simpliFLY
I’m convinced Thoreau would have had a Kindle, Gandhi would blog and Confucius would have dropped philosophy bombs on Twitter. SimpliFLY 2k10. How is it possible to apply the lessons of simplicity preached by all the brilliant, bearded men of the past to this life? Do they roll in their simple graves now that “simple” means music players, cameras and phones are now only one item? Nature is still beautiful, especially in HD. People still fall in love, like on The Bachelor, and eHarmony. World peace is still a priority, at least for 1,937 people on Facebook. The truth of simplicity that remains constant over the generations is that it is not the path of least resistance. With the discipline and focus necessary to live the pure life, to live simply, in fact, is only getting harder to do. It’s 2010, and now the simple are simpliFLY. Granted, they might have data plans, cars, accessories and lame excuses for beards. But what they also have, like their inspiration, is a life of passion and purpose. These are the enlightened ones, whose life meaning is too ‘simple’ to be explained in under 140...
read moremaybe we’re lost.
to be lost is the basis of adventure. crossing lines of comfort and routine into uncharted territory.getting lost is essential for progress, but the problem is getting off this grid. into the unknown, searching for the explanation of why being ‘found’ isn’t enough.the beauty is that often when you do become lost, you begin to understand exactly why you’re there.“If I discover within myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world†C.S....
read moreSurfing in Southern CA and Baja with the AZ surfers
Hello fellow surfers, Do you have a place that you can go to get away from the stress and monotony of your daily life? Maybe it is school, work, running errands, or even costant social obligations that take up all your energy. Sometimes it is too much. When I was in Arizona I would hike up in the mountains surrounding Tucson. Even watching the sunrise  on the side of A mountain was enough to get me through the week, but there are places around Mt. Lemmon, the White River, and all over Arizona much more pristine and beautiful than this. We all have a place we can go to that is both serene and beautiful. Maybe it is in your dreams or in your past. For me these special places are often found on the coast of California. They are special because they bring me peace. I feel most at peace sitting on my surfboard waiting for the crest of the next set wave to peak in front of me. Every surf spot is as different as a snowflake and in costant transformation. Each pounding wave coming from a different place and a different angle, the bottom of the sea is in perpetual motion, while I float weightless and motionless on the surface. Time stands still while you are surfing. If you live in SoCal the grip of daily life, noise, and pollution even force me to surf out of my element. Surfing should never have to be squeezed in between deadlines. When you are out alone at a remote break, that is when you feel it the most. It is being at peace and excited at the same time. It is beyond words. I felt it strongest in northern Baja surfing with my friends in the club. I can’t say it was better at one spot over another, because they all are unique. A few spots do stand out in my memory. One is called Salsipuedes. The name I guess translates to “never get out”. How John’s volvo made it all the way up that steep windy dirt road after a rainstorm I will never know. I wasn’t eager to leave. I can think of worse places to be held hostage by mother nature. A few days prior we discovered for ourselves what was so special about it. We found the place on our first trip into the unknown land of Baja. The spirit of exploration and adventure was strong but we had all had our fill for the day. When we rolled down the mountainside to our campsite we were tired. We had just spent the day packing up our gear then chasing an elusive wave that I saw while riding in the car. Some people thought I was halucinating. We found a wave that was surfable, but it was nothing great. By the time we reached Salsi everyone was ready to give up. Could this be the place? There were not waves, just a hut and a campground. Nothing but boulders at the bottom of this steep hillside. No waves. At that moment I stepped in a cactus trying to look down the steep hillside.  That was just the icing on the cake for me.  I said, “guys lets go”, but they insisted on trying to...
read moreAdministrative Leave (originally published on Wetsand.com)
“Administrative Leave†March 2007 The term “Administrative Leave†may not mean much to the average Joe except in the context of something like “Officer So and So has been placed on Administrative Leave pending the outcome of the investigationâ€, but such a seemingly innocuous term can also mean the difference between a 3 day crowded holiday weekend at San Onofre with the rest of humanity, and a legitimate two week southern hemisphere surf trip. I am a Special Agent with one of the alphabet soup of agencies that comprise the US Government’s intelligence and law enforcement community. Not quite a cop, not quite an Intelligence Officer, but somewhere in between, and while I enjoy the work I do, it means that the days of dusty, month long trips to Baja, or weeks in Barbados drinking rum and waiting for Soupbowls to come up are well behind me. I work a lot, and don’t have a lot of vacation time, at this point, when it comes to surfing, I take what I can, when I can, however I can…well, you get the idea. This is where the Administrative Leave bit comes in. In the Federal Government, Administrative Leave is excused time away from work that Uncle Sam gives its employees to do something work related, Special weapons training at Fort Benning would be a good example. In my case, when the memo from Headquarters in Washington DC came down via email stating in pertinent part: “Special Agents may be eligible for Administrative Leave to compete in the 2007 World Police and Fire Games to be held in Adelaide, Australia.â€Â I thought I was hallucinating. I could go to Australia without burning scarce vacation time? All I had to do was find some event to compete in, write a memo and I would be on my way.  Searching through The Games website, I found the list of events, and started scrolling through “Archery†and “Badmintonâ€, past “Cyclingâ€, “Pistol-Police Combat†when I got to the S’s, I beheld that “Surfing†is an event in the World Police and Fire Games. Did Christmas come early this year?. Within minutes, my request was sent up the chain of command and I was a paid, registered contestant for Men’s Senior Shortboard. As I was registering, it occurred to me that I might actually finish better in the contest on my longboard, and that a longboard would provide additional protection from the multitude of big White Sharks in the area, but I dismissed such thoughts as I imagined dragging a 10 footer through the circus that is the International Terminal at LAX. My request was approved, I booked a ticket, and was on my way. Following an incredibly long, yet surprisingly pleasant flight on Air New Zealand, I landed in Adelaide, Australia. Sitting next to the Southern Ocean, Adelaide has a salubrious Mediterranean climate, conducive to wine making, not unlike California or Italy. Adelaide is the capital of the state of South Australia with a population of 1.1 Million, yet the Aussies I met always referred to it as “a country townâ€. The Adelaide Convention center in the center of town was the focal point of the 2007 Wold Police and Fire Games. With almost 10,000 competitors from around the world, the scene at the Convention...
read moreCalifornia Soul
.Life in the desert is pretty good, cheap housing, no traffic, no smog, and a beautiful landscape, but there is no ocean and there are no waves, as of recently I hadn’t surfed for 5 months and it had started to affect my ability to function like a normal person.  The economy was in ruin, so an overseas trip was not in the budget, and the Cartels were  cutting heads off like they are Al Qaeda, so Mexico was out.  That left Southern California, my former home.  Necessity being the mother of invention, I decided that perhaps there was some unmined surf gold left in California, if I could just look at it with fresh eyes.  Maybe  that was just a rationalization, but either way, I had to get in the water, I was going crazy.  So I took 10 days, a VW camper van, a longboard, and a shortboard, the latter being my last remaining board from my now defunct surf label, a vestige of my former life at the beach on the fringes of the surf industry.I set off into the great dry void separating the mountains of California from the Continental Divide. I had the bus pegged at 55 mph into a fierce headwind, sucking down gas like Coca Cola, I pulled over in Gila Bend, AZ to fill up.  Getting out, an older guy in a Mercedes Benz looked at my beat up longboard, then at me and asked “are you lost?† I thought he being a smartass, so trying to be polite, in layman’s terms I explained where I was heading, and what I was doing in  to which he replied that he had just surfed Trestles the day before, and it had been pretty good!   I took the man to be a Mentor in the Homeric sense and after about 30 minutes of talking story, I was back on the road cautiously optimistic. The windy bus experience was greatly improved by a huge variety of surf music rattling out of tinny speakers. The sun went down in a dusty haze to the sounds of “Pipeline†as I passed through the wind farms in Palm Springs.Waking in Malibu the next morning, I checked the surf report: “1-3 feet, fair/poor shapeâ€.  I drove up the coast  thinking that the internet had been generous in its report as a parade of flat, breezy surf spots flew by the window southward until I got near the Ventura County Line.  I pulled over onto the shoulder of the highway and noticed clean waist to chest high waves, and not a breath of wind.  Not epic by any standard, but a perfect tonic for what ailed me.  I surfed for a few hours and made my way back into town.  I spent the next few days surfing around Malibu like a kid, enthusiastic and with nothing to do but surf, and nowhere to be but in the water.  The waves weren’t big, but conditions were perfect, 75 degrees, no wind. On my last day some girl friends of mine wanted to hang out at the beach.  I figured I’d take them to Surfrider for the iconic malibu experience. I planned on just hanging out on the beach, the legendary crowd at First Point being a...
read morePunta Baja
Punta Baja, Baja California, Mexico “Arriving at night to the crashing waves gave me dreams of grandeur the whole night. But nothing compared to how it looked in reality when I woke up.” Punta Baja is the North end of a long cove. Camping just a kilometer south of the point on the beach sets you just above a South/South-West beach that picks up small comfortable waves during many swell conditions. There are several arroyos that empty into the sea here creating a number of comfortable sections. The bottom shape is long and consistant creating a beautiful peel on even the smallest of days. Directions Exit the highway at the left turn in El Rosario. Turn west, taking the neighborhood street. Expect the pavement to end abruptly (think 3 ” drop)  about 30 feet off the highway. Follow this road through a small town as it turns south (left) into the arroyo. There are several paths to drive through this wide and sometimes wet section of road, choose the best. Follow the road as it turns west again (right) and follows along the edge of the arroyo. This takes you through another small village with a school, historical church, and graveyard (on the south side of the road). Continue to follow the road. Out of town it will finally turn south (left) and begin up into the hills.  Follow this road. Several miles in you’ll pass a land-fill to the East (on your left) and the road will drop into a very small arroyo that may take some maneuvering to get sedans through. Shortly after his arroyo you will be on the beach bluffs. Be sure to stop in El Rosario for some delicious tacos before you drive into no-mans-land. View Larger...
read moreBoscombe Beach, Bournemouth, UK
Boscombe Beach, Bournemouth, United Kingdom is an English break that presents a good opportunity for folks to get into the water under supervised conditions where conditions range from spectacular to blown out and temperatures range from frigid, snowy, and unsurvivable to a comfortable 65 F. About The Break This beach takes a swell from the Atlantic on it’s way through the English Channel, however it is protected by the cove in which it sits at the center. An artificial reef was designed and built at a forty-five degree angle to the coast in order to help direct swell from the west toward the substantially protected shoreline. Lifeguards heavily regulate surfing parameters to about one hundred yards east and west of the pier due to strong current conditions at low tide. Swimmers are limited to the second hundred yards out from the pier. The artificial reef is well marked and lies several hundred yards east of the pier. Winds can be high making windsurfing and kite surfing worth while alternatives to the traditional Hawaiian form. … Amenities There are a couple of restaurants along the shore line, public toilets, and several surf shops which offer rentals [Half day (4 hours) board or wetsuit rental for 20 pounds] and lessons. The beach is lined with changing huts, small rental apartments, and beach toy salesmen. … The Vibe Locals seem relaxed, friendly, and willing to share, spanning the whole gamut of the surfer attitude. (one Santa Cruz Surf Co. hat spotted on a local) During the summer months, especially England’s holiday month of August, traffic is high as surf schools populate the waters, locals find the free time to be in the water at peak swell, and visitors take to the warm waters for other recreation. Location About 100 miles south-west from the center of London, directly west of the Isle of Wight, and directly north of, and across the channel from, the Peninsula of Cherbourg Octeville, in France. View Larger...
read moreJalama Beach County Park
Jalama Beach County Park, Santa Barbara, California …. About The Break Sandy beach break near the campgrounds with point breaks to the south. Superb “spring break straights” for beginning surfers out front, as well as sizable A-frame surf at the right tides. A 10 minute walk south to the point is Tarantulas, a right point break with a heavy inside break and long lines of surf out back. Susceptible to wind, with low chances of offshore. Cliffs seclude the beach in both directions, protecting Jalama surfers from the real world. … Location In Santa Barbara County of California, Jalama Beach County Park is located just north of the secluded California coastal landmark, Point Conception.  Accessible by a long county road, diverted from the highway 101.  This surf site is sure to capture swell from a multitude of directions. View Larger...
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