Long time, no update...

I'm a slacker, I know it.
Since my last post I have moved back to the good ole east coast and managed to get bored already. I made one trip down to Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica only to arrive with a broken camera(so no posts here). Upon arrival my fave board broke too (as seen above). I did have a great time so I'm going back for a month! I'm leaving from Myrtle Beach Tuesday and flying to LA and staying overnight, mostly so I can grab a few surfboards from my apartment in Ventura. It looks like there will be some surf there though so I'll put on the old wetsuit one more time and try and go catch a few at either C-Street or down at County Line.
I'll be arriving in Costa Rica on Wednesday afternoon and staying the whole month at Vida Asana in Playa Hermosa. It's going to be a really fun month and a great first week since a lot of friends from Pawleys will be there as well! My camera is fixed and I plan on doing a lot of photography and trying to post here everyday so check back often!

Pura Vida!

Video update.

Just a little update via video. I haven't done one in a while. Also, shot a little video with my iphone this AM of the Ventura Overhead. Going to try and clean it up a little before posting so check back later.
Cheers!

"...Lost Art."

I had to go to the store and get some envelopes yesterday and right there in the office supply section of my Von's grocery store was a twelve pack of assorted color Sharpie markers. If you saw the post below of all my surfboards you can see they are mostly pretty plain, lacking any kind of color except for maybe the logos.
Below is my first attempt to "spruce-up" my quiver. I'm quite happy with the outcome. I didn't do any "original art" but just filled in the black and white logos already there. I'm planning on getting a bit more creative for the next one but so far I'm pretty pleased.
Cheers!

                                                     This is how the logos looked before.

I started with the fish logo, it looked like a Mahi so I colored him likewise.

I'm rather proud of the addition of the bloodshot eyes!

I think it matches my new blue fins quite nicely! haha

I stuck with the same colors for the ...lost logos.

I'm not sure how Sharpie ink will hold up to the water but we'll see...

New plans!

So you guys may remember a while back Ike and I were planning on going to Barbados during his spring break. Ike ended up bailing out on me because he wanted to go skiing instead. Well, we came up with a compromise! Ike is going to fly out here to Cali next Friday allowing me to be SoCal tour guide which I'm dying to do!
 We are going to spend a couple of days here in Ventura surfing and seeing the sights. Hopefully the weather and swell will cooperate and we can get Ike on a decent wave either at Rincon or C-Street. He likes to longboard and C-Street is known as the second best longboard spot right behind Malibu. Arguably during the winter it is THE longboard spot in Cali since Malibu doesn't catch any northwest swell.
From here, we are going to head to Big Bear in the San Bernardino Mountains a couple of hours north of LA. The snow is supposed to be pretty good up there right now so hopefully it will stay that way till next week and we'll get some great conditions for skiing.
Lastly, from Big Bear we are going to head northeast through the Mojave Desert to "the party-boy's(Ike)" favorite place, Las Vegas! Party-boy will take over as tour guide from here to introduce me to the southwest's most infamous destination. Ike is going to then fly back to SC from Vegas on Thursday and I'm thinking about possibly driving back on a different route and seeing Death Valley and Sequoia National Parks but we'll see how the beginning of the week goes.
This looks to be a fun adventure and I'm looking forward to it for sure! We'll be sure to take lots of pictures and video and post'em here!
Cheers!

The pic below is of my Jeep's dash at 11 o'clock at night while driving though the Mojave last time! Now that's hot! I wonder how hot it was one the sun was up!?

Wanting to surf but can't so...pictures of surfboards!

I've been sick now for close to three weeks with both the H1N1 Flu and Bronchitis so I've been out of the water and stuck in the house for a while now! The waves have been great as of late to make it even harder on me. I am starting to feel better but not quite good enough to surf yet but it's definitely on my mind so I figured I'd take some time to show off my quiver and talk a little bit about surfboards. I have pics of just about all the boards I've bought since I really got back into surfing after college.

Before my trip last summer these were the boards I had. The WRV Flexlite(6'1''x 18-3/8"x 2") on the left was a new purchase for the trip. I rode this board about 75% of my time in Indonesia. The middle board is a (6'0''x18 1/4"x2 1/4'') Natural Art basic thruster and on the right is a (5'10"x18 1/4x 2 1/4") Sharp Eye with a wider nose and tail for smaller surf. The NA and Sharpeye were bought before a trip to Costa Rica and used there on a subsequent trip as well.

These are boards I currently have here at my apartment in Ventura. Having the Channel Islands Factory 15 minutes away makes finding the right boards pretty easy! From left to right are:

1. 5'11"x 18 1/4"x 2 3/16" Channel Islands Tangent. I picked this board up in Carlsbad before heading to Indo. My Natural Art above was sacrificed to get it. I rode this board the whole time in El Salvador. It's pretty much my go to board for good, solid surf. 

2. 5'9"x18 5/8"x 2 1/4 CI Flyer Quad. I ride this board the most out of all of em'. Quads work so well when you need to maintain down the line speed which works well at point breaks like Rincon and C-Street, especially when it's under chest high and a bit mushy.

3. 6'0'x 18 1/4"x 2 1/8" CI Fort Knox. This board is for the bigger days at places like Rincon and C-Street when a bit more length and a round pin help smooth out and increase hold when the swell is up.

4. 6'2' x 18 1/4" x 2 1/4" CI Step-up. This is my big boy board! I've only ridden it twice this winter but both times have been in double overhead surf at the Ventura Overhead. For bigger surf I like to keep my width and thickness the same but go longer with a more "pinny" tail for good hold. 

5. 6'3"x 18 1/2" x 2 1/4" Surfride Staple. This was was purchased in Carlsbad as well before going to Indo. I was looking for a step-up board but this was the best I could find on short notice. This is more of a regular shortboard for a bigger guy than me. I'll probably trade it in next time I get a new board.

6. 5'7"x19 3/8"x 2 1/4" Lost Round Nose Fish. My brother bought this and didn't really like it so I took it off his hands. This is my go-to beach-break board when it's under chest high. It catches waves easy and it's tons of fun.

These are my boards that are in Pawleys Island. It's nice having boards at home so I don't have to bring em back and forth all the time! From top to bottom are:

1. 4'9" x 22"ish x 1". Hyperlite Wake Surf Board. This thing is just a blast! When there's no surf just go in the boat and make your own!

2. 5'11" x 18 1/4' x 2 3/16" Lost WCT Model. When I was home over Christmas this winter I found myself planning a trip to Puerto Rico. With my boards back in Cali I bought this hoping it would perform like my CI Tangent; it's pretty darn close. Unfortunately this one wasn't glassed too well and looks like a golf ball after only a week. I traded in the Sharpeye on this one.

3. That's the same WRV from above. While I did ride it a lot in Indo I came to decide it was a bit thin and light for bigger surf. I also don't really like how much flex it has since it doesn't have a stringer.

4. 6'1 x 18 1/4x 2 1/4" 6Star Step-up. This one was also purchased for Puerto Rico. I only rode it one day but it goes really well. This will def be with me on my next trip to Indo!

5. 5'4 x 19 7/8"x 2 3/4" CI Biscuit. Short, stubby, thick and no rocker! The perfect Pawleys Island short board! So much fun! I got lucky finding this one. I wandered in to Wallerbears one day and this was $250 off! I couldn't pass it up!

My Jeep's "board holder".

Me and earthquakes...what gives??!

So it seems that earthquakes are following me around these days...Back in September of last year while I was in the Mentawai Island of Indonesia we experienced an earthquake which turned out to be the precursor to the big quake that struck Padang and leveled it at the beginning of October. Padang, notably was the place I stayed both before and after the Mentawais. The hotel I stayed in, The Spice Homestay was completely destroyed in the October quake. Pictured below is Spice after the quake.

Earlier this year I visited Puerto Rico which happens to be the neighboring island to Hispanola, half of which is known as Haiti. I was on the plane between PR and Florida when the Haiti quake happened. On my flight from Florida back to Myrtle Beach, there were a dozen or so people who had left Haiti that day! The person sitting next to me was a Haitian kid on his way back to college in Boston. He had spoken to his mother immediately after the quake but his father was still missing. He was very worried to say the least.

And now today, a 5.9 quake has been reported off the coast of Northern California. You might point out that I live in Ventura which is after all SOUTHERN California but guess where I was this weekend....San Francisco! A coincidence? I sure hope so!

On a separate note I have to say thanks to Morgan my newest "follower". She wrote me a told me how much she enjoyed the blog and had some great recommendations for me going forward. I intend to take her advice because she really had some great ideas! So, thanks Morgan!

Calling all travelers!

So...I was planning on going to Barbados the first week of March but my travel companion to be has decided he'd rather go somewhere cold and snowy than warm and "waved". I find this unacceptable and refuse to spend my money being bundled up! Boardies and sunscreen is more my speed these days so, if anyone is interested in getting a trip together, holler! I'm not dead set on Barbados, I'll consider Hawaii, Mexico, or anywhere I haven't been yet(I like new places)!

                                Come on, you know it'd be fun!! Let's go find a few of these!!

CHEERS!