It's Never Normal

Sunday was smaller. Karissa caught waves. Waist high. One direction, then the other. There wasn't any wind. It was wonderful. Had a handful myself. More Pepsi than Diet Coke. Clear skies? Not a chance. Pulled into a few that stood six feet, maybe more. Rising up over a sandbar somewhere in the middle. I was out there with some smallboarders. Shocked when the Blue Banana washed up on shore. Sans leash. Brought out a few big bottom turns. Step on the tail, turn with your hips. Put five up front. Like a cat stretching it's claws. Kept my hood on most of the morning. It was kinda cold. Karissa caught a long left. Paddled up to me and said, "It's kinda weird out here." I told her it's never normal.

Russian Circles

What I've been listening to lately...

Cabin Camping

It rained all weekend. A light, grey, sort of rain. Wet when we arrived. No need to camp in that kind of crap. So I rented a cabin. About sixty paces from the sand. A sizable swell rolled in on Saturday. Surfed for a few hours. Lots of lefts. Brought the Blue Banana. Hadn't surfed it since, shit, I don't know. Mounted my new Mikey DeTemple MD3 fin. A marked improvement. More on that later, though. Cabin was cozy. We cooked dinner, watched hockey highlights and fell asleep sooner than I expected.

"He likes it! Hey, Mikey!"

What can I say, I like Mikey. Maybe it's the beard. Or maybe it's because he makes movies that don't suck. Whichever. So when I started looking for a new fin, something for The Blue Banana, Mikey's name was mentioned. The board needed a new fin cause Karissa crushed the one that was on there. And because the Greenough 4C that I recently Finterviewed wasn't what I was looking for. So I spoke with Shawn from Stoke Harvester and he hooked me up with this, a Mike DeTemple MD3 Longboard Fin made by the Rainbow Fin Company. It's a 10" fiberglass fin that looks a lot like the Greenough 4A. Wide base, narrow, flexible tip, a fin "designed to get the most out of your log." Should work well. Oh, and he also threw in a copy of Mikey's first film, Picturesque, which I'll watch and review sometime soon.

Daytona Days

A short bit of film featuring Austin Marvin of Marvin Lmtd. Mfg. Co., courtesy of Tiny-Waves.

The Smokey Joe

I'm in the market for a motorcycle. Something small. Good on gas. So I can ride around town. To and from work. I've had a handful. Everything from dirty dirt bikes to tiny two-smokers. I've been hit by a Land Cruiser, dodged death with Dorian Sleeper on his 'Hill Climb From Hell' and been stuck in the sand somewhere in southern Utah. So I know what I want to ride. And what I'm willing to work on.

Matt 'Cuddles' Cuddihy

Short bit of film featuring Matt Cuddihy surfing somewhere sunny. Shot and edited by Andrew Gough.

Macklemore x Ryan Lewis

What I've been listening to lately...

The Good, The Bad & The Beautiful

Saturday stood up. Offshore wind, seven foot swells, etc. I brought the Bing. A nine-foot Elevator with nothing in the nose. Had a hell of a time catching waves. My friend Chris and his wife Rena camped in our corner. Chris learned to surf in the southeast and is an accomplished Stand Up Paddle dude. He and I had a handful of head high waves. Lefts and rights. Sun finally showed up, albeit late in the day. I surfed for six hours. The last two were worth the wait, though. It wasn't getting any worse.

Sunday was small. No wind when I woke up. The tide was all the way out. I was in the water around 9am. A dozen waves before Karissa collected the Becker. She had one hell of a wave, though. All the way in. Fin in the sand. I finally figured out how to surf that other stick. The Bing. Start paddling sooner, late takeoff, slow and steady rotation, run to the nose. Like a dog dragging it's ass across your carpet, the Elevator won't work unless you walk all the way out. Found my fair share. Good fun.

Probiotic Bread Man

You've probably driven past his pickup. A big cream colored dually with an eight foot tall trailer attached. His name is Ken, but Karissa and I refer to him, affectionately, as 'The Probiotic Bread Man.' He lives near Joyce, just off of Highway 112 with his wife and two sons. Every Saturday he parks his big Chevy just outside of Port Angeles, sets up his trailer and sells probiotic bread and other baked goods.

He uses palm shortening in place of butter, organic evaporated cane juice in place of refined white sugar, he ferments his own grain and sources all of his ingredients locally. Each week he and his wife bake a wide variety of enzyme rich bread, brownies, cookies, pies and something they call a 'stoagie.' He can be hard to find, but when you see his Chevy, or his stand at the Famers Market, be sure to stock up!

Ibérica Skateboards

Ibérica is a Spanish skateboard company based in Barcelona. Developed by two design students, Raúl Arribas and Gonzalo Sánchez de Lollano, each Ibérica board is hand shaped, numbered and named after a spanish woman. Two different boards are being made, the Lola and the Tere, in four different color tones. Ibérica recommends 85mm trucks, soft bearings and tube wheels. Oh, and no "abrasive paper." Clearly they're looking to rekindle our relationship with small skateboards and tight turns. I approve.

The Guayule Kid

"Waves can't be the god of the sport; if they were, we would all live in Hawaii. It has got to be getting out in it that counts -- surfing because you love to surf, and getting pumped full of life and whip and snap. I used to ride junk waves all day long, training for the good moments. You do this, and one day you are sitting out there all alone, waiting for a set, and someone will paddle up and ask how the surf is. 'Man,' you tell them, 'you should have been here an hour ago."

- Phil Edwards