wanted to wait to see if it picked up. Took a long walk in the woods, found some Chicken of the Woods (I am a reborn mushroomer) and a well in the middle of the woods that was weird, almost stepped in it. You find some funny sh!t off the beaten path. Checked the surf again around 2 and saw a couple guys I knew trading waves, no one else, hauled ass home, suited up, and when I was walking down the rocks they were getting out. It was super foggy, about waist to chest, super clean, and I was the only one out. I had a blast, but it was a little creepy being the only one out. Twice I got creeped out with big schools of baitfish surrounding me and the water boiling. I get home, turn on the news, and there was a story about a tagged great white located right at the Point I was at. It was even meant to be a warning for surfers, lol. Yeah, no one out, no one on the cliff, tons of activity in the water, glad I still have all my finders and toes.
My buddy went clamming yesterday, gave me a dozen or so cherry stones, I have them in the pan with a couple of big tomatos, an old zuchinni I needed to cook, a big onion, and some of the Chicken of the Woods mushrooms. I'm about to throw in some cooked angel hair into the pan.
As far as wild mushrooms, I would never ever try anything that hasn't been ok'ed by my buddy, who has been doing it for almost 70 years.

 

Better have him tutor you now, brother... don't want to let all that knowledge go to the grave with him. My son's been killing it lately on the shroom front. He scored a full, packed quart container of hedgehog mushrooms the other day. So last night I made pasta with mushroom sauce... the base being homemade pheasant stock... with wilted fresh spinach, organic chicken breast, and a touch of cream. I can tell you now that I have a new favorite mushroom.

 

Swell starting to show some energy , 10 sec at 3.6 ft , water temps 65 plus

 

Instantly thought of dat Arizona bouy from North Shore seeing those pics, curl. Seen bigger ripples in my toilet. Got a lil breezy today, went down to 6th E. Had long soft rides about chest hi. Conditions were perfect and a bit of south drift, but the rides were long 60 yarders. Had some fun in the midlength angulo boart. Tomorrow may be the last of it for us in South Carolina

 

Lol , NJ wave pool ! Meanwhile , 13 sec, 6 ft sets , and light winds for the opening session

 

Tide dropping and wind on-shore by the time I got up there. Very crowded.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGq830xpsv0/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGq9B1HJTFF/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

 

Glassy peaks yesterday in blackout fog conditions. Zero wind and super thick fog made it a total trip. Sets were coming in around chest to even shoulder high, but inconsistent and weak for it's size. Still fun though...

 

Lost count of all the sessions this week. We're having a great run.

Another kind of mixed up session last night but there was plenty of swell in the water and thin crowds. Def getting my workout with the never ending N to S drift. Down 20+ pounds since the pandemic started. I swear it's because I'm not eating Krispy Kreams 3 times a week, because I'm surfing the pretty much the exact same amount as before.

Toughest part of this weekend is deciding where to surf!

 

Went up and watched my son's high school surf contest this afternoon. This shot is from his longboard heat. No exit but it was a great ride. Just making the steep drop on this one on a 9'2 was an accomplishment.

 

Great run of swell... not as big as anticipated, but still great.

Crowded yesterday at that famous East swell spot. Paddled up the beach to another sandbar and got lots of good, fast waves. Shortboart.

 

Third session in as many days of this ESE groundswell. Sun even came out for a bit.

 

My kid called yesterday and asked if I can get her, it was her moms weekend but she wanted some extra time with me, so I hit up the one spot out of the wind with everyone else (yesterday) and was able to scratch out 2 waves in about 45 minutes before the drive north to get her.
We went for a drive around 10 30 am today and it was absolutely beautiful conditions at multiple spots. I was a little jelly but with the great weather and being a weekend the crowds were as bad as I've seen them. Parking was crazy. I saw a couple locals who were a little stressed with the amount of people out, especially out of towners. What can you do.
Anyways, I had fun taking pics and walks with the kiddo this morning, all love, no stress.

 

Not as much size as expected from Epsilon, but today the wind got perfect and Delmarva just got pristine. Long period lines roping down a perfect sandbar.