Showing posts with label 7'10 noserider. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 7'10 noserider. Show all posts

Monday, May 5, 2014

Rode Trip to Ofre (5/4/2014)

Turns out the last time I surfed Ofre was on 5-2-13 (Click here to read all about it). Weird how time flies. I figured it was time to get back to business and do another road trip to Ofre. I put the word out that I was going and my friend Christi said she wanted to go to. So we made plans to meet up early Sunday morning.   We met by Starbucks and loaded her gear in my car. She had her 9'6 with her so I loaded her board on my racks then my 9'0 and finally my 7'10.

We got on the freeway by 5:15 am and the lanes were all wide open. We made good time and made it to the gate at Old Man's at 6:10 am and there was no line to get in. That's usually a bad sign (usually no waves), but I was feeling lucky and was hoping for the best. We used Christi's parking pass to get in and there was lots of parking all over the place. I parked by 4 doors and snapped a few pictures of the surf.

San Onofre 5-4-14 Photo By Eric Cedeno
San Onofre 5-4-14 Photo By Eric Cedeno
It was on the small side, but still very ridable. The set would roll in every 20 minutes or so and there was platy of room on the inside to get some good waves that lined up all the way in. We suited up and took out my 7'10 and she rode her 9'6. after a few hours of surfing I traded boards and tried out her board. It was stiff and heavy and stuck the nose rides good. Over all it was too stiff for me and I was happy to get my board back. We got out around 11:30 and I refueled with some snacks and water.

San Onofre 5-4-14 Photo By Eric Cedeno
The second session was really fun. I wore my spring suit (short sleeve with long legs) with my green long sleeve rash guard and my green visor. My arms were on the verge of craping but I still squeezed in a few more hours of surfing in. It was totally worth it. I think I shouldn't wait a year to go there again...


San Onofre 5-4-14 Photo By Eric Cedeno
For those of you that haven't heard of Ofre, here's the scoop:

San Onofre – San Clemente, Southern California

San Onofre, just south of the world famous Lower Trestles, could be the best place to learn to surf on the whole West Coast. It’s comparable to Waikiki in Hawaii. Each day of the year there are hundreds of longboarders out on the slow and crumbly waves offered at San Onofre State Beach. The bottom is made up of cobblestones just like its neighbor, Trestles, but the waves break much differently, making it a perfect place to learn. The crowd is usually friendly, and you will see multiple surfers dropping in on almost every wave, riding into shore together. Beware there are some people out there that can get a bit aggressive so if you are new, please brush up on your surfer etiquette and try and leave plenty of room between you and the main peaks.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Doctors Orders - Go Surf.. By Eric Cedeno

I went to the doctors the other day because I wasn't feeling very well, figured it was time for a check up. Turns out I have high blood pressure right now. It's the first time in my life that ever remember having high blood pressure. Usually I'm super mellow and not stress out, but lately life has been a bit rough. My Doctor ask me if had gone surfing lately and I have to think about and suddenly realized that the last time I went out surfing was on 9-16-12 (Read all about it) over a month ago. So my Doctor said I shouldn't be out of the water that long and ordered me to surf and relax and said that I have to make time surf.

I have to admit that I didn't realize that it's been that long, but now surfing is all I think about and that's a good start. I woke up around 7:00 am and it was still dark out. I looked online at the surf in Torrance and the report was calling it 1-3 foot and walled. I figured I'd better go surf and make the best of it and that should help mellow me out again (Doctors orders).

I loaded my 7'10" noserider and 6'10 mini-log in my car and headed for the beach. I did a quick surf check and I could tell right away there was waves out there, but the surf report was right (for once) it was walled, but now and then a clean zippy barrel would find its way to shore. I figured I'd ride my 6' 10" mini-log that Jamie from Open Ocean made me a while back (I love that board).

 I caught a few fast ones right away and felt a little rusty, but happy. I found a good hole where the right were coming in clean and waited. I saw the familiar ripple on the horizon and new a set was on its way. I paddled a little farther out. It was lining up good as I paddled deep for the one of the better waves of the day. I popped up easily to my feet and took the drop casually dragging right hand in the water as the wave section and pitched out wide high above me. My mind took a mental picture that of the was curling a few feet out of my reach as another guy was paddling out over the shoulder pointing at me smiling. I didn't make it out of that one, but it was worth it.

I caught a few more fun ones here and there as the tide slowed thing down even more. The waves seem smaller than earlier and pretty much most of them were all walled up. I saw a fun little wave making its way to me and it looked like this one was going to hold up. I paddled into the shoulder high wave and after standing up quickly pulled into the pocket and stayed there... all the way in...I escaped from the barrel just a few feet from shore. "Now that's a good wave to end a session," said the guy hanging out on the shore line and happily agreed and thanked him.

Monday, September 10, 2012

12 Hours and 15 Minutes of Vitamin D at Bolsa Chica on 9-8-12 by Eric Cedeno


Saturday 9-8-12:  Bolsa Chica 2-3’

I finally went to sleep just after midnight Friday night and almost forgot about meeting up with my friends to surf Bola Chica the next morning. I woke up a little sore and very thirsty Saturday morning at 7:45 am after getting a call from my friend Cliff who was also running late. I quickly loaded 3 boards in my Honda Element (9’ longboard, 7'10” noserider and my 6'10" mini log) so I'd have some basic board options in the smaller waves conditions that I was expecting. I grabbed a banana and two bottles of water and was on the road at 8:05 am. I headed south on the 405 freeway and arrived at Bolsa Chica tower 23 just after 8:30 am. I didn’t see my friends in the parking lot so I called Cliff and he said that they had moved down to Tower 22. I hopped back in my car and moved over to Tower 22 and found the all the familiar cars that I usually cars that I see in the Manhattan Beach 26th Street parking lot an any given weekend. Cliff and I did a quick surf check and I decided to take out my 9’ longboard because the surf looked pretty small from shore.

Bolsa Chica 9-8-12 Photo by Eric Cedeno
Bolsa Chica 9-8-12 Photo by Eric Cedeno
It was nice to see the 26th street Ohana crew that I used to surf with back in 2005 and 2006. I paddled around and said hi to everyone while catching some fun clean waves. It was a great sunny day with just a little bit of wind and the side current was hardly there at all. There were waves peaking up everywhere, lefts rights, speedy waves and soft shoulders. The sets were good and punchy (fast breaking waves with speedy sections) so I decided to trade in my 9’ longboard with my 6'10" mini log to make it easier to make the late takeoffs on the bigger sets. I was in the groove and having a good time surfing next to Cliff. Cliff was riding his 5’10” fish and after a while I asked him if I could try out his board again since I know he likes my 6’10” he happily agreed. We swapped boards in the line-up and I quickly slapped on his leash and paddled into the first wave that came by. I made the drop, turned right and flew down the line while carving long smooth top to bottoms turns. I really enjoyed the speed and buoyancy of that board and also liked that I got to test drive it in bigger surf than the last time I rode it. After about an hour I got out so I could eat something. 

Bolsa Chica 9-8-12 Photo by Eric Cedeno
I drank one of my bottles of water and had a banana. Mahalo made some stir fry and hooked me up with a hot bowl of veggies and sausage fresh off the grill. We busted out the ukuleles in the parking lot and had a jam session in Orlando Man’s van for a while. I did another surf check and was surprised to see that none was out in the water, no surfers anywhere and so I decided to take advantage of that and go out again. I grabbed my 7'10” noserider and headed out just south of Tower 22. The surf was bumpier than earlier now that wind was kicking up more, but that didn’t bother me. 

The surf really reminded me of surfing Florida and making the best of what you have to work with. I would catch a left (back side for me because I’m regular foot / left foot forward) and do a cutback and as I’d turned back into the wave I’d do a switch foot in mid-turn. I imagined the people on the beach didn’t see that very often and I got a kick out of it. I surfed by myself for about two hours without anyone paddling out anywhere. It was weird, and a little lonely. It’s hard to believe that with as crowded as the surf can get these days that I can still get a surf session by myself. I was getting hungry again and decided to re-hydrate so I got out and headed back to the car. A few of the others also have Honda Elements and I was stoked to see how Haku Gene rigged up a board rack inside his car.

Haku Gene's Honda Element Surfboard Rack
Bolsa Chica 9-8-12 Photo by Eric Cedeno

I changed out of my spring suit and into some board shorts and drank another bottle of water. Mahalo was cooking up some carne asada and offered me another round of food. I took a quick power nap under Haku Gene’s umbrella on the beach. I woke up when gen handed me one of his ukuleles and we had a little jam session. He showed me how to play “Moondance by Van Morrison” on the ukulele. There was still none out in the water surfing or even swimming. I guess the riptides were getting worse and the fear of stingrays was keeping most of the people out of the water. I talked Haku Gene into paddling out with me for another surf session.  

I always like surfing with him and Cliff, they both can make the best out of surfing anything and we always laugh and have good times. My arms were already tired so I grabbed my 6’10” min log because it’s light and easy to paddle and it is also great in fast or slow waves. The surf was choppy and felt just like any other wind swell day at Topaz. The sets were better than expected and Haku Gene was cracking me up with his no paddle take-offs, a real style master! The sets were easily shoulder high with a quick drop then a flat section followed by a speedy inside section. I was busting some good floaters and those backside cutbacks into switch foots in mid-turn like earlier. We took turns on the best waves and surfed for another two hours. My arms were beat by the time we got out, but totally worth it. 


Bolsa Chica 9-8-12 Photo by Eric Cedeno
My arms were nearly useless after surfing all day and I used the last of my strength to pack up my boards and load up my car before it got dark. It was getting colder out and the guys started a fire in the fire pit. I was glad that I had some jeans and sweat shirt in my car, but now I want to go buy a sleeping bag to keep in my car for long surf days and nights like this one. 


Bolsa Chica 9-8-12 Photo by Eric Cedeno
There was another round of food for everyone and before long the ukuleles were out and we were jamming again. Diane and a few of the others did a hula, they must’ve had lessons because they were real professionals. It was great to lounge by the fire while we played ukuleles and the kids made smores. I was getting dangerously tired and knew I needed to make my way back home before it got too late so I left the beach at 8:45 pm. I got home in a half hour and fell asleep on the couch moments later.