Showing posts with label El Porto. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 3, 2026

SBBC Event #3 El Porto - Beyond Stoked

I was in the first heat of the day on the secondary bank which was the peak right in front of the Manhattan Beach 42nd st. life guard tower at El Porto. The swell was big, shifty and there were long lefts and occasional rights. Sometimes the sets just closed out and sometimes there would be a corner. The morning high tide was definitely helping the shape out, but it was also making it harder to get on the waves. Since I was in the first heat I got to do a water start and paddle out before our heat actually started. The surf was big enough they could've probably allowed a water start all day, but that wasn't the call.

Photos by @Wood_Brain

Steve and I paddled out and we saw Julian shortly after the horn sounded. He snagged a nice noseride on the inside and got a 6.00 on a medium size wave. I took off on nice rolly wave and ran the nose of hand 10, but it just too soft and the wave rolled on without me. Same happened to Steve on big set, he got caught up too high on the wave it just roll on by. Julian was getting solid rides as usual and got first in the heat. I wasn't that concerned about it since all three of us would advance to the finals. I did get a nice nose ride and layback on my 3rd wave getting a 6.07 and that felt good. I knew I just needed to find the right waves with the best shape.

Photo by @Wood_Brain

A few hours later was the Open Longboard finals. The tide had dropped a bit, but it was still sunny and light offshore wind. The sets were big and some closed out and others would swing wide like 40 yards or more and have a corner. I paddled out off to the left next to the flag with Julian. A little more than half way out he passed me and I got stuffed by multiple set waves. I finally made it out side and was way too far south, like in front of the main bank judges tent. I paddled north to the secondary bank and looked for waves. I saw Julian get a wave then Lucas. Then Julian and Lucas again. The time ticked way and I had nothing on the score sheet yet. Just under 8 minutes left in the heat I got my first wave. A clean overhead set going right. I nailed the drop and hit the lip. Then whipped a layback, then did a few drop knee turns on the inside and even a quick nose ride cutbacks. I ended up way the down the beach about 150 yards from where I started. I ran north up the beach and paddled back out near the judges tent again. I heard my friend Steph yelling as I ran by, "Just one more wave like that!" My heart was racing.

Photos by @Wood_Brain

I got hit again by a few more sets paddling back out and saw Julian get another wave. I knew I had to get a good size wave and make it count. I told myself, ' You only need 2 waves to win.' The sets passed and I made it all the way out and paddled north again. With 4 minutes left on the clock I was still in second place with only 1 wave, but that wouldn't last long. With 3 minutes left Jiro got a wave a bumped me down to 3rd. Then Mario got a wave a bumped me down to 4th. With about 2 minutes on the clock another set roll in. The first one was too far north, the next too far south. The 3rd wave looked like it might hold up and I was committed to get on it. I took off right and started pumping down the line. The wave felt big and powerful like it was double overhead. I made the first section riding high and carved off the lip and head the announcer getting the crowd pumped on my wave. Then I made it farther down the line before it closed out. I busted a quick headstand for the crowed, landed it and stood back up. I rode it all the way to the sand and saw I was just south of the second judges tent at the main bank 157 yards from where I started. I was out of time with only 1 minute left in the heat.

Photos by @Wood_Brain

LZ and Steph were on the sand waiting for final scores to drop. I was stoked I got a bomb and managed to not get drilled out there, but would it be enough. With 8 seconds left on the clock I jumped from 4th to 1st. I did it! I finally got 1st in a South Bay Boardriders Club Open Longboard contest. And in big surf, and against great surfers like Julian who is pro surfer from Hawaii. Mark Brog and Justin from Soul Performance rushed over to congratulate me, stoked! Steve Bender ran over and I told him it was my first time getting first at SBBC in open Longboard. I was beyond Stoked. Lots of pats on the backs and smiles and cheers came from my friends and beach goers. I returned my jersey and went back to the car and changed.

About a half hour later they announced the winners for the Open Longboard division and I got to finally stand on that 1st place podium spot, surrounded by talented athletes and friends. I'm still beyond stoked and I just want to hold onto this feeling for as long as I can.

Friday, June 20, 2014

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.

Friday, May 3, 2013

140 Miles Round Trip to Surf Two Breaks... By Eric Cedeno

This is how my day ended..

El Porto 5-2-13 By Eric Cedeno

This is how it started...

I heard from a few friends that there was going to be some fun head high surf down at O'fre on Thursday 5-2-2013 so I did what any good red blooded american would do... I took the day off work to go surf. I was going to car pool with my buddy Skip, but he wasn't returning my phone calls, text messages or smoke signals so I went with out him. He finally called me when I was almost half way down to San Clemente and said he was out side my place waiting for me. I said I couldn't wait any longer and was on my way down and that I'd call him and left him know how the surf was when I got there.

Traffic was really bad in Huntington Beach on the 405 and I was averaging 7 miles an hour. I lost track of time more than once and wished I had left my house earlier. The traffic let up around Mac Author airport and I felt like was was gaining ground again. I slowed down just a little as I was nearing the last few exits. Time slowed as I was passing a cop sitting on the shoulder with his radar gun pointed in my direction. I saw him put the gun down and quickly merge into traffic. I was in the second lane (closest to the exiting /slow lane). The cop weaved his way through traffic and I thought I was a goner as I attempted to drive at 67 miles an hour. He was just two cars back and one lane farther over when a grey SUV speeded by and got just in front of me. To my left the cop put on his lights and I slowed down to 62, not sure if he was going to bust me or the guy in front of me. I cop got behind the other guy and pulled him over on my exit ramp. That was too close for comfort.

There was only four cars ahead of me in line and that meant the parking lot was full. It didn't take long for me to pay my $15 bucks to get in. As I drove down the hill I snapped a quick picture of the surf peeling.