E's Surf Report

Any word on the surfer plucked from Seal Rocks yesterday, hier soir. He okay?

OK Here's the deal from the rescue last night. I stood on top of the cliffs watching the last 1/2 hour of it.

Two surfers got sucked out at Seal Rock. Been there, done that myself. One surfer paddled just north of the rock and came in right below the Cliff House. The tide was extremely low allowing a dry walk around at the cliffs. The other surfer decided to paddle against the current, which was moving at a pace he could not keep up with. At no time was he in any real danger other than fruitlessly exhausting his energy.

Had he paddled around the other side of Seal Rock, he would have easily made it in to shore. But he chose not to. Had he paddled farther out about another 100 yards or so, he could most likely have been able to paddle south far enough to get in. He chose not to do that either. He just kept paddling against the current and went nowhere. It got to the point where he would take about 20 strokes and stop from exhaustion.

It's tough to go against your instincts when you get sucked out to sea. I'm not sure if this guy learned anything. Both surfers where on shortboards.

After all the local firetrucks arrived with several men and women donning wetsuits and swim fins, and after two PWC arrived from the marina, and after the rescue was completed, a hord of helicopters showed up and stared circling like vultures.

The guy who was rescued was greeted on the beach by a few surfers and kinda just made himself fade away. He saw the authorities looking for him as he back-peddled toward the lot. Perhaps he thought they would charge him for the rescue???

On the news, they said they pulled him in and he left the parking lot very quickly. he was too embarassed to stick around. i guess he was ok

Some nice shots of the central coast there by kimball. notice how he is down low, hiding in the dunes so as not to be seen (ass kicked) by surfers in the lineup....

DAMN, it is windy out here in the sunset today. i wonder if that hinders the escort service across the street? will keep you posted. man, she is h.o.t.

You rock e. Great posting today!

Man, that subject fits me to a tee. Job is in sales, not quite the surfer I wanna be, don't even get me started on the subject of women.
Confidence is what it's all about. Of course, there's false confidence and there's true warriorship.

Zen.

~SS7

Well said, E. I have always thought you're a good writer. I really relate to what you're saying about the confidence thing. It's a win, win. If you can keep confidence within yourself, others will see that and often treat you with more respect, which in turn, will make you feel even better. Obvioulsy, easier said than done.

Got word Blakestah moved back to Pennsylvania.

E,
you should go out for that show "The Apprentice". foil all their buzzword talk with some real knowledge.

I cant tell you how many times per episode they use the words "passion" and "drive" and "committed", etc. total joke.
unfortunately, a lot of office types watch this and feel it is the way to succeed. suck up to the head honcho, praise his every move, dont disagree ever, etc.

i wish someone on that show would say "Donny (not 'Mr. Trump'), you are pathetic, you own half of New York but you are fat and your hair looks like shizit. With all that money, you should be taking your fat kids on endless surf trips in your jets and helicopter. Get a personal trainer you phat-phuck and get in shape, you have no excuse" also, "I challenge you to give a couple million bucks to doctors without borders, bitch!"

just my thoughts.... spread the love.

43rd, out.

E - you could try my strategy. I've come to accept that I do suck at everything and that I'll never be anything more than mediocre at anything I attempt. So I have found peace with that and smile for my friends who have done so much better than I.

I'm not smart. I'm not good looking. My income is below national average. I'm not particularly liked by anyone. I never get invited to parties.

But that's OK.

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- A surfer was rescued at sea near Ocean beach Wednesday afternoon.

The San Francisco Fire Dept. received a call at about 4 p.m. regarding two surfers.

A jet ski was sent out and one person was rescued, according to San Francisco Fire Dept. Spokesperson Pete Howes. That man jumped off the jet ski and left.

Fire rescue crews and the U.S. Coast Guard continued a search for a second missing person.

But the search ended after another surfer said there was in fact no second surfer.

dennis.. as far as being stoked you seem to be in the upper 99%. that's a solid accomplishment.

life!

thanks heads.

Love the fact the girl on the left is baked out of her mind.

Hey HB, Just want to clarify that I have nothing against the lock Box system, I like it but you need to keep the screws tight or it will shatter the glass around the box. I like the system because you can move the fins foreward and it is a strong box, but be warned.

Nice post E

I have been determined to get back in shape this year, last year I had a lot of anxiety about surfing OB. This year I'm back and feeling good. Still have a bit of anxiety.

Nice one bagel.

i think what causes anxiety about the beach for me is those couple of kinda longish holddowns that i have had on pretty small/just overhead waves. it makes me think, how could i handle something twice the size of that? i quit smokin this year and have gotten fitter, but i'm still...not confident. it seems like honestly (no offense) alot of those who are on it on the bigger days aren't actually better surfers, they just have a different mindset, different fear level, fed by different stimuli. i gotta say i really love the small, smooth days. we should surf though, really. ya know, CHARGE!

Thanks E. I was semi-joking but depression was a big part of my life in the younger years. I handled it poorly as described in some my past posts.

Speaking of stoked, I just got a whole bunch of camera gear delivered to me this week. I was really wishing I had it with me last night for the fiasco, and again this am as I drove by the north lot and saw a fountain of water coming up from the ground right in the middle of the lot. It would almost rival a Vegas fountain. Well not really but it was about three feet across and five feet high.

I'm in the "Read the manual" mode right now. Whole lot of buttons on digital cameras. It's nothing like my Brownie Insta-matic.

Days like this make me think of Dale Webster...did that guy surf today? Pretty heavy to be in the water every day for 20+ years, unbelievable really. Respect or just too much?

I accept my failures along with my successes. Confidence, ability, luck, thier all part of success. Get a good wave or bad one, half luck half knowledge. I do have to say that there is nothing worse than paddling for a big wave and hesitating. That moment of stall will get you lip launched more often than not. Go for it, weight on the front foot, get in their and make it to the bottom.

Is there anything more frustraiting than the 13 year old kid surrounded by friends? They can and do take over certain spots and allow nobody outside their group to enjoy themselves. You get a wave and they're all yelling, droping in around you, grabbing your leash. But...

They normally pick a small wave to take over, they're stuck within walking/biking distance of their home leaving pleanty of drive to spots open, and they surf well enough it's a pleasure to watch.

Managed a few nice waves on yesterdays suprise swell. All gone now, glad I had the time off, bothered to check it and surfed. Gotta get to the point where I feel comfortable going off the lip on a wave bigger than 4 foot.

I must confess to a bit of death-wish mindset when paddling out at big OB, just so I could come back in and feel "most alive of all." When I realize that there are waves here that will kill, maim, or give a heart attack to 99.99% of the population, I've been drawn into it like a moth to the flame. IT's a fucked up combo of reluctance, fear, awe and a deep desire to live some sort of life that has streaks and moments of extraordinary meaning striped through it.

I know to some people that sounds really "off" -- but to me, sometimes theonly way I know my "ons" are "on" is by putting "offs" in between them. That's the only way I can explain it w/o assailing the bloog with psychobabble.

One specific thing about confidence, without it you wind up eating cement and hurting yourself while skateboarding. Then it's a downward spiral -- lack of confidence caused you physical injury, which in turns creates a deeper lack of confidence, your moves get lamer and more tentative, and on and on into the illin' you go...then you need to find that thing which jolts you back into the saddle and regains lost composure. The skateboarding metaphor, yah....

Tom Curren at Backdoor yesterday.

Backdoor-11-30-05

doh, thanks tsm im not sure how i got in that position and my feet couldnt really be closer together but it was fun that day. thanks for the shot bruce

nice words e..i guess its good to keep in mind that your sucessfull friends and peers have thier own issues..this one friend of mine has my dream career and he tells me about how bummed and depressed he gets, i think hes nuts but whos to say? i guess its all relative and depends on how you describe sucess and happiness..not that im mr confident and secure or nothing..

it was kind of blown out this morning..

alex kanevsky show tonight dolby chadwick gallery (sutter and post or something)..

that pidgeon is totally shitting on that kid!

In between claiming and name-dropping yesterday, I was trying to allude to exactly your topic today, E.

Yesterday noon was not BIG by anymeans, but a little more serious. The day that is good to go out on to build up your experience, and thereby your confidence.

Here's a tip: Next time you are out in bigger surf. Take off on the first big set that comes to you and purposely eat it. Then afterward you will know you have made it through the worst that can happen that day.

Either that or your leash will break, or you'll be pushed back in to the beach, and your sorry ass won't be clogging up the line-up, making it tough on all the confident surfers.

or you'll get stranded on seal rock

yikes friend #1, you really are a narcissistic a-hole.

Confidence is one thing, self-love is just gay.

not that there's anything wrong with being gay...

I claim POO WATER

sorry, the parlance of our times might be a bit insensitive. I apologize. nothing wrong with being homosexual - more power to ya.

Another tip: if I pass on the waves in the morning, on the way in to work I like to stand off the crosswalk just a bit, enough so a passing bus or taxi will just graze me a bit, maybe smash my knee or elbow as it flies past. That way I can go into my office cubicle workplace knowing that will the worst thing that can happen that day.

what's with the friend #1 bashing? i thought his post was pretty strait-forward and humble. Plus i've witnessed him charging on some larger waves. Friend #1 charges. strait up.

friend 1 - is your "crowd pleaser" red. I snapped a pic or two of you yesterday. Unfortunately nothing unreal. I'll email if you want em. I'll second that F1 charges.

i would like to see those pictures walker

friend numero uno-it's funny you say that, that is what my friend i met in bali always told me and his girlfriend to do. "take the biggest header you can find, right off, and then you won't be scared." i always wondered if he just wanted us to clear out of the line-up. get ths kookey girls out of his aussie-rippin way. but i do think it's good advice. take one good spill and you know your alright, unless you poo you suit and then you can just go in and call it a day.

i like that first shot with the perfect spray and the sun. nice. i love evening sessions after the sun has gone down. so peaceful and the essence (for me anyway) of what the surf experience is all about. just appreciating the world around us and our incredible fortune to be able to participate in mother nature the way we do. we become one. we are one. one love!

Um, well I guess I think I put more in between the lines then is actually there, or people read more, or maybe they don't read anything above the 'Posted by: Friend #1'. People were bashing me for things that were exactly the opposite of what I actually meant to say.

Whatever, Ignorance is Bliss.

Case in point. Walker no offence implied but my "Crowd Pleaser" was on the racks at home. I was on a White 7'6" Bonzer with blue rails. The dude on the Red Board was on the peak to the North of the one I was attempting to ride with all other chosen beautiful people of OB.

Worship me.

"I too used to lack confidence in the water, my career and with the ladies." Then I found.......

BVB, what is our fortune for today?

rape the salad bar

I guess I don't have your pic. Anyway, it was a nice calm before the storm day. Many good rides out there on beauty waves.

I would like to see the shots, anyhoo.

rcave in the vacinity of baaqmd full-stop gov

Nice words today E!

Yeah confidence plays a huge role in many things. I've found this is really true in climbing, which is super mental. If you get it in you head that you aren't gonna make to the top, and start making excuses in your mind, it'll become a reality. But if you visualize yourself on the top and zone out the obstacles- Boom you're there.

I highly recommend Mark Twight's Extreme Alpinism. Worth an extra 5 minutes at REI reading the chapter on mental obstacles/preparation, for anyone not just climbers.

Charge!

T-Day 2003

awesome photoshop work!

Nice shots Artifact. I had a left twin to that second pic on T-Day. I'm still amped thinking about it.

thats not photoshop. thats real

The brigade has taken over the peak at the wave pool.

Gurans we've got Poo Water. And worse.

They need to make a Doc's Pro Plugs "All Orifices" variety pack.

As a kid the water was the only place I had any confidence. I couldn't run fast, jump high, or throw/catch a ball for shit; I was smart, but lazy in school and had a serious problem with concentration - probably an undiagnosed learning disorder. But I could out swim any of my peers and surf with the best of them until I was about 17 or 18. Big Fucking Deal.
I had an extravagantly misspent youth. I met a lot of interesting people and did a lot of crazy shit. Again, Big Fucking Deal. While this means I can sometimes be an interesting guy to talk to, I make shit money and have never been able to provide the kind of living I'd have liked to for my family. I seriously regret that. But I've stuck around and have had some miraculous experiences in the last 15 or 20 years. Consequently, I'm now pretty confident in most areas of my life, except professionally - and I'm working on that. I'm nearly finished with school (at 52=pathetic), getting good grades and developing real skills. Age has whittled away at my confidence in the water, but I get it back whenever I eat shit hard at Ocean Beach in "biggish" waves and paddle out for more. I agree with friend #1, take a lip launch on one of the bigger ones out there, the rest are easy after that.

Hey! Jimmie stole my identity! Same age, still in school, everything. If you were adopted, you may just be my missing twin brother.

Confidence ?

Hey, be like Roach. Take off deep on some bombs at Sunset. So what if you don't come out of the barrel and snap two boards on two consecutive attempts. Go to the beach grab a new stick and still finish second in the contest. At 5'0" that girl has more cojones than all of Kelly's Cove Crew combined.

Very good points about building confidence on wipeouts. Reminds me of the story submitted by someone a while earlier about the Bull and Horn getting wasted then pounded by waves as part of big wave ritual or Jose Angel who would jump off his board on the biggest of waves at Sunset and do summersalts into the water below.

I always manage to build confidence by accident when surfing big waves.

I'm so sorry to hear that Dennis. ;)

yeah sonny sharrock! dude lets it all hang out. I'm feelin' "Ask the Ages" right now. the track "what does she hope to be?"
Beautiful.

the confidence bug...

i have wanted to chime in all day...
instilling confidence, teaching is my job. it is hard.
knowing what to do and when, taking off on a macker
or laying out a page design. experience and practice
make it happen.

i am constantly amazed at how little time some of
my students invest and expect results. YES there are
the preter-natural freaks who paddle out and just CAN
in anything. but that is the exception NOT the rule.
tiny successes and acknowledgement breed more risk
and hopefully more success.

learning is scary. it involves risk. without the potential
for failure, there is no success. i say it all the time in
class and am trying to remember it in the water.

dennis and jimmie....education is the one thing that no
one can ever take away from you....

Today's blog reads like a BayWatch episode.
You either have big hairy balls or you don't. Just ask Mitch.
Oh and thanks for publishing and naming pics of the beach and especially a particular hard-to access point break in SB.
Keep up the good work E and friends - YOU SUCK!

I so need a trip to the Islands...

Korewin, You have to be pretty confident to compare big wave surfing with page layout. I was so terrified when I took my InDesign class I could barely eat my blueberry muffin. But I survived and was able to stomach a Specialty's cookie after lunch. The only thing surfing and computers have in common is that mousepads and wetsuits are made of neoprene.

Hey, I nearly died trying to teach myself Illustrator.

Rapestah - you suck.

Walker - Please email the shots of yesterday.

Perhaps I was too cryptic.

rcave at baaqmd dot gov

On an unrelated note:

Sometimes it sounds cool in your head, but once its typed in the dialogue box it reads like you're a dick.

come on office cubicle mates, big hug!

holy shit, that wave looks like Lani's!

I like the get-pitched approach to building confidence on bigger waves too. So much so that my confidence is probably pretty much maxed out by now, and it might be time to filter in a bit of actual wave riding.

Wish I'd tried to get out yesterday, though not near Kelly's.

okay, good! now everyone backscratch your partner and posture lightly.

rapestah you're the only one naming. Now you'll get owned! niceness.

Oh Boy! Lani's! Yippppiieeeeeee 'I love Lani's!' Its my fave island wave - yippiedippydo!

It's pretty EZ getting waves?! Yep.

How about a deal where all us groovy niceness peeps meet at Sloat parking lot on Sunday and in group paddle out together. Korewin can talk the talk and Dennis can pull E, J, Bagel, Hackey, Sackey and Trout out beyond the harrowing breakers! OH MY HOW SCARY!!!!!! Confidence! Big Balls Confidence!
Bruce can handle all the video and isolated closeups of all us boy's ripping, dipping and diving. Aftewards our circle jerk can ensue...

Careful, there, pal! You might hurt our feelings!

hey head of the class...

you obviously missed my point...
there IS a connection between teaching
or learning a new skill/ making decisions
on your own, developing that skill into
something that you can be proud of...
like your scathing humor.

hey armchair, suck the pubic hairs out of my butt.

sorry about the graphic nature of that last post.

shit like this makes me think we should have waterproof guns.

I ain't afraid to use this!

WTF? Just take off on the first big wave (4 ft island size) and wipe out?

That's what's wrong with you.

Position is what it's about. Position and wave selection. Some of you should move back to Florida or LA. Fucking surf scene is getting soft here.

20 ft Waimea wont even hurt you if you are in POSITION. fuck

It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.

I think its time some people move off of planet Ocean Beach and return to earth. dude, its surfing.
99.999999999999999999999999999999% of the world doesn't give a sh$t. If you define yourself by the big, nasty, fickle-as-f@ck place we ALL call our home break - best of luck with your mental health. The outer sunset can ruin a man. Did you know its sunny during the summer in other parts of the city and there are semi-hot women running around?

If you were out yesterday morning catching waves, you should be proud of yourself. Seriously, that is some commendable sh$t. But don't think the rest of us are unworthy little turds. Any real surfer will appreciate and respect those who charge - we know how hard it is to get out, deal with those clean-up sets, side-shore currents and mach 5 drops. Be happy with that – no need to talk trash to the “rest” of us.

"... or you'll be pushed back in to the beach, and your sorry ass won't be clogging up the line-up, making it tough on all the confident surfers."

And I don't feel like a turd for not surfing yesterday morning. Or not pulling into 10' thumpers. And when it gets head high and perfect and I do go out - I don't feel like a barney becasue I wasn't out on the DOH+ day earlier during the week.

I just surf dude - some days are diamonds some days are rocks.

Hey if you complain about "trannies" here, while commenting about Waimea, isn't that somewhat paradoxical???

I'm proud of the spreadsheet I was just working on and I'm very proud of my sense of humor.
Specialty's cookies... Hahaha I kill me.

BVB is so sensitive about spots on the south shore and the art scene. Discuss these things and hes sure to have a terets episode.

This is what namers and claimers look like.

This is what namers and claimers look like.

I said WATER-PROOF guns, not a fucking water gun, moron. Go suck your dick like a monkey.

e,
I think you should focus on surfing when the waves are good and not worry about all the little details. Keep thinking about it.

i would if i could

Sorry O
Bro, I thought you might have a sense of humour.

conifiedence!

And I define myself not by where I surf, but by what all the other bloggers think about me. So please don't get hate me.

I guess I'll have to be more careful when using "You" when I really mean "me"

"...or I'll be pushed back in to the beach, and my sorry ass won't be clogging up the line-up, making it tough on all the confident surfers."

Feel better now?

I know I do.

God, Bo-Bo was good today! And next time in Bolinas, stop on by the Coast Cafe for a post surf dinner!
Cheers!

okay goobers, time to take a break, have a tv dinner and stop writing everything that pops in your head--there's more to life than this sorry weenie-o-torium

G'night everybody!

One more. Sleep tight, niceness crew!

Imagine a world where trannies don't think head high OB is 15ft.

yeah, enough, get a life... I love spam

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Waves still break at night...

Waves still break at night...

Friday Morning Report: Unsafe water conditions today. Bacteria counts are high. The no swimming signs are posted.

Sloat must have opened the flood gates. Nasty.

I saw two guys at the showers rinsing off...yuck

POO!