Thanks.
Olympus Tough TG-6 waterproof camera. Had it for years. Mitchell recommended it. I haven't been takin many pics lately. I go through cycles. I bodysurf with it in my hand.
Phone only does shots from shore or the rocks.
Time to go out for whatever today holds. 🌊🐬🌊😎🤙
Good luck. There is some juice out there.
Doesn't look like anything interesting is on the radar for the next 7-10 days, little 2 foot windswell this weekend with offshore winds, so it will be longboardable, but not much else.
We actually dropped under knee high briefly. It's rebuildin already. Oughta be another fun summer weekend with lots of people in the water with me. I'm already gettin my tourist slalom on. It's kinda fun takin off outside of people, finish up way inside of em, then watch their surprise... You're way in HERE! Haha
Find smiles where ya can. TGIF! 😎🤙
Captain Fulbright sez...
I know we often gripe about summer crowds. I complain about my tractor beams drawin the only people in the water to park right next to me. It's tourist season now. Tomorrow's not promised to someone that's gonna turn 68 this summer. I ain't gonna piss away the next several months just because I got company. Gonna try findin grins wherever I can. Winter solitude will get here when it's supposed to. Til then, my brain is shiftin gears. Don't waste the summer. Or any days, for that matter. 😉
@ibc Love that IBC. Get it while the gettin's good I say. We have the same jumbo influx of tourists like you. And even though my main beach is a surf beach 365, people don't know that and I try not to be anyone's life coach. At least you don't have a giant longboard to contend with and make sure not to knock any kids out with it....
But last weekend, it was "officially summer". Dodging kids on the LB. Families have the entire stretch of beach, but decide to play with their new born baby in the shallow right on my line.
We setup way south on the beach, where everyone was fishing, so I setup a couple of rigs and paddled out next to it. About an hour after we arrived, a large group, African American family posted up by the dunes basically directly behind us. Anyone that looked up and down the beach would have seen over a dozen surf fishing rods in PVC, all up and down this stretch. While the large family was unpacking up by the dunes, all the little ones just ran out into the water. Directly through all the fishing lines. These are all bottom rigs, so the hooks are on the sea floor, and not very far out.... I look back a few times at the family that just got there. None of them had eyes on the kids or the ocean at all, so rather than saying anything, I just pulled my lines in, as to not injury innocent kids. But it's one of those things like, damn, even if you don't live by the beach or whatever, you gotta have some kind of situational awareness, and not watching your kids as they run neck fist into fishing lines and what not is not a great start. But hey, it's summer...
Then, as mentioned before, a string ray beached itself and the tourists are all standing around it, taking pictures, watching it die. Kids are reaching out to touch it while their parents take pictures. By the time I got there, I did have to tell other people's kids, in front of them "Hey, this thing is still alive, I would not touch it. If that tail gets you, you are going to have a really bad day"... Then I grabbed a boogie board and pushed the ray back into the ocean and watched it swim away. The other people are all patting me on the back, clapping. And I am like damn, I know you are from Ohio or whatever, but your plan was to just take Tik Toks and watch this thing die?
My favorite move is sometimes at low tide, there are cannon ball jellyfish all up and down the beach. My son and I walk around, pick them up by the back and toss them in the water. The look of horror on all the tourists is so funny. They come up, aren't you afraid of getting stung? Ma'am, these things don't sting. But what they do do, is die on the beach..... Wouldn't expect anyone to know that, but it's always a crowd pleaser.
And the "icing on the cake" was after we grabbed lunch at the little Tiki bar, we come back out to red flags. "Shark Sighting" I ask the little blonde "Was it a black tip?" Yes, 4 feet or so? Yes... I chuckle... And during all of this, mom's are all around the guard stand, asking "I mean, did you "see the shark?" Yes ma'am, we saw the shark? Like, it wasn't just a dolphin? No ma'am, it was a medium sized shark, eating lunch in 2 feet of water? "Oh my, they say".... A look of disbelief and horror as they process the prospect of "Sharks in the ocean"....
And I will say this: Growing up as Ocean City MD as my main beach, I had spend hundreds of days there growing up, and never ONCE, has there been a shark sighting or beach clearing when I was growing up... Same in CA. There was 2 times in 10 years that there were "Shark sighting".... One was down at a famous local reef breaks. Signs everywhere "White Shark Sighting today"... At that time, I laughed and paddled out anyway thinking, oh, the local boys are having some fun and keeping the lineup empty posting their own signs... Who knows.... But the only other time in CA, I was surf at the end of my street, the OB Jetty, which is the jetty for the San Diego River. I am on the south side of it. I am the only one out. It's like chest high, but perfect and barreling. Lifeguards are up on the beach the whole time, in a small group, just watching me... So I get the heebie-jeebies after a while and get out and approach them. I am like, what's going on? Why am I the only one out and why are you guys staring at me... They reply "There was a 12-14 white shark sighting on the other side of this jetty. They cleared the beach for the last hour. We were just watching to make sure we didn't see anything come around to the south side.... I was like, WHAT THE FUCK MAN? You guys didn't want to give me a signal, or a warning, or anything? You were just "watching" to make sure you didn't see a 14 ft white shark comp me down, when this fucking this has been circling right on the other side of these rocks for the past hours? Thanks fuckers.
So yeah, after all that, I totally agree. It's summer for sure, but these fuckers aren't going to hold me and my crew back...
The only saving grace around here is that all the locals are cool as shit. We all know each other. We all vibe. We hoot, we hollar. No beef. No shit talk. No snaking. We spread out and have fun.... So at least when there are waves, we all have fun and we are in a large pack, so with more than a few people out, we stake our claim and clear the tourons out of the way pretty easily.
Summer in CA was a shit show. Everywhere. If the waves are waist to chest, which is common, every local pro is out, pumping around like idiots. There are brazilians dropping in everywhere. Fights. Yelling. Swimmers everywhere.... And god forbid the surf is "Good", it is the absolute worst vibes on the planet. The local crews will just blatently snake everyone. Every time. Paddle right around the tourists. Sometimes, I wondered if I should bring a knife in my wetsuit, Point Break style, just in case one of these fuck tards gets crazy.
Had the break all to yourself. 🤣
The kids around fish hooks. I've had a issue with fish hooks most of my life. I was in some ER as a little kid. I forgot who was the reason I was there. I almost can't even say this, it fucked my head up so bad. A kid my age comes in with a fish hook in his eyeball. A piece of fishin line hangin from it. He went right by me. Probably 60+ years ago, and I'm still fucked up over fish hooks with me out there.
We got plenty of cool places to surf fish without someone comin to a crowded beach and draggin hooks by me.
In winter I just work around the fishermen. In summertime the water is packed at my spot. Dudes will still cast lines out mid day. Not sunrise when it's empty.
Some days the lost fish hooks get crazy by the rocks. I remember the lifeguard tellin people they still can't go near the rocks on green flag days. Fishin rigs on the bottom. Said the guards were dealin with fish hooks in people way more than water rescues. He got my attention that day. Haha
Yeah, there is a small jetty/rock pile at my spot, but it doesn't even judd out into the ocean. So around here, it's really just the guys on the beach surf fishing. In CA, I lived in Ocean Beach, which is in the city of San Diego. So the OB Pier, which was my go to spot when it was4-5ft or less is the San Diego City Municipal fishing pier. Meaning, you don't need a license, so the place is always packed. Actually, an old Japanese guy showed me the ropes the first time I fished there. He was pulling up lines (his rig had like 4 hooks on it) and every time he pulled it up, it was full. 4 mackerels every time. So, he comes over to me and I am using frozen shrimp. He says "These fish are cannibals. So he breaks me off a fresh piece of Mackerel meat off his last catch. As soon as I toss it in, BAM. Mackerel.... Over and over and over....
But anyway, the South Side of the pier is a reef break. It breaks off a point, then goes all the way through the pier and under, then connects to a fast beach break on the other side. So there are always surfers on the North side. And with the right swell angle, it's on both sides and we would shoot the pier. So there were plenty of times I have seen surfers cussing and screaming at fisherman. Telling them to meet on the beach to fight. From the fishing standpoint, there are allowed to fish there. But this pier is the longest pier on the entire west coast. 2 miles long, if you could the end, where it t's off. So the point was, as surfers, we are always like, dude, move the fuck back 20 years. You see the lineup. But it was somewhat common to be surfing that left and run right into some retards line.....
The only fishing incident I had on the east coast recently, which was really an incident, but I was at New Smyrna beach, the jetty. Yes, the shark attack capital of the world. So, the current there RIPs around the jetty. It was maybe 1-2ft overhead, and the whole time, I am battling the current that is taking me right at like 100 hispanic dudes at the end of the jetty fishing. Lines fucking everywhere. Sharks fucking everywhere.... Like I said, there was no issues there, but I assume there are problems all the time with so many people fishing at the most consistent surf spot on the east coast. That place HAS to be a shit show most of the time.
And about two years ago, locals started circulating this memes and posts on social media. Because the number 1 question tourists ask are "Are there sharks at this beach" or what have you... So the meme and videos are basically: Starts off serious with some guy on the beach saying "Here is how you can guarantee to know if there are sharks or not.... First, you take a small paper cup, take a sample of the ocean water. Walk back on the beach, and make sure that you are facing North West. Now, dip your finger in the water sample and taste it. If it tastes like salt, there are 100% sharks in the water.... Pretty funny. Also very true.
Fisherman event during yesterday's frolic in the surf. Crowded AF probably 50 people in the water within 50yds width of beach. 100s more on the beach. Dude wades out right in the middle of em and throws out his line. Upstream of me. I usually don't say much to anyone, but this was just stupid shit. I made sure he understood my position on it. He was probably 20yds away. He didn't stop. I just watched and made sure to stay far enough away so his shit didn't drift under my feet.
Well, he stayed out about 15min more. Didn't catch shit. Saw him get bounced around by a few sets. Maybe he got tired of that. Went to the beach. I moved back over where he was and scored some fun ones.
It's still here today... ☮️🌴🌊🐬🌊😎🤙
Here y'all go. My nephew Zeus this mornin. How I felt after dumbass got outa my spot so I could get busy. 😉
Surf was fun knee to maybe waist on the cleanup sets. First actual 90° day. Nobody fishin next to me. Just a lotta happy people playin in the surf. Caught a fun one and blew right by a 20 some year old dude. He's like How do you DO that? Told him try a whole lotta times. I'm old. 🤣
I hung out with him for a few minutes and helped him get started before it was time to head home. Really great summer day here. ☮️🌴🌊🐬🌊😎🤙
Yeah, we were supposed to do a beach day yesterday. I ended up having to work a little bit early on Saturday, then was watching soccer late into the night, so I woke up pretty tired. My son had a Lacrosse camp yesterday. He messes around with his buddies and plays catch with his lacrosse sticks. He was telling us that maybe he wants to do Lacrosse next spring instead of baseball, so we were like, okay buddy, let's get you over to a camp and see if you actually like to play. It's hot. It's constant running like soccer....
So, the camp was from 9am-10:30am yesterday. 94 degrees with a heat index of 108 or some shit... Hot as fuck.... So, I am sitting in a folding chair over with the parents. It's like 9:45 and my dude comes running over for a water break, and as he gets closer, his face is all blotchy and I see tears in his eyes. And my dude doesn't cry. So I run up to him like, bro, what's wrong. He is like "It's too hot, and we have been asking for a water break and they wouldn't let us until now"... So I was like, okay buddy, just come sit in the shade with me for a bit and cool down. He goes no, I want to leave... So I packed up and went back home....
First try at lacrosse didn't go well. But after that, we were sitting in the A/C at home and I was like, do you all really want to go to the beach? It was a universal "No". Let's chill and hit the pool.
Fine... There were really no waves to speak of, but the thought of sitting on there with a million people with a heat index of 108 was not appealing, whatsoever.
Yeah, Zach. It's been summertime smokin. The soft white sand areas are nuking hot. On my way up the stairs to go home yesterday, dude was tellin his kids who were just hittin the sand at the bottom... Take your sandals off so they don't get sandy. Told bro that sand is hot AF. He quickly rescinded that last order. Kids are like... It's pretty hot...
In little bro's defense... this ain't normal hot lately. It's been poppin 90° with 105° heat indexes in a big chunk of the country. There's been heat stroke messages on my weather radio. Anybody can have a bad day. I've hadda stop workin and get under a tree because I was dizzy in the past. Drink a bottle of water per hour and never pee a drop. Sometimes said fuck wearin my glasses because they got soaked. The bros all thought I was loco for no sombrero. 🤣
It's just one day. One stupid hot AF day when most sane, or at least informed, individuals wouldn't be out competin in athletic competitions or workin on houses. 😉
Yeah man, it was a scorcher. I don't recall one other day ever, where I elected not to go to the beach and at least get wet. And yeah, my dude was fried in like 30 minutes.... Unfortunately for us, we have this heat dome over us through next weekend. Ugly.
3 days in a row now. Another fun day yesterday. Still got a hair left out there before it's probably gone for the holiday weekend. June has been a pretty solid month. I know Surf Captain is probably gonna start droppin F bombs soon. "FLAT" Made the most outa June. Hopefully don't have to take up knitting in July.
Yeah man, I would argue you have had some form of waves all month, as we have had maybe 4-5 ridable days throughout the month. I mean, you can "ride" anything I suppose, but by ridable, I mean 2ft @ at least 7 seconds or so with decent winds.... I never have much hope in June around here anyway, so it's par for the course as they say.
This little system spinning off the SE coast is a good sign that the ocean is beginning to wake up for this year's storm season, offering rideable surf in many areas. I'm looking forward to the first solid swell we get, I have been paddling daily keeping my wave count up so that I'm ready come game time!
Yeah man, the timing for me isn't ideal, but I will try and hit some post work sessions if the tides work out. This is a crazy couple week stretch in the hospitality and restaurant businesses along the coast. We are going to get hammered this weekend and into the next month. The bridge will be backed up two hours to get on the island. Real shit show.