Love on the Rocks

Bouldery break.
Brand new Bonzer.
Broken leash.
Bummer.

Love On The Rocks - Neil Diamond

(Note: That was my friend's V-Day story. MY decision to surf on Valentine's day was even more of a heart-breaker.)

Flawless

Unspoiled by
Murky water
Onshore winds
Secondary swells
Or guys in neoprene
Bobbing on the surface.

Sunday, January 18, 2009
Images courtesy of G$

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

An amazing, surf-themed 1981 Rodney on the ROQ show captured in its entirety for your listening pleasure. Where else can you hear The Surfaris, The Waitresses and AC/DC all in one place (not to mention the awesome commercials)? Tons more at the great blog From the Garage. Click the cassette above to download.

Dawn Patrol

Oyster Waves

Kuma Sutra.
Kumamoto oysters.
Small, hollow, and sweet.
The trick is getting inside.
I'm still picking bits of shell from my teeth.

A flat tire on the way out gave us time to crack into the 24 oysters we bought in Tillamook. When we finally reached the beach, the waves looked choice. Shoulder-high negative-tide dredgers. It only lasted an hour or so until the tide filled in. On the way home we explored such topics as: teaching yoga to inmates, killing animals with your bare hands, karma, the new T.Moe movie, the new Animal Collective, art, and if it's possible to get a "happy ending" via reiki massage.

Santos SurfArt II

Top: The Surf Museum in Santos, Brazil. Bottom: My watercolors, alongside such great company as Joe Curren (left), Sandow Birk (top center), and Guilherme Tonelli (right).


I'm so honored to have participated in the Santos SurfArt show in Brazil this year. The photos on the website, curated by Jair Bortoleto, do a great job showing how awesome the event must've been, and also twist the dagger a little because I couldn't make it down there on a technicality (no visa).

But who knows? Maybe the show will happen again next year and I'll plan for it a little better -- or maybe it will travel to other exotic surf locations (Ed?)... What a great opportunity.

Thanks, Jair!

See Lion?

See, Nico? Sea Lions don't really look like surfers from down here...

My First Surfboard

Purchased of the used board rack in the mid-1980s. It came with all those stickers on it and I left them there, cuz I thought they were rad. I used to just look at it and dream about the waves I'd get. When I turned 16, my friend and I would drive to Brookings and Crescent City all the time to try and make those dreams a reality.

Things really haven't changed that much.

I Got Some Waves

The weekend before last was a wave-fest. Four days of surf in the 8-10 foot range at around 15 seconds with east winds. Friday was the biggest day, with crazy amounts of water flooding the cobblestones, making entry and exit (in the dark) the scariest part of the session. Rips were strong and hold-downs were long on Saturday, and the ocean reminded us who was boss on several occasions.

After hitting (almost) every spot on our quest for perfection, we finally cracked the code on Sunday and Monday, discovering that the place that most accommodated the pumping swell was the most obvious one - right where we started our search. Endless lefts and rights that held up when they looked like they might shut down, with plumes of mist blowing from the peaks. We surfed for nearly four hours a pop.

Throw in bluebird skies, a beach house with a hot-tub and wood stove, a stack of stoking surf movies, endless vittles and cold beer, and great friends old and new, and you have a recipe for and epic MLK holiday.

If this is winter, who needs spring?

Baracka Shakas

The first family knows how to throw some shakas. It's a good day to be a surfer in the USA.
Thanks, JP!

Almost Famous

Somebody just let me know that I'm on the Mandala website, riding my 2+1. I went over and sure enough, there I was, amongst such surf luminaries as Alex Knost, Joe Curren, Tyler Warren, Dan Malloy, and the Man(i) himself. The anonymous commenter who informed me that my 15-minutes was ticking also pointed out that I need to toe-in my back foot. I'm definitely rocking the duck-foot stance there... Which reminds me that I should send Manny a picture riding the RPQ where I have ever-so-slightly better style.

I'm not worthy. Seriously. But it's pretty cool.

I Need a Wave (Part 3)

For anybody who has ever been landlocked too long and watched a wake on a lake or a river, wondering if there's some chance of it being surfable, this is for you. I guess you actually can surf (using that word pretty loosely) on the Willamette River....

I Need a Wave (Part 2)

Looks like I'm not going to be able to throw dynamite into the Willamette River to get my fix...

I Need a Wave

I'm back from the UK and I could really use a wave. Looks like this is the only kind of wave I'll be getting for at least a week though...

Happy New Year, and remember: "Finger, nuckles, wrist, elbow, shoulder."

The 10 Commandments of Oregon Surfing

Having just crossed the threshold of 100,000 visits on Sissyfish -- and having been busted for kooking-out almost as many times -- I thought it might be good time to compile a list of the top 10 rules that everyone who picks up a soft top and rental suit should know before paddling out in Oregon. I'll start, and you guys can add to the list. Hopefully by the end we'll have something definitive, sacred, and infallible that we can chisel into a couple redwood blanks and hold over our heads at the crest of Cape Neahkahnie.

1. THOU SHALT NOT NAME, PHOTOGRAPH, (OR WRITE POETRY ABOUT) SURF BREAKS.

2. THOU SHALT NOT PARK IN THAT LOT.

3. THOU SHALT NOT PADDLE OUT WITH MORE THAN ONE PERSON.

4. THOU SHALT NOT HAVE A COLORED WETSUIT OR BOARD.

5. THOU SHALT NOT DISRESPECT THY LOCALS OR THY OLD CRUSTIES.

6. THOU SHALT NOT OVERESTIMATE THY ABILITY.

The rest is up to you... GO!

HANG LOOSER: Surf Movie Night

I was going to say, "Here's some insta-stoke to get you through the winter doldrums," but if you've been anywhere near the ocean lately, with any kind of wave-sliding vehicle, you've been scoring.

If you were there last time, you know what to expect: great movies, cool peeps in flannel, Tecates, and really good music. Rumor has it they'll be showing Five Summer Stories and On Safari to Stay and maybe, possibly, Sliding Liberia. Starting around 8pm, this is guaranteed to warm your soul faster than eggnog...

..........................................................TODAY.

Tomorrow................................................................?

Take your pick. Two views of December 4, 2008:
1. Picture pilfered from Mark Mekenas morning email.
2. Picture pilfered from a much-hated (much-checked) surf cam.

Give the Gift of Inspiration

Another Black Friday has come and gone, and I didn't even go shopping. This year I want to give better gifts. I want to make artwork for friends and support local shops and friends' businesses.

On that note, I've been helping a friend out with a blog for her online wine shop Wines and Makers and in return she's turned me on to some amazing limited-production wine producers. I like the idea of the impermanence of wine and how a good bottle forces you to slow down time and really pay attention to subtleties: to live in the moment--kinda like surfing does. And I love how a good red can warm you up and provide inspiration to write or draw.

WAM is having a big Friends and Family sale right now--ALL BOTTLES 20% OFF and CASES 30% OFF, with free shipping for orders over $99--so if you have the urge to pick up some wine for yourself or as a gift, check 'em out. A bottle St. Amant Zin I drank literally blew my mind... I'm buying a case of it.

On the subject of gift-giving, I've reconnected with Writer, who gave me a-learnin' a year ago about naming/drawing surf spots on the web. We've since buried the hatchet and exchanged t-shirts, parenting advice, and surfy knowledge. He just told me that he's giving me a surfboard blank to shape as a birthday gift. He's even bringing it up to PDX for me. So, that's just a lesson on the power of surfing's positive power to facilitate good vibes. Talk about inspiring gifts! You'll be hearing much more on this as the story unfolds...

Until then, get some surf! I know I will...

Dood...

Dood,

I'm sitting in an SLC office where it is cold and dry... But my mind keeps wandering back to perfect 5' a-frames at XXX XXXX yesterday. Offshores grooming the waves to a slightly rippled, silky surface, with dramatic plumes of mist coming off the lips, easy drops, long rides, and turns, turns, turns!

It was seriously the best I've ever surfed it. And looking out at XXXXX, it appeared to be a cold-water indo with a golden transparency that was reminiscent of a still from One California Day - but better.

I need to check your link when I get out of this meeting.

Nice that you're getting a jump on the holiday though!

Let me know when you get back to town. This is going to be an epic winter for surf.

Chum

Email by Chum
Tweaked photo by Mark Mekenas

Intermission...

These dudes roll four-deep.

Piece It Together

Some waves are so intense that afterward, as hard as you try, you can't remember the details of the ride. I caught one on Saturday that was literally the biggest I've ever ridden. I remember sitting way outside everybody else with OS and seeing a freakish swell growing out of the horizon line like a big blue carpet rolling backwards toward me, gaining size with every yard it advanced. We both looked at each other as it reared up in front of us and he said, "If you go for this one, it'll be the biggest wave of your life," to which I yelled, "I'm going!" turned, and paddled with all I had. As I popped, I saw the nose of my board hovering over thin air, a good 12 feet above the trough, then I dropped and locked in. And that's where my amnesia starts.

Luckily Hendo, a new surf chum from NZ, was sitting far enough inside to witness most of the wave, until he had to try and duck it. Rather than trying to put into words another wave-of-my-life moment, I asked him via email to describe what he saw:

"I've surfed with Chum a couple of times before, and on this day we were treated to some really amazing waves in a great setting. One wave of Chum’s waves really stands out and will be ingrained in my memory banks for a while. Chum and another buddy had paddled out in search of a couple of sets that had been breaking further over towards the rocks… It looked like they were going to be out of luck until a big rogue set reared its head on the horizon. Chum picked out a big one and went for it… Watching from the inside I was hooting and hollering as he paddled in, honestly I thought he might eat it as the waves were throwing pretty quick, but he rose to his feet perfectly and flew down the line riding nice and high in the pocket. The wave definitely was a beauty and one of the best I’ve seen ridden in Oregon, don’t quote me on size, but double overhead for a man of Chum's stature wouldn’t be far off."

I tried to draw a few pictures of what I can remember: the huge shoulder, the foamball threatening to engulf me, the tip of my 6'7, and Hendo scratching for the outside, pausing long enough to hoot me in. Thanks for the memories, Hendo.

And to the guys who filled our shoes with sand on the beach: Thanks for only using sand.

FETCH FRIENDS

Can you find the wave in this picture?

We may not be the best surfers in the world, but it takes a special kind of skill to be able to paddle out into this at 8am on a Saturday morning and have a good time. Were there diamonds in the rough, or just really rough diamonds? We took some serious smackdowns for the few corners we found.

Pipe Dreams

Right around the time the leaves started changing, I was taking a walk through the neighborhood and I stopped by a yard sale. Among the flotsam and jetsam piled on the folding tables--the old books, board games and brick-a-brac--I found a wooden box of worn old pipe bowls. Next to the box was this brass pelican.

I picked up the weighty bird and asked the old man tending to the sale what it was for. "It's a pipe holder!" he barked. The bird's wing had an emblem reading "Daytona Beach, Florida" on it. It turned out that all those old pipes were his father's.

This was literally the same day that my 10-month old had finally started to go to sleep at 7pm, which left me with three full hours of "me time" in the evenings. I could think of nothing better than sitting on my porch with a big glass of red wine (or scotch), a pair of warm slippers, a pipe full of fragrant tobacco and my thoughts.

I bought the pelican and a pipe for $5 bucks.

The first time I smoked it, my wife almost ejected me from our bed, my hair, breath and skin smelled so pungent. She literally asked if I had snuck out to The Tube during the hour that I was outside the house. The next morning, I awoke with a sore throat the feeling that I spent the night licking the floor of a brothel. Not the best way to face a fresh-faced baby.

Since then, the pipe and pelican sit on my desk, a reminder that I can (and will) give it another try. I have to admit that I sometimes chew on the stem when I'm trying to channel Mark Twain... like now for instance... and usually it doesn't work.

imm O rtalized

My "o-face" was recently immortalized as part of Patchie's series of surf blogger illustrations. Posted the day before the election, I wonder if my expression was an omen for the O-man's victory.

You know, hanging out at Doug Fir the other night, one thing became crystal clear: Hope makes people horny. Seemed like everybody was either making out or trying to get some post-election action. Long live love.

Thanks, Patch...

VICTORY

I almost got used to that feeling of having a dark cloud
over my head all the time.

I almost forgot what it felt like to have hope --
a sense of pride in being American.

Until last night.

I went out with OS at around 10pm to "tap into the energy of democracy."

I'm inspired, and it's nice to know
I'm not alone.

One Wave

It only takes one wave
For a whole session
To be saved.

Bon Voyage

I sent these watercolors/drawings to Brazil for the Santos Surf Art show last week and they just arrived. Now my wife's telling me that she wants to send me down there for my birthday... How do you say "stoked" in Portuguese?

Stop the perfect left, I want to get off.

A little stoke nugget to keep you busy while I'm out of town tomorrow. I'll get back to you in about two days. Rumored to be in Chile (confirmed to be in Africa), the left in this clip lasts about that long.

Thanks to Slim for sending this the day before a weekend where I couldn't surf. And don't forget to do the new poll over there --->

Click-Turn-Click-Click

Standing in the same spot, with the same set rolling through, I snapped three shots from the north to the south. Wednesday was pretty fun.

Pretty Crowded

But there were still some pretty cool moments to be had...

SURF MOVIES AND BEER AND BEER AND BEER AND BEER AND BEER AND BEER AND

LIFESWELLS
A Surf Movie Night

Featuring:
Falzon's 1972 surf-hippie/cockfight masterpiece "Morning of the Earth"

Jeremias & Baffa's 2007 epigrammatic epic "One California Day"

And other gems, guaranteed!
(Surfy DJs Too!)

Thursday October, 16th
8-Close
Valentines
232 SW Ankeny St. 503 248 1600
Stumptown, USA

I met this guy at a restaurant who surfs and he bought me a drink when he found out I'm the salty dog behind this blog. A few weeks later he told me he's hosting this killer surf movie night Thursday that should be a stoke booster/slump buster on a rainy night. I made him the art above using an old sketch I did from pausing "Morning of the Earth" on my old TV and drawing the quintessential crouchy singlefin bottom turn with a #2 pencil. I was glad I could find a use for it.

Pass it on!

GHOST PEAK

Hunted a ghost peak Sunday morning.
It never seemed to be where I was.
Or was I never where it seemed to be?
But the wind was light and the water warm,
Haunted and happy was me.

Hollywood Wipes Out Again: Knight Rider

In case you missed it last night, the new Knight Rider Episode "Knight of the Iguana" featured some of the kookiest surf moments Hollywood has ever put on film. From shots of Mavericks and Pipe representing Todos Santos, Baja, to Kitt rolling "inconspicuously" with boards strapped to the roof, to "Mike" laying on his board with his legs spread eagle, radioing to Kitt to find out how to stand up as a huge setwave bears down on him.

The dialogue in the show made Johnny Utah's surf-speak in Point Break feel authentic. Here's one of my favorite quotes:

"Seems to me you gotta live life like surfing a wave. Some are big, some are small, but in order to ride any of 'em, you gotta let the wave take you."

"But what if it takes you somewhere you shouldn't go?"

"Heh. Shouldn't is a word that isn't in my vocabulary."

Please, somebody, capture this video on the Knight Rider website before the show gets cancelled. It's an all-time classic to be filed alongside surf gems like:

The North Shore
Point Break
Gidget (TV)
Surf School
Blue Crush
Batman Surfing

If you don't have 45 minutes to devote to the rerun online, you can see the trailer HERE.

This is WOR!

Somebody asked for some coolness this week, since I've been lacking in that department of late. I hope a little radness will suffice. Love 'em or hate 'em, the the Warriors of Radness seem to embrace the attitude of not taking themselves all that seriously in a land (and a sport) where that happens all too often.

Would Dora:

A. Be rolling over in his grave?
B. Be laughing hysterically from the grave?
C. Be cashing a bad check somewhere and not give a shit either?

Battle of the Surf Bros

I'm the Grass Stains, OS from Mojomentum is the Cockblockers. This is our third year in the same fantasy football league and it's always fun on those Sundays when we square off. Oftentimes we're surfing during the games, so we check our scores on the drive home. As you can see, I'm pretty anemic at the the WR position. I'll let you know how it went on Monday.

Attitude

This goes out to all the haters out there: If you're actually lucky enough to surf, then why are you so surly?

Since the '80s I've wondered why so many surfers are afflicted with that permanent stink-eye/chip-on-the-shoulder syndrome that seems to be the complete antithesis of the amazing activity they're involved in. And lately that attitude as trickled onto the comments of my blog, which I created almost four years ago as a celebration of the pure joy of surfing.

Oh well, maybe "The 'Tude Adjuster" will sort 'em out.

Drawing by Andrew Jeffrey Wright.

Saturday Secret Session

Saturday was amazing. Reports from up and down the coast made it sound like spots were lighting up like firecrackers on the Fourth. We were pretty happy with our early morning decision, as you can see from the shot above. Nice being the only ones in the water (for a few hours) on days like this. Sorry I couldn't crop out the landmark, though. I hope I'm not giving anything away, but then again, most of you can probably tell where this is by the way the wave is breaking. But if you can tell where it is by the way it's breaking, then you already know the spot. But if you already know the spot, then why would you care about a picture that doesn't name it? Wait. I'm confused.

New Drawings

Wednesday 9.28pm

Wednesday 9.42pm

Wednesday 10.10pm

Sissyfish in Brasil

I'm incredibly stoked to be a part of the upcoming Santos Surf Art II art festival on the beautiful coast of Sao Paulo, Brasil. This is a country I've always dreamed of visiting, and now at least my drawings will be making the pilgrimage to paradise... Lucky art!

My art is also lucky because it will be hanging near some of my heroes, who you can see by enlarging the Nat Russell-drawn poster above. Albe "Morning of the Earth" Falzon? Andrew "Litmus" Kidman? Jamie "We Approach Our Martinis With Such High Expectations" Brisick? Sea "The Guy Who Did My Blog Banner" Mouse? And that's just to name a few!

The event is taking place from January 20-26, and if you want to read more about it, head to the Santos Surf Art Blog, where I'm currently experiencing my 15 minutes of fame.

Special thanks to Jair, the super-cool, super-talented guy who's organizing the whole thing. Who knows, maybe I'll figure out a way to make the trip after all...

(If you want to see some examples of my artwork that's been featured on this blog, click HERE.)