“Ok so does this mean there’s waves on the way…? Photo: Surfline.com
I’ve griped a lot about the lack of waves this summer. I mean, they’ve been here and there. But nothing mindblowing has come through the West Coast since early May and that’s been weighing heavy on my soul for a long time now. It got so bad that the nice little pulse of Southwest swell that’s arrived now has me giddy. We’re not talking Hurricane Marie stuff here, but this definitely saved what was becoming a horrid summer. Long story short, this turned into a happy week for me. For those of you that are landlocked, I’ll catch one for you. For those of you still waiting out a flat spell of your own in some other corner of the world, I’ll catch one for you too. But the rest are mine. All mine.
Meanwhile, from a church-going God/Shark/Bear fearing woman to John John’s last shred of hope for 2015 it’s time to recap another week of making waves in the surf world.
Video of the Week:
If you’ve been living under a rock, or without wi fi or the use of a smartphone (which probably negates anybody able to read this anyway), then you missed the wisdom of Veronica-Pooh Nash-Poleate earlier this week. She’s become an internet sensation for offering the most straight shooter of straight shooter’s advice on shark safety. I watched her video a hundred times. And you probably have too. But since it’s the weekend I figured it was time to share an appropriate party version of those wise words.
From The Tour:
John John will have to really go ham in the next few contests if he wants to be in the World Title race. Photo: WSL
John John Florence was my pick to win it all at the start of the 2015 Tour. This time a year ago Juanito Florence was struggling against the rest of the field, his throwaway results were a 25th and a 13th, both coming out of the first two event. It wasn’t until after J Bay that John John turned things on finishing 3rd, 2nd, 1st, 4rd, and 5th down the stretch to close out the year #3 on the ASP Tour. I felt like he’d locked in that momentum when he won the Volcom Pipe Pro in January of this year but it’s been all downhill since then. The worst of which now include holding out of both Fiji and now J Bay thanks to an ankle injury. So, is Johnny coming back with a vengeance at ‘Chopes only to surprise us again? I’d like to think so, but barring at least two wins and a handful of top-3 finishes down the stretch this one might be out of reach.
Why even think about a guy sitting outside the top ten while J Bay’s just kicked off? Because he’s John John and who the hell isn’t anxious to see the day that guy wins a title?
What’s Blowing My Mind:
Enjoying my favorite Veronica-Pooh Nash-Poleate approved activity. You can’t tell, but I’m smiling.
I’m obsessed with night surfing Malibu. When I first moved to Southern California it was the only place in Los Angeles I’d ever surfed. So I headed out there at the end of my first work week in a brand new land and was greeted by an early fall head high and freakishly warm combo swell (I grew up in Northern California so anything that allowed me to wear a 3/2 felt tropical at the time). I stayed out well past sunset that evening and still, years later, remember the last wave of that session. Everything on the face of that perfectly peeling First Point nugget was lit up from the lights on PCH and the Malibu Pier, to the point that I saw almost no difference between being there at night or high noon. Since then I’ve met and surfed with the most random group of surfers that I could never recognize in the grocery store. We talk in the lineup, we share waves. Unlike the Malibu norm, nobody gets roasted. But I only recognize most of these people by which color glow stick hangs from their wetsuit or board. One time I gave a new glow in the dark board a test run and ended up on the news.Basically, all the ho hum everyday annoyances of surfing go away with the sun. It’s no coincidence Johnny Utah’s mancrush on Bodhi was sparked by a bromantic night surf.
Well, there’s been waves in Los Angeles lately, so guess what! It’s night surfing season again. Just thought I’d let you know what I’ve been up to.
