It's been a great summer hasn't it?! Up here in foggy Pacifica it's been nothing like it's usual self. The sun's been out, there's been plenty of swell, and people are wearing 2mm wetsuits and surfing for hours! But before you start thinking about coming up here to surf you should know that these are the types of waves we consider fun, notice how it's closeout hit after closeout hit? I would kill to get two good sections to bash on one wave. Since nobody's gonna send me anywhere i gotta make do with we got.... and i've been squeezing the crap out of those lemons to make lemonade!
-TPayne
Waiting for a south swell to go surf Lowers and pick up some fresh boards.
Don't you kinda feel like superman when you get to surf without a wetsuit?! I love it! I don't even care if it's not that warm by most people's standards, I'm all over it. I just went on another quick trip down south to get some new boards and score a little bit of south swell at trestles. I was the only one wearing trunks for sure! i'd say 80% of the people out had full suits on and the other 20% with a short sleeve suit.
The surf was really fun, way better than anything around here during the summer. And the boards are sick as usual, I'm gonna go see if i can't do some artwork on my board that doesn't look like one of Julian Wilson's boards.. you know those bold multi-shaped colors running along the lower side of the board? Why does everyone copy each others sprays, i don't get it. Anyway check out some quick shots and I'm gonna go tear a page out of a Surfer mag with my favorite surfer and try my best to make my board look exactly the same.
Peace,
TPayne
Here's a few clips from a session that went down a little while ago. I know i forced the shit out of that first little air, but whatever.. a few throw away clips to check out. I've been surfing everyday lately, if not twice a day, so I've been pretty busy with dawn patrols down the coast. Haven't surfed my home breaks in like two weeks. The sun has been shining a lot so i've been able to push aside my fear of sharks and seals, and scored a lot of really good, uncrowded waves. The surf has been super fun and clean, lots of south swells creeping up. Hopefully it won't stop!
TPayne
They're fun to ride, but you wouldn't want your friends to see
Lots and lots of windswell these days! Surf hasn't been doing a whole lot lately. Don't get a lot of south swell up here so we have just been getting the most out of this constant nine-second interval crap! Every day for the last 10 days or so has been waist- to head-high onshore slop. You could be surfing every day of that, or not at all, and be fine with it. I've probably been skating more than I've been surfing, but still managed to get the hype up for a few fun sessions.
These are pictures of an average day of surf a couple days ago. I pulled the back fin out of my 5'7'' recently and it's just been ridiculously fun! It goes so fast down the line. You can do straight airs so easy on that thing, reverses are hard, though... once you kick the back foot out it just goes flying into the air. I recommend that everyone have some type of short fat board. It will guarantee you more water time out of the spring/summer.
TPayne
Me and my navigator/photo guy/ buddy Joey take a quick trip down to Southern California
Sometimes it's more about the journey than the destination. While some people say this after things don't work out so well on a surf trip, i decided that it would have to be the theme of this adventure given the amount of travel time.
I hooked up with my good pal Joey Hajnal (who works the camera), and we set out to do a quick, caffeine-filled, three-day road trip down California. We left from our hometown of Pacifica, in the Bay Area, all the way down to San Diego, a total distance of over 800 long, straight miles down the 5! The plan was to get some new boards from the Sharp Eye factory, and do a photo for the new Hurley website. I thought it was enough to get me down there, but the morning we left I called about my boards. I found out they wouldn't be done. Weak. I thought about it for a few hours, there was a little bit of swell on the charts.. screw it, let's just go!
We had a lot of fun, though. We got to hang out in Encinitas while we were there and surf some great little waves. The water is just so nice compared to home. Every time I go down there I'm so amped to surf even if it's one-foot crap. Joey was pumped too, it was his first time surfing anywhere south of Santa Cruz! We also went to the Hurley headquarters and got to check out the skatepark. It was sick! just huge vert ramps surrounding a big hubba with a steep quarterpipe on the other side. We got to shred it for a bit, i was pretty stoked on my noseslide! We both agreed the trip was worth it right there!
We really only got one full day to hang out down south, but we made it happen and had a killer time. As for now the boards are done, so i'll be looking at the swell for another excuse to go down there. Expect another road trip story soon!
Peace
TPayne
