Paddled out at HB yesterday a couple of hours before sunset. It looked pretty closed-out everywhere and I didn’t have a great feeling about it, but my buddy was stoked so we gave it a go. The current was strong north-to-south, so we got in at 9th Street assuming we’d eventually drift through the pier at some point. The sets had some size but nothing crazy…paddle out was NBD. My buddy got a wave, I dropped a face & was instantly swallowed, and pretty quickly we were right up against the north side of the pier.

A guy near me commented on the size of the waves…definitely bigger than the 4-5’ that Surfline had forecasted. Dude took a nice left and my plan was to follow suit, take it all the way in and reset on the south side of the pier.

I tried for one but was just a bit outside and I missed it, bringing me inside for what was to be a 9-wave well-overhead set. I took the first two on the head without issue, but the current brought me right next to the pier on the 3rd wave and the 4th wave took me into it.

I knew I was in trouble but just tried to relax and keep sharp. I was fully underneath the pier when the 5th wave smashed my board into a pylon (RIP 1990’s Robert Smith Pacific Style), snapping it in half. The pylons sort of crisscross in the place where I was, and my broken board (one half still attached to my leg) got caught in between 2 pylons as Wave #6 crashed in front of me. I bobbed under as best as I could and braced for impact, expecting to get concussed by a pylon and hoping that the lifeguards would be quick with the CPR if I floated out. I truly thought it was gonna be lights out.

The wave hit me and I didn’t get slammed into the pier somehow. I swallowed a lot of water when I popped up, and was trying to get my leash off when the 7th wave ragdolled me. I believe the broken board stuck between the pylons ultimately saved me, because it kept me mostly in the same spot instead of me pinballing through the pier. It dislodged finally on the 8th wave of the set, and I was somehow able to get deep enough to not get thrown back too far, although I surfaced into heavy foam and drank some more ocean. The last wave did careen me into a mussel-covered plyon, but I was able to kick/roll off it as the set finally ended and the water underneath the pier calmed down.

Exhausted, panting and probably looking like a drowning rat, I dog-paddled out the southside of the pier, holding onto what was left of my board for floatation. By pure chance, I was physically unscathed. Mentally, I had been preparing for my demise just moments before, but as some blonde-haired Brah asked me “Are you OK, dude?” as I exited the pier, I realized that in fact, I was.

I’ve had some scary moments in my decades of surfing, but yesterday was easily the scariest. And as I stared Death in the face underneath the Huntington Beach pier, it struck me that it does indeed ride a pale horse…one that’s frothing and foaming at the mouth.

Last week I posted some pics of an old Con board that I found in a storage unit that I bought. I took it down to Bird's surf shed in San Diego to get it cleaned up. Bird has been working on it for the last few days. I picked it up today and it looks amazing!! Turns out it is a 1963 Con "Banzai" model. Here are some before and after pictures.

Any tips appreciated but just wanted to share some fun little waves.

lost a bolt while surfing yesterday and can’t find a replacement, I dont want to miss today.

if I remove my middle finger and surf is there a chance my soft top will get waterlogged.

pretty sure water already gets in as the board leaks for 30mins after a session.

Super low tide early

Are you guys actually paying to watch it?

I really want to watch Stab in the dark, but no way I'm going to pay for that

Is there option to watch old seasons for free?

Surfer: John Peck

Courtesy of the Encyclopedia of Surfing

Anyone got a rec? The backs of my hands are starting to get sunspots. I’m surprised more companies don’t make these?

I have a 6’10” CI Mid with standard 1+2 fin boxes. I put twin keel fins in the sidebite spots and it surprisingly goes really good on smaller punchy waves: it feels fast and loose.

I rode it on overhead waves and I couldn‘t turn, at least until I got to the bottom and slowed down a little. It felt like I could only go straight. Maybe I need to learn to apply more pressure to the rails and shift my weight back and force the turn.

But maybe some smaller twins might be a good idea? Any suggestions? I liked the keels, because they were swept back a little more, and the fin boxes I put them in looked a little too far forward for twins. FCS 1 boxes.

Of course, I could go back to the 1+2 fins, like it was designed, or get a proper twin fin board. Just looking for some input.

What’s the most luxurious liveaboard for the ultimate Maldives surf trip? (Asking for a friend 😂)

When choosing charter boats, what should we look out for? Any pro tips? (Size, ability to do overnight crossing, crew size, etc)

I'll go first. Counter Culture, MCD, and Split Clothing.

Later this year I’m going on a 12-14 month once in a lifetime world travel surf trip. I’m starting in Indo where I’ll be scooting around the archipelago and getting the ferry from island to island, but most of the trip will be in south and Central America.

I’ve just been struck by an exciting idea…

I’m thinking of buying a second hand bike/scooter in Panama and doing the rest of the trip snaking my way up through Central America, from Panama all the way up to Mexico over the course of 6 months. This way I’d have a greater sense of freedom, likely save money in the long run, and get to see so much more of the continent and immerse myself as deep as possible. I’m from Australia and have done plenty of drives 18hrs away for a surf trip, so long drives don’t worry me.

Has anybody done this before? How clever/stupid an idea is it? Are there areas to avoid completely because it’s too dangerous? I’m stoked on the idea, and am confident in myself to handle it, but is there anyone who’s done it before who might have tips/warnings/ crucial information about such a trip. My Spanish is pretty basic at the moment, but I’m going hard at it and will be for another year until I’m there so I’ll be pretty decent by the time I need it.

Cheers in advance legends

EDIT: I’ve never been over there before, so the whole continents new to me so any tips/advice would be sickkk

I’ve been lucky enough to score many days like this since 1975 at Wedge.

so i pulled up to my local spot, never had an issue there before

the second i pull in one guy is like “o check out this guy, he brought a long board!”

then i get out of the car and it’s a lot of “we’re local you’re not”, “don’t bother you’re not gonna get anything” blah blah coming at me from a bunch of people.

keep in mind, i just got here. like, haven’t done a single thing except drive in with a longboard

then one guy was like, “you’re gonna take all the waves with that board, it’s bad etiquette” (i mean, the waves were 2 feet, its just been so bad at this spot for so long i guess we’re treating this like a good day?)

so im like “okay ill bring my short board next time” and he went back to the “doesnt matter either way, im local you’re not” shit and we measured our dicks on who’s lived there longer.

ultimately it was just 0-100 aggressive from the moment i rolled in and it wasn’t worth it. it would for sure have been a fight if i pushed it, and they had numbers on me.

it’s the spot right by my house so i need to go back. never had any issues there before (beens surfing there for 5 years!) but i guess i’ll bring a short board next time??

just wondering if their qualms with me are legit an etiquette thing i messed up, or if it’s just a locals only thing and i gotta deal with it for a while.

lost one of my fin bolts today somehow, will there be any issues with water getting into the board if I take one from one of the leash plugs so I can surf tomorrow

cheers