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| 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)
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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
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| 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.
