Surfing With Teri & Surf City Adventure Tours

Size Matters

2012-01-07T13:19:00.000-08:00

Pigeon Point, NorCal

Everybody knows: Size Does Matter! And anyone who tells you it doesn't... is lying.

HB Walls

The word on the street was that there was a big swell coming in. Yes, that is good news. But it also means that those of us who normally surf the wide open beach breaks of Huntington are gonna hafta find a new spot; cuz unless you like closed out walls, you're outta luck.

I checked the HB Pier. Nobody was out!! The waves were super walled and the current was unforgiving. I guess most guys decided it wasn't worth the effort. I had to agree.

I went south with the Adventure Tour crew; checking Newport, Crystal Cove, Laguna, then back to Newport...

It seemed like everyone from Huntington was surfing Newport. Which is why we tried checking some other spots, but Newps had the best wave around. I almost got skewered trying to paddle back out. The guy was taking off going right, but then changed his mind to go left. He didn't see me, so I yelled and he jumped over me. A near miss...

Newport: AKA: Zooport

Is that Obama in the green wetsuit?

Lots of people, but great waves!

Some of my more rugged friends went North. Paul Wall has been sending pictures, surfing his way to Mavericks.

Half Moon Bay

Steamers Lane, Santa Cruz

Open Ceremonies at Mavericks

Big Drop at Mavericks

Desi has been surfing Santa Barbara and La/Ventura County Line.

LA County

I just have a major aversion to cold and long drives, so I've been surfing the crowded conditions here in the OC. Maybe I'll go along for the good, uncrowded waves next time.

Teri

P.S. Thanks to Desi and Paul for keeping me up-to-date with pics and texts about how perfect the waves were up north. I hate you jerks!

Meet Pesce: My New Shaper

2012-01-03T12:28:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, everyone!! I'm sure you'll agree that the best way to start the new year is with a new board and great waves. But first the new board...

I'll tell you how it all went down: My friend Froggy sold me a killer Merrick board with a high performance shape... I love that board, but it's getting old and has some ding repairs that have kinda weighed it down. I heard (from several reliable sources) that Pesce is a magician when it comes to recreating a great shape.

Old vs New- L to R: old Merrick, new Pesce

He works at Huntington Surf and Sport, so it was easy to just stop by. I brought the Merrick and asked him to take a look at it, to see if it was possible. I also wanted to see if he could improve on the original shape, but opted not to ask, so not to overwhelm him on our first surfer/shaper interaction.

He said it would be no problem. So, he took my board, got some measurements and returned it a few days later. Nice!!

I was curious about the shaping process and the tools needed; plus, I love the smell of resin. So I asked if I could stop by the shaping room.

A busy shaper; boards and blanks everywhere!

What an experience; there was foam shavings (dust) all over everything! There was a special table, planer and forms used to create the rocker (the curve of the bottom of the board).

The rocker room

In another room there was a special stand to hold the board for fine tuning. It was fun to watch him using different sanding tools. While he worked he informed me that he had made a slight adjustment to the nose of the board so that I could paddle into waves easier. It's like he read my mind... Incredible!! (Especially since I couldn't put into words exactly what the board needed.)

Lots of sanding

We talked about color; something I hadn't thought of. Most of my boards are white. I looked around at the different colors sprayed on the wall from the airbrush; hoping something would catch my eye. Then I saw a sticker for Nose Guard. Ha! Pink and black! There it is!

I picked up the board a few weeks later. I was so excited and full of adrenaline I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience.

super stoked

Does it work??? Let me just say this; Froggy and I were surfing the south side on a super fast, hollow, sizable day... I caught a big one, made the drop, pulled in. Froggy (who was coming up fast behind me-we're cool like that) and I shared the best barrel of the day. He was howling and I was laughing. I don't think I would've pulled it off without my new Pesce board!!

If you need a new stick, talk to Pesce at HSS Main St.

Teri

P.S. The waves have been really good and are about to get better! High surf advisory on the horizon.

Best Christmas Ever!!

2011-12-25T20:33:00.000-08:00

Santa paddled out too!

What can I say? I am so spoiled. This year, I got everything I asked for and then some... My boyfriend, friends and family really stoked me out. Santa hooked me up too!

L to R: State beach pass, Cypher Heat Vest, HB city pass, FCS Nexus fins

L to R: O'neil Heat series booties, FCS leash, Medication DVD

Not only that, but the waves were going off today.

I'm gonna keep it short, cuz I have more Christmas-ing to do. I hope everyone is having a great holiday!

Teri

Happy Off-Shore Holidays!

2011-12-22T15:24:00.000-08:00

This is the light beginnings of the off-shore winds

I woke up early this morning and checked the surf as usual. There was no wind. Then, 5 minutes later it was blowing like crazy. It was like someone had turned on a fan. A super big-ass fan!! But, I had promised Paul Wall we would surf. On my way to the beach, I noticed the flags were blowing off shore!! But it was a super hard, super cold off-shore!! So cold!

The waves were great; the wind was holding them up, making them nice and hollow. The only problem was getting into them. The wind was blowing us out of them and we'd hafta take off blind cuz of the water being blown into our eyes as we dropped in.

We only lasted for about an hour. By then the tide drained out and our bits were frozen. The wind was now blowing even harder! We were stoked cuz we got some good waves. It was a fun, fun, fun session!

Can you see a guy in the barrel?

After surfing I ran into a friend who told me about a guy who got assault charges for fighting (over a wave). I guess he broke some kids' nose. Everyone needs to f-ing mellow out!! I'm sick of all the fighting/drama in the water. Ugh!

On a more positive note; I hope we all get new boards and some good waves for Christmas!!

P.S. Thanks to Paul Wall for the great pics!!
Teri

Home Sweet Huntington

2011-12-02T09:48:00.001-08:00

Nicaraguan Sand Dollars

We arrived home to find SoCal had been ravished by santa ana winds, so they said. Trees blown over in LA, leaves spinning on the pavement, air cold and dry, traffic, smog; home sweet home.
It's a bittersweet feeling...

I checked the surf report today. 2-3. It looked blown out, mushy, cold, and uneventful. Tom and I looked on as the guys on the south side paddled around looking for something surfable. It looked pretty unappetizing.

It's hard to put on a wetsuit for this!

I told Tom about my last couple of days in Nicaragua; the swell had finally arrived, but it was more walled than ever. The guys who pulled into the barrel weren't coming out. There was a bad rip and a backwash that caused the waves to quickly double up before the lip came crashing down onto the sandbar. Most guys were standing on the beach watching. Only a few paddled out. Most didn't make it to the outside.

I don't know what made me think I could surf these monsters, but it was the last day so I paddled out cuz it was my last chance at warm water surf. Tony and Barbara stood on shore and got a couple of pictures of the smaller in-between-sets waves I caught. The larger ones were pretty unmakeable. I tried to catch one, but it doubled up. I got caught in the lip, air dropped, and slammed down hard. I was held on the bottom for what felt like forever. It was pretty dark down there and I was scraping for the light above. When I came up gasping for breath, I was a little shook up. It was one of my worst wipe outs, ever.

No wonder all the guys were on the beach or had gone on boats to other breaks... I guess that's why there was only one other guy in the water. These waves were mean!!

Santa was on the beach checking out the surf. He took my order; new fcs fins, booties, leash... Peaky waves? Is that asking too much?

Super racy!! No cutbacks allowed!

A little left

When I saw the pictures, I was glad that something other than a severe beat down had come out of my last session; a couple pics.

My new friends. Cya next time!

Surfing & Adventure in Nicaragua!

2011-11-28T18:53:00.001-08:00

The last good wave...

When we arrived in Colorados it was overhead and I thought, "Wow! Nicaragua has waves all the time! Nice."

So much for size, but it's still offshore!

Well, the swell came and went. We got some good waves for about 3 days and then it was gone... The offshore afternoon sessions have been small but fun. Unfortunately, the mornings have had severe low tides and are totally drained out.

And hollow!

Every day somebody tells me the waves are coming tomorrow, but we're all still waiting for that magic swell to materialize.

On the bright side, there has been plenty of time to explore.

The clear path to Gigante on a low tide.

The other day we decided to take a walk to Gigante, the next beach over. We would have dinner at the restaurant Buena Vista. We were told it was a 45 minute walk if you take the mountain path and less if you go along the beach. The only problem is that the beach route is only passable if it is low tide and we were at a +10 high tide. We started our walk a little after 4pm, figuring we would safely arrived in Gigante by sunset at 5:30.

Ha!

The mountain path was basically an ant trail through the jungle and the directions we had gotten were less than accurate.

The jungle trail

But we were on an adventure!! So, we decided to wade through the rivers and blaze a trail if necessary. And we did!! We took some wrong turns and at one point the trail was blocked by a local with a machette who told us to turn back. (I was convinced he was a drug lord protecting his crops, but later found out he was fighting some real estate dispute. Boring!)

Beach Cows

When we finally emerged from the jungle onto the sand we were so relieved to see... cows on the beach? Hmmm.... We traversed the large beach mesmerized by the sunset and by the time we started up the next mountain path the sun was gone and it was starting to get dark. This "town" had no lights, or street signs. (In fact, I don't think they believe in street signs in this part of the world.)

I had to ask directions from a local woman who was carrying a 5 gallon bucket of water on her head. She told us to follow her and I offered to carry the water. It seemed like a polite thing to do. After about 5minutes she took it back. I think she was bummed cuz I wasn't carrying it right (I had it on my shoulder) and I accidentally let some spill.

By the time we reached the top of the mountain and Buena Vista "restaurant" it had started to pour. This place was basically the patio of a Nicaraguan family's house and they served food. The floor was dirt and the ceiling was made of palm fronds and leaking. But the father was a fisherman so the fish was fresh. The mother was a good cook and the portions were abundant. Who would dare complain about their kids, dogs, and the crabs crawling around our table?

Crabs make a great addition to restaurant decor

Buena Vista
It really had a great view!

When we finished dinner, the rain had stopped, but the dirt road down the mountain was slippery, dark, and too narrow for our taxi to come up. The owner of Buena Vista had to lead us down the mountain and through the river to the main part of "town" where our taxi could scoop us up. We rescued some other stranded gringos that had thought they could walk back in dark. What an adventure.

Nicaragua Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T19:23:00.001-08:00

Do we have enough boards?

The view from our room

Hello! Happy Thanksgiving from Nicaragua; where the water is warm, the waves are barreling, and it's offshore 300 days a year.

I'm conducting my first international Adventure Tour and it's been a blast. The long road to paradise was a little bumpy (literally). But we decided it was well worth it when we saw the over-head sets and offshore conditions. A busy day here is 15 guys in the line up...

My compadres; Tony and Barbara have spent some time in the water, but have enjoyed other activities as well. There is a private golf course, also the beach has lots of sea life and natural vegetation that makes it fun to explore. Barbara loves the geckos. Tony likes the beach at night cuz it is the best place to see Nicaragua's cornucopia of stars. We all love the monkeys. There were some howler monkeys eating leaves in the tree outside our place. When they get agitated or excited they howl like the monster on the Matterhorn ride at Disneyland. It's hard to believe such a hugh bellow can come out of such a small animal!

Here at Colorados the wave is mostly lefts with a few choice rights. I guess we arrived right on time, cuz it was flat for a week before we got here. (I just assumed it was perfect head high waves every day. I mean, it was like that the last time I was here 9 years ago)

So, the schedule (if you want to call it that) is: wake up, coffee, check waves, surf or have more coffee while waiting for tide then surf, after surfing lunch, check waves, surf, dinner, read book, sleep and dream about tomorrows waves...

The off shore conditions make it good and surfable all day, as long as the tides are right.

I think the swell is building. Some of the larger sets were double overhead this afternoon. I hope to get some good shots and good waves. I promise I will report again soon!!

Teri

90 foot wave in Portugal!

2011-11-10T08:00:00.001-08:00

I haven't been writing lately, cuz the waves have been going off. The conditions have been perfect, no wind. And the peaks.... Yummy! If you were there, you will forgive my absence.

But today, I sigh as I check the ankle slappers in my back yard. HB is flat.

Meanwhile, this big waves rider, Garrett MacNamara has just set a record. He surfed a 90ft giant at Praia do Norte, Portugal. The waves are created by a deep water canyon just off the coast. Atlantic swells are funneled through the canyon to create these huge waves.

Because of this incredible ride, "GMAC" is now a solid nominee for the Billabong XXL Biggest Wave Award, says surfline.

Stand Up Paddle Board World Tour

2011-09-29T18:47:00.000-07:00

If you've been to the Huntington Beach Pier lately you might have noticed a bunch of stand up paddle boarders milling around on the south side. Actually, they have totally taken over. I wasn't too surprised cuz I got a heads up from my friend Daniel Hughes.

I know that sometimes there are bad vibes between surfers and SUP riders, but Daniel is way cool. I've been surfing with him for the last week on the south side. Not only is he a super good surfer, but he is very conscious of wave etiquette in the water. If there was a peak and we were both paddling for it, he would say, "I'll go right!" giving me the left. Very cool; cuz, as you know, a paddleboarder can catch pretty much anything...

In Hawaii they call them sweepers.

Yesterday, I took a break from my session to watch his heat. He killed it! Today, he told me he will continue to advance. Tomorrow he will be surfing in the "wild card" heat. Most of the guys competing are already in the world tour, but Daniel is a HB guy and has not been on the tour, so he has to qualify.

He has had his share of wins, tho... In fact he took 1st place here in Huntington Beach in the Dale Velzy Classic Sept. 17th.

Did I mention he catches air regularly!!

Check out the SUP website and vote for him. I did! www.standupworldtour.com. Vote for Daniel Hughes. Or check out his video on you tube. Here's the link: http://youtu.be/KdtzPi7FRB4

Also, this guy spends a lot of time in the water. One day we were out for over 2 hours; I was getting kinda hungry and cold, so I got out, he didn't. The next day I asked him how long he usually stayed out. He said 3 hours is his normal session, but one day it was "super good" so he stayed out for 8 hours!! And people say I'm obsessed!!

If your interested in checkin out the action, the contest will be going on all weekend. The finals will be on Sunday.

Teri

P.S. I want to congratulate Paul Wall on the latest addition to his family! He he is buckling up the "new baby" and giving some love.

Red Tide Blues

2011-09-27T22:40:00.000-07:00

The Red Tide has been in full force for the last 5 days! Most of the SCAT crew has gotten sick from the rust colored water. But, somehow I've avoided it. Maybe because I've been downing handfuls of vitamins, or maybe cuz I wear earplugs. I'd like to say it's because I haven't ingested any water, but I have. I would paddle out thinking, "Don't drink any water. Don't drink any water. Don't Drink any water." Then I'd get hit in the face by a wave and, "gulp!" I'd swallow a mouthful! Blagh!

The rest of the crew is hanging in the parking lot bemoaning the chocolate colored peaks. It does look really gross, but the waves finally got fun after last weeks lull... So, I'm showering up with antibacterial soap and, well, the vitamins, like I said. Plus, I hafta believe I have built up some sort immunity after surfing in this stuff over the years.

We were talking about the murky water and nobody seemed to know the cause. I mean, what is red tide? I thought about it and realized I really don't know. It seems like it happens late summer, early fall every year. I always thought it was caused by warm water killing plankton. So, red tide is just a bunch of dead plankton floating around? Hmmm...

I did some research and found that I was partially right, well, not really. Actually, it's is microscopic plant-like organism called phytoplankton (colored algae). The science nerds like to call it "harmful algae blooms" cuz it's not really related to tides and not necessarily red (The algae comes in a range of colors; sometimes it's pink!).

The cause of red tide varies. Sometimes, it's just an upwelling caused by seasonal currents. Water pollution and increased water temps are some of the other reasons. And if you eat oysters or shellfish that have been contaminated by red tide toxins, you just got poisoned. If it's a really severe red tide, they hafta shut down oyster farms.

The best part about red tide is at night. The phytoplankton makes the water glow in the dark. Every time a wave crashes the white wash is florescent! It's beautiful. Jumping around in the water disrupts the phytoplankton and causes it to flash neon blue.

The worst part is the smell, ugh!! The stench is like stinky dead fish.

Well, there you have all the red tide info. If your determined to surf the muddied waters; take your vitamins, keep you ears plugged, and don't drink the water!!

Teri

P.S. I almost forgot to warn you about the man-eating dragon. He was hovering around looking for his next victim. Beware!!

Huntington Beach Summer Surf Contest

2011-09-20T15:42:00.000-07:00

This year I thought I was ready! Really ready! I trained hard by working out, surfing a lot, eating right...

And I thought putting on
a wet wetsuit was bad!!

Unfortunately, there are some things I can't control... One of them is the conditions. This year, the ocean just wasn't cooperating! The waves were just.... Ugh! Garbage!! The tide was super high causing the waves to be really, really mushy and the wind was on it making it all jumbled up. If I had looked at it on a regular day, I would've taken my board and gone home... But when the buzzer went off, I had my jersey on along with my high hopes and I paddled out.

The first few waves I paddled for didn't materialize. There was absolutely no push at all! Then a little girl with braces caught one on the outside and rode it all the way in. (Man! I wish I only weighed 70 pounds!) There were some longboarder chicks in the heat who seemed to be having better luck, too. I was surprised that I was able to catch the three waves I did. (They were all close outs. Bummer.)

It was so bad, I was laughing when I tried for some of the waves that just rolled by. I was really cracking up when I got out of the water. All that effort and training and work, for a 20min heat of slop!! It's pretty funny when you think about it! I mean, at that point, there was nothing else I could do but just try to stay positive and have a good time with it. Right?

Of course, as soon as the heat ended a big set came in. Which just made me laugh even harder!!

Tom from Surf City Adventure Tours!!

I was stoked that my friends and fam were there to support.

Tom from SCAT had surfed the day before and had the same thing happen in his heat; no waves. It was just like that, inconsistent. Some heats got waves, others did not.

At the end I was pleasantly surprised with a 4th place medal and a bag of killer swag! It was all good and turned out to be a great day had by all!! And then there was the after party.... Need I say more?

I want to say a big "surfer thank you" to all the people who came out to support and also to my sponsors; Surf City Adventure Tours and Malu Sunglasses. Thanks for believing in me!

Teri

P.S. I also wanted to congratulate my friend, Robin, for taking 4th in his division. This guy kills it on a longboard!!

Go get em Robin!

Surfing Birthday!

2011-09-14T21:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my birthday and Team SCAT took me on a mini surf trip. Trestles!!

We got off to a late start and I was worried that the wind and tide was gonna be against us. I had taken a look at the HB Pier and it was looking pretty bad (2-3 occ 4ft and already blown out), so I had low expectations. But I am always willing to go for the ride and the walk, even if it doesn't pan out.

The Path to Perfection

Walking down, we joked and laughed about how we had high hopes last time. Hopes that were dashed by a lack of shapely waves. And the wind was on it and the size was average... We were pretty bummed. But this time we agreed that we were gonna be content with whatever the ocean served up.

There was some construction going on at the train track. I think they were reinforcing the old wooden trestles. But we were still able to pass by, as long as we avoided the CAT and the workers who were looking longingly at the surf.

And then we saw why...

Uppers was a little sectioned and closed out. Lowers was super packed. We looked at Cottons; there was a perfect peak with rights and lefts coming off of it. I WANTED THAT LEFT!!! So we walked down the beach, past President Nixon's beach house, past the the guy with the speedos.

It was amazing that although Huntington was only breaking 2-4, Cottons was really going off! The average waves were 4-6 and the occasional larger 'clean up' sets were 8-10. (I wasn't sure if it was really that big until I read the report that called it "double overhead") There definitely were some mackers steaming thru!! The double overhead ones were too big and came from too far outside for anyone to get and we all got munched! But it was worth it, cuz the first few in the set were so good.

We all had a great session! For me, the best part of the day was the perfect, big ass lefts and no wipe outs! Plus, did I mention that it was totally glassy and the water was warm? What a great birthday present.

On the way home, the guys took me to my favorite taco stand. It was a epic day of surf and a perfect birthday trip!

Teri

Surf Adventure

2011-09-09T14:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been blogging. I've just been spending too much time surfing and not doing much else, to tell you the truth. (My life is pretty terrible! Hahahaha!!)

Today the SCAT (Surf City Adventure Tour) team went on a trip. We were tired of surfing the same ol, same ol. The size at our home break was 2-3 occasional 4ft, but the wind was on it early and we were hoping for a miracle as we headed south.

We had heard of some magic secret spots and just had to check em out!!

Secret Spot 1: Some waves coming thru, but needs a higher tide. Lots of rocks to go around. Looks like the boneyard. Don't wipe out, it's a long way to the hospital!

Okay, next...

Secret Spot 2: Some guys in the water, but pretty weak and shorebreaky. Maybe a bigger south swell would do it justice.

Word is, there is a good left off the point, but like I said, it wasn't breaking outside today.

Moving on....

the long way to paradise

Secret Spot 3: The winner! Check the juicy left of the rocks. Ya gotta wait right by the rock wall and take off going into the rock and then make a quick cutback into a fast left. Yummy!

Here's a clue: the beach view on the way back.

Tressles

2011-08-26T17:33:00.000-07:00

I always expect to score when I go to Tressles.

And usually, I do.

It's the pay off for the long drive (45min) and long walk (20min). It's a trek, but if the waves are good, we're all so busy talking about them, the ride home flies by.

Today, not so much.

My friends Mike and Tomato met up at 7am. We played Chinese fire drill; checking local spots, getting coffee and gas, changing cars. By 8:30am we were on the road to Tressles. We had high hopes - expecting glassy, peaky waves.

From the street it looked good, but by the time we made the walk, the wind and the tide had gotten to it. No peaks, no glass. It was a little mushy and kinda jumbled, but there were waves, so we paddled out at Lowers.

Later we checked Uppers. Mike kept saying, "Shades of J-Bay" Finally, I said, "If that's a shade of J-Bay, it's so far off, it's totally obscured!" It was a real let down.

We got waves, just not the waves of our dreams.

Of course, I got a parting gift; a cut foot on the rocks. Typical Tressles :)

The Waves are ASS!!

2011-08-23T22:18:00.000-07:00

I hafta admit, we got kinda spoiled. There were two swells back to back. If we were at the right spot, at the right time, the waves were really, really good!

Then today it was blown out early and pretty lake like. It was hard to tell what was a wave and what a wind swell.

I think part of my problem is that I had high expectations. Sunday was fun and peaky. Then Sunday night I had the best surfing dream; I dreamt that I caught a killer right, hit the lip three times, then finished off with a 360. I was so stoked when I woke up Monday morning, that I couldn't wait to surf. Luckily, it was pretty good. I surfed south side of the pier and then paddled out north side for a few.

I was minding my own business when Lisa Anderson paddled out right next to me. I was so excited! She is a world class surfer and was a commentator for the US Open. I saw her catch a really good right before I caught my last wave out.

I was thinking that she probably doesn't have to battle for waves like I do. I mean, she's famous and the guys will recognize her and give her waves, right?

I went on the pier to get some shots of her. (That's her hitting the lip - above) From there I saw that she has to fight just as hard as the rest of us to gain position on the wave. Nobody was giving her anything!!

I guess it doesn't matter who you are, there are no free rides!!

The forecast predicts 1-2ft/poor for the rest of the week.

Maybe I should take up paddle boarding...

Huntington is Walled Up!

2011-08-16T21:42:00.000-07:00

Today a new South swell has brought some big ass walls to Huntington Beach! I was gonna paddle out on the north side, but I kept watching guys bombing out on the drop. Or if they made the drop, getting creamed by the closed out section. Man!! It was brutal!

Monday was awesome with some overhead peaks (below). Of course, I had to work, so I only got to surf for an hour. Wah! But, I got a super good left that made my day, so I was happy. And I kept thinking that it would be good again today. Wrong!!

I looked all around, all around for something surfable. I ended up in Newport and it was walled there too!! Ugh.

I shouldn't complain, tho. For the last couple of weeks there has been waves. I have been surfing two or three times a day...

Anyway, I was pretty bummed by a lousy session in Newport when I got a call from some friends inviting me to Tressles! The best idea ever!!!

We made the trip in record time!!

The paddle out was easy and the water warm. But I was having a hard time getting into a wave. It's tough to go from surfing racy closeouts, to the slower moving peelers we found at Churches. It took me a bit to adjust. But, once I got one and rode it to the inside, well, it was fast enough...

It's supposed to get bigger tomorrow! Yay!!

Teri

US OPEN

2011-08-03T16:01:00.000-07:00

Okay, I admit it, I lied.

On my last post I said I would not be surfing Huntington during the US Open. But, to be honest, I have to say I've been surfing the pier almost every day. For some reason I've just been drawn there; after all, it's my home break and there are always peaks. Plus, the size has been better at the pier than anywhere else.

It has been a real adventure surfing with some of the competitors. These guys are so inspiring! They are catching waves that are uncatchable, creating speed where there is none, then making sections and pulling airs! The water has been charged with energy! It's been a lot of fun! I'm just hoping some of that greatness rubs off on me by osmosis...

Then, suddenly, the water got ice cold! Because of the wind, we went from 69 degree water - to 58 degree water. Chilly!

I caught some of the competitors practicing on the south side walls last week. I got some shots.

This week, I've been following the competition online at www.usopenofsurfing.com. But, today I decided I should get some action shots for the blog. So I biked down and braved the crowds to get some shots of the girls' heats.

Coco Ho was a favorite and really killed it. She won her heat, of course.

Stephanie Gilmore took 2nd.

I saw Connor Coffin gearing up for his heat. Here's a young gun with some raw power and major potential.

Dusty Payne really showed his stuff and won his heat.

Not only is his name fun to say, he is a really great surfer

After three heats, it was time for me to go. It was good to check it out in person, but watching it in the comfort of my own home is really the best and I don't hafta worry about some toddler throwing sand at my head while I'm trying to get a pic.

BTW: My bud Rockin Fig was one of the announcers. That was a nice surprise!! It's funny, that when he's announcing (or doing a surf report on the radio) he sounds different than he does when we're just talking about the waves, boards and stuff...

If you wanna get up close and personal with some of the pro's, I highly recommend stopping by the contest before it gets too crowded for the finals this weekend.

Teri

Huntington Beach is OPEN!!

2011-07-28T12:22:00.000-07:00

The US Open is here!!

The south side of the pier looks like an outdoor mall. I can't even see the waves from the parking lot!

Believe it or not, it has taken the crews three weeks to build US Open land. They keep the materials gated on the north side sand and truck em over to the south side as needed. There are guys with tool belts, guys on walkie talkies, and scary tractors running all around. It's been quite a scene.

This weekend will be crazy; with tourists, inlanders, wanna be's and could've been's... Next weekend - during finals - will be even worse!! I'm thinking it's good time to get out of town. So between June 30th and July 7th my friends and I are gonna hafta find a new place to surf!

If you wanna watch the surfing, but don't wanna deal with the crowds/or can't make it to the beach... You can watch live feed daily at www.usopenofsurfing.com.

The good news is that a new southern hemi swell is filling in. The bad new is that it is looking a bit walled.

Hopefully it will shape up in the next couple days ;)

Teri

P.S. I ran into some of the competitors on the South Side today. Mike Parsons seemed really cool. Kolohe Andino; not so much. I would of gotten a pic, but they were too busy watching surf videos of themselves...

SoCal Surfers...

2011-07-26T14:40:00.000-07:00

Well, the waves have been pretty meager for the last couple of weeks. There has been talk of a hurricane in Mexico that is supposed to bring some swell, but it hasn't arrived yet.

Last week, I was getting a couple of bumps on the North Side of the Pier. It was about 1-2ft and there were a couple of 3ft peaks coming through, but it was pretty inconsistent. Everyone was scrambling to get what they could. The longboarders were ruling the outside break cuz they can catch pretty much anything... The shortboarders were getting fast rides on the inside.

I figured I had gotten my share and since it seemed to shut down, I decided to call it a day. I took one out and ran to the shower to wash the salt off. I was talking to another surfer about how shitty is was, when a guy with a camera dangling around his neck ran up. He was trying to talk, but he totally out of breath.

"I ran" panting, "All the way" more panting "from the pier." He doubled over and held on to his knees for a minute. I watched him, wondering what was up. He seem to have recovered when he said, "I got some pictures of you surfing."

Wow! So cool!! What's up, best friend? I was soooo excited!!

He introduced himself, Joe Dolan, and told me that he has a website dedicated to surfers and the pics and videos he takes from the pier. He told me he got some video of me too. It's posted on his website: www.socalsurfers.com. If you check out 7-20-2011, I'm on the video. (If you fast forward to 12:30 on the video you will see me snaking a longboarder - oops!)

Also you can click on my name, Teri Lynn, to view all the pics he got. He also emailed some so I could post them here for you. He also promised to take some more shots on a bigger wave day;)

If you go there, you hafta check out the interview he did with my longtime friend Joey Hawkins. Joey is a world champion longboarder and funny as hell!!

Then, just the other day, Paul Thompson, ran up to me on the beach and said he saw me catch a bunch of waves and work them to the inside. "Didn't you hear me yelling for you?!" He said. Wow! Shawn Thompson's brother likes my surfing? What an honor!!

Jet Powered Surfboards!?!

2011-07-19T12:58:00.000-07:00

Man oh man! The waves have been super small the last couple of days! Surfline has called it 1-3ft, but I don't think it's been that big. The water has been warm, the wind has been down, the sun has been out, but the waves have been microscopic and pretty mushy too! Ugh!

As I looked lake-like conditions on the south side of the pier, I was wondering if there was an alternative to buying a longboard or a paddleboard for these flat days... Just then I saw a van with WAVEJET written all over it.

What a coincidence! A couple weeks ago, my friend Tony told me there was a jet propelled surfboard coming out. At first I said, "No way!" But after some thought, I said, "You know what? I believe it! It's the wave of the future!" (no pun intended)

I ran down to the sand where they were setting up the boards. My friend Tom from Surf City Adventure Tours had beat me there and was already asking if he could try one out. (They were filming some professional surfers on the boards so we were outta luck.)

Mike Railey(pic below), the wavejet creator, was really nice and cool. He explained how he wanted to surf big waves, but found the tow in process to be such a hassle. I guess so! You hafta have a Jet Ski and someone to pilot it, a truck, a hitch and a trailer to tow it. He thought if he could make a miniature version of the jet drive and install it in a board...

Mike spent 8 years working on the technology in his basement. In true mad scientist style, he carved out the innards of his board and filled it with batteries, wires and jetpacks. The first board did look pretty Frankensteined...

He told me how those around him were less than supportive and some thought he was crazy. He said he had his regular day job and worked on the wavejet during his off time. He went through many trials and errors. (I think the tech term is "prototypes") I gained a real respect for Mike. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to continue working and pursuing his dream against so many oppositions. I think the hardest thing, would be not knowing if it would be a successful mission or not.

Mike said when he met an investor, Michael Vlock, who believed in his dream that's when things really started to roll. Mike started working with surfer/shaper Steve Walden and together they made a wavejet board.

How it works: There are two jet packs in the "pod". The jets suck in the water and dispel it quickly to push the board 8 to 10knots. Each jet pack is powered by a rechargeable lithium ion battery. The battery life is 30 minutes of continual use; equal to an hour and a half surf session. The jets can be turned on and off by a water proof wrist controller that looks like a big, fat watch. If the surfer wipes out, the jets automatically shut down when the board is more than a few feet away from the controller (to eliminate run away boards). The wavejet "pod" can be installed in any board. Sound pretty cool?

The only downside is the price. $4500. for a complete wavejet board. But, Mike told me, as production ramps up, cost/price will come down. Remember how much the blue ray cost when it first came out?

We said our goodbyes and I paddled out. I was struggling to catch a little blob and couldn't help thinking that on a day like today I could use a little push! I looked over at the guys on the wavejet boards, they were surfing waves that weren't much more than a ripple.

I wondered what effects this new technology could have on surfing; Would the wavejet be allowed in contests? Will they replace paddling entirely? Will everyone have one by 2020? Hmmm...

If you want to learn more (or pre-order my x-mas gift), check www.wavejet.com.

Teri

Surfside Seventies Contest!

2011-07-16T10:50:00.000-07:00

HI all! Teri here!

Well, today was the big day! The 13th annual Surfside Seventies Contest! I woke up at 6:30am after 4 luxurious hours of sleep, inhaled some coffee and checked Surfline to see the swell had petered out to a crumbly 1-3ft. Probably for the best, I thought as I loaded up. Who knows what kind of beastly board I'll end up with! What if I can't duck dive it?? Ugh!!

The contest was already going by the time I got there. There were 14 heats with 6 contestants in each heat. I was in the 3rd heat. I looked at the heat sheet and saw that I was going to be surfing against some heavy hitters; Ryan Simmons (ex pro surfer) and Jye Townend (brother to Peter Townend) I was a little nervous...

There were 70's style boards laying everywhere!!

And some 70's styled people too!

I noticed that none of the boards had leashes. Each one had a number. The contestants in my heat had to pick numbers and then pick a board that had that number on it. I got number 2. There were about 10 different boards in that classification. They were mostly all single fins and pretty top heavy. There was a twin fin, but it looked like a long board that had been cut in half. Probably wouldn't turn with that straight across, fat tail. I picked a half way decent looking yellow one with a swallow tail, hoping it was the right one. It's a crap shoot, really.

I had barely gotten some wax on the thing and my jersey on when they started the heat. I ran to the water, jumped and paddled out. It was easy to duck dive because the waves were so small and mushy. I forgot I didn't have a leash and lost my board after my first wave. Basically, I just had to aim the board the way I wanted to go and paddle my ass off! There just wasn't enough push to make a hard turn on that beast. The 15 minute heat went by pretty fast. Unfortunately, we never got a good set to come through during our heat, so we had to make something out of nothing.

I saw Ryan get a lot of really good waves. (pic below/he got 1st) I surf with him on Northside alot, so when I realized he was in my heat, I knew I was screwed...

The end result was I got 4th. I didn't get to advance. But I didn't care. I was having fun catching up with friends I grew up with and surfing afterwards with my buddies. One minute I was talking to Peter Townend (world renown surfer/pic below) and the next I was surfing with Noodles (pic below) from the Offspring.

I'll tell you one thing about this contest.... It really made me appreciate being back on my own board!!

Teri

Summer Is Here!!

2011-07-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

Hi all, Teri here.

I've been meaning to post for awhile, but I've just been surfing, surfing, surfing!! And some working, eating and sleeping too...

Summer is here; the water is warm, surf is up and there are hundreds of guys and gals in the line up!! So my bud Tom and I decided that "Summer Time Rules" are in effect. Translation?: "SNAKE EVERYONE!!"

The Monkey told me I might get in trouble doing that. She says someday I'll snake the wrong person. She has a point. Ya hafta know who is who. But, it's not hard to tell!!

There are a lot of beginners and summertime surfers in the water and they are either too weak or too out of shape to catch the better waves. So we snake them, doing our civic duty; do not let a good wave unsurfed! (Sometimes they don't even know they were even snaked, so whats the harm?)

This Saturday I'm surfing the 'Surfside Seventies' contest for the first time. My friend Benny Bigler puts it on every year. I grew up surfing with Benny in Sunset Beach/Surfside. I'm excited to finally get a chance to surf in his contest.

The contest starts at 7am and is located straight out from the water tower on Anderson street in Sunset Beach. As far as I know, I am the only girl competing this year. Although, I've been told it doesn't matter cuz it's a fun contest, not serious. By picking numbers out of a hat, the contestants are each assigned a 70's style board to ride in their heat. The winning categories are funny too; like best wipe out and best mustache (If I win best mustache, I'm gonna be pissed!)

I had planned to ride my fish all week in preparation for the contest, but there was some size today and I just couldn't do it.

This morning I surfed Newport and this afternoon North side. Newport was peaky, but packed. North side was thinning out because of the walls and the size, but there were a few good corners. I'm hoping for more of the same tomorrow, maybe it will be even cleaner!!

See ya,

Teri

P.S. If I snaked you, I'm sorry.

Back to Reality...

2011-06-23T22:58:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! SurfMonkey here... What a great birthday week I had! I got to party and surf with amazing friends and eat lots of cookies and ice cream! What more could a Monkey want?! ... Today was our last day down in Solana Beach. I was hoping to check out a different spot than the one we had walked to all week but the waves just weren't happening any where else. I debated whether or not I should paddle out due to my neck still hurting from the Wave House and just being plain old burnt out on surfing... Burnt out you say? Yes, unfortunately that happens to me. I find I'm much happier surfing when I don't do it everyday. It can be a very discouraging sport when you're a beginner and it's easy to let that bring you down. I hate that it has to be that way because I want to surf everyday to get better and have fun with my friends, but I don't get any better or have any fun when I surf everyday! Can you see my dilemma? This has been my battle for the last couple months! ... Anyways, back to Solana Beach and out of Monkeys head... I decided I would regret not paddling out on our last day there and suited up. We walked down the 145 steps to the beach and around the cliffs to the main break. When we got there only a handful of guys were out. 6 to be exact, and they were all sitting waiting for the outside peak. I was pretty excited because the place was empty compared to how it's been all week. We paddled out and got all cozy in our own spot on the inside and not 15 minutes later the place was packed. All the mosquitoes had paddled out and swarmed our area. What a bummer! Teri stayed in the middle of them where all the good waves were coming in and I stayed a little to the side of the pack and took off on whatever nobody else wanted. We both caught a few and got out before the wind came up and froze us to death... We really wanted to make the best of our last day there so we ate lunch and the locally popular Fish House and had desert at Cold Stone! Delicious! On our way to Cold Stone from the Fish House we walked by a realty office that was throwing some sort of party outside for all their workers/clients. A stuck up bunch of people they were, totally into themselves and telling everyone else at the party about their most accomplished sales. For center pieces on the tables they had bowls with chocolate covered marshmallows on sticks. Teri said she wanted one so I went over to one of the tables that no one was standing at and I snagged one for her! She ate it excitedly and told me she normally would not eat such a thing, but since I stole it for her from snooty realtors she couldn't help but enjoy the treat! Then she made up the term, "It's like stealing candy from a realtor!" ... We've made it home safely and aren't looking forward to going back to work tomorrow, but someone's gotta pay the bills right?! ... I also want to give a special big THANK YOU to Teri for giving Monkey a fun-filled birthday week! :)

Wave House

2011-06-22T11:10:00.000-07:00

I had a plan. I was gonna take the Monkey to the Wave House for her birthday. Unfortunately, we were too late and they were closed, but we promised to go back. So we made the trip. It is in Mission Beach, right on the beach, next to some kind of carnival/Ferris wheel thingy. A super touristy area. (notice the castle-like surf/skate rental place)

They have one pool that is a "10 foot" flow barrel. (We were debating the size of the wave; thinking "10 foot" a slight exaggeration) But, if we want to surf the barrel, we hafta start at the flow rider (basically the kiddy pool). And it's not cheep! 30 bucks to register and go on the kiddy pool wave for an hour. And we're not really "surfing" for a full hour cuz there are other people and only one person can go at a time.

The barrel is called "Brutus Maximus" or something like that and it costs 40 bucks an hour.

We had lunch and watched the guys getting barreled, catching air, throwing watery cutbacks. It looked easy and I thought "I wanna throw a cutback!", but I knew it wasn't gonna be as easy as it looked.

We finally got our nerve up to try the kiddy pool wave. We were the last group, just the Monkey and me.

The chick in charge of the pool was really cool and asked us if we surfed alot. I said yes.

She said, "Do you surf everyday?"

I was like, "Yeah, pretty much."

She smiled and said, "This is the complete opposite of surfing. You keep all your weight on your back foot, the rails are super sensitive and there are no fins, so no turning."

I asked her if she surfed. She looked like a surfer girl.

She said, "I used to surf all the time, but now I do this. It totally fucked up my surfing."

Ugh! That is not what I wanted to hear!! I was hoping it would improve our surfing. Bummer.

She started the water jets, stepped on the nose of the board (which looked like a thick skateboard deck) and told me to step on. She shimmied the board into the blasting stream of water with her foot, told me to expect a speed wobble sensation. I was to hold onto the rope with my front hand and again, "keep the weight on your back foot". She let me go and I was "surfing". I was actually surprised. I thought for sure I would wipe out on my first attempt. It was pretty boring just going in a straight line, but I just kept thinking, "keep the weight on the back foot, keep the weight on the back foot".

The Monkey didn't make the first few attempts, but she kept at it. Soon she was flow riding like the best of them.

I was okay as long as I was holding the rope, as soon as I let it go, I'd revert to my normal surf stance, dig a rail and wipe out. Lame. (Here's some shots of some our better wipe outs.)

We weren't supposed to put our hands in front to break the fall, but after years of protecting against sand bar broken neck scenarios, it's pretty hard. After the fall, we'd be blasted up the "face of the wave" and into the drainage area where we'd collect our boards and run back down for another try. They said wipeouts only bruise the ego here at the wavehouse, but the Monkey fell wrong and hurt her neck and I have a sore wrist and ankle. Hmmm....

By the time we were finished, the Wave House was closing up. No Brutus Maximus for us. Oh well, we couldn't afford it anyway!!

It was definitely an experience. We decided that when we were too old to paddle out, we'd take up wave pooling, but not until then. I'd much rather swallow a bunch of salt water, than have chlorine water blasted up my nose any day!

Surfing San Diego

2011-06-20T19:58:00.000-07:00

Hello All, Teri here. I just want to say a big old "Happy Birthday" to the Monkey. Today is her birthday!!!

And in honor of her birthday, we are taking a little surf trip to Solana Beach, San Diego.

We are house sitting a friend's little beach cottage just steps from the nearest break, but we plan to check all the local breaks out... We've already hit a few!

This morning we surfed Solana Beach and the rock reef there called table tops. When your sitting on your board you can comb the sea hair with your toes. There is lots of kelp further out. It keeps the wave surface clean and glassy.

In the afternoon we took a walk to the main Solana Beach break. But the tide was still too high for a second session.

Later, we looked at Swamis

San Elejo

and ended up at Cardiff

It was a great start to the Monkey's Birthday week!!

Busy, busy, busy...

2011-06-09T21:26:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! Surf Monkey here... The tats went well and my back piece is all finished! Finally! It only took 6 years...

Last Thursday I met my friend Pete (who is a tattoo artist) down at Seal Beach pier. For some odd reason he was checking the waves there and was planning on paddling out, despite the gale force winds that were blowing and super micro-mini waves. I hadn't surfed for a week and a half but I wasn't that desperate yet! That's how bad the conditions were. He asked if I wanted to surf Friday morning instead but I told him some of my tats were still healing.

He took a look at my back and told me the best thing I had heard all day, that my tats were ready for the water! I text Teri that night and told her the Monkey was ready for surf action in the morning! ... Teri picked me up Friday morning and we headed for Hairy Backs to meet Pete. It was looking mushy and the tide was only getting higher so we suited up quickly and paddled out at The Crotch... My Monkey arms were noodled in no time trying to catch those mushies and fight the current to stay out of "no wave" zone. I'm sure all those different kinds of push-ups I had done the day before had something to do with that also. My armpit muscles were killing me! ... Turns out Pete hadn't surfed since last summer and that's why he was so eager to surf the crap in Seal Beach the day before. He caught a few good ones though. It didn't even look like he had missed a day of surfing! ... It was nice to be back in the water with Teri again. We hadn't seen each other in two weeks! ... Pete had to get to work so we stayed out for about an hour and a half and headed to the muffin shop after for our usual post-surf breakfast...

Monday Teri and I surfed Hairy Backs again. We checked Goldenwest and the pier first but Hairy's looked the best, or so we thought. The waves were even mushier than Friday! The size was about 2-3, there was very little push to the wave and the current was strong. We paddled out at The Crotch and quickly got sucked into "no wave" zone. We tried to fight the current and paddle for position but decided to get out and walk to Goldenwest where it looked better. Keyword in that sentence: LOOKED... There wasn't much difference between the two spots. Somehow, I managed to catch AND ride 3-4 waves though! I was having a great time on those mushies. I did way better than I did Friday, that's for sure! I felt a little bad though because Teri wasn't having as much fun on those "beginner" waves. I looked over at her at one point and she was flipping off the ocean! ... I wondered, as I sat in the water, how long it would take me to get to Teri's level of surfing. That way we can both have great days together and talk excitedly about all the waves we caught or, if it was a bad day, talk about how lame the ocean was that day! All I can do is practice, practice, practice and hope to someday reach her skill level... The rest of this week has been pretty chaotic. We've both had to work the last couple of days so we haven't been able to surf together. She's been going out early in the morning before work and I just haven't gone at all until today! Pete and I paddled out at Goldenwest late this morning. It was pretty fun besides the June gloom that has set in on us. It was 2-4, mushy and closed out for the most part, but we managed to catch a couple corners. I took off on one and forced myself to stay up. It's this new thing I'm doing that seems to be pretty effective. I just yell at myself in my head not to fall, or rather, not give up so easily when I'm trying to make the drop like I was doing before. I'm finally seeing more progress in my surfing :) ... I hate being out of the water so much but at the same time I appreciate surfing so much more when I do get to paddle out. I guess the saying "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" works for many things in life!

Sorry for the lack of pictures in the last couple of posts. We keep forgetting our cameras! Working so much has made us a little scatter-brained lately. We'll try and do better!

Mob Scene in Newport...

2011-05-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Surf Monkey here... Friday Teri and I paddled out in Newport because Huntington was still pretty big and walled up. We were lucky enough to find a parking spot around 36th street. I say we were lucky enough because everyone from Huntington Beach copied us and went to Newport too! (I don't care if they were there first, they still copied us) ... When we got out onto the beach all we saw was a sea of heads in the water. If everyone held hands starting from the Newport pier the chain of people probably would have reached Pacific Coast Highway! (That's about a mile for those of you unfamiliar with the area.) We picked a spot between the two jetties with the least amount of people, about 45 surfers instead of 50 surfers, and made our way out to the waves. The tide was super low and the whole jetty was exposed. Usually at least half of the jetty or more is submerged in water. It was a little scary, especially with the current being as strong as it was. We were definitely keeping a watchful eye and making sure not to get to close to those rocks....

The waves were about 4-6ft with some solid 6ft sets coming in from time to time. The waves seemed thick and slow moving at first, but once they reached the shallow water they would suck up and slam down! Teri paddled back out from catching a wave and had a huge grin on her face. She said she just caught air on the drop of the last one! "Sweet!" I said. Then I started to wonder: Has anyone ever measured the G forces a surfer experiences making the drop on a wave? I know it can't be much on a small wave but I'm sure those big wave surfers feel some serious G's going down the faces of a 20-60ft monster! Random thought, I know, but it's something fun to think about. I started making jokes as the waves went by, saying "Oh, that was only about a 2G wave, maybe 3G max." Teri laughed, whether it was with me or at me, I don't know! ...

Teri caught a few good ones and got sand in her gum on a few other ones. I remember one of her waves in particular. I saw her battling 3 guys and the wave started to break so I couldn't see who made it for a second. Then I saw a couple guys come up out of the white wash, their heads bobbing like apples in the foam. I looked for Teri and I finally see her, riding the wave all the way to the inside. "Yes! She beat them!" I thought to myself. It was pretty awesome... I, on the other hand, tried for a couple of the smaller ones but was unsuccessful. I didn't care though. It was just nice to get a surf in with my best friend before getting some more work done on my tats. Yes, that's right, Monkey is out of the water for another week and a half. As of today, Monday, my back piece will finally be finish though! I'm excited, but can't wait for the healing process to be over! ... Hope to be back next week!

Message In A Bottle

2011-05-19T13:00:00.000-07:00

HEllo! Teri here.

Today Froggy and I were gonna paddle out at the HB Pier, but it was about 3ft overhead and we were just too laggin' to fight the current. Sooo, we headed to Newport and were planning to surf 36th St., but there was no parking (probably cuz everyone from Huntington was there)

We ended up at the Newport Pier. There were some nice sized wedges coming through. It was 4-6ft and pretty fun.

We were having a good time catching rights and lefts. I noticed there were a lot of beginners and commented to Froggy about it. He said, "Yeah, it's pretty bad when I'm having one of my worse days and I'm surfing better than everyone in the water!"

I don't mind beginners so much, except when they bail their boards, or sit right in my way at the exact spot where I want to hit the lip. Ugh! (Sorry, I digress. I'll get back to the story...)

It was towards the end of our session; the wind was getting on it, the tide was getting high and there was a gnarley rip current that we got caught in and had to paddle out of. I was watching a newbie paddle right into the rip and was thinkin I should warn him. I was having a little war in my head about whether or not I should paddle over and say something him when I spotted something sparkly in the water. It was a bottle!

I made a joke to Froggy about the bottle and how there was probably a message in there. Then I paddled out to get it, cuz I was worried about somebody getting hit in the face with the thing when a big set came in. As I paddled, I could imagine the bottle floating on the crest of a wave and pelting some unsuspecting kid in the head as the lip of the wave came down. When I grabbed the bottle, I couldn't believe what I saw! "There really are some messages inside!!"

I was so excited! I paddled back to Froggy with it. He looked at it. "The wine is from 2005 so it must have been in the water for a long time!"

Looking at the papers inside the bottle, I said, "Yeah! I can see some of the writing on one of the notes looks Japanese! Maybe it came from Japan!"

Froggy held onto the bottle as he surfed one in and I came in shortly afterwards. I was singing "Message in a Bottle" and I just couldn't wait to see what was inside!

I popped the cork at Froggy's house and he used some tools in his garage to get the curled up notes out of the slender bottle neck. First he tried a screwdriver and got out the first note. It had coordinates and some German writing at the top and (what I thought was) Japanese at the bottom. "Oh!" I said excitedly, "Maybe it's from Europe! Or from somebody on a ship at sea!"

The other notes were too big to get out, so Froggy used a bent up wire hanger to get em out.

The first one was written by a guy named David. He said he was originally from Pennsylvania, but was writing from IRVINE, CALIFORNIA! What?? Not Japan? Not Germany? Not some sailboat in the sea? And the date was.... Today! Can that be right?

Froggy laughed and said, "They must have thrown it off the Newport Pier! Tell them next time they should throw it when the tide is going out, not coming in!"

Well, I still thought it was cool! David (in his note) said they had come on a cross country trip and listed the states they visited and what he thought about them. I laughed out loud when I read what he said about Iowa - "Fuck Iowa!" Bahahahaha!

About California - he said "the mountains are great and the ocean is colder than expected".

(Too bad they weren't here on Monday. It was warmer on Monday. I even saw a girl in a bikini on a longboard.)

He said he was going to the Grand Canyon and would throw a rock into the canyon in the reader's honor. (I guess that means me) How cool is that?

Then I read the next one was written by a girl named Kristin. Her note was more poetic and very positive. She wrote some things that I needed to read. Like: "Sometimes you realize that your life is worth living, you get high off of it. You realize you have friends; new and old. You remember the good times; the parks, the coffee, the movies, the late nights, the laughter that doesn't stop, swinging, ice cream and you can look back on all the bad times and realize they weren't so bad." Hmmm. Good stuff.

Even thought it wasn't what I had expected, it was really cool to get the message in the bottle. I felt so lucky, like I had hit the jackpot. So, I decided to add a note of my own to the collection and throw it off the HB Pier on an outgoing tide.

I hope someone else can enjoy the message in the bottle too. Maybe it will make their day like it made mine. Thanks guys.... That was really cool!!

Teri

Jumbled Up Surfin' With Friends

2011-05-17T16:25:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Surf Monkey here... Sorry it's taken so long to get a blog done but Teri and I have been so busy we don't even have time to surf together! Friday was the last day we were able to paddle out together and it was only an hour session because she had to work. We went out at 8am with our friend Craig on the south side. The waves were mushy from the tide being so high but everyone seemed to be catching their fair share of rides. I was glad that the jelly fish weren't floating around anymore. No more worrying about swatting them away! ... Before I knew it, Teri was catching a wave in to go to work. Craig followed her out and I stood up and rode some white wash in just so I could say I rode something! (When I mentioned "everyone was catching their fair share" earlier, that didn't include the Monkey!) ... Rebecca had just arrived off the bus and was suiting up at Teri's truck. I decided to stick around and surf with her and Craig. Riding that white wash left me wanting more! Craig switched to his fish board and the three of us paddled back out. The tide was dropping and for a brief 30 minutes the waves were good. I took off on this left and wiped out bad enough for me to call it the third worst wipe-out of my surfing career. Teri asked me how I figured that was the third worst, seeing how it's hard to remember every single wipe-out you have. I guess there are just some that stick out in your memory more than others. During this one, I skipped like a little Monkey rock down the face of the wave about 3 times and then had my ankle yanked by my leash that was being pulled by the white wash. On top of this, I had what felt like gallons of sea water being forced up my nose into my sinuses, which continued to drain hours after my session. But the important thing here is that I took off on a wave that I would normally not have taken off on and, despite the horrible wipe-out, I felt great! We surfed for about an hour more and headed to the Sugar Shack down on Main Street for some hot coffee and breakfast. Nothing beats cream of wheat, eggs and hash browns after a long, cold surf session! .... Saturday Craig picked me up at 8am to surf with him and his friend Fiona. She was visiting from San Francisco and couldn't wait to get in the water. The last time she surfed was in November 2009, when I started! Crazy huh?! ... We met Rebecca and her friends down on the south side. It was already slightly windy and the conditions were poor-fair at best, but they had come a long way from Long Beach on the bus and Craig, Fiona and I had gotten up early so there's no way weren't paddling out! ... Call me crazy, but I kind of like surfing those shitty poor-fair days. You already know the waves aren't great so you don't paddle out with high expectations of catching an amazing wave. It's days like this when you can be silly and just have fun with your friends. No one is being super serious in the water, or so you think, until some little 7 or 8 year old girl pulls up next to you being pushed from behind by daddy. Next thing you know he's pushing her into all the waves and she's shredding it up! Even Craig was bummed because she surfed better than him! I bet if I had started at her age I'd be a pro by now! Everyone would know who the Surf Monkey is! Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda... We stayed out for as long as our ears could stand the cold wind and called it a day. Craig, Fiona and I headed to the Sugar Shack again and had a nice, warm breakfast. As I ate my meal they talked about their travels and told me how they met. Both of them have great surf and traveling stories. I love listening to their adventures and can't wait until my next one! I'm soooo ready!

Craig and the Aussie, Erica and Al Merrick, we were all on the South Side!

2011-05-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

Hi all! Teri here!

This week has been all jumbled up for the Monkey and I due to our conflicting work schedule. I've been able to get in the water everyday, but it hasn't been very eventful (or very good) until Thursday when the wind died, the shape cleaned up and the size was good. It was one of those waves everywhere days...

My bro Craig (right) text me that he was in town and ready to surf. He has been in Tahoe all winter saving lost skiers and snowboarders from an icy death. His dog, Wiley, even works there and receives a paycheck too! His Aussie friend, Matty(left), is also part of the search and rescue team. They said it's been a cold snowy winter and they were super ready to surf and thaw out. Matty was so determined to surf, he went and bought a wetsuit quickly before we paddled out.

The peaks were coming in about chest to shoulder high and the sets were head high +. The only problem was there were about 100 people in the water! But the waves were so good and the boys had come such a long way.... We HAD to paddle out!

I love it when it's glassy and peaky and I was having so much fun. Although it was packed, there didn't seem to be any drama. There were enough waves for everyone. I was just trying not to get hit on the paddle out and trying not to hit anyone else when I took off on waves.

Then it happened. I was screaming down the line and ran over a guy. I was so focused on the wave, that I didn't see him til the last minute. I was so worried I hit him! It scared the shit out of me! I asked if he was okay. He was fine and said, "I didn't know if you were gonna race the section..." I said, "Of course I was!!" He said, "Yeah, that's what I thought, so I dove deep." I was so relieved that I didn't cut him with my new sharp fins. The last thing we need is blood in the water!

I got snaked by Craig a couple of times, but we're cool like that and I owed him one or two. I have snaked him soooo many times!! As long as I took off on rights, there was no conflict, but the lefts were a problem. (He's goofy) He was totally shoulder hopping my ass. "Hey! That's my move!" I said. I told him the only reason I was taking off on lefts was because I was having 'right-hander guilt' (a phenomenon that happens to regular foots who only take off on rights)

Matty is super cool cuz he'll take off on anything and loves a late take off. Also, he's got the cool Aussie accent. I was cracking up cuz when he said something about the pier it sounded like he said pee. I laughed, "Surfing the pee?"

I was waiting around in between sets and wondering where the funny bleach smell was coming from, when I noticed there was some one sitting right next to me. I looked over and it was a girl. I said, "Heeellloooo?" She said hi and we chatted about the water being warmer and the waves being fun... She was really nice. I saw her take off on some waves and she was surfing really good too.

When we got out, I mentioned her to the boys and they agreed that she was a real ripper. I was starting to question my surfing abilities, so when one of the guys from HSS (Huntington Surf and Sport) said he saw me get some "real good ones," I was bummed like, "Yeah, but that other chick was really killing it."

He said, "Oh her? That's Erica Hosseini. She's sponsored by Sector 9 and going pro." I don't know why, but it made me feel better. (picture of Erica courtesy of Vans)

Then I found out the reason there were so many guys out. The entire HSS crew was in the water trying out the new line of Channel Islands boards shaped by Al Merrick. It was funny cuz the boards were teal, blue, yellow, red, orange. It was like a bouquet of boards. They said I could take one out, but my arms were already noodled after being in the water for a couple hours. If they had offered to give me one, I would've taken them up on that for sure!

We hung around the parking lot and joked around for a while. Then we went our separate ways. Matty was heading back down under and Craig said he'd be around for a few more days. I think he's gonna be working at a ski resort in Chile for the summer. Bummer!

Teri

Heeerrrrreeeeee's Monkey!

2011-05-09T22:39:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Surf Monkey here, and I'm back in action!... For now anyways... Last week on Thursday Teri and I paddled out for a much needed afternoon session. We had been working hard in the hot sun all day sanding and grinding rust off of a gate at Teri's house. Back-aching work, let me tell ya! We needed to wash all that paint dust and rust off us!... The wind was up and the waves weren't that great but we paddle out anyways. It was so refreshing! By the time we hit the water on the South side it was 7pm and the sun was setting. I love surfing at that time. I ran like a monkey being chased by a tiger straight into the water, laughing the whole way. I didn't catch much at first but I caught the one wave I needed towards the end of the session and felt totally human again...

Friday morning we paddled out early because Teri had to work at 10. We went out on the South side and surfed with some jellyfish! Teri didn't believe me when I first said I saw one but then more and more appeared and she finally came around. They weren't your typical jellyfish with tentacles though. They were just the little jelly-heads floating around with these weird red blobs in the middle... Even though they didn't have tentacles I was a little concerned at first and started freaking out when I noticed I was surrounded by them. I yelled to Teri "What do I do? They're all around me!" I don't think she heard me because she didn't give me any advice. I overheard some guy tell his friend "Just sweep them away and they won't hurt you." So I did just that... The current was super strong and we fought it at first but Teri suggested we should float through to the North side. I decided it was finally time for me to face my fear and paddle through the pier. Usually I get out and walk to the North side but the days of that nonsense are over! I paddled my monkey butt through those pylons like I'd done it a hundred times before. Success! ...

Today I had to work at 12 so it was another early session for us. We met Rebecca and her friends down at South side and looked at the poor-poorer conditions. There were only 3 guys in the water, that should tell you something! But, being the die-hard surfers that we are, we paddled out. Anything is better than not surfing at all, right?! ... There was definitely morning sickness going on and the paddle out was pretty tough. I got caught on the inside for at least 10 minutes and by the time I made it out I was way down the beach from Teri. It took her 3 rights to make it to where I was! The others gave up trying to surf and it was just Teri and I out in that jumbled up mess. There were some head high sets coming in but the only thing I caught were wipe outs and mouth-fulls of salt water. I didn't care though. I was just happy I made it out! We surfed for about 40 minutes and then I had to get to work... The next few days we both have a busy work schedule but we will try and get wet if we can! It's good to be back!

Glassy Days on the South Side!

2011-05-04T20:34:00.000-07:00

Hi guys, Teri here!

The South Side has been my spot all week.

Monday and Tuesday were super glassy, but super flat too! It looked like a lake, but there were a few good sets to be had. I was just glad that the wind had died down.

Today, it was a little bigger. There were some nice sets and some killer peaks. Unfortunately, the water got cold again. I ducked 4 waves in a row and got an ice cream headache. But I got two good waves before I got my hair wet. That was fun!

Rebecca is still learning. She was happy cuz she had a sucessful duck dive today!

Tom said he got a good in-and-out barrel. I'm bummed I didn't get to see it.

There were a lot of guys in the water today. And there were a lot of longboarders! I felt like I was trying to avoid the longboarders the whole time. Rebecca kept drifting into the pack and we had to tell her to paddle back to us. Her arms were noodled by the end of the session.

Afterward, Tom saw a fuzzy guy in the parking lot and just had to have a picture. This guy was a trippy cat. We were all amazed that he in a spring suit. He had orange wax on his board. We stood in the parking lot and watched him paddle out, betting whether on not he would rip it up. I bet that he would. But, I was wrong. I guess I owe Tom and ice cream cone.

Hey, you never know. I've seen guys come to the beach with skinny jeans, crazy hair and a witch hat, then paddle out and shred it up!

The Monkey is almost all healed up and will be back in the water in no time. It's really not the same with out her.

Teri

What? Your supposed to wash these things?

2011-05-02T21:49:00.000-07:00

Hi all! Teri here!

First of all, I want to say "Kudos" to all you weekend warriors who got those perfect off shore barrels on Saturday afternoon. Yeah, yeah, I saw it. I know it was epic. I was looking at it (and trying not to look at it) as I was on my way to work. Ugh!! (See pic of perfect barrels?)

Then some dip shit had to come into my work and tell me how great it was and that he surfed two times cuz it was so great. I cut him off and threw him out! (No, not really. But I wanted to!)

I got a nice surf-prize from my boyfriend. Some wetsuit shampoo. I guess he's sick of our stinky booties smelling up the garage. This stuff is awesome. I washed out the Monkey's booties and it really works. You hafta soak em over night to really get the smell out. Then I turned them (the booties) inside out and let them dry that way.

I noticed that there are some rips on the inside of my 6month old wetsuit. I was told that it's because of salt water deposits and that I need to wash out my wetsuit every couple of weeks! Ha! Who has time for that?

Well, I guess I need another wetsuit to wear for when the other one is being laundered. Right?

Teri

Wild Wave Chase!

2011-04-27T21:44:00.000-07:00

Hi all, Teri here.

I was excited for another great day of surfing! I had several friends who wanted to paddle out. I was trying to coordinate everything (and everyone, really). Getting the time and place situated seemed easy... until it wasn't.

We were gonna surf Newport, but then Tom text me and told me it was shitty and small. He said Newland would be better. So I text Richelle, who was already at the spot in Newport - waiting... I told her we were gonna go to Newland, but I didn't have a pass, so I had to wait for Lori to come to my house so we could carpool. All the while the wind was picking up. I was getting pretty antsy.

By the time Lori showed up, I was spun out on too much coffee and worry that the waves were blown to shit. We quickly loaded up and headed to the beach.

Richelle was already waiting for us when Lori and I showed up at Newland. She was frustrated with the change of location. Then she couldn't get in at the Newland beach entrance and had to drive to the next entrance to get in. Argh!

I said, "It's funny cuz Tom was the one who told me to go to Newport. Then he text me that Newport was shitty and to come to Newland. And now he isn't even here!!"

Richelle said, "Let's not listen to the guys anymore!"

And Lori was talking about how her husband will drive up and down the coast looking for the best waves. We were all pretty keyed up by the time Tom showed up. I'm afraid he stepped into a whirlwind of girl power. Poor guy.

But as soon as we paddled out, all was forgotten cuz we were catching waves. It was small, but fun. The current was still super powerful and we were at Magnolia Street in no time. Some bombers came in and that made our day.

I was on my Lost Rocket and really loving it! It's my new favorite board.

Tom and I walked back to our starting location to find the girls. (They had gotten out earlier) Lori was sunbathing and Richelle was changing out of her wetsuit. I was bummed, cuz Tom has a "Go-Pro" camera he could put on his board and I thought we could take turns making surf movies. Turns out I was the only one who was crazy/silly enough to do it.

Tom said my movie was funny. I don't know if it's because I was complaining about his board being too big, or all the wipeouts... At one point I yelled, "Oh shit!" and just bailed the board when a wave came. (totally lame-o maneuver!) I really was struggling to duck dive his big ass 7ft board and it took me a few waves to figure out how to turn it. But, I finally did get a long ride and that's what he wanted for his surf adventure website. I decided I had done my civic duty, so that was the end of the movie and the end of the wild wave chase!

Teri

West Swell

2011-04-26T19:11:00.000-07:00

Hi guys, Teri here!

Today I surfed Hairy Backs with my friend Lori. I haven't seen her for a long time and surfing together is a great way to catch up! She is a middle school math teacher (a totally cool math teacher, I'm sure!) And she is going to school to get her masters degree. I don't know how she does it.

She is really cool and says funny stuff like, "I'm a beginner surfer. Even after I've been surfing for 20years, I'll still be a beginner!" We decided she is a summer surfer and left it at that. That's the great thing about a teacher's schedule - summers off!!

The wwell direction has changed and so has the current. The south swell has died down and the west has taken over. I felt pretty stupid cuz we walked south down the beach only to find out we had walked the same way the current was going. Oops! (Good thing that guy gave us a heads up!) So we turned around and walked back to where we started. It's crazy how it can change over night!

It was a fun 3-5ft day. We caught a few waves, had a few wipeouts. Over all it was a pretty good time! We decided that tomorrow there would be only good waves, and no wipeouts. Haha!

Teri

What the Smell??!!??

2011-04-25T22:37:00.000-07:00

Hi guys!! Teri here.

Monkey has been out for a few. She was super sick on Friday and couldn't surf. Then, because she knew she was gonna be sick for a while, she decided to get some art work done (tattoos). She will be out for two weeks while she's waiting for them to heal.

Friday at the HB pier surfline claimed it was 3-4 with an occasional 5 footer, but today I heard a guy call it 6-8ft. Hmmm... Anyway, it was peaky and nice, but the current was like a river. (A lot of work!!)

Originally, I thought I'd paddle out south side, but the current was pushing me into the pylons. At first I was paddling at an angle to fight it. But it was so strong, I gave in and paddled through the pier thinking, "Okay, maybe I'll just surf north side instead."

There were some good peaks in between the 2 lifeguards stations closest to the pier. I fought the current to stay in position for a while, but after a hour I gave up and floated along until I was in front of the apartments. The incoming tide push was starting to fizzle anyway. The high tide had gotten too high and was killing it. I took one in and called it a day.

Today, Monday, I was glad to get back in the water and wash the weekend off. I got my buddy Tom to paddle out with me. He does surf/adventure tours. Hit him up!! (714)321-9464

We went to Newport. There were peaks and not too many guys in the water. The wind was already on it, but hey, lately the wind is ALWAYS on it!

The paddle out at 36th st is so short it's funny!! Tom pointed out a spot where there were some really good lefts. Once we got some good waves there all the other guys paddled over. Oh well, we had it to ourselves for a while!

So, the sun was out, the water had warmed up, the waves were good, all the guys in the water were pretty cool. Everything seemed great, except this awful smell that would waft by every now and then. It's hard to explain how bad it was.... It was like rotten eggs, really really rotten eggs!

I said, "Man! It smells so bad! If I knew it was gonna be like this, I would've brought ear plugs and a nose plug too!!!" (Yeah, I wear ear plugs. What?)

There was a gross film on the top layer of water too... Ugh! We were laughing so hard and then a set came in and we were all happily catching waves! I was trying not to swallow any water, but the more I tried not to drink any, the more I seemed to take in!

When I got home I took every vitamin I could find! And extra vitamin C too!!

But the waves were fun and it was totally worth it.

P.S. I want to say thanks to all who continue to read and support the blog! Especially those who write comments! You know who you are ;)

Thank you!!

Small Waves, Big Winds

2011-04-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

Hi guys, Teri here.

We checked the HB pier, but it wasn't lookin too appetizing (walled up shorebreak-ugh!). I thought we could use a mellow day, so we hit Newport. It was pretty small 2-3 with an occasional 4footer.

We paddled out, but just before we did, I yelled, "Looks like Monkey Waves!!" and then ran into the water laughing. I'm such a brat!!

You see, the Monkey thinks I jinx it by calling small waves "Monkey Waves". She says that every time I say that, a huge set comes in as we are paddling out.

So now, if she thinks I'm gonna say "Looks like Monkey waves!"or "I checked it and your gonna love it today cuz it's Monkey Waves!" she gives me the hand to silence me before I jinx the paddle out. What she might not have realized, is that I am always happy when the big sets come in. But it does make the paddle out harder and I know the Monkey doesn't like that!

But there was nothing much to duck dive and no big sets to pummel us... Newport is always a short paddle out and I was wishing I had my new Lost board.

The waves weren't great. It was small, mushy with lots of wind on it. It was also overcast and dreary. It wasn't walled up like Huntington, but it was a little sectiony. But, I really needed to get wet, so I tried to be positive and make the best of it.

Later, I told the Monkey, "Hey, I don't love small waves, but I don't complain. I just try to ride them as far as I can, then get another. I make up for lack of quality by quantity."

The Monkey got a few good waves and seemed to have gotten her groove back. I was happy for her. I think she's really loving that new board!!

We got the incoming high tide push that brought in a few good sets until the tide was too high and killed it all together, but by that time the sun had come out and we were feeling good.

On the way home I told the Monkey, "Even if I don't want to paddle out, I do anyway and I'm never sorry I did. Somehow, I always get a wave."

Something magical happens when I'm in the water. It's so worth it!

Teri

P.S. After surfing we went for a sushi lunch. The Monkey is a sushi newbie. She cut her rolls in half and spilled rice all over the place. She was cracking me up!!! I was trying to get her to eat octopus, mackerel or uni (sea urchin) but she wasn't having it! (I guess it wouldn't be funny if she puked.... Or would it?)

New Boards! New Racks!!

2011-04-19T16:22:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Teri here! I know I haven't been writing much lately. The wind has been a real bummer on our surfing!! Paul Wall (pictured above) gave me a little kick in the ass and told me to get back on the blog. Sorry I've been laggin'. But, it is good to know people are reading...

So.... Like I said, the wind has really been shitty! Last week I was so bummed, I decided it was time for a new board. I figured if I got a new board, then the Monkey needed a new board too. I got us both hooked up with some really good deals on some killer boards!!

Mine is a brand-brand new 5'7 Lost Rocket, thanks to my friend Benny who works for Lost. Benny and I grew up and surfed together as kids, so he hooks me up - big time!

Monkey's new board is a 6'3 Faction board that I considered buying for myself, but the shape was so similar to my other boards, it would've been redundant. It was ridden 3 times; practically brand new. Did I mention the awesome shape and artwork? Very cool. My friend Lenny was on his way to Indo and trying to downsize his 30 something board collection. He gave the Monkey a smokin' deal!

There is nothing like a new board to brighten your surf outlook!

Then I came upon the problem of storage...

The racks I had wouldn't hole more than 2-3 boards each. Also, there were boards stacked behind other boards, so 1 or 2 boards would hafta be pulled out to get to the boards in the back.

As you can seem it's very inconvenient when your rushing to beat the crowd, wind or tide!

So, I got busy building some new board racks. It's a project I've been thinking about for a while, so I had a pretty good idea of how I was going to do it. I'll tell you how, in case you want to build your own.

1) I bought a 10ft long 2x4 and eight 4ft dowels. The dowels were 1inch in diameter. I bought 3/4 inch pipe insulation so it would be tight on the dowels. I also got some electrical tape, wood glue, 3inch long screws and spray paint.

2) I cut the 2x4 in half so I could have a 5ft piece on each side. I cut every dowel in half. I drilled 8 holes every 7inches down the length of the 2x4. My hole size was exactly 1inch.

3) I glued one end of each dowel, then pressed them into the holes. (BTW: I didn't drill all the way through the 2x4, so the glue wouldn't leak out the back side.)

4) I painted the 2x4s and top of the dowels black.

5) After they were dry, I cut and put the pipe insulation on each dowel. Then I wrapped black electrical tape around each one.

6) I mounted them on the wall 4ft apart. I used very long screws and pre-drilled, making sure I was hitting studs. Before I put all the screws in, I double checked the height to make sure my truck would fit in the garage with the new rack. I also checked to make sure that they were level. Although I had measured carefully, because I butt the 2x4 to my ceiling (which apparently is not level), some adjustments needed to be made.

After I tested the strength, I touched up the paint on the wall and the racks, then put the boards up!! Doesn't it look great? Notice some open rungs for unexpected b-day and x-mas gift boards! Now get busy making your own! Total cost was $50 bucks.

A Break, A Surf, A Nasty Wind...

2011-04-11T10:47:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone... Surf Monkey here! ... Nothing to exciting went down last week. I took some time off on Monday and Tuesday, giving Teri a little break from the crazy Monkey. All last month I wasn't feeling like myself and was having a really tough time finding joy in anything I did, even surfing. Not a fun Monkey to be around, that's for sure! Thankfully, this month is going way better...

Wednesday we paddled out at Hairy Backs and floated along for an hour. There was a couple nice peaks around the "Crotch" area but I was having a tough time keeping up with Teri and paddling for position. The current wasn't too strong but when your out of the water for four days and tired from working the night before even the smallest current drains the energy out of you quickly! I asked if we could just have a day of surfing where I wasn't spending all my energy trying to paddle for position and not catching any waves. Teri agreed and off we floated, to no wave land. I certainly got what I asked for, I didn't spend any energy paddling for position.

However, I didn't spend any energy paddling for waves either, because there wasn't any. The "Crotch" area was the only thing breaking and the incoming high tide was only making matters worse... I looked over at Teri who was looking over at the nice waves breaking at the "Crotch." I felt bad for asking to just float along but how was I to know that there wouldn't be any waves down the way? She was a good sport about it anyways... On the way in I tried to catch one and wiped out. I felt my leash break and off went my board! Luckily it was just the string that holds the leash to the board that broke. An easy fix, especially when you have Teri for a best friend. She's a great board fixer-uper! ... Thursday and Friday we didn't surf because the stupid wind was blowing it all to Hell! Until next time...

Sparkley Waves!

2011-03-31T22:45:00.000-07:00

Hi all, Teri here.

Today I had to work. I've been working on a small painting project for my friends Tony and Barbara. They agreed that it would be cool if I came and painted the first coat, go surfing, then come back to do the second coat. How great is that? Best bosses ever!! Thanks T & B!

It worked out great. After I finished the first coat, I raced down PCH, checking the waves on the way to meet the Monkey and load the boards. The weather was great, the waves were sparkley (my favorite!) and the beach was packed. It looked like everyone with a board was in the water. It felt like a summer weekend rather than a Thursday in March!

We checked the pier. It looked pretty small. We couldn't see the waves on the south side.

The view from the street was blocked by the paint ball city made up of bleachers, grassy courts, bouncy houses and tents.

Thanks to my PCH surf check I knew there was something tasty going off at the cliffs.

We didn't have lots of time to look around so we headed there.

The parking lot was totally packed. We had to wait for a lady to towel off her dog and pull her head out of her $#* so we could get a spot.

It was noon by the time we paddled out. I was a little worried about the wind coming up, but it stayed glassy for our entire session. There were plenty of waves and we had a nice peak all to ourselves. Of course, when the guys saw our perfect head high waves coming through, and they invaded our area. But it was time for me to get back to work by then anyway. We'd had a good session.

I went back to work, finished my painting, then went out for a second session at 4pm. Can you believe it was still glassy? I was supposed take care of some chores at home, but on a day like this, you hafta take advantage. I knew if I didn't surf again and tomorrow's waves are shitty, I will be kicking myself.

But if we have a replay of today... I won't complain! And I'm sure the Monkey wouldn't mind some more good waves either.

Teri

Nuluwatu!

2011-03-30T21:55:00.000-07:00

Today we surfed Newland St. with Tom. He has a surf adventure business! And a state beach pass!! Very cool!!

When we got there we were stoked cuz there were some good looking peaks coming in. There were waves everywhere and the size was a little bigger than it has been the last couple of days. I don't think the Monkey was as enthusiastic about the size, but she's always a good sport and will paddle out in most anything.

There were some heavy wedges coming through and I had a couple of good wipe outs before I got my groove on. After a couple days of mush-burgers, I was a little late on my take offs and a little slow on my pop ups. I had to re-evaluate.... I guess.

Tom caught some good rides. He told us that he and his friends liked to surf there and had 4 good days of killer waves before the word got out. He said it was so good that they started calling it Nuluwatu (after the Bali beach break; Uluwatu).

The Monkey broke her no wave streak by paddling into a good one!

Things seemed to be going well, until the wind kicked up and brought the fog in. It was really strange. It went from peaky to stinky in like 5 minutes! We couldn't see crap and all those nice peaks walled up and closed out. Thanks to the wind. Ugh!!

But we are hoping that this is the beginning of a new swell...

Teri

P.S. I hope Monkey and Tom will forgive me for parking next to a big blog of dried up puke. We theorized about how it got there; Fire pit beach blow out? Underage kamikazis? Too much booze stolen from dad's liquor cabinet?

Spring Break Continues...

2011-03-29T22:17:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Surf Monkey here... Things haven't been going to well for me in the water lately. I feel like I've hit another one of those "surfer walls." I thought it might have been because the last couple weeks were pretty big but today wasn't big at all and I still didn't catch a single wave. All I can think about is the couple amazing days I had surfing over a month ago and I want another one of those days so bad! Something is holding me back, what I don't know... I was pretty excited to see that there were some Monkey waves going on today. I had high hopes paddling out to those nice mushy 2-3 footers.

I was on my fish and Teri was riding this board that her friend had given her to try out. It is a fish also, light blue with hippie-style flowers all over the top. Not really her style, to say the least, but she was being a good sport about it. While she was waxing up the board a couple little girls around 7 and 8 years old walked by with their dad. The girls asked their dad what she was doing. He told them she was waxing the board to make it go faster! He said it with such authority, like there was no way he could be wrong! I looked over at Teri to see if she was laughing at the ridiculous statement. She politely corrected the man and informed the girls that waxing the board keeps you from slipping off when your surfing. She couldn't let those girls go on living life thinking something absurd like that! She let them feel the board and how slippery it was without the wax too. They seemed to enjoy that...

We were on the south side again today. There was a crew setting up bleachers and fake grass on the beach. We couldn't figure out what it was for. Teri said, "Hey, maybe they're gonna have golfing on the beach!" Anything is possible right?! We put our footprints all over the nice flattened sand where they were going to lay more grass and headed for the waves.... It wasn't too crowded right when we paddled out but that didn't last too long. All the spring breakers were in the water. The current was strong and we got swept down the beach quickly. Teri caught waves on her friends board but she said it was horrible at making turns. She practically pulled a groin muscle trying to maneuver the thing! ... We were out for about an hour and called it a day. On our way back to the truck we were still trying to figure out what they were setting up for. I looked on the side of one of the semi-trucks parked on the sand and there it was, some paint ball company. Of course, the paint ball tournament is coming up! ... Hopefully tomorrow with bring better luck for the Monkey in the water. I hear there's going to be Monkey waves again!

Spring Break in HB

2011-03-28T22:56:00.000-07:00

Hi guys! Teri here.

The surf report for this week is 2-3ft. Hopefully, we will have some hot off shore breezes by Thursday.

Today, both sides of the pier was packed. We couldn't figure out why... Monday? Not usually a busy day at the beach. And the waves weren't great. Hmm....

We checked Hairy Backs, but the water there looked black with mud and gunk from the rains. So we went back to the pier where the water was semi-clean. At least it looked green and clear.(Although, I did get a condom stuck to my pinky when I was paddling out - gross!!)

We decided south side looked a little less congested. We watched the waves for a while. Soon the sun peaked out and the water cleared out as the tide got lower. Sure there was some wind on it, but it was a soft wind and not messing things up too much. It was worth the wait cuz a lot of guys were getting out of the water and just as things were starting to shape up with the dropping tide!

"Dummies!!" I told Monkey, "Now we have the whole place to ourselves."

It looked like there were a couple fun peaks coming through. I was glad the sun had finally arrived. So, we suited up and headed to the water.

At the waters edge, I noticed there were a lot of kids running around.

"Is school out today?" I asked the Monkey.

"Yeah," she said. "Spring Break."

Ohhhhh!! That's why the big crowd at the pier. It also explains all the out of state licenced cars I've seen on PCH and the beach parking lot lately.

There were some weird things floating around in the water. There was a big log that we were calling 'whale shit'. I was hoping it wouldn't land on my head when I ducked a wave. Other than that, a couple of plastic bags, that one condom and lots of seaweed.

After our session, I was getting out the water when I found a body boarding fin floating around. I grabbed it and looked around for it's owner. I'd remembered seeing a body boarder guy who was wearing glasses in the water and thought it might be his, but I didn't see him either. I was washing it off at the showers when some dude said it was his.

I told him I was surprised he had lost it cuz it even had a leash on it. He said he never put the leash on...

I didn't say what I was thinking. I just gave it back to him. He seemed stoked. I hope the next time he makes the trip to the beach from the Inland Empire he remembers to use the leash.

The best tourist move of the day was the people who stuck their longboards through the back windows. Hard to explain, but we got some pictures! Priceless!!!

Notice they have California licence plate? WTF!!!

Vans Pier Classic

2011-03-24T22:25:00.000-07:00

Hi all. Teri here.

After such a killer day for waves on Tuesday, the surf on Wednesday was a real let down. It was really small and kinda funky. Wah!

But the Vans Pier Classic had started on the South Side of the Pier. I wanted to see if my grommet friend Jesse was surfing. Unfortunately, he is an alternate. Number 8 on the list of alternates. Basically 8 people hafta fall out before he will be able to compete.

Today we paddled out at 34th in Newport. The Monkey was VERY careful to stay away from the jetty. It was pretty big and there were waves all over the place. Many of them were walled up. I had to be very selective to get just a few good rides.

On the way home we checked the pier and the guys in the contest seemed to be loving the big ass Huntington Beach walls. I heard that it was barreled early in the morning.

My friend Kevyn and I got into an argument about the size of the waves. There are lots of contention about measuring the size of waves. Kevyn called it "double overhead" and I commented that it was lame that Surfline called it 6ft.

He said, "Well that IS 6ft!"

I said, "Yeah, if your measuring backs like they do in Hawaii. But we are in California! We measure faces here."

He's supposed to be the expert, because he is a surf coach, but I have done some homework and they say that double overhead = 10-12ft faces... I don't think surfers will ever agree when it comes to measuring waves. What one surfer calls huge is perfect size for another. It's all subjective.

They are doing live stream of the surf contest. Check it out on www.vans.com!

After the Storm

2011-03-22T21:57:00.000-07:00

Hi all. Teri here.

Woah! What a weekend! The storm was raging here in Huntington Beach! A transformer blew out by my house. It knocked out all my electronics, filled the sky with white light and sounded like a truck hit my place. All the palm trees were being blown so hard I thought they were gonna blow right over! And the ocean, forget about it! Nobody was surfing. Nobody!! It was major "victory at sea" conditions, which is unfortunate because there were some good size waves coming in...

Lucky for us, things cleared up today, we had some sun and pretty glassy conditions. The tide was a little high, but I guess you can't have it all.

We checked Hairy Backs, but the water looked brown and the waves were pretty mushy. I could see the pier from the cliff above Hairy Backs and I suggested we might have better luck there. "Why not?" The Monkey said, "Let's check it out!!"

The water looked better at the pier. I was feeling even better about paddling out when I saw some nice overhead peaks coming through. We planned to paddle out on the North Side. We saw a guy on a red longboard make some really stupid moves. We thought he might be dangerous and vowed to stay away from him! So we walked towards the apartments. There was some dude in shorts wading around in the water. We were freaking out! It was so cold!!!!

There was a little bit of a rip tide and if you got into position it would pretty much carry you out. I was doing pretty well until a big set came in, forcing me to duck dive. Ice cream headache!!

Once past the break it was cold, clear and quiet. I felt like I had the whole place to myself. The Monkey arrived and we waited for the sets.

For some reason I kept getting rights. I got some good rides, all the way to the inside. I was thinking, "Hey! These are my kind of waves!" Large enough for lots of push and peaky enough to get a nice corner and mushy enough to not be devastating on the paddle back out! The bad thing was that every wave I caught took me further and further away from the Monkey. I kept trying to catch a left, but nothing but rights seemed to come my way!

Then I noticed I had surfed so many rights I was right next to the red longboard guy! Ugh! I was worried he'd do something lame and bail his board on my face! I had given up on surfing my way back to the Monkey, so I started paddling; away from red board guy and towards the Monkey.

Just then I noticed that she was walking on the beach. She plopped down on the sand next to her board.

I guessed she was cold and ready for breakfast...

I finally caught a left, rode it to the inside. I almost got creamed by some shorebreak while I paddled the rest of the way in. Gotta watch out for that shorebreak!!

It was a great session!!

Teri

Jetty Of Death

2011-03-19T12:33:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone... Surf Monkey here... I made it back from Vegas Wednesday afternoon and couldn't wait to surf Thursday morning. After all that desert driving I needed to get back in the ocean! Unfortunately, Thursday morning turned out to be super big (6-7 ft) and Teri had to work so I had to wait until Friday... Teri text Friday morning saying the tide was too high and the wind was starting to get on it but we loaded up anyways. We checked Hairy Backs and watched it for awhile but it just wasn't looking too appetizing. There were only 2 guys in the water which is a very bad sign. The waves were mushy, about 4-5 foot and mostly walled up. On to Newport! ... As we were driving by the Huntington Pier to Newport I noticed no one was in the water! To bad the waves sucked or that would have been perfect! ... We turned down 37th street to check the jetties. The waves were looking a little better there in Newport but for some reason still not appetizing to me. I don't know if I was tired or what but I just wasn't feeling it. We knew we should paddle out anyways because it's Friday and we need to surf before our long weekend of work. So we parked the truck and suited up... There was a little right coming off one of the jetties that no one was on so we paddled out there. On our way out Teri was slightly ahead of me and got pushed in my direction by a wave . I came up from a duck dive and there she was, heading right for me! I got my arm up in time to block her board from hitting me. These mushy waves were packing some power behind them! ... The paddle out turned out to be really rough, to say the least. This set came in and the waves just didn't seem to stop coming! It was one powerful wall of mush after the other. I couldn't get past the outside break. After getting knocked off my board for the third or fourth time I looked behind me to see where the jetty was. I always try to keep my eye on the jetty so I don't get to close. Turns out I was about 20 feet from all those sharp rocks. I started to get scared. I was not in a good position! I was out of breath already and continuously having to dive under the incoming waves. I could really feel the effects of only surfing two times in the last two weeks. I wasn't strong enough to fight the current and the waves to get to where the right we were trying to surf was... Between waves I looked to see where Teri was. She was already paddling back out from catching her first wave. I heard her yell something but I couldn't make out what it was. I had bigger things to concentrate on like not getting smashed on the rocks... My only option was to go with the current around the jetty and get out on the other side of it. And I did just that. I got on my board, paddled with the current and rode the white wash of the outside break in to shore. I came within ten feet of the jetty before I made it out. What a nightmare! One of my biggest fears surfing Newport is getting smashed on those stupid jetties and it almost happened yesterday... I collapsed on the beach and tried to calm myself. My adrenaline was still pumping and my breathing was out of control. It took me at least 10 minutes to put myself back together and even then I was still shaken up. Teri got out after about 15 minutes to check on me. I told her what happened and we thought it best to call it a day. All I wanted was to have a fun day surfing after being out of the water all week but I guess that wasn't going to happen.... Every once and awhile Mother Nature reminds us that she is still in charge. We are playing in her playground and there are risks involved. Ok Mother Nature, I got it! Thanks for the reminder...

Dawn Patrol

2011-03-14T10:46:00.000-07:00

Hello all. Teri here.

Today, the Monkey had plans to go to Vegas and I had to work. But we were determined to get in the water, so it was 7am or nothing!

Everything looks different early in the morning. In fact, everything feels different too: there is a chill in the air, not many people on the street and the sun is barely peaking through the clouds. But the best part about the morning is the absence of wind.

We arrived at the HB Pier to find clean, glassy lines and maybe 5 guys in the water. Score!

The sand was still wet with dew as we walked to the south side for our paddle out. The Monkey ran, screaming with excitement and jumped in.

My coffee still hadn't kicked in, so I was a little slower on the running part, but believe me, I was excited to be in the water. It wasn't until I ducked the 3rd wave that I realized I was actually awake and surfing. This is not a dream??? Awesome!!

The original five guys in the water quickly doubled, then tripled. I suspected that some of the younger surfers were Huntington High School Surf Teamers. They looked so small and young and full of hope and potential. I noticed there was a girl among them and I was reminded of my surf team days; early, cold, fun.

There were some good peaks, and because it was not yet too crowded, I caught a few good ones. I was waiting for the next set when the surf team girl paddled up to me. She was very close. I think she was trying to smile at me, but it looked more like the toothy grin of a shark. I don't think she was too happy about another girl in "her" territory... My competitive spirit was awoken and I started getting aggressive.

Then I thought, "Hey! Why am I getting all crazy? This isn't a contest!"

Just then a nice left came through and I worked it to the beach. It was the best wave of the session and a perfect end to our 1st session back.

On our way out of the parking lot, we saw a group of kids walking along with matching green and white jackets. Underneath a logo on the back their name was printed. I thought they were on some team, but the Monkey and I couldn't figure out what team. Chess team? Math team? Nuclear Physics team? (What?! They were those kind of kids! One pen away from a pocket protector...)

I rolled down the window and asked one of them, "Hey! Are you on THE TEAM?" The kid gave me a big grin and said, "Yeah!" He just looked so proud to be on the the team, I didn't want to burst his bubble by asking him what the hell team he was on. So I grinned back and gave him a thumbs up. He ran and caught up to his teammates. I heard him say excitedly that we had recognized them cuz they were on "the team"!

I think I made that kids day and it made us laugh, so it was all worth it!

Tsunami Warning?!

2011-03-11T11:22:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone... Surf Monkey here! Monday we went to see the doctor for a follow up appointment and he released us from the bonds of therapy! It's back to surfing for us! Finally! ... Unfortunately, no surfing today due to the crazy tsunami warning! I got a text at 2am this morning from a friend informing me of the danger. He said it wasn't supposed to be here until 8:45am so I went back to sleep. Wouldn't you want to be well rested if you might have to fight a tsunami early in the morning?! .... At 7:30am 3 more people text me about it. My aunt said "No surfing today!" Teri's sister text her the same thing. Teri had no idea there was a tsunami warning (she wasn't "lucky" enough to get woken up at 2am to receive the information) and was already starting to get ready to go surfing! ... 8:45 passed by and nothing happened. We decided to go down and check out the waves and see if we could witness said tsunami... There were a lot of people down at the beach trying to get a peak at the phenomenon. We didn't see anything to unusual though. The only thing that might have been off was the height of the tide. It was supposed to be low tide but the water was up a little to high for it to be considered low tide. The pier and the parking lots around it were closed off and all the surfers were standing around wondering when the hell they could surf! The waves looked like so much fun! ... We watched it for a little while but nothing happened. We should all consider ourselves very lucky today...

Hi guys! Teri here. Just wanted give a shout out to all the lifeguards who kept us out of the water for this 'life threatening tsunami'! Hahaha!!

I guess we can thank the media for blowing the situation out of proportion - as usual. It wouldn't have been so devastating if we hadn't just gotten released to surf! We've been hanging around the beach like the cats hang around the starkist cannery... We've been watching and waiting for the day we could surf.... Oh well. There's always next week!

"Journey For The Tide Watch" - A Short-ish Story

2011-02-15T23:32:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time a good Surf Monkey gave her best friend, Teri, a tide watch for her birthday. Many months passed with the watch working well, making it through countless surf sessions and even a long journey to Colombia and Ecuador. Unfortunately, this little watch started behaving badly, sticking on the tide screen and not illuminating very well.

One day at physical therapy, Teri brought up the problems she was having with her watch to our trainer who just so happened to have the same watch. He said he's had to take his in to the Nixon repair center near San Diego three times for numerous things. Each time they just gave him a new watch. The Monkey felt bad her gift was not working and offered to take the watch down to Nixon for Teri while she was out of town. And so begins Monkey's adventure....

I decided to use this as an opportunity to test myself, to see how I would do traveling alone in an unfamiliar place without having my car to escape in. You see, I'm the kind of Monkey that likes to drive wherever I go and take a friend along for the ride, that's just my personality. I've never taken a "trip" by myself so this San Diego day trip seemed like the perfect chance to get a little taste of solo traveling, without being to far away from my element.

I left my car at the Irvine train station and took the Amtrak down to Oceanside, something I've always wanted to do. The train ride was awesome. It takes you by Doheny State Beach, San Clemente, Trestles, San Onofre, the giant power plant boobs and all the spots in front of Camp Pendelton that we're not allowed to surf! Stupid Marine base, hogging up all the good waves...

In Oceanside I had to get off and transfer to either a bus or another train that would take me to Encinitas. Since the lady at the train ticket booth wasn't very friendly I decided to take the 45 minute bus ride down South Coast Highway. When we were passing through Carlsbad I noticed there were good waves all along the coast there! I took down notes of the spots in hopes of some day being able to surf there...

I arrived in Encinitas and walked to the Nixon repair center. It was only a few blocks from the train/bus station. I gave the poor, sick watch to the nice lady at the front desk and she said they would have it back to me within 10 days. She didn't even ask me what was wrong with it! I told her anyways, whether she wanted to know or not. After my mission was complete, I walked over a couple more blocks, up a steep hill and checked out the waves. They were the same as Carlsbad, beautiful and hardly anyone out! On top of that, hardly any wind at 3:30 in the afternoon! A couple more spots noted for next time...

I really wanted to spend the sunset back in Oceanside because, from the train station, I could see some cliffs I could walk to and take some neat pictures of the sun going to bed. The next train wasn't for another 30 minutes so I went to find some lunch. I came upon this really good pizza place called Manhattan Giant Pizza. They have huge slices of pizza for cheap and you can add almost anything to personalize your slice!

Once back in Oceanside I made the walk to the cliffs. Turns out, there is a pier there too. And next to that pier and all up and down the beach were surfers enjoying an amazing glass off! The waves were peaky, crumbly, 3-5ft and so inviting I wanted to jump off that pier and surf them! I stood on that pier for over an hour taking pictures, watching the surfers, watching the sunset and thinking how it was pretty cool that I was doing all this solo. By the time the sun had set my little Monkey hands were frozen and my camera battery was dead. Time to grab some hot coffee and catch the train home...

Today was undoubtedly a total success. The watch is getting all fixed up and I made it through my mini test of traveling alone. I know this wasn't a huge trip to some far off, foreign land but it's a start!

A couple honorable mentions of my trip: the crazy looking old guy walking around on the train with a Heinaken beer bottle inside of a pink cup, the really stoned guy in Oceanside playing soccer with a plastic bottle cap on the sidewalk and the very nice coffee shop guy who took the extra time out of his day to make sure he put just enough cream in my coffee so it wouldn't burn my tongue off. It really is the little things in life...

The sights we see...

2011-02-02T15:30:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! Surf Monkey here... Teri and I have been witnessing some very interesting things while wandering around the beach lately. We're still taking it easy and not surfing but it's been so nice lately we just couldn't resist at least watching the surfers! .... The funniest thing we saw recently was a week or so ago. It was a beautiful summer-like day and we were walking by the volleyball courts on the north side of the Huntington Beach pier. There, on one of the volleyball courts, was a group of 909'ers (Riverside folk) playing volleyball. That's normal enough right? Well it would have been, but these 909 folk were playing volleyball in their tube socks! Sand volleyball in tube socks?! Come on people! I thought I had seen it all until the next day when we were walking along the waters edge of the north side. This time there was a group of 909'ers playing in the water and splashing all around. Again, seemingly normal enough. But there, on their feet, were those damn tube socks again! Are those things sewn on their feet or something? I just don't understand it. You're at the beach, socks should be off! ... Yesterday we we're making our rounds by the pier and noticed half the parking lot was closed off and there were a bunch of trailers parked everywhere. It was pretty clear they were filming a movie or t.v. show and we later got the heads up that they were filming an episode for 90210. Hmm, they are filming 90210 in Huntington Beach? What's wrong with their beach?! Teri and I started making up our idea of what that episode was going to be about. Here it goes: Surfer gets hit in the head with board and becomes unconsious. Jet ski guy comes to the rescue and pulls surfer to shore, but surfer is severely injured. Surfer undergoes emergency plastic surgery (the show is 90210 after all) to make their face look normal again, but comes out looking entirely different. Then surfers twin sister comes into her life after they had been seperated at birth, but now they look nothing like twins because of all the plastic surgery! ... That's as far as we got before cracking ourselves up. Pretty good huh? We thought so...

You Might Be a Surfer...

2011-01-19T15:50:00.000-08:00

Hello.

Teri here.

The Monkey wanted to do a list about some common surfer traits. I always hear the jokes that start "You know you're a redneck when..." I guess every group has their own discerning behavior.

Surfers are no exception. So here it goes:

You know you're a surfer when:

Seagrass falls out of your hair in the shower!

Your cars seats/seatbelts have salt stains on them from your bathing suit top!

Your neck and wrists have wet suit tan lines!

You love the smell of resin!

You bend over (for any reason) and salt water drains out of your nose (and sometimes other places on a really good day!)

The bracelets you wear everyday smell like the ocean!

The inside of your car smells like wax!

You get excited about off shore winds

Your home page on the computer is Surfline

You consider "Dangerous High Surf" a good thing

You dream about perfect waves - (nightmares are when you dream it's flat or that it's perfect and you don't have a board)

You go to exotic, sometimes dangerous places to surf

There is always sand and melted wax in the bed of your truck

Your Mom gets mad at you for calling her "Dude"

You invent morning appointments so others' agendas won't interrupt your surf schedule

When you are watching a movie/tv show filmed on the beach, you ignore the actors to check the surf. (Ever seen LOST?)

You relate everything to surfing - even driving, "That car just snaked me!"

You hafta put lots of salt on your food cuz your so immune to salt. Surfers always get salt water in their mouths!

"BREATH"

2011-01-19T13:13:00.000-08:00

Hey followers, it's Surf Monkey! Yes Teri and I are still "alive" and trying to make our way back to "kicking!" We are still doing physical therapy three times a week like good girls! With the nice weather we've been having we have also been walking everywhere to help ease the lower back muscles that were jerked around in the accident... One of my friends gave me a couple surf books a little before Christmas and I wanted to do a little book report on one of them for you guys. I will warn you, I haven't done a book report in over 6 or 7 years so don't judge! ... The book is called "Breath" by Tim Winton. It takes place in a small mill town in Australia 40 or so years ago. It's about two young boys who discover surfing and absolutely fall in love with it. They work hard to buy their first boards and once they have them nothing but surfing matters! They meet an old, mysterious hippie-like surfer who takes them in and becomes their mentor, guiding them on incredible and, more often than not, dangerous surf adventures beyond what their sheltered little small town minds could have ever imagined. This book puts you in your own private helicopter that follows these three surfers on their continuous hunt for an epic wave! ... Well, that's all this Monkey's got as far as book report skills go! Bottom line, read the book! I have such a hard time making time to read but this book kept me wanting to go back for more!

Raining but all dried out!

2011-01-03T20:29:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! Surf Monkey here... Teri and I have yet to try our luck surfing. We have been doing physical therapy per doctors orders since last week. Man is it tough! I didn't think something like that would be such a workout. Come to think of it, I've never really thought of physical therapy before a few weeks ago when they told me I had to do it! Sure I've heard of it but until you're the one actually going through it why would you have any reason to think about it?! ... Our first session was last week on Tuesday. The head guy checked us out and determined what we would be doing in our sessions. He had me lay down on one of the tables so he could check my neck since that's where I was hurting most since the accident. He kept telling me to relax my neck and I kept telling him I was. Apparently my neck is super stiff from the whiplash. Not good! They started me off with a couple light neck stretches and I immediately felt how tense my neck muscles really were! Crazy! ... While I was doing my stretches the guy started checking Teri out. Her neck is screwed up like mine and she has lower back pain also. We both got to end our session with this Electric Shock Thingy and ice. They put these patches on the areas that hurt you and they send electric pulses into your muscles. It's supposed to help with the pain and relax your muscles. They put mine on my neck and shoulders and Teri gets hers on her neck and lower back. It feels weird and makes your muscles twitch while it's on but it's only for 10 minutes. They let us lay on tables in the same room so we just talk about surfing while we're doing that and it makes the time pass! ... Thursday they added on a hand bicycle for me and Teri has to do a regular work out bike. We did that first for ten minutes and then we each did different stretches with these rubber things on the wall. I had to do a couple shoulder/neck stretches on this long foam cylinder on the floor while Teri did some core/back stretches with one of those BIG excercise balls. We both got to end our session with our friend, The Electric Shock Thingy and ice... Today we did pretty much the same thing as Thursday with the exception of a few added stretches with the rubber things. Each time they add a little more, which is nice because it doesn't over work the injured area. The Electric Shock Thingy and ice is our "happy ending" to each session! ... So that's what we're up to now. We can walk over to the physical therapy place which is nice because it is conveniently close and the doctor told Teri walking will help make her back feel better. My black eye is almost gone except for a small patch of bruise on my eye lid and the hard lump on my cheek bone. My aunt (who is a nurse up in Portland) told me it is probably a hematoma and it should go away in a month or so... We are really depressed we haven't been able to surf and are itching to get back in the water!

Merry Christmas Surf Friends!!

2010-12-26T11:49:00.000-08:00

Hello All, Teri here.

Hope you had a good holiday! The Monkey and I are still out of commission. My truck is fucked and our boards are wrecked too. Plus, we are pretty banged up still.

I am not sure if I will be able to surf in the upcoming contest (WSA in Feb)...

I did get some good Christmas gifts, tho. I got some killer fins for my board - too bad the board I wanted to put them on was the one in the accident... (I think I need a new competition board- hint hint)

Also, I got a good surf video to tide me over until I can get into the water.

Sorry to be such a bummer, but just wanted to update.

Teri

P.S. Monkey here! To pass some time since we aren't surfing, Teri and I decided to make X-mas monster gingerbread cookies! Those are them in the pics! We started off making gingerbread surf monkeys but quickly veered off onto other things. At the end of the day we had gingerbread angels of death, frankenstein heads, sharks, skull heads, snakes and, of course, surfboards! They looked awesome and tasted so good! The family sure enjoyed them!

Well...

2010-12-17T13:46:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone... Surf Monkey here! Just an update for our followers... We haven't been able to surf since the accident. Teri's tailbone is all messed up and my neck is super sore! My eye is turning all sorts of colors too! What a mess we both are... It's not looking good for Teri's truck either. The surf truck has a bent up frame and the bed is smashed. Well, you guys saw the pics... Anyways, just wanted to let everyone know we are still alive! Pray to the surf gods we heal fast!

Merry Xmas! Your truck is totaled!

2010-12-14T13:32:00.000-08:00

Hi all. Teri here!

What an exciting day! The waves were super fun and glassy and some were head high or over head. The Monkey was feeling a little under the weather so she was on camera patrol. She got a couple of good shots. I wish my camera was a little better tho, cuz they seem to be before or after the cool tricks!

After the session, we were sitting in my parked truck getting ready to take off. One of the guys was talking to his friends in a car behind us. His friend started driving away and I looked in the rear view mirror just in time to catch him dropping his pants to moon his friend. His ass was all dark hairy crack probably with dingle berries, I told the Monkey. She said 'ewww!' I was so grossed out. I mean some things you just can't un-see! I told him that I was traumatized but he denied mooning his friend. I knew he was lying; it was confirmed when the Monkey and I saw him and his friends laughing their heads off as we drove away.

We hit our favorite coffee house on the way home to thaw out. We were turning into my driveway talking about the rest of our day and still being freaked out by the butt incident when some lady plowed into the back of my truck. She didn't see me, I guess. Cuz she didn't break at all. What a dummy!!

The Monkey pointed out the good news: we stopped thinking about the gross butt.

The bad news: we got major dings on our boards from the accident and my surf truck is tacoed!

The Monkey has a black eye and I got a bent up butt bone... The insurance lady said we shouldn't surf for a few days. But we got advil and ice packs going. We'll see how we feel tomorrow.

Teri

The Monkey finally gets it...

2010-12-13T19:02:00.000-08:00

Hey followers... Monkey here! ... So as you all read on Friday I caught AND rode my "official" first wave! Sure there have been plenty of instances where I have popped up, but I fell right down. I've been riding the wave over and over in my head all weekend and couldn't wait to surf today to do it all over again! It was so exciting! This is "the feeling" Teri and Froggy have been trying to explain to me for so long. The feeling of pure excitement when you think about, talk about, hear about or see anything about surfing. When I started surfing a year ago I had this excitement, but only to a degree that a new surfer could. Then there was a period when I thought I had lost the "surfer stoke" because I couldn't seem to progress, I had hit a wall. There was even a day when I asked Teri "Why don't I get excited like everyone else when the waves are perfect?" It was a day a few months ago when the waves were beautiful, about 5-6ft and peaky. All I could think was "Shit, I'm gonna get worked today!" Teri and every other surfer in the water were hysterical with excitement. I wanted to feel the way they did! Well, now I do! I had to catch that first wave, see for myself how it feels. It doesn't matter how many people are telling you how something feels. The only way to understand or "get it" is to feel it yourself. I'm really glad I "get" what my friends have been trying to show me this whole time! ...

Today we were back at the pier in Huntington. It was low tide and the waves were already mushy! They were between 3-4ft, a big difference from last week! Even though it was mushy there were still a lot of fun ones! I caught and rode at least 2-3 waves today! I was all smiles... Teri caught a whole bunch of waves too! She's looking REALLY GOOD for her contest coming up in a couple months! Unfortunately I didn't see this wave, but on one of them she said she hit the lip super hard! ... We ran into Froggy's friend Lenny in the water today. It was his birthday and he was out trying to catch some presents! He prefers waves of a bigger size, but he seemed to be making the best of it.... We made a new friend who I will introduce under the alias "Max Powers" because that's what he told me his name was when we paddled out! (Come to find out later his name was Jerry!) He's the guy who gave us our surfers quote of the day! A few minutes after we paddled out he said "These waves are like girls, all they are doing is teasing me!" Teri told him not to be a hater! It was soooo funny! LOL... He was also making this "sonar" like noise when a wave would be coming from the outside! It was interesting... All in all it was a fun day and we surfed until our arms were jello! I can't wait for tomorrow!

2-for-1 Free Surf Day

2010-12-10T17:20:00.000-08:00

Hi all. Teri here.

The Monkey, Richelle and I planned to surf the Newport Pier today. We got there and it was even more crowded today than it was yesterday. But I was detemined to paddle out there cuz Richelle had told me that it was sooooo good yesterday and I could see that there were peaks everywhere and although it was super crowded I was hoping that we would be able to snag a peak here and there. But the crowd was daunting...

So we checked the secret spot... There were only about 6 guys out. But it was smaller than yesterday. (Wah!) Also, it breaks way faster and heavier and not as peaky as the pier. There was an issue with close outs too. So we checked 36th street. Crowded and heavy shorebreak. Ugh!

We decided to go back to the pier. Unfortunately the Monkey hadn't conceded to this plan and wouldn't get out of the car. She HATES crowds!! I had to pick her up out of the passenger seat of my truck. She wouldn't put her feet down on the ground. I was yelling at her to put her feet down and walk. People were staring like I was abusing a handicap girl! Argghh!!!

I said fuck it. Secret spot it is... So, we left Richelle at the pier and went to the secret spot. I figured I could get some corners and, really, after all the running around I just wanted to get wet. We got some killer waves out there. (I had some killer wipe outs too!! Like I said; it's a heavy wave.)

Suddenly the Monkey realized we hadn't put money in the meter! OOppsss!! We went running back to the truck. On the way, the Monkey said we could finish our session at the pier! I was excited at the prospect of some peaky waves!!

I saw the guy who rides his bike up and down the coast and gives an interesting surf report that I didn't really understand. He said, "Hey! Where you going? Your winning your heat!!"

The Monkey yelled, "No ticket!!" I said, "Yay! Free surf!!" We jumped into my truck with our sloppy wet-wetsuits on. At the pier we quickly paid the meter and ran into the water next to the pier where Richelle was!!

Wave judgement was an issue for me at first. It was a very slow, rolling wave at the pier and we had just come from fast, bomber land. Once I got it figured out there were a lot of good ones to be had. (rights and lefts)

The Monkey caught a killer left and was up and riding on the face of the wave (she told me), unfortunately I didn't see it cuz I was on the same wave going right!!

It didn't take long until we were all spaghetti arms! What a great day!!

See ya next week!!

Teri

Big Waves!

2010-12-09T17:07:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! Surf Monkey here... I got to Teri's house this morning and she said it was big, REAL BIG. I believe one of her friends used the term "Walls of China!" to describe what it looked like next to Huntington Beach pier. We both had late nights so we decided to go to Newport where it would be a little more do-able for our tired arms... We checked 36th street and it was a little walled and about 4-5 foot. We meandered on down to Newport pier just to see if it was any better, and it was. There were nice peaks everywhere and the size was managable for the both of us. Of course, everyone else from Huntington Beach and Newport Beach had the same idea! There were 3 guys riding waves at the same time and at least 6 guys going for every wave. It looked like a busy street in China out there! ... We were going to just give in and go there when Teri remembered this secret little spot we were told about a couple months ago. We headed over to check it out, but not before having to deal with a bunch of dumbasses who had no idea how to exit a beach parking lot! What a nightmare... We arrived at our secret spot hoping for the best. I piggy-backed on Teri across the sand (What?! It's part of her training!!) and what we saw got us very excited! There was only a handful of guys out and beautiful waves! Woo Hoo! Our searching paid off! ... We put our suits on quicker than a chubby kid could eat a piece of chocolate cake and ran to the surf. The only thing that held us back a few seconds was some guy that just got out of the water and couldn't get his car key out of his wetsuit because his fingers were so numb! He had to have Teri get it out for him. Hmmm... You know the water is cold when... Teri made it to the outside first but she lost the wet hair game. I wasn't close behind though. I got stuck on the inside for a few waves and got another ice cream headache duck diving! Man those things suck! Oh well. It's all part of the thrill! ... The waves were about 4-5ft with an occasional 6ft rolling in. The water was crystal clear and I swear the bottom was only a few feet under me, but Teri says it was at least 6ft down. It's really pretty when the water is clear like that but I always think I see shadows underneath me. I always mistake my shadow for something else, like a shark swimming beside me. It's creepy! ... Teri caught a few good ones today but her best was a right! I couldn't even see her until she got to the end of the wave all the way down the beach on the inside! She was so stoked after that one. She said she was going so fast down the line it was crazy! ... She took another one in and I took a crack at a couple. I tried to take off on a bigger one but pulled out just in time. It closed out on me. The second one I took off on I swear I had it but my hand slipped off my rail and I fell. I was in though! Teri said she saw me get up for a minute too. The best part was I made a Monkey noise as I was falling and Teri heard it from the beach! That was so funny! ... It might have been a short session but it was fun! We decided we love our new secret spot and will most definetely surf there again!

Hey guys! Teri here. Just wanted to add on. The picture of the church might be a hint for those of you who are curious about the secret spot...

Maybe we'll see ya out there!!

Huntington Pier

2010-12-09T01:17:00.000-08:00

Hi all. It's Teri here.

It was so nice to be back at the good ole HB Pier. I like to take a trip to hit other spots, but I'm not so good at the waking up at the butt crack of dawn thingy....

So, it was good to roll outta bed at 8:30, text the Monkey and lazily hit the water by 9:30. It was pretty fun today. The water got colder again. But the waves were good enough to distract me from that little annoyance.

Speaking of annoyances: I got snaked 2 times today. One guy apologized and I told him it was okay and I'd get him back later (ha ha). The other guy just pretended like it didn't happen... I know who you are and paybacks are coming. I don't forget!

The Monkey and I were still having a lot of fun splashing around in the water. We decided to add a new section to the blog. We hear so much random stuff in the water. And sometimes we say random stuff. Mine is always, "It looks better over there." I guess that's what started the whole idea. I said that and the Monkey was like, "That's the surfers' anthem; 'the waves are better over there'" I said, "Sure, that, and 'You should've been here an hour ago. Or, you should've been here yesterday. It was epic'" She said we ought to write em down...

Sometimes I overhear some weird conversations in the water. Like a couple of weeks ago some guy told his friend he was trying to keep his surfing in this millennium. The next thing I know they were talking about business reports and e-faxes (whatever that is!)

Anyway, today for the first report of random stuff we got:

"That was not part of my visualization!" Said by the guy who wiped out, lost his board and had to swim to shore to get it.

"Hey! Are there any waves here, or what?" Said by the creepy guy with dyed black hair who seems to think he's the most super-pro in the water.

I told him, "No. No waves here." And then the set came... Oops!

Change of Pace...

2010-12-07T13:10:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! Surf Monkey here... Yesterday Teri, Froggy, Dave (Teri's step-brother) and I went to Hairy Backs. Surfing with Dave was a pleasant, unexpected surprise! Teri, Froggy and I were in the truck waiting to turn into the parking lot by the pier. It was looking really crappy and flat and we were debating whether we should check out Hairy Backs when Dave pulled up right next to us. He was headed to Hairy Backs so the decision was made - Hairy Backs it was! ... The waves were 2-3ft and breaking softly. The water was a little warmer than last week and it made a noticeable difference. Dave yelled "Man, it's hot!" as he was getting in. He was joking, of course, but it definetely wasn't "ice cream headache cold" anymore... We paddled out where there was a nice left breaking. We kept drifting away from it so there was some paddling for position going on. As the morning went on the waves seemed to keep changing where they were breaking the best. Teri and I were sitting where the left WAS happening and looked over at Dave. He was catching a bunch of waves! We paddled over to where he was and finished off the session there. Froggy caught a left and Teri yelled to him "Make it look good!" And he did! I saw Teri catch a good amount of lefts and rights and I almost caught a couple. It was a fun day!

Today we took a mini day trip to Hermosa Beach, where Froggy grew up. Ever since I started surfing he's been talking about taking us there and how great the waves are. A year later, we finally made the trip! Richelle came along with us too... I had to get up at 6:40 so I could get ready and be at Teri's by 7am. We grabbed muffins and were at Froggy's by 7:30. Any of you that know us know that this is way to early for Teri and I to be functioning properly! ... When we got there all we could see was some shorebreak. There was a pier that had a berm (thats when they push the sand up into a mini hill on the beach to protect the houses on the beach during the winter) surrounding it on both sides. We couldn't see the waves right next to the pier because of the berm but supposedly that's where it was happening... We immediately ran into one of Froggy's long time surfer friends, Frankie, and he told us we better suit up right away before the high tide killed it. We put our suits on as quickly as possible, which wasn't quickly at all because it was so cold we didn't want to take our warm clothes off and get into our damp suits and sopping wet booties! ... We walked down the beach and around the berm and there were better waves right next to the pier. We used the rip tide next to the pier to pull us out into the line up. The place was a ghost town compared to surfing the Huntington pier. That was really nice. Froggy knew everyone in the water, which was a total of about 6 guys. They were all really nice. Frankie kept telling us girls to go when the waves came to us, which I later found out is his way of motivation. Unfortunately for Richelle and I the waves were 5ft with some 6ft on occassion. That's a little beyond our comfort zone. Every time we would try to go we would see the drop and pull out. Frankie told me that I just need to go. Once I get that one wave I'm going to lose my fear and I'll be a big wave surfer before I know it! I believe the part where I'll lose my fear, but I'm not sure about that big wave surfer part! ... Teri caught a couple and got out after about 30 min. She took pictures of us out in the water. Richelle followed her shortly after and it was just Froggy, Frankie and me... Froggy was looking very comfortable at his home break. It's hard to believe he has a hurt foot sometimes by the way he surfs! I told myself I was going to at least take off on one wave before I get out, but I couldn't do it. That surfers wall snuck right in and took over. Or should I say the fear had a hold of me?! Either way. That's something I'm still trying to get over... Hermosa was a neat spot and I hope we can go back again when we're not so sleepy and the waves are a little smaller!

Froggy's Back!!!

2010-12-05T20:29:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! ... Surf Monkey here! ... Friday we finally got back in the water after a couple days of not surfing. The conditions have been pretty sad lately, were talkin' 1ft to 2ft people, micro-mini waves! ... Froggy recently returned from Indonesia on a month long surf trip! We met him North side of the pier and it was good to get back in the water with him. He's been spoiled the whole time he was gone surfing in warm water, so when he got back here he had all the serious gear on to protect him from our freezing cold water! He was decked out in a 4:3 suit, booties and a hood! Froggy was looking, to be honest, just like a little frog! ... The waves were around 2-3ft and most of them were closing out. But we needed to get wet before our long weekend of work so we paddled out... The water wasn't as cold as it was on Tuesday (that was just crazy!) but it still had a frosty bite to it. We surfed for almost an hour and a half before the cold water pushed us out. Even though the conditions weren't great it's always nice surfing with great friends. I got to met a couple of Froggy's friends in the water and they were really cool guys. Hopefully we will see them out there again! ... After our session Teri and I went to the O'neil warehouse sale in Irvine to see what kind of deals they had. I scored on a really nice jacket and she got a really neat camo jacket and some things for her boyfriend. Board shorts were only 15 dollars which is really cheap for those name brands. I didn't get any this time but when they have the spring sale I'm sure I'll grab a few pairs!

Sorry for not posting any pics this time. We both forgot our cameras that day!

Ice Cream Headache!

2010-11-30T20:51:00.000-08:00

Hi All. Teri here.

The word on the street is that it's been cold! 38 degrees some mornings? Arghhh! Too cold!

Today the Monkey and I decided to brave the icebergs and paddle out. Surfline said the water temp was 50-54 degrees. Man, it was freezing. Every wave I ducked resulted in an ice cream headache. Ouch!

It was pretty small (1-2ft) and closed out too... There were only 4 other guys in the water; if that gives you any indication to how bad it was.

But I just needed to get wet. You know what I mean! Sometimes you gotta just get some salt on your skin!

What did that one surfer chick say? She said, "Hey, we're salty girls. And salty girls taste better." Ha ha ha! I don't exactly know what that means, (or at least I'm gonna pretend I don't) but I think there is probably salty blood in my veins too!

Anyway, we only lasted about 30 minutes in that ice water. If the conditions had been better, I would've been willing to tough it out for a while longer, but my hands were frozen already. So I told the Monkey I was gonna take one in. I think she was relieved, cuz she was freezing too.

I'm praying for a heat wave! Let's have a 80 degree December. What do ya say?

Teri

Shoppin for Waves

2010-11-26T11:32:00.000-08:00

Hello All. Teri here.

Happy Black Friday! Today I woke up early. I was on a shopping mission. Shopping for waves, that is! I had a theory that if I got to the beach early enough I could catch some waves before the wind, crowd and high tide messed it up...

Unfortunately, the waves were pretty small. Surfline called it 1-2ft. I'd hafta say, that it was pretty accurate.

Straining to see anything from the parking lot, I wondered if I should even paddle out. I was all alone cuz the Monkey had to work and Richelle had a late night (I guessed) and wasn't answering my texts. Sometimes its hard to get motivated to paddle out when it's super cold and the waves aren't great. You need some friends to drag ya out there.

I decided to go out. At least I could get some paddling exercise. So I suited up and paddled out on the north side of the pier.

I'm so glad I did cuz I met some really cool surfers in the water today. Their names are James and Alex. I think they said they are like 13 years old. They both go to Sowers and surf all over the place, especially Newport, they told me. We shared a lot of waves and kept an eye out for the big ones (2 footers!) It was just a really fun day surfing with those guys.

The water was so cold like ice water and super clear. Sometimes we would see a fish jump up. We were all saying that our hands were frozen and my feet started to feel numb even though I was wearing booties, but I has having so much fun I kept telling myself, 'One more. One more.'

After two hours I was so frozen I could barely pop up. Plus the high tide was really killing it. I grudgingly got out of the water. It was a good day to practice surfing small waves!

I hope to see my new friends in the water again!

Teri

Thanksgiving Surf

2010-11-25T20:13:00.000-08:00

Hello All. Teri here.

Today was the Monkey's first day back in the water since she got her new tattoos... She was so excited. She was practically skipping to the shoreline. Plus, she was stoked cuz it was perfect Monkey size waves; 1-3ft!

The water was way cold! It was a little off shore too. But, because it is a day off of school and work, it got crowded... Fast! We were only out for about 1/2 an hour when it packed in.

There were a lot of grommets. Don't get me wrong, I love grommets... They are a lot of fun to surf with. In fact, usually, I still wish I was a grom. I mean, you don't hafta work, you can be in surf class and surf the pier everyday; your parents buy your wetsuits and boards. Hell, you only weigh 70 pounds, so you can catch pretty much anything that rolls by! What's not to like?

But there was one little mosquito in the line up that was really getting under my skin. And after he burned me a second time, I let him have it. Poor kid. He seemed surprised. I guess nobody ever called him out before. He was a little ripper, but he needed a tutorial on basic surf etiquette. (Not to mention the dangers of dropping in on someone with a fast board. Accidents do happen.)

Shortly after that the high tide shut it down to shorebreak only and we decided to call it a day.

I didn't want to press my luck; Thanksgiving has not been a lucky surf day for me. Last year I got into a collision (a pile up?) with two other surfers and suffered major damage to my favorite board. It was getting way too crappy and way too crowded to chance a repeat performance.

I hope we can beat the crowd tomorrow. Maybe they will all be shopping!

See ya then,

Teri

P.S. I put up a picture of the girl who asked us where to pay for parking. We thought it was funny cuz it's pretty obvious. (See the big "pay here" sign, anyone?)

Family Day at the Beach

2010-11-22T22:04:00.000-08:00

Hello all. Teri here.

It's a holiday week and the family is in town.

Today my sister, Stacie, and her husband, Zach, and my niece, India(8), and nephews, Ezra(4) and Zed(1) came to visit. They live in Colorado. I promised them we would go to the beach. Also, I was hoping my sister could take some pictures of me surfing (she's a professional photographer).

I was bummed when I checked Surfline cuz they were calling it a measley 3-4ft. and totally "jumbled up and bumpy". The north side cam confirmed it, it was bad. I really didn't even want to surf, but I had promised the kids we would go, so I decided to paddle out. I was waiting for them to arrive when I happened to check the south side cam...

Oh, different story there. What's that? A peak? Hmmm. Maybe.

We pulled up just in time for some over head, glassy, fast peaks rolling in on the south side!

Barely anyone was out, probably cuz of the terrible report on Surfline. Or cuz of the rain. Lots of people won't paddle out after rain. (Dirty water from the streets drains into the ocean)

But I got my tetanus shots or whatever, so I paddled out. Right off the bat, I got a couple good rights. Then out of nowhere, I caught the best left of my life!! I was so stoked and rode it all the way in to see if the fam had seen it. My niece and nephews were running around on the sand looking for shells, so they didn't see it. My sister got a couple of pics. She hadn't planned to take surfing pictures so she didn't have a telephoto lens. I looked like a dot on the wave... Oh well.

I spent the rest of the day helping the kids find shells and build sand castles. I was amazed that they weren't cold running around in the water. I had a full suit and booties on and I was freezing!

By the time we were heading out, everyone was showing up. Word travels fast. But it was too late, the wind was already up. I guess we were lucky. We caught it at just the right time.

Hoping for more good waves tomorrow. The Monkey promised to come take pictures, too.

Teri

P.S. My sister promised to email me the pictures she took when she gets back to Colorado, so I'll post them later.

Is it Cold or What?

2010-11-19T17:15:00.000-08:00

Hello, Teri here.

Today the south side was fun and not as crowded today, but it was cold!

Richelle is really getting the hang of her new board. I owe her like 10 waves cuz I snaked her twice. The second time I felt like a real jerk, but she was cool and said it was okay. She used to surf a 9ft. long board. Now she is on a 7'6" (still kinda a long board to my 6'2"-but it has a pointy nose, it's a thruster, and it's sometimes duck-diveable.). She said she feels like she's learning to surf all over again. I bet it's hard to change from long board to short board! (See her cool board on top of her car in the picture.)

I feel like I'm learning to surf every day!! Hahahaha!

Last night I was dreaming I was taking an order (at work) and I repeated the order back, but instead of saying what the person had ordered I said, "Okay, so you want me to go right, stay up high on the face, hit the lip, do a cutback, then finish up by going over the top?"

Maybe I've been surfing too much...

Foggy Days!

2010-11-18T19:18:00.000-08:00

Hello all. Teri here!

Surfline said 2-3ft with an occasional 4ft at the pier today. Richelle and I decided on the south side cuz it's been pretty good there lately. We ran into my friend Brett in the parking lot. He was with a friend of his and they were busting each others chops while suiting up. It was funny to listen to them.

We paddled out on the south side. The larger sets were pretty walled up and closed out. But there were corners that were surfable. It was foggy. Once we got out there we realized it was making it hard to see/read the waves. Also, it was super packed.

Richelle said, "Who told everybody that south side was fun yesterday?"

We surfed there for a while then paddled through the pier to the north side. Right after we made it to the other side, I saw a guy on the south side take a wave toward the pier. He bailed right before he hit a pylon. His board popped up and slammed into the mussel covered pylon with a loud crash.

"Arghh!" We all yelled. It's a terrible sound when a board gets smashed!

It was good on the north side. The people seemed a little more spread out. I saw some of my friends, so I felt more comfortable. It also seemed more peaky. I caught some good lefts and rights. But you had to be choosey cuz there were a lot of close outs.

Hopefully it's a little cleaner tomorrow!

Waves of Wahines

2010-11-17T16:43:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody! Teri here.

Sorry I haven't posted

much, but it's been pretty mellow in the water since the Monkey has been out of service! She is

recovering from some new tattoos.

And they turned out very cool!

Plus it has been pretty small. We were promised some size today - 5-7ft. But it never materialized.

So Richelle has been keeping me company in the water. We've surfed everyday this week that ends in a 'y'. We've been on the north side, south side. Today we even checked Bolsa Chica. It was pretty closed out.

The old longboarder guys told us, "There are some good barrels!"

All I saw were walls.

Richelle said, "Nah, we're going back to the pier."

So they gave us some cookies and

sent us on our way...

Longboarder guys! So funny. So laid back and cool.

So we surfed the south side. There I met my new BFF (2nd to the Monkey, of course) His name is George. (He's in the 1st picture) I've seen him around town and in the water a lot, but we had never officially met until today. I wanna give him a shot out, cuz he totally blocked for me so I could take off on a killer right. Thanks George!! What a bro!

Yesterday we were getting out of the water and these young hippie guys were taking pictures under the pier. Let me set the scene: One guy had a purple turban on his head and was wearing those baggy MC Hammer pants and the other guy was dressed like a pirate - except he was too clean lookin to be a pirate, but whatever... They had a big hole dug in the sand with a treasure chest sitting next to it.

Seeing that there was some kind of story line I was inspired to contribute! I ran up and said, "And then after you found the treasure, the surfer girl ran up and said, 'Hey! Do you have any wax in there?'" I don't think they got it, or they were too stoned, cuz they just stared at me like I had two head. But Richelle and I both thought it was funny and laughed about it all they way back to the parking lot!

I wanted to give you guys some background on my friend Richelle. (She's the red head pictured) We've been surfing together on and off for 7 years.

She has been surfing for 8 years. She's a longboarder and very dedicated to surfing and the lifestyle that goes with it. She even wrote her thesis for her master's degree on women surfers - very cool! I'm reading it right now and it's great! She plans to have it made into a book or a documentary or both!

She just recently started her own blog: wavesofwahines.blogspot.com.

It will be funny to read both blogs when she does the documentary cuz I think the Monkey and I will be in it. (We hope!) If we are, we will be posting about our experiences in the water and our interactions with costume(wetsuits) and make-up(sunscreen) people. Ha ha!! And she will be talking about dealing with producers and camera guys and all that Hollywood stuff! It's fun to think about! And if we get to go to Hawaii like she wants to??? Oh boy!

See ya!

Teri

P.S. There's another contest coming up in Feb. I'm thinking about doing it... But I haven't told the Monkey cuz she hates how stressed out I get. Anyway, today in the water I saw that girl who ran me over in the Sept. contest. I told my friend Tony that I was worried that she might enter the upcoming contest. He just said, "Well then... Kick her ass!" Hmmm...

Andy Irons Paddle-out Tribute at the Huntington Beach Pier, November 14,...

2010-11-15T13:41:00.000-08:00

Paddle Out for Andy Irons

2010-11-14T14:23:00.000-08:00

Hello all, Teri here.

Today I joined Richelle to do the paddle out for Andy Irons. It was held on the South side of the Huntington Beach pier. Every time I have a reason to surf on the weekend, I remember why I don't surf on the weekend; everyone and their grandma is out in the water - literally!!

We thought we could get there early (the paddle out wasn't scheduled to start until 12:30) and catch a few waves... Of course everyone else had the same idea!

There were some good size sets coming through too, so it was lots of fun working my way through the mine field of people and trying to get my share of waves. Some guy pulled an air and pretty much landed on my face, so I got a nice new cut to show off now! I guess he didn't feel any remorse tho, cuz he just looked at me and paddled away. Oh well. Weekend warriors.

The turn out for the paddle out was great. There were tons of people on the beach and on the pier. It was sad, too. I was especially sad thinking that this is the third paddle out I have done this year. Too many!!

Well. Gotta go.

Teri

Off Shore!!

2010-11-11T21:38:00.000-08:00

Hi guys, it's Teri here.

Last night Richelle let me know there was a "light off shore" expected for Thursday morning. She thought the Newport Pier would be good. I was agreeable, since it has been really fun there the last few times we paddled out...

The Monkey and I were halfway there when Richelle text me saying Newport was too small and lets go to the Huntington Pier instead. We turned around and headed back to our home break.

At the same time, we had noticed that there was nothing light about the off shore breeze that was happening. There were some hard core Santa Ana winds brewing; pulling branches off trees and making swirly whirlpools with leaves and trash at the street intersections... It was a wild and out of control wind, but definitely off shore!

We got to the pier and even tho surfline called it 2-3ft, we saw a couple head high sets coming through. Richelle is on a new shorter board and still getting a feel for it. She was a bit nervous about paddling out with the wind and all, but with a little prodding, she came out.

The current was really bad, so we took one guys suggestion to paddle out on the south side to avoid drifting into the pier from the north side. It was great until we drifted into what I guessed was the Huntington High School Surf Team... AKA: mosquito reef. We then realized that school was out for Veterans Day so it was a little more crowded. Oh well.

We fought the wind cuz it was blowing us too far out and then we fought the current so we wouldn't get caught in grommet land. It was a lot of work. Oh yeah, then ya hafta paddle for waves too!! Which is actually harder than normal cuz the wind is trying to push you out of them! The funny thing about paddling for waves when the off shore wind is so intense is that the wind blows water in your face and you can't see shit! I had to take off blindly and hope for the best on some of them!

Also, it's really cool how the waves look like they have hair. I love getting rained on after I duck dive a big wave. It only happens in off shore conditions; I would come up on the back side of the wave and get rained on by the water from the lip of the wave that gets blown back! It's hard to explain. But if you've been out on an off shore day, you know what I'm talking about. And there are rainbows everywhere!

The best thing about off shore conditions is the feeling. I love the way I feel. The excitement. The heart pumping energy. Seeing a big wave come through and the wind is blowing the lip, holding it up and I'm paddling my ass off to catch it. I can't see a damn thing, but I'm gonna fight to get it! It is a rush!! The elements come together to make a great day for surfing. It's a special moment in time. Rare and treasured.

Today was the last day for the Monkey to surf for a couple of weeks cuz she's getting some new tattoos. She promised to take some pictures for the blog next week. Hopefully I can catch some good waves!!

Teri

4:3 Time!

2010-11-10T12:05:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! Surf Monkey here... Today Teri and I met up with Richelle and Craig on the north side of the Huntington pier. Craig sent out the "Good morning, lets surf!" texts to the three of us way early (like 7:30!) because he was driving back to Lake Tahoe today and wanted to get his last session for the next couple weeks in... After yesterdays freezing experience we decided it was time for the 4:3's! Teri even wore booties today but I'm still in denial that it's cold enough to wear those. My theory is if my core is warmer when I wear my 4:3 then my feet should stay warmer with all that hot blood pumping to them, right? The answer is... Kind of. My feet weren't as cold as yesterday but still stumps by the time I got out! ... Teri caught a really good right as soon as we paddled out. After that the waves were nothing spectacular. The high tide was really killing it and the wind was starting to come up. The waves would jack up (meaning the face of the wave got steeper) on the outside and looked like they were going to break but they would just roll on by and break on the inside. Or they would break outside but be so mushy it was hard to catch them. Definetely saw the Huntington hop being utilized today! ... I found out today there is a ride in the water right around where the inside waves break. You just wait there on the inside and when a wave comes duck under it and it spins you around! Totally killer! I went on that ride about 10 times before I paddled back out to the line up. And they say you can't do anything fun for free these days... Towards the end of our session Craig went to take off on a wave and totally swan-dived it! Then he turned around and saw Teri and I going to take off on the wave right behind his. Teri swan-dived it and then I swan-dived it right behind her! That was when he decided it was time to get out. Teri and I, on the other hand, were determined to not end our session on a swan dive. I saw Teri take off on another right and I went for the left right behind her. The foam caught me and I ended up doing a face plant right into that nice icy water! I thought that was a decent way to end my session and got out laughing at myself .... Tomorrow will be my last day in the water for about 2 weeks due to getting some more ink done. Hope for good waves!

P.S. Hey, it's Teri now. So as the Monkey said, we were sporting our 4/3 wetsuits today. And it was definitely necessary. But as we were pulling our suits off in the parking lot after our session, some dude paddled out with only board shorts on! I don't know if he lost a bet or what, but the water was so cold it had to sting. I don't know what got into that guy??? What the fuck!? I don't know how long he lasted, but it was a pretty crazy maneuver if you ask me.

Winter Is Here!

2010-11-09T16:32:00.000-08:00

Hello all. Teri here.

Well, with the time change, high winds and fake Christmas trees for sale at every grocery store, it feels like winter is upon us. Then we paddled out and really felt it! Today the water temp had probably dropped about 10 degrees. After last weeks heat wave, our blood had thinned up. I got an ice cream headache every time I duck under a wave! Argh!!

The Monkey and I surfed the Newport Pier where we met with Richelle and Craig. It was a little jumbled up and crowded, but the good news was that there were peaks everywhere. If I didn't get one, there was another one behind it (or next to it - right or left - you pick!)

It was clear after surfing for about an hour and our feet were numb, that the 3/2 wetsuits are no longer sufficient for these conditions. I was taking off on waves, popping up and unable to feel my feet. Craig calls it "club feet". I just call it LAME! We were talking about breaking out the 4/3 and the booties! That is definitely winter wear for surf.

The good news is that we get to change our clocks again (spring forward) on March 13th. So, lets start the countdown now!! Only 4 months to go...

At least the cold should thin the crowd out a bit. I hope!

Teri

Ding Repair!

2010-11-06T11:22:00.000-07:00

Hi all. Teri here.

As you heard, the Monkey got some pretty bad dings to her board surfing the pier on Thursday afternoon.

I don't know if we told you, but the airlines bashed the shit out of my board on the way home from Colombia (or was it the trip from Ecuador to Colombia?). Well, whatever... They must have slammed the board bag pretty hard, cuz the tail of my board was completely broken open - the cracked and delaminated glass exposed the foam inside.

Sadly, my friend Joey (our ding repair guy), has started a new career in cabinet making and isn't doing repairs anymore. There's really no one else I would trust with my board, so I decided it was time for me to relearn the art of ding repair. I haven't done a ding repair since high school, so I got Craig to lend a hand.

1) I pulled off all the broken/cracked glass and sanded the glass all around the ding area.

(The Monkey's board was bashed so badly-even the foam was carved out - pic on left)

2) I mixed some resin with this new 'foam filler' stuff called q-cell. (If you mix it right - it looks like toothpaste in color and consistency) I filled in the carved out foam parts in the Monkey's board with the q-cell mixture.

(I noticed the Monkey's board had some random holes in the bottom - I think the Colombia security poked it with holes to make sure we weren't smuggling drugs in our boards!)

3) After that dried, I re-sanded the area. Then I cleaned the dust off and used masking tape to protect the area outside the ding from drips.

4) I cut some fiberglass to fit the ding. I used a new (q-cell free) mixture of resin to glue the fiberglass in place - using resin underneath and on top of the fiberglass.

I guess I took too long, cuz my first batch of resin turned jello-y before I finished covering the first ding (and there were about 7 more to do!)

5) I spun up some more resin and quickly finished the resin/fiberglass process on the rest of the dings.

While waiting for the resin to dry. I realized that the resin to catalyst ratio is pivotal in the drying process. If I used too much catalyst it would 'go off' quicker but remain gummy for a long time - not allowing for sanding. If I didn't use enough it would remain liquidy and drip all over - making for more clean up, meaning more sanding - yuck!

6) I cut off the excess fiberglass. I sanded and re-resin-ed.

The ding on the tail of my board took 5 layers of fiberglass to fill and re-shape!

I now really appreciate the art of ding repair. My repairs appear to be water tight, but they leave something to be desired in the visual department. They could look a little better...

I put up some picture of the Monkey's board so you can see the ding repair process.

Also, I put some picture of a early morning San-O trip Richelle, Craig (both pictured above) and I took Thursday.

(I forgot how hard it is to be a shortboarder in a longboarder world!)

Teri

P.S. I wanna give a shout out to Leslie and Stacey for sending me an awesome new camera!

(An early xmas present)

All the pictures above were taken with this killer camera. Thank you girls!! I love it!!