A New All-Time Low

I don't know what was more pathetic today, the waves or the fact that I actually went out. I knew beforehand that the waves were going to be pretty bad, but I decided to catch a sesh anyway. During the entire drive to the beach I kept telling myself "Dude, don't do it. Don't do it!" (referring to going out). I ultimately got to the beach, geared up, and went out anyway. I should have followed my own advice. Not even taking pictures could salvage this session, and that's saying a lot coming from me. I decided to cut my session short and save whatever dignity that I had left.

This was the set of the day... no, seriously, it was.





When you start taking underwater pictures because they're more fun to take than pictures of waves, you know it must have been a crappy sesh.

An Eventful Day

I just came back from what seemed like a mini road trip. I caught a sesh down south; I then went further south where I met a legendary shaper, a legendary bodyboard company owner, and then a legendary bodyboarder; and on the way back home, I stopped by a Hawaiian restaurant that I haven't been to in ages.

I got up early this morning and headed south to catch a sesh. This is what I found:

Upon first glance, I know those of you who have my phone number were quickly looking for your phone to call me and ask me "Hey, Lee, where did you go?" Haha It's actually Teahupoo (I'll explain later in this blog entry where this picture came from).


Here's what I really found this morning:










After my sesh, I headed down to the Custom X factory in Oceanside. Several months ago, I had purchased a Custom X board that was defective. I was about to get rid of it, when an acquaintance of mine suggested that I contact Debbie (the president of Custom X) to see if there was anything that she could do about the defective board. She told me that I could take my board down to them (I could have mailed it to them, but I didn't want to miss an opportunity to see the Custom X factory), and they would see what they could do. I didn't expect them to do anything more than take a look at my board, and then tell me that there was nothing that they could do (after all, there's really nothing you can do to fix a reverse rocker) besides give me a few stickers and a t-shirt since my board was no longer covered under the manufacturer's warranty. To make a long story short, I got a free brand new board, I got to meet [Custom X President] Debbie Colwell, I got to meet the legendary shaper PMA, and I got a personal tour of Custom X's facilities. Talk about exceptional customer service! Oh, and regarding the picture of Teahupoo above, it's a picture displayed on one of the walls in the Custom X lobby


My new board



Legendary shaper PMA working his magic


The steps of making a bodyboard:









After I left the Custom X factory, I stopped by Jay Reale's shop for a few things. It was the first time that I had met the bodyboarding legend. He's known as one of the pioneers of bodyboarding. He's an all-around good guy



On my way home, I decided to stop by Bob's in Gardena. Bob's has the best lau lau that I've had in LA.

Fo Oh? Fo Sho!

I caught a sesh with Sal, Sal's family and Brandon this morning. It was pretty much just us out in the line-up when I first got there. I was a little surprised that it was just us because a holiday weekend + a rumored swell = water zoo (wouldn't that be an aquarium?). I sure wasn't complaining about the absence of a crowd, though. I got my share of waves, and decided to call it a day around mid-morning, which is when the masses started to show up.

As an old...uh... mature bodyboarder, I enjoy good vibes in the water almost as much as I enjoy actually surfing. That said, I got to talk story (as they say in Hawaii) with one of Sal's brothers during today's sesh. He lived on the same island that I'm from and he had surfed a lot of the same breaks that I used to surf. Recalling those breaks took me down the proverbial memory lane. Now one thing's for sure: I can't wait to go home to Hawaii and hit up those spots like I did back in the day. Hawaiianair.com, here I come!

I got wax on my camera's lens, so some of the photos are a bit blurry.


That's what I'm talking about!









The side-view of an A-framer

Thank Goodness for the OC

The home break was flat, so I decided to take a trip to the OC. I'm glad that I did. There were a few nice sets that came in.

Thank Goodness for the OC from Team Stoked on Vimeo.

Free Premium Surfline

Surfline.com's premium service will be free for a week. The premium service includes five day forecast (so now you can know for how much longer the waves will suck), and, if you don't believe the forecast, the premium service also offers HD cams at select spots. I was pretty impressed with the HD cams. I wouldn't say it's like watching from the beach, but the footage is quite clear.

USBA

The USBA will be making a stop at Golden West (Huntington Beach) this Saturday, May 23rd, and Sunday, May 24th. Although I don't know what bodyboarders will be competing in this comp, there should be a plethora of world-class bodyboarders since this is a major comp. Hopefully there will be some thing in the ocean that resembles waves this weekend as it's been flat as a lake lately.

For Sale: Viper Fins

I'm selling a pair of used Viper fins for $20. They're the V-5 model. Size large. I used these fins less than 20 times. The neoprene padding on the top of the fin peeled off a little bit, but it's not anything that a little bit of super glue couldn't fix.

It's Warming Up

The waves weren't good this afternoon, but at least the water is getting warmer. I used my spring today, and I was perfectly fine. Not only was I not cold, but I was also stoked about the added mobility of a spring suit

Get it While it's Good

Today was probably the last fun day of the swell that we've had for the past week. I'm glad I got a shot at it. The waves weren't as bowly as last week, but there were a handful of barrels to be had.

Get it While it's Good from Team Stoked on Vimeo.