Category: surfing

Weak waves, running for miles and Labor Day weekend

This past week has been incredibly flat! But when you are trying to train, you have to go out anyway. Seriously, the only thing that improves surfing is more surfing.

All in all it was a good surfing week, little crowds, 2-3ft zippy waves and 2.5 hours per session 😁

Then, I decided to go for a run on Saturday. See, my husband has officially lost 75 pounds and to keep us motivated we do these little challenges. Whether its miles running, intensity minutes or number of workouts, these challenges are all in good fun.

Well, since I have been surfing so much my running has taken a back seat, so Saturday I decided to run. And I kept running for 5 miles.

Now, I havent run 5 miles in about a year, so afterwards I was sore, tight, and sleepy. The only thing that is making me feel better is yoga 😁

I’m not sure if running and surfing are a good combination. Followers, what other exercises to you do to accompany surfing?

When you step on a piece of glass…

Last week started like any other especially because I’m training for Women on Waves.

I got up early for my Monday morning paddle session with low expectations since no waves out there.

I caught a couple of fun little waves but mostly paddled to build up strength. When it was time to go in, I headed for the very high stairs.

I stopped at the seaweed bottom landing to tie up my leash and felt something sharp on the bottom of my foot. Stepping again, thinking it’s just a rock or shell, I tried to move the rock or shell off. When I stepped again, the feeling was sharp.

I immediately looked at the bottom of my foot and to my surprise it was a piece of glass! At the bottom of a long staircase on the beach!

My reaction was to remove the glass (obviously) but then my foot started to bleed. So, I bled up the stairs to my car and drove to work to take a better look.

At work, I could see that it was punctured, so unfortunately that means trip to the ER to get it cleaned thoroughly because the water is filled with bacteria.

Everything is fine with my foot, but most disturbing is that the glass was basically in the ocean.

How hard is it to keep a beach clean?

Last week we had a Southern Hemi…

So last week we had a freak Southern Hemi swell…making 8-10 foot waves. Now in Summer, that’s super weird for Santa Cruz!

I decided that last Thursday would be a great day to surf since I’m technically in training for WOW(Women on Waves). The Thursday swell was declining, waves more manageable, however still incredible waves.

If you follow my blog, you know I’m a dawn patrol surfer, which means to catch a swell like this, I need to be out in the water by 5:30 am. So I diligently got up early and made my way to the beach. By the time I got there, already 30 people in the water! I was shocked!

I walked to see the waves and I found a friend on the rock, who wasn’t suited up. Shes a good surfer, more summer surfer, and she looked frightened. She was nervous to paddle out since her surf buddy already left her.

Being the person I am, I told her to suit up and we will paddle out together. What stuck with me was that I am becoming a better surfer since these conditions didnt even phase me, but I also have become a surfer to help other surfers. Kinda cool 🤙

Btw…The waves were beautiful! About 5 feet, super clean, and the water was WARM! We never have warm water!

I had a blast of a day!

I decided to become a competitor

I would say I’m a fairly competitive person. I always enjoyed winning or placing in events, but when it comes to surfing it was nothing I wanted to compete in.

I guess that changed when I heard Women on Waves (WOW) was coming

back to Santa Cruz. It’s a fun contest, not to competitive. It’s like a color run.

So like any competition, one has to start to train. I have started to introduce my yoga training with Beachbody workouts again and of course a lot of surfing.

I’m excited to document my progress here as well.

A full week of surfing

Photo Credit: Robert Milici

I have been recovering from World Oceans Day at work, so I wanted to catch everyone up on my full week of surfing 🤙

Now that’s it’s easier for me than ever before to surf then go to work, I have been taking full advantage of my good fortune.

A couple of weeks ago, low tide and waves were particularly good each AM, so I made it out each morning.

I know there is a lot of talk about how ocean is good for you, but I did find an overall difference surfing everyday. I was happier, I was stronger and overall felt great.

I guess there is something to this “Vitamin Sea” thing afterall

So I took a little break…

So I took a little impromptu break. Between Logjam! 2018 and my new job…I have just been swamped lately.

Good news is that I have been surfing a bunch! Part of that is dedication on my part but also part is my jobs location. I’m lucky enough now to work in Santa Cruz so basically I can surf whenever.

My next goal is competing in the Women on Waves contest, so I will be keeping daily journals on my progress.

Oh, and I had my first encounter with a water photographer. You can find him on IG @wanderingsurfer. Heres my pic below

It’s good to be back!!!

Countdown to Logjam!2018

So it’s been a crazy couple of months between new jobs and my surf association.

For those of you who dont know, I’m part of the Big Stick Surfing Association. Every year in April, we produce an “old boards, no cords” surfing contest called Logjam!. It’s been in the same place, Pleasure Point, Santa Cruz, for the last 35 years.

We are in the home stretch…two more weeks. The moment we have been working for for 10 months.

We have all the pieces now: the posters, shirts, vendors and surfers! I’m totally stoked for this years event!

Readers, if you are interested, follow @bigsticksurfing on IG and you will see awesome surf pics from our surf community and maybe even some surfing pics taken by me 🙂

Kumihimo Japanese Braiding

Since my last post, I have still been working on my carved surfboards. I even added tiny fins to my creations, however my carved surfboards still needed a cord.

Luckily and gratefully, craftysurf.com provided me a solution: Kumihimo Japanese Braiding.

This braiding is a form of loom jewelry, and can be as easy or as complicated as you want it to be.

I have been doing a simple 8 strand cord, but have also been experimenting with 4 strands.

I’m keeping my post short and sweet this holiday weekend!

Namaste

Scrappy Surfing Yogi

Shaping Surfboard Necklaces

The recent weather has been cold, rainy and very little surf. In order to keep my passion for surfing going, my husband and I started woodworking. We started making surfboard necklaces inspired by my Koa necklace I bought in Hawaii. We also have experimented with rings, fish hooks and anchors.

Here is a pic of a surfboard necklace I hand shaped.

I then added a wood stain on the surfboard. I chose a more natural stain to just bring out the wood grain.

I’m excited to show you what type of cord I have been working on, once it’s done. I have been taught by the very talented blogger craftysurf.com.

Last Meridian Lip Balm and Surf Balm

* I was not paid to endorse these products. All thoughts and comments are my own.

You all know that I am now an avid surfer and yogi. Well, surfing and practicing yoga in colder weather just does so much damage to your lips and skin. Lately, I have been dealing with dry, cracking and even bleeding lips with no relief. I have also been dealing with dry skin, and even with all the moisturizers and sunscreen, still dry and cracking.

Finally, I found natural and organic products from Last Meridian that has been healing my lips and skin. It’s made locally (to me) in Santa Cruz. I tried their Northern Kiss Lip Balm and Surf Balm.

What I love about the Northern Kiss lip balm is it’s made from Beeswax, Cocoa butter Cocoa powder, Sweet almond oil, Local Raw Honey, Spruce essential oil, and Peppermint essential oil. All of these products mixed together smells great but also feels great on my achy lips. It’s been healing all of my issues, and I couldn’t be happier.

I also started using Last Meridian Surf Balm for actually everyday use. It’s an SPF 30, and I find the balm is more soothing to my skin and also has a hydrating quality. I have to wear SPF everyday, and even under makeup. It’s great for under any foundations or powders, and it’s not oily.

I’m absolutely in love! For more information on Last Meridian products click here