Packin' my bags for Encinitas!

[surfercook]

More ty's toTom, GOTWAVS, kayadogg, and to digger (again for the positive reinforcement). Cool you've hooked up w/those Zoners, digger. Just blown away! Access to a quiver and a parking pass! Hope it all pans out. The Sunova demo sure worked out nicely w/Zoners Creek, PabstSUP, and kliss99 here where I live.
It's down right FRIGID here today. BRUTAL temps and wind chills out there today. Gotta be blowing 30mph offshore. And now we're supposed to get a sh!t ton of snow on the weekend! Def ready for some "Southern Cal Paradise"! 

[SD Surfer]

surfercook, I just moved back to RI from Dana Point but I have an 8'10 that I left out there with a buddy. It's too big for my tastes but decided it would be good to keep a board on the west coast since I'm out there every other month for work. You're more than welcome to grab it while you are in the area, for as long as you want it, free of charge. My buddy who is storing it is also a Zoner and I'm sure would have no problem getting it to you. If you're interested, send me a PM and I'll get you the details.

Very nice, good sir.

[surfercook]

According to The Weather Channel we're "Under Siege" today sooooo- Makin' a list, checkin' it twice. Thanx all for all the clues, hints, suggestions, and offers! Will make the appropriate contacts next week as my departure date nears on 1/30.

Zooport- Meet up to surf Trails at San Onofre which is probably 25 or 30 miles north of Moonlight Beach.
SD Surfer- Have a Tri-Tip sandwich from Seaside Market in Cardiff on weekends.
           Recommended West Coast Paddle Sports- 10 or so miles south
digger71- Cardiff Reef is prime SUP territory but go anywhere except Swamis
          and Seaside Reef (south Cardiff by Solana) without any hassle.
          But even with those spots go a few hundred yards north of Swami's to Boneyards,
          and a few hundred yards south of Seaside to Table Tops it's no problem.
          Check out Paddle Planet in Leucadia for a rental. Maybe board swaps avail.
          Grab state park parking pass for Cardiff, Ponto, San Onofre/Trails, Doheny.
             The pass is $195 and the daily rate with no pass is $15
          What we have here in SoCal is paradise to a lot of other paddlers and I think most of us
          are willing to share it with those that have the right level of respect.
supdiscobay- Hit Seaside Market deli for a piece of the lemon pie.
             No need to travel much further than Table tops to the south and moonlight to the north.
             To know the name of each break, buy the Seaside Market T-shirt.
GOTWAVS- Consider taking your own paddle. It's fun to try a bunch of boards but you don't
         want to keep trying different paddles, It messes with your balance, stroke, confidence.
         Some airlines let you carry them on, but even if not it's worth it.
Tom- Grab 9'0" Sunova Style at Ocean Beach. Also has soft racks and a paddle for me.
                 North County gets the best summer waves and Pt Loma , Sunset  Cliffs  gets  the  best  winter  waves.
kayadogg- Grab the 8'10" Ron House in Dana Point
FeralInBaja- possibly meet in Northern Northern Baja? Tijuana or Rosarito? Surf or just shoot the shit.


         

[surfercook]

Arrived! Hooked up w/Tom and the Sunova Style in Ocean Beach! He was very nice to me and my wife and showed us around the Sunset Cliffs breaks. Then I took him to lunch at a nice Mexi place, "Ranchos" I think. It's happenin! This place is sooo cool! Can't wait to get in the surf. Almost jumped in today and having a bit of regret for not doin' it. But it was pretty good size w/an onshore wind and not many on it. If only it had been offshore!
Shot quite a few pics! 

[surfercook]

Today was a "Digger" day. pleased to meet you, Doug! Thanx for the "Free Parking"! Hoping to meet up w/Mr Digger for a surf at Cardiff Reef! No surfing today, unless you wanna kite it! Viva El Nino!

[stoneaxe]

Very cool...love the zone effect. Have a blast!

[Sup-position]

If you want to head north to Huntington Beach, hit me up...

[surfercook]

Thanx, stoney and sup-position....Got a good Zoner high here! Weather coulda been better my first day though. Actually it's kinda cool...it's like I brought the New Jersey climatology w/me! Sooo many Cali dudes have told me this is really unusual weather! Put a quicky vid togeth.

s

[surfcowboy]

Yeah man, in the classic, "you shoulda been here yesterday" we had 78° Temps  on Friday.

Hope you're here long enough for it to get back up there for ya. Zoned stoke is pretty cool.

[surfercook]

I knew I had just missed it, cowboy. Soo not letting it bother me. Woulda been nice but nothing I can do about it. It was actually kinda cool to experience an El Nino storm of this intensity, although beck on the East Coast they last like 3 days, sometimes longer. I did get to check out a bunch of surf shops, restaurants, surf spots, and also hit Torrey Pines for a nice hike. Looks to be swell filling in l8r in the week and I'm def ready to get in. Wow, 78F?! That is toasty!
Here're my pics from today, 2/2. 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153942819377682.1073741957.785257681&type=1&l=1823356b97

[surfercook]

First sesh in California was a stoker! Hit Cardiff for some sweet glass. It was COLD though. In the water at 7:30AM with 45F air and 60F water. After about 90 mins I found myself sitting down and puttin' my hands in the water in a feeble attempt to warm them. Met up w/Digger and traded off a few. Had to bail once my hands were completely numb! Then fired off a coupla shots of him from the car park high above the break.
All da pics here- https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153944557047682.1073741958.785257681&type=1&l=de893af1c3

Digger cruising w/style.


The Style works GREAT! Thanx, Tom!

[surfercook]

2/7-
I've overwhelmed at how cool every one is and the quality/consistency of the waves here in Encinitas. Not to mention the vastness of this coast and abundance of srf spots. This trip has been sooo perfect the first week. Hope it holds! I bought a $23 used wetsuit at a Thrift and the thing started busting at the seams, in a not so great place! Took it back the next day and scored boardies, shades, and sneaks for store cred. Dude believed me it was the same suit.
Meeting up w/you guys (Tom and Digger) was amazing. Quite helpful. The Sunova 9'0" Style has really impressed me as a cruisy aggressive longboard design. I took 1000 pictures and uploaded GBs! And the state parking pass "passed the test".
I met a young photographer at Moonlight Beach and hooked up w/ a couple beautiful water images!
Creek- I've enjoyed our communications. You're a salty old soul w/heart!
ZOO- I've been to Carlsbad and Oceanside now...no more guessing!
SD Surfer- Found the tri-tip crack!
supdiscobay- I've yet to do that paddle through Swami's! It looks pretty aggressive over there! I've been parking in the state lot cliffside south like two or three accesses. The digger pass has been nice! And I found that teeshirt too!
GOTWAVZ- I didn't bring a paddle. Tom said he had one for me but didn't mention what kind. I just figured it'd be decent and it truly is. Ke-Nalu carbon fibe! The good stuff!
kayadogg- I've yet to venture up that far to Dana Point! There's just been sooo much to see and do here! That Ron House would be cool to try though.
stoneaxe- I am having a stand on my blastup! 
Sup-position- A photographer I know lives in Huntington. John Lyman...he hooked me w/alot of shots from my Costa trips a few years ago. Looks fun up there.

[Tom]

cooker,
Glad your enjoying the Sunova and getting some good waves. I see you went to Birds Shed. If you pick up that green Skip Fry longboard and want me to keep it here until your next trip out here, that can be arranged.

[surfercook]

Tue 2/9- Sunset Cliffs was amazing! Had help from all the locals and regs. Good crew there. Grabbed Tom's 8'10" Sunova Speeed. A tad too big for me in those conditions maybe but still felt amazing! Like digger said "Paddlers Paradise". Just when I figure my trip can't get any better! Gonna keep this permanent smile forever! Feels good.

Wednesday 2/10 - Drove to Blacks for a look w/the Style. Arrived about 12:30 and shot a few pics. Was going to try the path down w/sup, decided against it. Access area is around 1500' above the break on one of the hottest days here. Like 80F and barely a whisper of wind. Went to Torrey for about an hour in trunks. Kinda regretting not getting a closer look at Blacks surf. The place(Blacks) is rugged for sure, like Sunset Cliffs! Guessing it takes longer to get down to Blacks Beach than into the water at Cliffs. But Cliffs is no easy go!

San Diego county ain't no joke. Place is huge!

Shots of me are from Tom. He knows what he's doing!

Sunset Cliffs on Flickr- https://flic.kr/s/aHsktwa3qG

Link to         Torrey Pines Glider Port and Blacks fb album
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153963779362682.1073741964.785257681&type=1&l=912dc39a5d

[surfercook]

Morning sesh Thur, 2/11 was a joy. Put in at Moonlight w/about 15 shortboarders already on it taking the waves apart. Caught a nice right to the beach smack dab in the middle of em and then paddled to Boneyards catching one nice wave on the way. Arrive at Bones to beautiful chest high glass..no cam though. Asked the coupla guys on sup there if they were Zoners.
JFB was one I believe. Tall fellow big build on an all arounder.
Beluga was another but that's not quite right....he said it was a Spanish term he grabbed from Argentina and it meant "Big Balls"!    This guy was on a small low vol sup KILLING it. Def regretting not having my GoPro now! He took off on THE most perfect green glassy wave as I paddled over. That image is embedded in my brains internal hard drive forever!
Then I met a guy on a yellow all arounder using a red bladed paddle. He told me he's an AA pilot. Had Maui roots...can't remember his name but he was really interested in the Sunova Style and The Zone. Hopefully he'll show his face here!
Only memories on this post, no pics.   
This one is from last night's sunset.