Lefts

Took off early Saturday morning headed for the straits. The weather didn’t look like it was going to accomadate our adventure, what with gray skies looming overhead. But following a ferry and a two and one half hour drive, we arrived to find sunshine and an endless supply of left-handers. On low tide this spot can look unassuming. Flat and forgetful. But as the tide pushes in, the swell picks up and you’ll find one left after another, wrapping their way around the shallow rock point. At times you can find yourself in knee deep water, while a few feet to the east you’re overhead. With a western swell the waves are typically small but shapely. My 9’6” Becker proved the perfect tool for Saturday’s swell. The hard rails allowed me to turn quickly, while the large pivot fin provided enough surface area for the waist high waves. Toes on the nose? Almost.

Josh Constable

Josh Constable, four time Noosa Festival of Surfing champion, rides a Jai Lee log on the island of Bali.

Skip Frye

Watch Skip Frye, a surfer and shaper from San Diego, California,  ride an 11 foot log at Old Man's just days before his 70th birthday. If I live that long, I hope I can surf like Skip. Video via KORDUROY.

Flash Bomb

We all hate wet wetsuits. They're cold, uncomfortable and a bitch to get back on. To remedy this issue, the guys from Rip Curl have been hard at work developing a new wetsuit, one that goes from wet and cold to warm and dry in just 30 minutes. They've dubbed their new rubber get-up the 'Flash Bomb,' and have been developing its Flash Dry lining for over two years now. Second sessions will never be the same.

You can read more about Rip Curl's Flash Bomb wetsuit here.

Epic

Spent three days at the ocean. Shoulder high swells on Friday were followed by waist high peelers both Saturday and Sunday. Surfed the north end of the beach in the morning, then moved south as the swell shifted. More rights than lefts. Should have stopped in the straits on our way out. Hiked around on Sunday with Karissa and my soon to be in-laws. Couldn't find the petroglyphs we were looking for, though. Snapped this photo on Sunday night before we left. Epic was the word of the weekend.

Surf Wagon: CJ-5

Ran to town Saturday morning to pick up some firewood. When we returned, a cow shit covered Jeep was parked at our campsite. A '72, I believe, CJ-5 with a one inch lift and 31" BFG M/T's. Turns out the Jeep belonged to an overly tan, thoroughly intoxicated young man who lives somewhere outside of Sequim. He bought the Jeep from a meth head, painted it grey in order to avoid unwanted attention from the previous owners "friends" and had driven to Hobuck with his girlfriend and two kids to camp... and drink. So why was his Jeep parked at my campsite? Well, lets just say our friend was a little confused.

Malibu Summer 1965

Silent home movie shot at Malibu in 1965. Wish I could have been there. Courtesy of Mark Velez.

The Edge

My father and his longtime friend, Terry, drove out to Hobuck Saturday afternoon and stayed through Sunday evening. Following a few cups of coffee Saturday morning, Karissa and I pitched the two extra tents we brought so we'd be ready to entertain the old farts upon their arrival. After the guys unpacked the car and sorted out their tents, we left camp and hiked down to a little known beach along the straits.

With bear poop aplenty, the Captain was inspired to arm himself with a rather long stick, Anthony Hopkins style. The surf was as flat as a pancake, but the beach is worth the walk. For dinner, Karissa sautéed chicken and broccoli, which she served over brown rice with peanut sauce, while the guys ate fried chicken they purchased at the general store. On Sunday, the four of us hiked to Cape Flattery, picked up some smoked salmon from the Take Home Fish Co. and surfed for a few hours before my father and Terry took off.

Additional images are available here.

Jai Lee Noserider

A few of the guys from Deus Bali took a trip north to test the first Deus Jai Lee Noserider. A good lookin log, incredible waves and a great soundtrack. Makes my want to move somewhere tropical, like Bali.

Poler's Two Man Tent

When Justin told me that he had a tent for me to try out this weekend, I just assumed that it was the one that he had been talking about a few weeks ago. It's this fancy thing that you just throw out and it pops together itself and becomes a tent. No poles to deal with or anything. So I picked up the tent and brought it over to my buddy's new house where we were planning on getting really drunk and sleeping in the yard.

One Summer? Day

You can now watch Vimeo videos on your Apple TV, which is very cool, assuming you have an Apple TV of course. Anyhow, since discovering this I have been wading through endless surf videos and have become particularly found of Almond Surfboards Vimeo channel. Almond, a So-Cal surf shop that is shaping some serious logs, shot the above video at Doheny State Beach roughly one year ago.

Makah Days 2011

This weekend the Makah Nation held their 87th annual Makah Days celebration. Fireworks Friday night were followed by war canoe races and a salmon bake on Saturday. Vendors lined the main road through town, and although there was a lot of bullshit for sale, there were a few vendors selling wood carving tools and traditional Makah basketry hats made of spruce root.