Crystal Voyager Echos Part 1 2 and 3

I this over at Quality Peoples the other day, it's great stuff!

You'll want to watch this full screen so click in the bottom right corner of the movie frame to move to full screen mode.
(the Esc key brings you back)

Part 1


Part Two


Part Three

I will hopefully be two surfed out to post for a few days so here's to a happy new year for us all!

MBP

After the rain 

perfect waves

are toxic

Like a floating cloud
I give myself up
to the will of the wave

In the mirror
I shave
a stranger

right or left?
after the wave breaks
the choice is clear

all at once
the resin sets up
oh crap!

Like its been arraigned
not a drop out of place
Photoshop?

Bad poetry for a rainy day

*
So flat
I must surf
The internet

Morning chill
the wind blows
straight offshore

Surfing with a crowd
two fish
and a seagull

Can't make the left
or the right
I let this one go

After surf
opening the car
with numb fingers

* I don't adhere to the 5-7-5 convention so don't bother counting

little changes

Email from 23B PNW corespondent chiledub

I grabbed this pic off the internet
this morning from Hampton, NH.  23 degree air temp, 39
degree water, 7' with 8 MPH off-shore.  Definitely
would require a couple of extra breaths in the mat.

little changes
make me think that
things are turning for the better

like a long fall exhale
and a pause
before a long spring inhale

mid winter

Let me just get my mat out of the car!

Christmas's is over

everything is on sale for 50 percent off

and nothing but new year's

stands between us

and the oblivion

that is mid winter

nothing

pancakes and longboarding

JJ called me yesterday morning to say the sun was out and the tribe was gather for the pre Christmas ritual of pancakes and longboarding 

Jon had brought his latest hull and quill fin to show and to share

Steve attracted to the scent of a new blade

Hull aficionado Jdub was already suited up so he grabbed the hull and headed outside 

A quick "check it out" at the shore line

It was a good day!

Surf Shots from the Salish Sea

... a Mat Clown, sixty years young, with vim and vigor restored, basks in the" Sea of Delusional Love. " Salish Sea region. Photo by Bagjuan.

This particular delusion will make you feel like a better person. Can I get a witness?!


Thanks to the PNW mat crew for photos and content.

Anticipation

 

Warren Pfeiffer gets in early with his big UDT's in anticipation of a fun run through a delightful wave of Christmas Cheer.   Photo by Les Wilson

Riders on the Storm

Portland how do you do it?

After less than a week a week of rain, I'm done.

Bring back the dry desert winds, the palm trees, the "summer in December"

If it's not 80 degrees, windy with zero humidity, it's not Christmas!



It's not the conditions as much as the combination of driving in the dark and the wet in LA

(The dark and the wet in LA is my new rockband)

Speaking of new rock bands I am toying with the idea of  renaming 23B.

Something like

Capture that Delusional Love ...

Twofer Tuesday

First, something for everyone who drove in this morning



In SoCal this is a scary proposition, not necessarily because of the rain but because people here seem to have no other response to any new condition but to DRIVE FASTER!

Next, the solistice was last night, along with a full moon eclipse.

None of which I could properly celibrate because of the clouds, rain and general funk



Starting today the daylight hours get longer (in the northern hemisphere)!

So with New Year's feathering like a clean-up set on the horizon,

everyone here at 23B (that would be me)

wishes you and yours a pleasant holiday season and a happy new year!

They call it stormy Monday

but Tuesday's just as bad

No you didn't skip your meds this 23B post is a repeat. Or as we like to call it a golden oldie posted January 10, 2010, with me kibitzing in yellow.



So there have been some waves locally,  disasters internationally and rain predicted thru the end of the week.
(yea I haven't really checked yet but I think this will stand-up, if you pardon the expression)

But let's focus on the positive.

Really fine work over at Nine Lights surfboards

Check out the details and the rest of the pictures here.

(good work is still a beautiful thing)

There is a review of every swim fin known to man or woman over at

SurfMatters this morning.

(still worth a read)

I did manage to get some good ones over the last week or so. (not)

My favorite local overly polluted river mouth had been walled up,  too high tidy and just plain funky for days.
But on the second check of the morning, the tide, swell and stars aligned and "Poo Bar" (you know you surf the wrong places when bathymetric features have the prefix "poo" ) became "Poo Point" an for a little while I got  some of the longest rights I have ridden in ages.
(I only wish this part was true, some Poo Bar is looking good about now, although the runoff is incredible!)
The nice thing about long steep waves of a decent size, is that on a mat you just seem to go faster and faster.
No down shifting, side sliding, stay in the pocket on these waves.
Just full bore,
"let's open it up and see what his puppy can do"
"oh please let me make this next section and I promise I'll stop sinning"
speed runs down the line.

Pure and Simple
I almost drown
Good Times!

A new found thing ripped from the pages of  Lost, Stolen or Ripped off

I have no idea who what or where but it looks nice!

We started a Christmas tradition around here a few years ago and it's worked out well enough to share. If it's not done by the Monday before Christmas it's not going to get done. (there are a few exceptions but they mostly involve shopping for vegetables)  So to the extent that you can try to relax and flow through the next few days (apart from the Wild Winter Solstice Celebration tomorrow), try to hold on to a little bit of the Spirit of the Holidays.

Worm wrangling

So we have had rain for the last several days

No surf but the wife and I have had our hands full rescuing earthworms

The little wigglers get washed into the gutters by the dozens

We come along and pluck them from a watery grave and relocate them to our compost heap.

Worm wrangling is lots of fun.

I could see myself as a worm rancher in my golden years

Too bad so few survive the branding process!

Building an Arc

I have been nervously checking the weather reports
and working on the arc.

Mark sent over some more mat pics.

Rasta, what a lucky pup!

Photos by Hilton Dawe

Daniel Thomson in the second shot.

Nice piece on RK and the Yard Possums show over on the garage sale project

I found that surfing through the harmless neighborhood eccentric blog,  no shortage of goodness there.

Rain and Mat Giveaway!

As I mentioned in a previous post SoCal is expecting rain.  Since this is the beginning of the storm season I wanted to include a link to water quality reports.

OC Beach Info

Surfrider Foundation Water Quality Page

Basically the story is this, any rains collect whatever has been sitting in the local streets and delivers it into the ocean.

This is my local spot,  the sand comes down the river and makes for nice sandbars. The river is over 110 miles long and drains a watershed of 2,650 square miles. I love it dearly, but it's a sewer mouth.

The standard recommendation is avoid ocean water contact for 72 hours after a rain.

Everyone I know who scoffs at this advise has three arms and points to the paddling advantage.

Mark Thomson sent me this link to an article on surf mats.   Part of the article is a contest based on "a photo of yourself on the most ridiculous inflatable craft".  If any of you are not on Santa's "good list", you know who you are, there is still a chance to get a new mat!  Good Luck!

Winter is coming

Winter is coming
the days grown short
will start to lengthen again

My time in the sun has shrunk
to an all too brief lunch
spent walking in the out-of-doors
reminding myself that the sun still exists

exercise is difficult
the aches and pains grow sharp
how did my breath get so short?

time to take a load off
sit by the fire
and listen to the rain  


One more thing,

Todays image is the cover of Matt Beard's new book Eureka - Finding California

a collection short stories and outstanding art work.

I can hardly wait!

Check the details at his site here

Weather Wise

After a couple of  beautiful summer days,

in the middle of December,

Weather Wise, things are about to change

The next storm

or series of storms

is on its way

You have to take more of a global view of these things

The image above shows that the water that falls on my garden

over the next ten days

is, right now, just off the Kona coast.

Ah yes, the pineapple express!

Here in SoCal,

it will be a warm storm

with snow at only the higher elevations

but probably enough rain

for the car driving population

to take this opportunity

to dash out for a last minute Christmas present

and crash the car.

Drive safely.

Bloom County

Although it took two days, JJ and I finally got some surf this weekend.

On Saturday we had hopes of brisk offshores grooming some leftover swell to perfection.

What we got was fog, side shore winds, high tide and smallness.

Our preferences didn't match up with reality

Sort of like my lawn

What I would like is a totally retro fit to California native plants.

Virtually no upkeep and beautiful flowers and foliage.

What I have is a 50's left over of non native grasses and a pleatura of weeds

But what is a weed but something you would prefer not to have growing in the garden?

Upon taking a closer look you might find an incredible creation so well designed that it will not only outlast me personally by probably the whole of mankind. 

  
So your approach seems to have quite the effect on your perception.

Take another flower example

A vine know locally as honeysuckle. Left on it's own, it may take over your shed or even your house if you aren't careful. But the flowers each hold a single drop of delicious nectar. Any elementary school child can spend an hour plucking the flowers, tearing the back off the flower and sucking the nectar like some sort of giant humming bird.

So back to the surf on Sunday.

My only expectation was that it wouldn't be any good at all.

I was greeted by mild off shore winds, crisp clear weather and 2-3 foot peelers.

It looked perfect to me.

Two hours later I'm sitting in the warmth of an unseasonable SoCal heat wave feeling waves of endorphins crashing over my cerebellum.

It was a good day.

Check out my latest piece on The Inertia with the accompanying shoot of SurfSister

Mission accomplished

It's a beautiful thing

Rumor has it...

Photo by John Severson

The coconut wireless is filled with news about the new swell.

I not sure if it a size thing or a swell quality deal or if has just been so long since I have gotten wet but I am really looking forward to my next surf.

We are hopefully exiting that slack time where the predominate swell source switches from southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere. When you add that lull to a few weeks or months to get the winds sorted out and the morning high tides to turn more favorable it adds up to a dry spell.  I know its been awhile since I've gotten in the water.

A wet dripping wetsuit, hung up after a good session is a beautiful thing.

At this point my suit has those big wrinkles in it that come from being too dry too long.

(He wrinkles in my birthday suit, well that's another matter)

I still have to wait for the weekend but if it's over knee high I'm on it!

John Lennon 1940-1980

Normally I prefer a remembrance on a birthday instead of the anniversary of a death.

It seems like it has a more positive vibe instead of one filled with such finality.

But like Fraser Smith, the morning disc jockey I was listening to when the story broke, said

"I'm gonna play music because I just can't think of anything funny to say"

When will it be good*

*on the weekend

Since I am very fortunate to have a job I surf the weekends

I have to make do with a surf schedule that revolves around the my arbitrary days off.

It may be ten foot and offshore on Monday after weeks of flatness but when the bell rings I head to the office.

So I have gained an interest in the forecasts.

Apparently with the latest Surfer website redo WaveWatch is gone, at least temporarily.

It had a decent graphical display of the next 5 days of swell activity.

I liked the way in the "expert view" you could see which swells were waning and waxing.

It was the only thing I consistently looked at SurferMag.

The site is such a mash up of streaming ad content it's hard to look at.

Fortunately for me there is SOLSPOT which meets my needs for a surf forecast quite nicely.

That and Mr. Wright draws pretty pictures

I have no idea what they mean but I assume it is part of the meteorological kung fu that brings us waves.

Start the music it's Christmas Time again!

Picked up our Christmas tree over the weekend

maybe the only time I use surf racks all year!

I have the recipe for the Christmas tree water from last year if you are interested

I did a Christmas Gift post last year too, you may want to check that out

So as we start counting down the days 'till Christmas, I want to encourage all of you to detach yourself from the incredible marketing push that has taken over the holidays.

Just for a little while.

No you will still have to get gifts for everyone you have ever known (oh and while we are on that topic my waist has swollen to 34 inches so you may want to write that down for later).

What I  am suggesting is that you find something about the holiday (whichever one you celebrate is fine by me) and marvel at it.

Find the beauty and the miracle in it.

Because just like variable inflation there is a miracle in everything.

You just have to pay attention.

Adventure Today - the last show of the season :(

Bells

Opening Reception for Shelter Crew members Brian, Windy and Jonas begins Saturday December 4th and will feature the adventurous and cool photography and visual interest created by the folks that Tend to Shelter while Graham is away.

The Dogzilla Food Truck will be parked out back to serve their tasty Hot Dog Treats and the neighbors, 4th Street Vine, will be opening up the bar to serve beer and wine out back.

This will be our last art show of the year so come on out for Art, DJs, Drinks and Dogs!

Like a Rolling Stone

Internet problems this morning

So no post this morning

I heard this on the radio on the drive in



Good song

Flat-tastic

Clear, clean and flat!

But check it out, that pelican has four legs!

A fun piece by Alexander Haro on things to do when it's flat over at The Inertia this morning

After studying the local water fowl for abnormalities I like to kick back and watch a nice surf movie clip

Here's one now


FIBERGLASS AND MEGAPIXELS • Trailer from Sandy Beach Productions on Vimeo.


If you are looking for something a little longer

Stoked and Broke is now out on DVD!

Grab the kids! Find the car keys!!

We are driving to the internets to do some Christmas shopping!

PS I have obtained certain information from unimpeachable sources
(no not wikileaks.org)
that the surf will pick up to two feet by Sunday!

My magic eight ball is quite reliable about these things