Since March of 2015 I have tracked over 10340 waves ridden. Almost one third of those 10340 waves were ridden in 2025. I started tracking my surf stats and adventures on January 1st, 2012. Over the years I've added more data points to help me track trends and discover new goals and personal best records to break. In March 2015, I got the RipCurl GPS surf watch which opened the doors to a lot more data worth tracking like; waves, top speed, distance, time duration, and longest wave. Later I learned there was a surf session playback feature where you could replay a session. That allowed me to track the slower and shorter waves ridden and helped increase my trackable wave count.
Some of those years between 2015 and 2025 had low wave counts. Some months had no waves ridden at all. Wether that was because of injuries, working from predawn till after dark, depression, bad weather, or other priority responsibilities. 2025 was a huge opportunity year for me for many reasons. I took the year off work to focus on recovering for injuries that put me in the ICU more than once. I figured I earned a little time off to catch up on living since I almost died twice from surgery complications. I was also trying to find that silver lining around getting laid off work at the end of 2024 after 24 years of service. I wanted to look back at 2025 and know that I used my time off as best as I could, focusing on the things I love most.
On January 1st I set a goal to try and surf 15 days a month. Sure, there were days that had very short surf sessions with very low wave counts, but at least I was putting in the effort to power thru the pain and funk. I rode more waves (326 waves) in February 2025 than I did for the entire year of 2018 (277 waves). Actually I broke my personal best wave count high scores six out of the 12 months (in 2025). There were three factors that helped my wave count go up. The first was my wife would go to the beach with me and shoot photos and videos of me surfing. The second was I set that goal to try and surf 15 days a month. The third was I signed up to compete in the South Bay Boardriders Surf Series for Open Longboard.
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| 2025-12-13 Porto contest - Steve Gaffney |
I met so many great people thru the SBBC Surf and Paddle Series. All those contests had their own ups and downs. I did my best to take whatever lessons learned I could find. One open Longboard contest at El Porto had big waves that caused some PTSD to resurface from surf trauma from years ago. I had to learn new techniques to navigate my emotions in dangerous surf conditions. I learned of tapping and meditation techniques to release fear and refocus on the postivitives that had control of in those dangerous moments. A few contests later I was back at El Porto on a big day and caught a huge wave that finally broke my Top Speed record that had been holding since March 2015 (17.3 MPH). My friend Steph said that was one of the biggest waves I he'd seen me ride. At 18 MPH it was now one of the fastest too.
I hit 18 MPH fastest wave for my stats and stoked to finally beat that first day in March of 2015! I ended up placing 3rd over all in the final.
2025-08-28 Ofre and SBBC
I rode 22 different surfboards in 2025. I also broke my 11 of my personal best records for most waves surfed. The vast majority of those waves were ridden on longboards, but I still got some in waves on my hybrids, shortboards, prone paddle boards, and even body surfing too. I got to ride a few of the hallow wooden surfboards my wife and I made together.
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| GSurfShot |
BROG Soul Performance 2025 12 23
I got the chance to test drive this custom 9'1 carbon fiber/ Cork longboard shaped by Mark Brog at Soul Performance. It has a deep spoon with channels in the nose that make nose riding stable and fast. Check them out at https://soulperformance.com
In June 2025 I rediscovered prone paddling. I had paddled a two times in 2017 and once in 2018 on a 16'6" Bark unlimited, but didn't stick with it and sold my board in 2020. After the South Bay Boardriders Club (SBBC) Surf Series ended the Prone Paddle Series started. I borrowed a 12' stock board from my friend and entered my first 2 mile race ever. I ended up getting 1st place for my age and division and was hooked. I entered all the 2 miles races for the season and got 1st place for my age/division in every race. I also joined a relay team and together we got 2nd place in the 22 mile Rock to Rock race from Catalina Island to Cabrillo Beach.
Prone paddling is such a good way to stack up ocean miles in my stats, including waves ridden. In 2025 I tracked 157 waves in 88 sessions on a range of prone paddle boards. I paddled everything from Stock 12', 14' and 16'+ Unlimited. It feels like prone paddling is two times easier than surfing. Even my wife took up prone paddling with me and I collected stats for her too. I have two RipCurl GSP watches so I can get data for her and I both. She got 42 waves and covered just over 230 miles from June thru the end of December. She really enjoys paddling with me and it cracks her up when she beats my top MPH for a session. I swear her watch is broken and not tracking correctly, but I still write down her stats. It's worth it to see that big glowing smile.
Prone Paddling at Redondo King Harbor
It's been incredibly fun prone paddling with @wood_brain this summer. I feel like I'm in the best shape of my life and I'm looking forward to the next season of competitive surfing and paddling.
