Digital Camera to the Rescue

Thanks to my digital camera, I had a pretty fun session despite the woeful conditions and waves this afternoon.

After catching a few waves, I decided to hang up my gear and focus on taking pictures instead

Puinsai

I had a fun sesh this morning. It was a sesh full of pull-inside barrels. I got up a little late (sorry guys), but, fortunately, I was still able to get my share of barrels before the tide swamped out the waves.

Support Your Locals

I decided to post Sal's Inside The Toob ChipIn! application to further the cause. I know that the people that check this blog probably already know about the Inside The Toob fund, but hey, you never know; maybe someone might randomly find my blog and decide to donate.

I also decided to post RXYM's video Odelay since it features local bodyboarder Bobby Kithcart.

RXYM Presents: "ODELAY" from Ray Machado on Vimeo.

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

My main spot is like a beloved neighborhood restaurant - there might be better places, but you keep going back for the good vibes and people. That couldn't be more true today. Upon doing a quick spot check, I realized that there were better waves at other spots, but I decided to surf at my main spot anyway.

Team Rubbermaid

The only gear that I would use when I surfed in Hawaii was a board, fins, and boardshorts. Seriously, that was it; I didn't even use a leash back then because surfing without a leash was the popular thing to do (as impractical as it was). It's a stark contrast to the gear that I use to surf nowadays. I sometimes feel like a mobile surf shop with all the gear that I now use. Don't get me wrong, if I had it my way, I would still be using just a board, fins, and boardshorts, but each spot will dictate what equipment should be used, and the Southern California spots are no different.

As I've learned what gear will be conducive to an enjoyable Socal surf session, I've also realized the benefit of secondary gear, if you will. In other words, gear that I don't use while surfing, but rather gear that I use before or after my surf sessions. One of the brands of secondary gear - Rubbermaid - is more synonymous with domestics products than surf sessions, but it works like a charm.


I fill this container to a fourth of its capacity with fresh water before each session, and after each session, I put my wetsuit in it. Since my wetsuit is completely submerged in fresh water, my wetsuit is thoroughly rinsed out by the time I get home from the beach. As a result, I don't have to rinse out my wetsuit when I get home. Now that's what I call a time and hassle saver!



I use this container in the same way that I use my container for my wetsuit, except I use it to rinse out my underwater electronic devices (most electronic manufactures recommend that underwater electronics are submerged in fresh water for ten minutes [sometimes longer] each time they're used in saltwater), and I also keep it at home.



My usual spot has arguably the best showers of any spot in Socal. Yet for those spots whose showers are sub-par or that have no showers at all, this little jug comes in handy for a post-sesh rinse off. Thanks to Sal for sharing the idea with me. I thought it was such a good idea that I bought my own jug the same day that you shared yours with me.

Did You Get That?

Between the four of us at the beach, there were five cameras and one camcorder. If you were at the same spot as us this morning, chances are you were in at least several pictures. On the same token, those chances were slim-to-none since we were the only four people at this spot for most of our session. Nice!

Besides the obvious reasons, it was a good thing we were the only ones at this spot since it was my first time there and I had to get accustomed to the waves. At first, I was a little tentative to take off, but at the end of the day, I had a fun sesh.

Lights, Camera, Action!

I've been taking pictures during my surf sessions on a consistent basis for the past several months. Doing so has added another dimension to my surf experience that I ultimately enjoy. With as much fun as I've had taking pictures during my surf sessions, I thought video recording could add even another dimension to my surf sessions. I'm happy to say that it does.

I decided to post my Vimeo profile and my YouTube profile in case you wanted to check out the videos that I've made, and will continue to make. Even though I'll be using Vimeo almost exclusively from now on, I thought I'd share my YouTube profile since I have a few videos, albeit older ones (including my very first video!), there. I'll also be placing the links to my Vimeo and YouTube profiles in the bodyboarding links section for easy reference