Other weekend happenings

No pictures on this post -

1. Saturday morning. It had been almost two weeks since I had been surfing - had to get out. Didn't want to pay for parking so I took the Walden SUP to the north jetty at Silver Strand. Pathetic surf (but that's what SUPs for eh?). Stayed out for a couple of hours and milked the place until the tide started to fill in again.

2. Saturday afternoon. I took the kids to the new "Pirate Park" at Oxnard Beach Park. Really neat playground sets (it's probably their 10th time there). Afterwards they demanded gummy bears for an afternoon snack - so we went to my office to raid the secret stash. Since we were there, I figured I'd get the two foamies ready for painting (so I can catch up to my students). Sanded the spackle off both boards with 240 screen and finished off with 400 over everything. I wore latex gloves the whole time - finger oils at this stage in the game start to show up and spoil everything. Finished off by taping the stringer and tracing a template for the bamboo veneer.

3. Sunday morning. Knowing it was high tide early this morning, I opted to take the 12'6" Racing SUP out to gets some mileage in as training for the upcoming events. There was some close period swell coming in from the NW (windswell) and some larger (shoulder high) longer period swell from the south. Not much wind at all but the swell made it interesting. I used my Greenough Stage 6 fin to see if that configuration made a difference in tracking. Saw all kinds of aquatic life - seals, sea lions, sardines (everywhere), pelican squadrons surfing the incoming swells (ground effect - awesome!), cormorants, and a few sea skimmers.

4. The family went to Roxbury's Diner for brunch. Pigged out - kanakattack hit at 1300 (food induced sleep coma).

Fun weekend!!!

Mountain and Sea

NOTE: "Pictures are in reverse order from the description"

Spent the morning in Ojai.

Nice farmers market!

Noe eating "See" food in Antonio's Mexican Restaurant. Mmmm, mmmmm!!!!

Then we went to Point Mugu Beach to fish and paddlesurf. Didn't even get a bite - not one. I'm starting to think it wasn't meant to be...

The ocean facing the south was nice and flat today. Still had to watch your back to make sure a sneaker set didn't get you - especially when ferrying young ones around.

I had to bribe my kids to go out with me on the paddleboard... they obviously didn't get the ocean-phillic gene from me.

Succulents

This plant is ubiquitous here in Southern California.

The DOT plants it all along the freeway system.

It grows all along the shoreline.

Developers plant it in neighborhoods.

This group was at the Oxnard Beach Park. The TEAM had it's annual Easter Party for the kids of the families at UCT TWO. We had a pretty good turnout and great weather. The flowers these plants put out have always mesmorized me - stringy petals and the vibrant purple and yellow contrasted by the green leaves - when you take the time to notice the little things around you, you suddenly realize just how much there is out there and how awesome it all is.

And I went SUPing - forgot the GoPro so no evidence. I brought the Naish 11'6" thinking La and maybe some others would give it a go, but alas it was me taking on the sea alone. At first it was ugly - it had been a while since I had this board out in sizable waves (Saturday was shoulder to head high - swell from the West). But by the time I was ready to call it quits for the day, I was paddling the board out through the breakers (standing up) and zooming into the steep beach breaking walls (and getting a few cutbacks with this ginormous board). The waves would have been easier to ride on the 9'6" Walden - but they were challenging and fun on the 11'6".

To be a good surfer - to me anyways - means you need to be able to adapt to changing conditions and equipment. I am a GOOD surfer!!!

Aloha!

Off to da'Aina

I'm going to Oahu to visit BRAVO as they continue work on a pier restoration project (jacketing piles).

Of course while I am there, I will have to pay Mother Ocean a courtesy call...

I'll blog again when I return.

In the meantime - La just finished her first 1/2 Marathon!!! Hooyah!

She was so giddy leading up to the start - she's definitely caught the bug.

You may be asking yourself "Why is Vic blogging about a marathon in his aquatics based discussion?" - if you aren't then use this pause to do so .....


Well the answer my friends is that this was the "Surf City Marathon" and the medals for finishing were tiny surfboard replicas!!!

There you go - more to come - keep having fun!!!

Commitment

I got this picture off the Patagonia website (credit to the photographer who took it, not me).

I have sold my prone paddleboards after realizing that my physiology is not that of a long distance prone paddler (I should have realized that a long time ago - that paddle out to "Threes" in Waikiki never made me happy) and moved on to Stand Up Paddling.

But look carefully at the picture. This is proof that the human spirit is a very powerful force. Life can be tough, cruel, unfair - stick your own synonym in the sentence, but it's how you deal with the situation you have before you that is the measure of your perception of the gift of life.

I wax prophetic... Go Out There!!!!