Sacred Craft

Interesting afternoon in Ventura checking out the latest and greatest on offer at Sacred Craft.  I was really excited to see Gerry Lopez mow some foam and tried to get a decent spot to view him in the booth along with all the others.  It was somewhat anti-climactic when he showed up with a computer shaped blank.  I know he doesn't have to prove his skills to anyone but it sure woulda been nice to see him create a board start to finish.  I was really impressed with Wayne Rich but would be amazed if he shaped his production boards in the same way as he did at the show.  He was very meticulous and his John Bradbury replica turned out beautiful.  Kinda strange that they have Firewire and Surftech showing boards.  Seems like they've let the wolf into the chicken coop there.  A celebration of hand shaped surfboards right.  Why are the pop-outs there???

Afternoon surf's are good...

We've had a nice run of small combo swells the past week.  Unfortunately we've also been plagued with Catalina Eddy morning's.  South winds don't do Southern California waves many favors.  We had a couple of mornings with a mid morning clean up, but better than that we've had some really fun late afternoon sessions with that beautiful California glass-off.  

Dog Beach

Ran Shackleton down to the dog beach and he was loving it.  Running with his favorite toy and showing off to all the other dogs.  I tossed his ball out to sea a few times and he swam right out there to bring it back in.  I decided to really heave it out there and gave it my best throw and ended up with the rope still in my hand and the ball about 40 yards out.  Shackleton raced out after it while I thought about the consequences.  As soon as he reached the ball he tried to grab the rope in his mouth, of course without any success.  He kept at it all the while pushing the ball further out to sea.  Meanwhile I was taking off my shirt and shoes and swimming out to get to him before he made his way to Catalina.  He was pretty far out by the time I reached him and I could tell he was tripping out that he couldn't grab the ball.  I threw the ball towards shore and he kept after it.  Chilly and wet drive home...

Springtime Lowers

Winter has passed us by with hardly a whisper of Aleutian juice...  Fortunately we can always count on Lowers consistency with swells approaching from the south.

V-Land

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Had a really great surf this morning with a rising WNW swell hitting
V-Land. Clean trade conditions and not too many people out gave us plenty of waves until the inevitable rush of people. Once word gets out that V-Land is working people come out of the woodwork looking for those perfect hot dog waves. After a few hours the swell outgrew the reef and most sets started to wash through sending us in for lunch.

Haleiwa

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

The North Shore has been described to me by more than one local as a place of Heaven and Hell. Here, in one day you can experience the most amazing waves of your life, and the worst wipeouts you can imagine. You will meet the friendliest people sharing their lovely Aloha spirit, along with some of the dregs of society that find their way here. It truly is a place of extremes. While picking up some Bulgar wheat in Celestial Natural Foods this morning, a guy stumbles in carrying a twelve pack of Heineken's in each hand. He approaches the sales girl to ask if they have any cigarettes for sale. She politely explained that he was in a "Health" Food store therefore they didn't carry cancer sticks.  After he grumbled something unintelligible and left, she looked over at us and giggled a little, somewhat bemused by the guys question. This was at about 9am so he must've thought he was in 7-11...

Rocky Point

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

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HIC Pipe Contest

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

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Grifta 2

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Here's my first pass with the planer on the bottom of the Grifter. Luckily I have Rich to cover up most of my mistakes... Above are a few more photos of the shaping process along with our finished board.

Canyon Shaping

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Rich has been teaching me how to shape in his Canyon Shaping bay. We've been inspired by a board that has recently passed on into Surfboard Valhalla. Terry Fitzgeralds "Drifter" model that was featured in The Surfer's Journal. Rich's walking me through the outline process taught to him by Mungall. We're taking turns with the planer with Rich doing his best to patch up my heavy-handed mistakes. Sure has been a lot of fun though!

Winter South Swell

We drove in early and found luck with our secret parking spot. Stoked! After a quick 10 minute walk, we were staring at wave after wave spiraling down the point at Lowers. With only a handful of guys out in the pre-dawn light Rich and I suited up and after a quick stretch sprinted out to the peak. When south swells hit this time of the year in California you can sometimes surf Lowers without the normal frothing masses clogging the line-up. I think the temperature might have helped. With air temps in the mid 40's and the water in the mid 50's, I heard more than one guy say they hit snooze on their alarm this morning. At one point there were only 6 of us in the water with plenty of overhead offshore waves coming through. Leaving when the late morning crew began to show I saw Jordy Smith absolutely wreak havoc on a left with two gumby flex upside down snaps. Time for breakfast...

Strand

Some fun surf at my favorite California beachbreak.  Perfect overhead A-frame peaks all morning long.  

Moss Landing

The surf was firing upon arrival at Moss.  After watching an unruly swell pound my usual spots in Big Sur, it was a relief to find such perfect offshore peaks in Monterey Bay.  Rich was up to his usual antics pulling into some big barrels testing the glass work of his guys from down south.  We were pretty stoked to scratch outside, catch a few waves with only a handful of others out and make it back in without any broken boards or bodies.  

 originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Malibu Fire season

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Brush fires burning on the Sepulveda pass. The 405 has been closed in both directions!!! LA traffic nightmare scenario, but long period New Zealand swells love Malibu. We were approaching from the 10 anyways so we made the early morning run and found empty kiddy bowls. A long wait between sets but when they came through we had a chest-high speed wall to race.

Trestles - California

, originally uploaded by m_hagen.

Back home after 2 years and 3 months of non-stop travel.  First stop, after giving Mom a hug, was Lowers.   Luckily we returned to Autumn south swells and Santa Ana winds.  I have to admit that after so many out of the way waves it was really nice to paddle out to the lineup, say good morning to the same guys I've seen here for over 20 years and enjoy the familiarity of it all.  The waves are always best right at the crack of dawn 20 minutes before the sun, the same guys are always riding back up the trail giving me a report of the early , early pre-dawn, 3am - 6am surf, and old guys named Bob usually get the best waves of the day.  Oh yeah, and twin fins go unreal here!  

Good to be home...