I'm a Blogger

Edited 4/8/05: In order to make this more organized, I will list some pertinent information at the beginning of each post, as follows -

Session(s): 1 & 2
Date: March 30, 31
Place: HMB Jetty
Time: 5 to 7:15 PM
Waves: Session 1 - Headhigh; Session 2 - Shoulder at best
Stokemeter: Session 1 - 9 (Tubular!); Session 2 - 5 (Mediocre)

Blaze the Trail Cat here, posting his first blog ever. I'm gonna copy my brother's idea and post about surfing (as well as whatever else Trail Cats like me are interested in). I'm gonna learn how to put up photos and links and all kinds of cool things like that, in good time. For now, all I'm gonna do is ramble. So, let me start by documenting my last two surf expeditions. The first was yesterday. Finished work at 4:15, took off. Cruized over the hills, into Half Moon Bay, went north, pulled over, did the wetsuit thing, and then was in the water at the HMB Jetty. As usual it was crowded but not too bad. I got dropped in on on my first 3 or 4 waves, but then I guess they accepted that I was gonna get some waves and people were more considerate. There were some good surfers out, some guys were landing aerials and you don't see that too often. I was middle of the pack I suppose, good enough to get waves. I tend to just wait more towards the outside, there might be less waves there but when they do come they're better and I'm in position for 'em. So, I did that. Course that also leads to the drop-ins as mentioned before, but what can ya do. After about an hour and a half it started getting dark and the crowd thinned out, and the waves got better. Wave of the day was my second to last, caught it pretty late so I had a steep drop, but I angled it hard and the wind held up the wave and made it barrel. I tried to stall into it for a bit, and probably could have done a bit better job of that than I did, but still clocked a second or two of little barrel time. Then just as I got out of the first one the wave kept going, making another little barrel. So I tucked into this one too. That was pretty fun, never done that before. Only the second day of my surfing career where I've ever been tubed. So I shoulda gone in after that but I paddled back out and tried to get another, but the set was finished and it was starting to get too dark to see much so I finally just caught some whitewash on in. It was a good day at the Jetty. Good enough in fact that I decided I'd just keep my current job and hit the Jetty (or nearby spots) everyday after work, rather than move to Salinas and work until 6 everyday. I might make less money but everything else I like better. See, surfing can be productive, it helped me to make this very important decision. Maybe it's not the right decision, but I feel good about it so it's gotta be the thing to do.

Ok, finally, on to session two, today. Today I got outta work at 3:30 on the dot, again went to HMB. Today though, when I first went by the Jetty, it looked pretty bad. Really small. So I kept driving on up to Montara to see if it was working. It was definetely bigger, but that place just seems to close out all the time. Nobody was out and I wasn't going out into the fire by myself so I turned back around after watching for a few minutes and headed back south. As I was driving, I saw a few little spots from the road where I could see some waves, so I pulled off in search of the secret spot. 1 spot actually had some potential, but there seemed to be rocks everywhere all over the lineup. Too bad. Maybe another day it will break in a slightly different spot and the rocks won't ruin it. I'll continue to check it out, gotta find somewhere less crowded than the Jetty so that I can go with my bro and get him some more waves (he needs to get as many as possible). So after trying to find a good spot for a bit, I decided might as well go back to the Jetty, so I did. When I pulled up for the second time it actually looked pretty good, so I went out. I went out via the jetty, walked out the path way out past the 14 rock and then jumped in from there. Easy entry! I beat some guys out who had started paddling way before I even started walking. Plus it put me in primo position, and it paid off with maybe my best wave of the day about 30 seconds after getting in the water. So I thought I was in for a good session after that, but then it was time for the drought. No good waves, got dropped in on on a bunch of so-so waves, etc etc. But today wasn't as crowded so that was good. Anyway not too much else of note happened today. Probably got 15 rides or so. Not bad. A few pretty good ones and lots of average ones. But still fun.

So tomorrow maybe I go with my bro, maybe not. I'm pretty beat and I'm getting a cold. But that can't stop the Trail Cat if the surf is good! So I suppose I'll still check it out.

Alright, there ya go, my first post, and it turned into a marathon. I'm outta here, anyone still reading thank you for being such a devoted fan. Until next time, this cat is outta here.