Seems like a bit nicer this morning, not as cold, not raining, and no wind…….. might even get a couple of sunbreaks for the big game day….. we are mixed at our house…. Maria is going for those colts…. I on the other hand have faith…. Saints…… so, we will see…… surf today is big and junky…… W 9-10ft @ 10-14 sec’s , high tide at 6:30am, low at 2p. Water and air temp about 51 this morning….. Monday, W 7-8ft @ 10-15sec’s with light Se winds. high tide at 7:30am. (might try to take out the new 9′2″ Greek rental board this week!) Tuesday W 6ft @ 10-15sec’s with light SE winds. high tide at 8:33am. Wed. W 6-7ft with light S winds, high tide at 9:30a….. Then, looks like Thursday builds…. WSW 12-15ft wtih SW winds 8-15mph. Friday WSW 15-20ft with Swinds 25-35mph. Saturday W 20ft with S winds 15-20mph……. so…looks like mon-wed will be fun…….
Got a note from the guy who was picked up by the helicopter this week at Indian Beach…. lots more to the story than I had heard about… first off, he is a good friend here, and is really one of the nicest people we have met….and he really is a professor….. that being said, looks like he had some heart problems out in the water, and after being pulled in, spent the night at the hospital in Seaside…. not sure when he will be able to get back in the water, but my best thoughts and prayers are with him…And, good call from his buddy to get him help! I may have to think about changing his nickname…. quite a wake up call to learn of a condition while out surfing!!! IF anyone knows of anyone who might have found his 9′2″ G&S that might have washed up some where, please let me know…. I would love to get it back to him…..
(mini rant) More dog crap on the streets and grass as I went to take pictures……. somethings just don’t change!!!

Well…. got back just in time for some “Victory at Sea” surf….. thanks to Cory for putting up the reports all week, and some professional photography, from a pro…… now we are back to my shots….. oh well…. Back, with a couple of new rental boards, an 8′0 Greek shorty, and a 9′2″ Greek shorty…. ordered some new ones while I was down south, and will pick them up in april. Also brought back some US Blanks for a couple of guys….. Now, while I was gone, I was sad to hear that a couple of our “kids” got into a bit of trouble up at Indian Beach this week….. I will just refer to them as “my professors”…… and leave it at that….. “cousin” didn’t need to get the helicopter ride, but I guess his cohort did…… can’t wait to hear their story!! Well, as I said….. Victory at Sea today, but I did hear there might be a chance at a spot with protection from the S winds and SW Swell…… Today, SW 10ft @ 8-11 sec’s, with SE winds 15mph. 5:30am, high tide, 12:40p, low tide. Water and Air temp at about 51…… Sunday looks about the same. Monday W 8ft @ 13 sec’s with light SE winds….. Tuesday W 7ft @ 13 sec’s with light SE winds. Wed. W 6-7ft @ 13 sec’s with light SE winds, then picks up again to SW 12-15ft with S winds 15-20mph on Thursday. Friday SW 15ft @ 13 sec’s with S winds 25-30mph…… Lots of water pushing around…..

Finally found some waves yesterday and I have to say, the new West Wetsuit 4/4 kept me very toasty despite having just left 75 degree water. Also found out that I need new boots. Saw a couple of familiar faces through-out the day and heard of tall tales from the other side of the head and encounters with aggro folks from here and there. Have to say it was nice showing up to 3-4 smiles, friendly head-nods and an unspoken rotation for the month of Jan in HI, even if it was small or blown-out. Anyway, I digress….

Surf report: SW swell in full effect this morning with blue skies, sunshine and offshore to SE winds. Report is calling for a pretty serious 17ft at 11 sec but it really looks more like 6ft at 11sec. There is probably a wave or two to be had around here with wind protect. Low tide around 11 and high around 6. Boss man is on his way back to the civilized world.

Today: S wind 20-25kt SW swell (15)ft at 11sec
Sat: S wind 15-20kt SW swell 11ft at 10sec
Sun: NW wind 5-10kt W swell 14ft
Mon: E winds 10-15kt W swell 10ft (cross your fingers)

Had to do another email on what is going on at Linden Surfboards. No secret that Gary is a very good friend of ours, and I did spend alot of time with him this week……. This guy is the hardest working guy in the surf industry….. spent alot of time back in the shaping rooms , as he is working on several boards at one time…. balsa, agave, building some fins that will go on the boards, glassing an agave board, all this , and still time to get a wave from time to time…. Rumor has it that a certain Radio show guy in N Ireland will be having a phone interview with Gary in the very near future…. guy has a bunch of stuff going on….. La Times was in today to do an article about big wave riding, and had to include him in the article with pics etc…… On Friday afternoon, he will be in San Francisco at the SF Ocean Film Festival, where they will show his film on “Shaping a life”, staying with his daughter Natalie Linden, a freelance writer in N Cal. Fuel TV will do a show on him on Feb. 11th. His contest, that he is putting on, invitation only, the best 28 big wave riders including Slater will be at Todo Santos…… you can check it out at www.todosantosevent.com , or check out the facebook page. He is also the head judge at the Mavericks contest…… Looks like Todo will go off on Sat. the 13th….they hope! All this and shaping the custom boards for our shop….. next batch will be done for my next trip in April….. And, he is still the nicest guy to deal with…… Linden Surfboards

Finally got wireless…. made it back up as far as Willows, the rain started just south of Sacramento, along with really insane drivers…….. Yesterday was a good day…. started off with getting some waves at the blvd., had it by myself for a bit, then another guy…. surf was just OK… but felt good to get some water time. Then went to the ASR, attended with baby sis Mo, Flounder and Jess…. I think they got a bit of an eye opener to the surf biz…… did the show, found a few good things, then we had lunch and drinks at 207 across the street…good burgers….Ran into an old friend who has a radio show in San Diego..been a family friend since he was a little guy… Rusty Nailz.. a comedian…..but, we know his real name…. after the show, went and visited a guy I had not seen in 35+ years.. Rick Lambert, owns Freedom Clay….good business, and good to see he too is getting old…… good guy! Then out to the parents house to hang out with another old HS buddy… John Roberts, along with a few of my sisters,Aunt Shirley from Chicago… parents and a couple nieces…. and a nice bottle of Kettle One……. Great dinner! This morning…… this is a great story!!! So, I am in one of the back bedrooms, at 4:18am, my dad.. (early 80’s), wakes me up with an egg sandwich, has the coffee made…. and just wanted to make sure I was awake to go surfing early….. great sandwich, but really damn early!!! Which worked out, as my Sister Claudia and myself and mom had coffee, while the old man went back to bed….. Drove back to the Blvd to check the surf….. at best, knee high, junky….. shit!!! so, off to have a cup of coffee with Cappa at Stay Covered…. I had to buy the coffee for the cheap bastard 11…. then Gary Linden showed up ,LA Times were there to do an interview….. loaded up all the goodies in the van…… and headed north…. another uneventful drive until it started raining…….. Be back in the shop late Friday…….

It is surfable at least. Drove this morning and found the beginnings of a nice SW swell but not enough water in one spot. Another spot was surfable and being entertained by a few desperate folks. Looked kinda fun and clean but couldn’t pull myself to hop in. Still have warm water on my brain. So, search one out today and you’ll probably score some long ones. Boss-man continues his pilgrimage thru the southern parts of the wonderful state of California. Heard there may have been waves down that way as of late…He’s due back in tomorrow but we’ll see…

Today: SW wind 20-25kt W swell 9ft@14sec (looks more SW 6)
Friday: S wind 20-25kt SW 12ft@12sec
Sat: SE wind 10-15kt SW 9ft
Sun: SE wind 5-10kt W 11ft
Mon: E wind 20-25kt W swell 8ft (hope it holds)

Turned out to be a great day on the coast yesterday! Today looks like more of the same and a few waves out there to be had. Offshore this morning and clocking around to S winds this afternoon. Find a little protection from the winds and you’ll probably find a little wave as well. Looks like despite some wind on Thurs we should have a number of decent days to surf! This will no doubt change as Mark gets back on Friday w/ new toys. I dont know about you guys but that Greek Shorty is looking rather tasty. Here is how things are looking:

Today: S wind 15-20kt W 7ft@12sec
Thurs: SE wind 20-25kt W 6@14sec (yo!)
Fri: S wind 15-20kt SW 8ft
Sat: S wind 10-15kt SW 10ft

Spent some time in the shaping rooms with Gary, he is working alot with chambered balsa and agave….. very interesting to see how he glues up an agave blank to turn out to a piece of art…. his personal gun is a 10′ Balsa, says it will out last just about any board, and with the chambers, weighs as much as a standard polyester board. He can shape a 9′0 balsa, with 2z of glass, and will still out last most boards…. and , damn they are pretty!!! Foggy this morning, swell still small, hopefully we can find some surf before the show……

Few shots from my stop in Huntington Beach….. met up with Kim Hamrock, then got to check out a couple of the greeks 6ft Shorty’s….. 5 fin, did one with a full nose , the other with a pulled in nose…. super fast and floaty…… Kim is thinking of getting one about 4′10 or so…..

Not a bad drive this morning….. left the lap of luxury in Bakersfield, first stop after the rush hour LA traffic….. Compton/ Gardena….. yep, kept the “bag” close…. waited for an hour, but I was too early for the meet with Calvani, so I left a note, kept the gun loaded and headed to Huntington Beach….. first stop, met up with Bob Bolen “The Greek”….. boards weren’t quite done yet, so we went over to his house, looked at some of his new projects, then back to the store to meet up with Kim Hamrock…. had breakfast with her and Bob, and discussed several promotion ideas and other surf stuff…. good story time… Kim of course is on the HB walk of Fame, and sitting outside having breakfast, between the 2 is a communal meeting with the locals….. some poor kid was telling us how he almost got in a fight out by the pier…… guy dropped in on him, but was bigger…. sounded like another place I know…… From there, went over to renew old times with Lisa and Mike Minchington at Robert August…. lots of changes there, so we discussed bringing in a few boards for the spring….. hopefully all will work out. Then, back on the S Cal freeway…. to Oceanside….. had a great planning meeting with Gary Linden and Pierre, ordering new boards, making some deals on some used boards, and bummed that Noho’s board won’t be done in time to take back to CB……. not until April…… damn…. but, got the insight on some total green boards he is working on, and had the “hands on” with some Agave and balsa blanks… even to some time with my board in the rough…… pictures on thursday or later maybe….. now, off to some mexican food and cocktails….. too early for the sushi place in HB….damn it! Wed., surf in the am with Gary and Mark…… then off to the show all day…… find Flounder, then east to the family’s for dinner and more cocktails……. Have a great couple days!!!