Home!

Hi all, I just got home after four days of driving! I'll post later this week with pictures of the whole trip now that I'm home. Thanks to all who've been keeping up! Also, I'll detail plans for the next trip...looking like Hawaii between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but more later!

Seth

My favorites from Saturday.

I know the slideshow had a lot in it, so here are my favorites from Saturday. You should be able to click on each one and see a bigger version.

Dane Reynolds showing he's more than just an aerialist.
Rob Machado staying low, showing his perfect balance.
Josh Kerr with a big ole' boost. He came close but didn't manage to land this.
Adriano de Souza with a perfectly placed, super-fast, speeder off the top.
Kelly Slater, as always, perfectly positioned.

If there are any others from the slideshow you want to see the full version of holler!

Hurley Pro Highlights!

Let me know what you think! I spent a lot of time on this one!

Later,

Seth.

Forgot to mention the music, it is:

"Brooklyn is Burning" by Head Automatica

"C'mon C'mon" by The Von Bondies

Cheers!

Another fun day of surf!

I made it up to Rincon this AM and caught it great! Chest to head high, super glassy, and not too crowded. Still riding my new flyer quad which works great at the point breaks because its so fast down the line. I made some sections today that wouldn't have been as easy with my regular board. I also saw a seal today! It popped up about 20 feet from me, starred for a minute or so, and then dipped back under and disappeared. It was really cool to see!

The Hurley Pro took another lay day today so the final will def be tomorrow. I'm still debating on whether to go...I'll need to leave here around 4:30 for the two hour drive and the thirty minute walk from the parking lot down to lowers to make the 7am start. Sure would be cool to see the best in the world at such a rippable wave! If I make it I'll be sure to take a lot of pictures and post them here!

Have a great weekend!

Seth.

C-Street fun with Tim Curran!

Just got back from a fun morning surf at C-Street which is the point break here in Ventura. I got out there early enough before the crowd and the wind and got some good waves. I had my first pro spotting! Tim Curran paddled out about an hour after I got there and he was ripping for sure! I managed to get some good shots of him surfing and made a little video from it, enjoy!

As you can see the surf was fun! I'm hoping to go see the final of the Hurley contest at Trestles which will probably happen tomorrow. I was at Bestbuy yesterday looking at camcorders since I sold mine to Jay. I'm considering getting one before I go to Trestles, though I think the picture video turned out well! Let me know what you think! Leave a comment!

Later,

Seth

Update with lots of cool links!

I'm really enjoying Ventura! After my video yesterday I surfed for a couple of hours and decided to stay another night at The Inn by the Sea. The waves were waist to chest and super clean until the wind came up around 1130. The water is chilly here now and I decided this is as far north as I'm willing to surf. I really don't like water any colder than it is here(I'm wearing a fullsuit) so except for a possible trip up to Rincon, I'm going to keep round SoCal for a week or so.

After surfing I drove up north to Santa Barbara along the Pacific Coast Highway. This is possibly the most beautiful stretch of road I've ever seen! The road goes right along the beach and the views down to the beaches and points and further out to the Pacific are incredible! Looking inland, the beach is framed by mountains with picturesque hillside houses mixed in with vineyards and orchards and the occasional oil well-head.

My reason for visiting Santa Barbara was to go check out the Channel Island Surfboards flagship store. Channel Island Surfboards are one of the best known makers in the world. Shaper Al Merrick makes boards for the best surfers in the world including Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, and Dane Reynolds to name a few. All three are still in the hunt in the Hurley contest at Trestles this week, click here to watch the contest live. I wasn't planning on shopping but how can you resist so many shiny new toys?! I ended up grabbing a 5'9'' Flyer Quad which will definitely be useful since I didn't have a good smaller wave board with me.

I've taken a quick liking to the area and decided to spend a week here so I found a cottage to rent for the week on Vacation Rental by Owner(thanks Allison!) and I'm moving there this afternoon. It's basically a little pool house in someone's backyard but looks cool, check it out here. I'm hoping to be able to fully explore the area in the coming week and then start making my way back east. I'm thinking about drving down to Trestles to see the contest final so if I do I'll be sure and take the camera and get some pics!

Later,

Seth.

Back to it...

Gotta love Cali! Didn't have to wait for the surfshop to open, at the recommendation of a local I tried the liquor store(which was open before 9!) and got some wax! Headed to the surf! Later!

Home again, but already missin' the road!

Picture numero cinco.

Not many of the local surf but those who do usually rip! The local boys and a few girls as well know this wave well and it shows! One of the girls named Roxanne who works as a waitress at the hotel restaurant even gave it a go on a longboard while I was there. She managed to get a few waves one afternoon and had a big smile on her face the whole time! It's always special to be there when someone discovers a love for surfing, it's always easy to see when it happens!

Picture numero quatro.

Surfing isn't the only fun to be had in Las Flores. This group of Brazilian surfers took the afternoon off to catch dinner. They were quite proud of their catch as you can see! Click on the photo to see a full size version.

Picture numero tres.

This is one of my favorite shots from El Salvador.

Picture numero dos.

Most of the local seemed much more interested in soccer than surfing. On the weekends, field lines were drawn in the sand and goalpost erected from sticks and the games would go on all day. This group ignored the sand drawn sideline and took it to the water! So fun to watch kids having such a good time!

Picture numero uno.

This is the small village right by Las Flores Surf Club. If you saw the earlier pictures of the point, this village sits at the end of the rock pile of the point. This was the general hang out spot in the afternoons especially. i finally figured out why I had so much trouble uploading the pics and it is because of the size...if you click on the photo, you can see it full size.

Not much happening here...

It's been pretty much flat here since Saturday and I've been less than enthused which is why the lack of updates. The next swell is set to arrive just as I depart on Friday, which is how it goes I guess! I've been spending the day relaxing and catching up on the happenings of the world and seeing to my lately ignored trading account(in regards to this, it was probably the best timing ever to be able to ignore considering the unstoppable advance in the world markets up until this week).

Luckily, the hotel has a guitar that was left by notable guest Donavan Frankenreiter. I have been playing in the evening while enjoying a few Pilseners(the local cervesa!) I'm sure Donavan in his expansive surf trip experience knew that leaving his guitar might very well save the sanity of a guest or two during flat spells! Thanks Donavan!!!!

All of the guests who were here when I arrived have now left, and some new guests have filtered in every day. The mood is pretty sour considering the lack of surf, it has been flat since all the new guests have gotten here. I keep trying to tell them that just one day of good waves will make the trip worth it and it will! When the point here is doing it's thing, it is the most fun wave I've surfed! It's one of those waves that make you feel like a better surfer than you are because you can really do like ten turns on one wave! I'm hoping for one more good session Friday AM before heading to the airport. I've tried a few times to upload more pictures, but I keep getting error messages. I put a few on my FB page so you can check them there if you're interested!

I'm really looking forward to getting home this weekend and spending the week in Pawleys. My drive home from LA that will take place from Sept 14th to the first of October is going to be interesting as well and I'm looking forward to that as well. I've met a few people here from the Pacific Northwest and thru talking to them, I have plenty of recommendations on places to go check out! I'm told it is possible to snowboard in the AM and surf in the afternoon in Oregon on the same day, so I'm strongly considering giving that a go, time permitting!

I realized another cool tidbit that I haven't shared but I doubt many people can say the same: In the third week of August I surfed in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans! I thin that's pretty cool!! Perhaps I need to try and get a session in somewhere in the Arctic Ocean. I think I'll need a more serious wetsuit than my 3/2!

Hope all is well and looking forward to seeing most of you this weekend!

Later,

Seth.