Surfbird

After a hard day’s work on the ocean it is nice to tie up the boat, fire up the BBQ and invite your friends to watch the sun set and smile.

Spence crossing the tracks after a good long surf…

Am far away from the ocean today and though I am getting a little dehydrated I figured I should take this opportunity to post some photos from South Africa. If you like this shot and want to see more then click on the WHAT button above (below Surfbird) to access the Nature portfolio (or scroll down to see older posts)…I’ll upload more photos there in the next few days…

Almost traded in my truck today for this beauty, well, not really, but thought about it. Always fun to see what fellow surfers decide to turn into their surfmobiles…

Sunset and an evening of burgers and beers by the ocean with friends…happy.

Surf picked back up today but its windy and all the rain these last few days has made getting in the water kinda scary…just got back from yoga and not quite sure if I should answer the call of the ocean. Will probably just pack up and head down to San Diego for a couple days of surfing on route to Florida for the week. A shot of a little artist’s studio nestled among the spruce and lupines of Little Cranberry Island, Maine.

“It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know of wonder and humility.” Rachel Carson

Funny how we want everyone to know that we scored big and had the best barrel of our lives or how fluidly we danced across the face of a wave dragging our hand through the pearly curtain of foam screaming WOOHOOOOOOOOO! And yet not want anyone to know where it happened for fear of publicizing our favorite spot and risking crowding out our next session…funny haha, but I’m still not telling you where I surfed today and it was epic. A bunch of guys and two girls out, but it can handle it and there were plenty of waves to go around. On days like today I wish I could clone myself to take photos of myself and get to surf and shoot simultaneously…but since I still have not received the Clone Machine I asked for my birthday I always choose surf over photos and so by default take a lot of post surf sunset shots…here you go, a Secret Spot Sunset.

This photo always cracks me up…no wonder we always drop in on these guys.

Morning session at the Con, then down to Ventura for a meeting at FCD to talk about “green” surfboards, back home for a smoothie and off to campus point for the afternoon/evening session. The swell is passing and so the direction has changed from WNW to straight W which has really woken up some sleepy coves and has me amped…

Congratulations America…

Surfed all morning at Rincon, had lunch, then surfed all afternoon and into the evening at C street…here is a shot of Victoria Falls from the Zambian side during a full moon. I find that I really miss Africa and need to go back soon, but until then will gladly take more pots of gold full of surf-filled days. Yeah.

It’s Martin Luther King day tomorrow as well as National Day of Service…a perfect opportunity for you to give back to those in need.

I had a wonderful day and so completely love living in Santa Barbara…

Surf, eat, sleep, repeat…double session today and more to come in the morning. Swell supposed to stick around for a week and I’m psyched.

Funny how everywhere I go everyone is talking about the huge swell that’s on its way. Depending on who you believe it is supposed to come in at well past DOH (doubleoverhead). That’s huge and I find myself thinking that the ubiquity of long range surf forecast websites has got to be a double edged sword- awesome that we can all pack up our quiver and suits, grab some friends and take off for the best break, knowing that we’re gonna get it good, but so much for ever being surprised by how fast a swell has built overnight when you’re the first and only one out…that being said I am super psyched for this huge swell coming in from Japan.  Excited for the surf and photos to come.

“Tu es la raison qu’on est tous naitre, you’re our raison d’etre”…hiked into the mountains this evening and was amazed at how calm the world was. Barely a breeze over the Pacific as the sun set over San Miguel Island. The horizon exploded into a soft colorful fade that stretched to every corner of the sky. A hawk flew overhead and the crickets began to sing as the evening air whispered a cool breeze…I found peace.

Here is a Night-blooming Cereus. Rarely seen in the wild but for one midsummer’s night each year, its exqusitely scented flower opens as night falls, then closes forever with the first rays of the morning sun. My friend Ashley Bryan grew this flower and a few of us spent the evening in its glory.

“All of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean…And when we go back to the sea…we are going back from whence we came.” JFK… Took this shot way past sunset this evening with no tripod but a need to capture these last colors of the day. I think the blur enhances the warmth of the shot in a time-to-cozy-up-to-a-fireplace kind of way.

Nothing quite like building a timberframe barn…

It’s been a slow winter for waves, but they’re out there if you know where to look…

Been thinking of throwing a few boards, suits, cameras and sleeping bag into the pickup and heading to Baja for some fish tacos and empty breaks. Its been too long since my last trip south and Baja is calling…funny that I too seem to want to fly south in search of warmer waters and long lost amigos.

Woke up at 5am, collected my things and headed north with a friend…raced the sun through winding roads, oak groves and rolling hills. Rounding a bend a coyote crossed the road and stopped to watch us fly by…a little further down the road we surprised a huge sow, definitely the biggest wild pig I’ve ever seen, and she snorted and took off as we passed. Nature was in full force and in all its glory as the sun won the race and made its way into the heavens. We got to the beach and suited up. The bigger sets were overhead and the water so cold I actually wore a hood. Glad the wind stayed offshore and we surfed for a couple hours before hunger got the best of us and we got out and headed home. A great start to a wonderful day.

Glad to get back in the water today. Water has gotten cold (low/mid-50s) and the warm-water crowds have flown south for the winter. Surfed Faria til sunset. Beautiful evening glass-off made it look like an ocean of mercury, reflecting every last ray of the setting sun, just beautiful. Hands were close to numb as I caught my last wave in and somehow managed to find myself in the tube. Perfect way to end my first 2009 session.

Landed to a crisp Santa Barbara evening, excited to be back, back to Cali Cali…but already miss Haiti. It may not be on any of your top ten lists of possible vacation spots, but go, visit, you won’t be sorry. Hit me up and I’ll point you in the right direction. Bring on 2009 and more board shaping!

Excited to get back to Cali. My batteries are charged, my notebook full of sketches, big ideas are brewing, and itchin’ to surf.

I have resolved to update this blog daily starting today…assuming the internet is within reach and am not lost in some little fishing village somewhere around the world trying to scope out my next potential session. It took me the better part of two weeks to get everything in order and finally The Surfbird is ready to come out of its redesigned shell. A little background on the site since things have changed. You are currently reading the blog- scroll down for a taste of my day to day wanderings. At the top of the page you can also click on WHO, WHAT and WHERE to access my various portfolios…thanks for visiting. Surf,laugh,smile.

I’ve been thinking a great deal about dedicating more of my 2009 travel to surf adventures…Brazil, New Zealand, France and India are all possibilities for this new year. Here’s a photograph taken on my most recent trip through Bolivia’s High Andes…Yes those colors are real, the high elevation and lack of pollution do some pretty great things in the early morning hours.

A good time of year for retrospective thought, time to recalibrate the soul and set the odometer to zero. The unexamined life is a little like running up a downward moving escalator, you spend lots of energy doing it and it’s kind of fun, but rarely does it lead anywhere before the security guard tells you to stop…I resolve to live more deliberately, to be the most optimistic person in the room, and to surf, laugh, smile.