Each year I set a few goals related to surfing: May 2014 Goals

Eric Cedeno, Porto 5-9-14 by Shell Shot

I’ve been tracking my surf habits since January 2012. I’ve refined my surf stats to show how often I surf or don’t surf, where I go, and what boards I ride. It seems like May is the month that I surf the most. I think there are a few reasons for this:

• The water is starting to warm up
• The weather is nice (some heat waves)
• Longer days so I can go surfing after work (*during the winter I show up to work in the morning in the dark and leave work in the late afternoon when it’s dark)
• There are 31 days in May (plenty of opportunities to surf)
• There’s usually waves around

This year in the Month of May I wanted to surf more than last year (2013)

Eric Cedeno, Porto 5-9-14 by Shell Shot

May 2014: I had 32 surf sessions in 29 days

May 2013: I had 26 surf sessions in 15 days

May 2012: I had 13 surf sessions in 10 days

I had the longest surf streak in the last 20 years

I surfed 25 days in a row, 5/7 thru 5/31. It would’ve been 30 days in a row (5/2 thru 5/31), but I didn’t surf on 5/6 because it was just too dangerous out there for me. The wind was just nuts. 

South Bay Surf 5/6/14

It looked like victory at sea out there and I just watched it until a couple of guys decided to give it a try. If I had my 7'4 with me then I might've given it more serious thought and could've ended up paddling out, but I didn't. Over the hour that I spend shivering in the relentless wind I saw two guys catch just one wave each. Each wave was at least double over head and made me happier that I was on dry land and not fighting the current and choppy surf for survival.

I surfed a few spots that I haven’t been to in years

Huntington Beach 5/25/14

Huntington Beach 5/25/14: I got good parking and paid $5 bucks to insure I wouldn’t get another parking ticket like I did on 5/16 at Porto. I paddled out on my 9’0 and caught a few waves, but knew I needed to swap out to my 6’10. The waves were fast and section and it would be best to have a board that could duck dive to make the paddle out a bit easier. So I went back to the car and swapped out to my 6’10- So much better. There were plenty of quick bowly lefts that my 6’10 was great for. I had a few really good waves. I was paddling for over an hour straight, catching waves and trying to stay ahead of the current that was constantly dragging me north. It felt like the take off’s were really fast and I liked that because it was good practice. The last time I was there had to have been in 2011 with Cliff and Rolando. Its weird how time flies.

Eric Cedeno, Manhattan Pier 5/26/14 Memorial Day

Manhattan Pier 5/26/14 Memorial Day: We drove around for just over two hours looking for parking. Manhattan pier looked fun, but no parking. Porto had the cops blocking off the entrance so again no parking. Ended up going back to the pier and battling it out for a spot on the southside of the pier. Some lady took the spot I was waiting for, she didn’t care about whose turn it was or that her kids were in the car and learning how to cut in line, cheat, steal. I’m sure one day she’ll get what’s coming to her, or maybe that’s already happened and she’s still upset about it. I suited up and took out my 6’10 while my wife waited for another spot to open up. She didn’t have to wait long, maybe just another ten minutes. I was stoked to find only three other surfers out in the water and the lifeguard was doing a great job keeping all the swimmers out of the surf area. The surf was a little tricky, and it took me a few waves to really get dialed in. Since there was only three other guys out it was easy for my wife to spot me and she took a few pictures of me surfing. 

Eric Cedeno, Manhattan Pier 1992/93

I think the last time I had picture of me surfing Manhattan Pier was back in 1992/93 on a rare occasion when my mom took me and my friend Stephan there and she snapped a few pictures. I thought about that when I was out there and tried to remember that last time I surfed the Pier. I think it was about four or five years ago with my friend Skip, but I can’t really tell. The water was warming up and I was having a great time. I focused on the oncoming sets and tried to let go of the hassles of parking that was eating at me. All in all I have to say that it was worth it. I know there were very few spots in the South Bay that had only 4 people out surfing at that time on Memorial Day so I had to count myself lucky, very lucky.

Don’t always believe Surfline

The tallest people in the world must work for Surfline.com

Surfline is good for a few things: Tides, swell direction, and sometimes surf cams. After that you really have to get off your computer and go to the beach and look at it. There have been plenty of times in May that Surfline was way off. Like Tuesday 5/27, Surfline was calling the pier 1-2 so I figured I'd wait for the late afternoon high tide push. I could tell by the walled sets that the tide was still pretty low as I suited up and grabbed my 6'10. There was only two people on the outside and two people on the inside with foamy boards and just after I paddled out they all left and I was alone at the pier. I caught a few really fun waves that had 4 to 8 foot faces. The take off was still tricky, really fast even for the South Bay. On some waves it more like a no paddle take off / air drop. After about an hour another kid in a green wetsuit paddled out and said that surf report was calling it 1-2. I agreed it was definitely bigger than that. The biggest sets were breaking almost at the end of the pier easily a few feet over head and were sucking up so fast that they were almost impossible to catch and if you did get one it was sure to close out real fast. As the tide filled in the shape got a little better. My arms were getting tired for all the paddling so after getting hit by a fifteen wave set out of nowhere I decided I'd better call it a day before I hurt myself. So I took a medium size left and connected it all the way in to the shore and got out. I was surprisingly comfortable out there in the over head surf and felt like I was improving my surfing skills.

I used my Costa Rica philosophy to get thru some crappy surf days

Back in March I was in Costa Rica and I got an ear infection that almost put and end to my surfing for the rest of my trip. The doctor told me to stay out of the water and keep my head dry to help the healing process. Of course I listened to the doctor and made every effort to keep my head dry… even when I was out surfing. I had a good surfing streak going back then and figured I would just go out and catch a few waves, maybe just three.  That philosophy of just catching a few waves (just three), help me keep my surfing streak going in May. There were a few days that under normal circumstances I would’ve just gone home and not paddled out at all. Sometimes I would get surprised to find the surf was better than it looked from the parking lot or from shore. Other times it made me appreciated all the other days were the surf was bigger and had better shape. 5/23 was by far the worst surf of the month for me. I checked out a few local spots, too small not breaking. I thought Porto might be breaking but didn’t want to do the drive so I headed south and checked out Torrance. It was a little better, but not much. I looked at it for a while and then found free parking and looked at it for a while longer. Finally I forced myself to paddle out. All I wanted was just three waves to keep my surf streak going, I caught 5 waves that hour then got out. That was probably the crappiest surf I’ve been in for a long- long time. For the most part I tried to keep and open mind and just be happy with whatever waves I got and my ability to catch a few waves. If that doesn’t keep me motivated then knowing that my surfing streak will only continue if I surf in those crappy conditions, that usually works.