Greetings from ground zero: Old Man's!! Yes, I surfed SanO with my wife's nephew, James Charlesworth. He and his wife and 2 beautiful children flew into John Wayne for a week to see the tourist attractions, and to me, that includes SanO. So, we surfed early afternoon on Monday April 30. There was a decent swell in the water, a mix of south and NW windswell. Made for some shifting peaky waves. Good fun!! Long ass paddle out though. What's funny is I haven't surfed SanO since last August, and I avoid it like the plague; you pick the plague you like? Black Plague always works for me, but Ebola is good too. Anyway, it wasn't crowded for SanO, because it was kinda choppy. I probably would not have ventured out, if it weren't for James. He wanted to surf, and as the host, one must be gracious and hit the water. James hasn't surfed in 3 years, and when he did, it was at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. That is a pretty gnarly place. Did you know that Chris Isaak lives and surfs there as well? Well, he does!!

So, here is a picture of James Charlesworth and yours truly. As you can see in the background, not too many people in the water, but ohhhhhh, the ones that were in the water were pretty much beginners. That is both a good and bad thing. At Trails, it's ok, because it is never crowded, and beginners don't get in the way, too much. Also, it doesn't break as far out as SanO, so there are less obstacles in the water. I forgot how much fun it was, surfing around these catatonic human buoys!! I would catch a wave, and these neophytes just sit there and expect/hope you can go around them. Well, I can, but if you are a beginner sitting there, hoping not to get run over, and another beginner happens to catch a wave and is heading right for you....well, there's going to be trouble in River City!! Word to the wise and everyone else who can't surf; if you see someone coming at you, make an attempt to paddle out of there way. Don't always paddle towards the shoulder.....if a surfer is heading towards the shoulder, then you should paddle towards the breaking part of the wave..if you have to take one on the head to avoid contact with a riding surfer, then that's the prudent and right thing to do. I thank people for doing that. I also thank people for not dropping in on me when I've been riding a wave for a number of seconds.


We surfed today as well. Trail 1, which is my prime spot. Mike was out, Joe came out later, but James and I had some fun waves all to ourselves. I was on my Regal and I borrowed a rental Regal for James from Stewart's. The surf was really good, waist to head high, lots of time between sets and an easy paddle out. My buddy Ed, was supposed to join us this morning, but it was drizzling at his house, as well as mine, so he opted out. I said that we were going to be getting wet anyway, but he wanted better weather. He really missed a good session.

Later, James took me to breakfast and that's when I informed him that the place we surfed today, has more great white shark sitings than any place in Southern California. It is actually a breeding area for Great Whites!! As expected, he said he would've thought twice about paddling out if he knew that information beforehand. Ha!! Jokes on him.

Well, we didn't see any sharks, dophins, grey whales, or seals. Just a few surfers, fun zippy waves, and complete and utter solitude!! Until next time, this is scooter surfs bidding you all a very fond Adios.......

scooter surfs