Sea Notes
A good conservation is never flat, even when the surf is
Last weekend, the beaches were beautiful, warm and packed; the surf nearly flat. That’s no surprise for North County in the summertime, but it did spark some good conversations on the beach. Steve Clark was hanging out with his family, including his grandson who is just starting to ride Swami’s recently. Steve has been surfing [...]
Remembering 100 years of Cardiff surfing
There are stacks of discount soft surfboards on mini vans — each driver, it seems, headed to Cardiff. Kids pour out into the water, laughing and screaming their way into summer. It’s nice to see that “stoke” still lives in this town. The only things I don’t like are the divers who just brought in [...]
Give a wave, and get one for a peaceful lineup
My first surfboard was a 9 foot 6 inch Wardy that I bought used for $45 in 1961. Seven years later I would strip the glass from that and all the other long boards stacked in my parent’s garage to make for short boards. They called it the “Short board Revolution,” and like most revolutions, [...]
Health gurus help keep surfers riding the waves
Rob Machado told me a while back that he could tell when the local waters were affected by red tide, even without looking at the ocean. He, like many of us, including me, is allergic to the phytoplankton bloom commonly called Red Tide and scientifically known as Harmful Algal Blooms. The blooms are toxic and [...]
Surf family opens new surf shop
In 1974, the winter waves were small and inconsistent. As happens during such times, the crowds suffocated every ripple that came through. Longboards were making a modest comeback and I bought a Bing Donald Takayama Model for $10 that I rode until it finally died from sun exposure. Longboards were too long and short boards [...]
The power of life and death
Dr. Udo Wahn is an Ob-Gyn doctor that lives in Del Mar. He is also a surfer that loves the ocean and works to pass that love on to his son Paolo “Cabo” and any other kids that read one or more of his “Cabo and Coral” series. Written by Dr. Wahn and illustrated by [...]
Small waves, big minds, bigger dreams
Today the ocean once again looked like the Daytona Salt Flats. There were three desperate riders out, picking off the scraps of a dying swell. And I will soon make it four. Why not? I’m done with work, it’s a beautiful afternoon and even if all I get is a good workout and a trip [...]
Another Easter Sunday
We had been up early for a sunrise Easter morning service. I’m not certain of the year, but it was sometime in the early 1970s and the entire coast was flat. I always carried a board with me and now I had a 6-foot-10-inch egg shaped by Rusty Prisendorfer, several years before he rocketed to [...]
Revisiting 40-plus years of surfing in 20 minutes
The stairs were closed for repair and my friend Dave Gladstone served as my Sherpa, guiding me down the slippery dirt trail to the base of the cliff at Swami’s. Not much surf and not many people on water or sand. Nice afternoon though and I desperately needed to dust off the stress of the [...]
Cardiff cold snap and other gifts
It was already cold as the wind gusted from the north and I pulled on winter clothes and decided to walk. Only one place would be offshore today and I didn’t want to make the drive. Cardiff Reef heaved a surprisingly thick slab as an unknown rider took off late, got barreled for seconds and [...]
