Saturday, May 24, 2008
May 17
Went surfing at Sano again on May 17. It was crowded so we had to wait for almost an hour. The water was really nice and warm. I did not even have to wear my wetsuit. Wished the waves were a little bit bigger but I had some fun so it's alright. Here are couple pictures of me, riding a small one.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Foyld's silky pillow cases
Foyld is a nice old man. I met Foyld a few weeks ago, when I was at San' O, getting ready to surf. I saw this old guy, walking up the beach, carrying this huge long board with him. The board towered over him and he is not that small, maybe around 5'9" or 5'10". He looks like he is 65 years old, a bit balded but still have some hair left. Looked just like your good old grandpa, minus the big beer belly. I walked by and said hi. He gave me a happy surfer smile and we started talking. I found out his surfboard is 11 foot long. Mine is only 9 and I thought my board was a boat already. He said he used to surf on a 9 foot longboard. As he got older, he does not paddle as good anymore so he switched over to a 10 foot long and now he is a on his 11 foot baby. But still surfing.
He said he is from sunny beautiful San Diego. I asked when he started surfing and he said he started when he was 6 or 7 years old and he is now 68. That means he start surfing when it was 1940! Wow, even before the war. He said back then, people did not have surfboard like we all do now. So they would go to the beach, carry a bunch of long silk pillow cases. They hold the pillow cases opened, ran against the wind, try to trap as much air as they could, tied them up and tossed the air packed cases over the incoming waves. Then they all jumped into the water, each grabbed a pillow case, wrapped it around their chest and start riding the waves. Just like bogey boarding we do now. So they rode silky pillow cases on beach breaks, cool! Each incoming wave would pick them up and plunged them straight down into the sand. They would tumbling head down, rolled around in the water, got up, shake the sand out of their hair, their nose, their ears and proceed to get right back to ocean to catch another one!
We started talking about surfboards and glass and epoxy and carbon fiber..So he said, back then, they did not have that many choices. He said people surfed on long balsa wooden boards that weighted a ton. When his brothers came home from the war, a few years later foam boards came out and it was a big deal. They all got foam surfboards and that's when he started got seriously into surfing. And it has been a non stop journey. At that point, I was itching to get in the water so I said goodbye to Foyld. I walked away, headed down the beach. I turned my head around, there he was, standing, watching the people catching waves, smiling happy face. I looked at him again and thought to myself, man, what a nice man and a great surfing history. You know, I really hope that I will be healthy and able to surf like Foyld when I am 68. Long live surfing.
He said he is from sunny beautiful San Diego. I asked when he started surfing and he said he started when he was 6 or 7 years old and he is now 68. That means he start surfing when it was 1940! Wow, even before the war. He said back then, people did not have surfboard like we all do now. So they would go to the beach, carry a bunch of long silk pillow cases. They hold the pillow cases opened, ran against the wind, try to trap as much air as they could, tied them up and tossed the air packed cases over the incoming waves. Then they all jumped into the water, each grabbed a pillow case, wrapped it around their chest and start riding the waves. Just like bogey boarding we do now. So they rode silky pillow cases on beach breaks, cool! Each incoming wave would pick them up and plunged them straight down into the sand. They would tumbling head down, rolled around in the water, got up, shake the sand out of their hair, their nose, their ears and proceed to get right back to ocean to catch another one!
We started talking about surfboards and glass and epoxy and carbon fiber..So he said, back then, they did not have that many choices. He said people surfed on long balsa wooden boards that weighted a ton. When his brothers came home from the war, a few years later foam boards came out and it was a big deal. They all got foam surfboards and that's when he started got seriously into surfing. And it has been a non stop journey. At that point, I was itching to get in the water so I said goodbye to Foyld. I walked away, headed down the beach. I turned my head around, there he was, standing, watching the people catching waves, smiling happy face. I looked at him again and thought to myself, man, what a nice man and a great surfing history. You know, I really hope that I will be healthy and able to surf like Foyld when I am 68. Long live surfing.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Too much fun...
Do you feel like sometimes you just had too much fun and now you are paying for it. That's how I feel right now. I went surfing for 3 days in a row and my poor body is aching all over. I walked around like an old man, slumping my shoulders, every muscles is sored and can barely keep my eyes open. I guess I am paying for all the fun I had in the last 3 days. You see, I went surfing on Friday afternoon. And I went again yesterday and this morning, I went one more time. Crazy me, but I could not help it. I woke up this morning, my body was already tired. The sky is totally overcast. The air is cold, and it was misting a bit on my windshield. But I still picked up my wetsuit, my new board and head straight to San' O. There is an urge to hit the water, to catch the waves, to splash that cold water over my face, and TO CATCH THAT PERFECT WAVE. How can you describe it? Only a surfer knows the feeling.
It was a bit cold at first but after 5 minutes paddling, I could feel it no more. I guess I either got used to it or my hands just went numb :-) The first wave came when I hit the line up and I took off immediately. I am going to call my Walden stick the "first wave" board because you can catch and ride the first wave everytime. This puppy is so fast and so responsive, even though it is 9'6" long. I can walk up and down the board, take a step back to make a quick turn or lean on one side to make a long easy left or right. Whatever I wished, the board just obeyed my commands. Comparing this board with my other boards, it rides like a sport car, while the others feels like a lumbering truck. I love this baby.
The surf today is not on the big side. It has been like this for the whole weekend. We are getting 2, 3 feet waves and there was long lull in between. That's alright though because I need to catch my breath. After I surfed for about half an hour, there were a couple people came out doing tadem surfing. I think they are husband and wife team, paddling out on some huge standup board. The gal is lying down up front of the board and the guy was in the back of her, both of them paddling away. It looks funny because it looked kind of like ... well let's not go there... Actually it is always fun watching people doing tadem surfing. When they catch a wave, the guy usually pick the girl up, lift her over his head. She spread her amrs and legs out like a ballet dancer. The guy turns her around, sometine he turn a 360 on the board himself while holding her up. All that while balancing on a surf board, manuvering, dodging other surfers, very amazing feast. Oh, there was one big dude paddled out on a huge 12'1" long board. The reason I know that because one guy asked him how big the board was when he was passing by. I guess he will catch any wave of the day with that big yatch. Too big for me.
I caught some pretty good waves and got wiped out bad a couple time on some of the bigger ones of the day. I think I was getting tired and sloppy. Anyhow, I caught a nice one way out. I saw it was coming so I turned my board around, leaned forwarded a bit on it and started paddling. I could hear the wave roaring in the back, and it came rushing in, picking me up. I leaned forward a bit more, paddled hard and zoom!, took off in a blink of an eye. I first rode it straight in, then leaned left, bouncing up and down on the wave, almost lost my balance. So I pulled back, leaned right, trying to catch the crest of the wave. Got it, bent down on my knee, tucked in for speed and shredding down the face of the wave. I turned more to the right, going forty five degree for the long ride. So I rode it all the way in, totally stoked. It was a good day at the beach. And a bad day at home. Oh my tired old man body...
(Can't wait til next weekend to do this all over again!)
It was a bit cold at first but after 5 minutes paddling, I could feel it no more. I guess I either got used to it or my hands just went numb :-) The first wave came when I hit the line up and I took off immediately. I am going to call my Walden stick the "first wave" board because you can catch and ride the first wave everytime. This puppy is so fast and so responsive, even though it is 9'6" long. I can walk up and down the board, take a step back to make a quick turn or lean on one side to make a long easy left or right. Whatever I wished, the board just obeyed my commands. Comparing this board with my other boards, it rides like a sport car, while the others feels like a lumbering truck. I love this baby.
The surf today is not on the big side. It has been like this for the whole weekend. We are getting 2, 3 feet waves and there was long lull in between. That's alright though because I need to catch my breath. After I surfed for about half an hour, there were a couple people came out doing tadem surfing. I think they are husband and wife team, paddling out on some huge standup board. The gal is lying down up front of the board and the guy was in the back of her, both of them paddling away. It looks funny because it looked kind of like ... well let's not go there... Actually it is always fun watching people doing tadem surfing. When they catch a wave, the guy usually pick the girl up, lift her over his head. She spread her amrs and legs out like a ballet dancer. The guy turns her around, sometine he turn a 360 on the board himself while holding her up. All that while balancing on a surf board, manuvering, dodging other surfers, very amazing feast. Oh, there was one big dude paddled out on a huge 12'1" long board. The reason I know that because one guy asked him how big the board was when he was passing by. I guess he will catch any wave of the day with that big yatch. Too big for me.
I caught some pretty good waves and got wiped out bad a couple time on some of the bigger ones of the day. I think I was getting tired and sloppy. Anyhow, I caught a nice one way out. I saw it was coming so I turned my board around, leaned forwarded a bit on it and started paddling. I could hear the wave roaring in the back, and it came rushing in, picking me up. I leaned forward a bit more, paddled hard and zoom!, took off in a blink of an eye. I first rode it straight in, then leaned left, bouncing up and down on the wave, almost lost my balance. So I pulled back, leaned right, trying to catch the crest of the wave. Got it, bent down on my knee, tucked in for speed and shredding down the face of the wave. I turned more to the right, going forty five degree for the long ride. So I rode it all the way in, totally stoked. It was a good day at the beach. And a bad day at home. Oh my tired old man body...
(Can't wait til next weekend to do this all over again!)
Saturday, May 10, 2008
My New Toy
Did I say I am getting a new surfboard? Yeah, just went pick it up this morning. Took an hour scenic drive to San Diego. I drove on 5 South and see waves breaking on the ocean, near by Camp Pendleton. Just told myself, it is going to be a fine day to surf. I bought the board from the UCSD's Muir Surf and Skate shop and the guy who runs the shop there is really nice. He forgot he ordered a Walden for me and was suprise to see the brand name on it. It supposed to be a really good brand. He even helped me put the fins on and waxed it for me. He suggested that I try it out across the street on Black Beach, 7 minutes walk away . He offered to loan me a wetsuit and a leash too but I got all that with me in my little Prius so I gracefully declined it. Yep, I put on my wetsuit, carry my spankingly new board across the street to the beach, thinking it is a piece of cake 7 minutes walk like I was told. Dude, it was more like half a mile down the long cliff while carryin my 9'6" longboard. Well I finally made it. It is an awesome, gorgeous looking beach with tall cliff on one side and ocean on the other. Beautiful, multi-million dollars mansions lined the cliff side. The perfect blue sky is dotted with colorful hanggliders and parasailers, gliding around like flocks of sea gulls on the windy Torrey Pine cliff. What an beautiful sight. I wished I had a camera with me. Next time, but you can enjoy this picture I downloaded from the web.
Black Beach
I hit the water with my new stick and you know what, I caught the first wave right away. And a second and third. Wow, what an awesome board. It really makes me look good since I think I am just so so in my ability. The guys on the short boards near by kept jealously looking at me since I kept catching waves and ride. So good for the start because after that, the waves begun to get choppy and sectioned. It was hard to catch a good one. I ventured out trying to catch some big ones but they drizzled out before coming any closer. I made a mistake went back in too close to the beach and get pounded by the beach breaks. It sucks to get pounded and tumbled around. I stick around for a while, trying to catch another ride but the condition did not improve. I called it a day and paddled in. Got a so so wave to glide me back in to the sandy beach. Now I have to carry my longboard up the steep slope half mile to my car. Just said it took a while and my legs was burning. I drove back to OC uneventfully.
I hit the water with my new stick and you know what, I caught the first wave right away. And a second and third. Wow, what an awesome board. It really makes me look good since I think I am just so so in my ability. The guys on the short boards near by kept jealously looking at me since I kept catching waves and ride. So good for the start because after that, the waves begun to get choppy and sectioned. It was hard to catch a good one. I ventured out trying to catch some big ones but they drizzled out before coming any closer. I made a mistake went back in too close to the beach and get pounded by the beach breaks. It sucks to get pounded and tumbled around. I stick around for a while, trying to catch another ride but the condition did not improve. I called it a day and paddled in. Got a so so wave to glide me back in to the sandy beach. Now I have to carry my longboard up the steep slope half mile to my car. Just said it took a while and my legs was burning. I drove back to OC uneventfully.
That's was it. Just a small day but got to check out my new stick. Got a few pix here to share with you. The board is concaved in in the underside upfront to help with your nose riding. The rail in the back is tucked in, V shaped to allow you to make quick turns. You can kind of see the contour of the rail on the underside pictures. Did I mention it was very easy to paddle too? Great board. Love it.
The tail end
Friday, May 9, 2008
San Onofre, May 9, 2008
Went surfing afterwork today. I got stuck in the office most of the week, yuk! Too much work to go surfing until today. I got to San Onorfe beach around 4:30 pm. Not too many people surfing today. May be around 20, 30 at most. The weather was quite cloudy today. It is the middle of May but the sky looks like one of those ugly winter days. It is on the cool side, air temperature was about 66 degree F, water was about 61 degree F. It was cloudy so it looks colder than it was. Surf was only 2, 3 feet tall. A bit weak and slow. I caught a couple good ones when I first got in the water, but after that I had to sit and wait for a while. One of those slow day. But a day surfing is better than a day working, although I wished I get paid surfing. Of course not!
I got bored and cold after an hour so I went in. Took a shower and hang around the beach, watching others catching waves. I took some pictures with my cell phone camera. They are not that great since there wasn't enough light but I don't wanna to delete them. Just post them here so may be one day I can compare them when I have pictures I will take on a better day. I know tomorrow it will be pack here since it will be Saturday and the surf is going be good. Can't wait til I get my hand on my new surfboard tomorrow. Good night my friend.
Old Man Beach, San Onorfe. If you look close enough, the two SCE nuclear power domes are on the far side of the picure. May be that's why the water was glowing ;-) Haha, not really :-)
Sunset on San' O
Lone surfer on this one wave
My little Prius. I love this puppy. Go green, baby.
I got bored and cold after an hour so I went in. Took a shower and hang around the beach, watching others catching waves. I took some pictures with my cell phone camera. They are not that great since there wasn't enough light but I don't wanna to delete them. Just post them here so may be one day I can compare them when I have pictures I will take on a better day. I know tomorrow it will be pack here since it will be Saturday and the surf is going be good. Can't wait til I get my hand on my new surfboard tomorrow. Good night my friend.
Old Man Beach, San Onorfe. If you look close enough, the two SCE nuclear power domes are on the far side of the picure. May be that's why the water was glowing ;-) Haha, not really :-)
Sunset on San' O
Lone surfer on this one wave
My little Prius. I love this puppy. Go green, baby.Thursday, May 8, 2008
Getting Started
Welcome. This is my first ever blog. Just want to blog my random thoughts about taichi, chigong, aikido, martial arts, surfing, life and whatever came to my mind at the moment. Well, not much right now but it's a start. Thank you for stopping by. Have a good one.
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