After helping organize nine WordCamps, I’ve made just about all the mistakes. Hopefully I’ve learned from each of them. Recently an organizer of an upcoming WordCamp asked me my thoughts on using food trucks to feed WordCampers. The pro is that you get a nice variety of foods to choose from. Much better and much more fun than the grab-n-go sandwich boxes you’ll find at a lot of camps. (I’m not knocking the grab-n-go option. All options have their pros and cons.) The con is that the lines can back up if food truck logistics are planned poorly. Long lines can dampen the mood of a camp, especially when folks are hungry. And the number one thing to make any camp successful is keeping folks happy. So, here are my tips: Taste test: (This is my favorite tip, because I love to eat.) Test out the trucks ahead of time for service and speed. Again, moving folks through the line quickly is key. All trucks will claim they can move people, but that’s not always true. So if you find the trucks you are considering out in the wild, you can see just how quickly they can turn around and order and…
Continue Reading ⇨A Quick Little Session
Stole a quick hour to paddle out and catch some waves. Still have a lot of work to do today, so I forewent video and pics (sorry) to help save time. What a fun little day it was. The waves were great 2-3s with some bigger set waves on occasion. The water was clear, the sun was out and the breeze was ever so slight. I still manage wind up in the sand more times than not, but was mostly my doing. For some reason, I have been adamant about staying up until either a) the wave peters out or…
Continue Reading ⇨EPF 18: Dawn Patrol v. The Tide
The tide and the Dawn Patrol are swinging out of sync again. Aaron and I paddled out early and were able to snag a high wave count before the tide elevated and the crowds arrived. The early waves were fun, a little slow, but otherwise good size and length. Aaron and I barely had time to catch up on conversation because one of us was always catching a wave or paddling back. But once the tide started rising, the break moved closer to shore and stared closing out. They were the mean little waves too. You either just eeked through…
Continue Reading ⇨Short Video of the Big South Swell
I packed up my camera & tripod, suited up and took my board down to the pier today. My intent was to get some footage of the apex of the south swell rolling through, then paddle out myself. But I was surprised to only find 3 dudes out in the water when I arrived. I’d never seen Huntington so empty of surfers. And after watching the waves for a bit I could see why – the waves were choppy, sectiony and mean. So not only were they difficult to negotiate, they were big, strong and unforgiving. I took a bit…
Continue Reading ⇨New Wetsuit at Crabs
I’d gone up to Harbour Surf Shop to see about getting O’Neill to repair my torn wetsuit. Probably they will, but the catch is that my suit will be in the shop for 4 weeks or so. With the water temps in the mid 50s I was not too keen on sending it off. But, with the air temp being as high as it has been these last few weeks, I’d been fancying a full/short sleeve suit. And what should Harbour have at 40% off today? Why, Patagonia R2 full/short wetsuits of course! It was meant to be. (Although the…
Continue Reading ⇨Edge of My Comfort Zone
Oh how things can change when you are gone for a few days. I was camping with my family this weekend (awesome). When I left on Friday the waves were waist-high at best. Today they were waist-high at worst. Today’s sets came in easily at the shoulder-to-head range and were often overhead. The forecast indicates this swell is going to build over the next few days. But anything more that what I was in today, and I’m going to have to use the buddy-system out there. Most of my rides were in the “hold on!” category with the wave in…
Continue Reading ⇨EPF Episode 17: Oh, Summer…
The summer doldrums continue to rain blows down on the southern California surf world. Another week of 2-footers goes by. But as always, a dumpy surf day with friends is ten times better than a great surf day alone. Mike, CW and Josh all turned up to make the best of the teeny waves. I watched most everyone walk three-quarters of the way to the water with board in hand and high hopes. Then they’d see the small summer offering, slump their shoulders and continue into the water. There were two dudes who really made something real out of the…
Continue Reading ⇨Same Summer Surf
The good news is that the sun has been out for two days straight, like it’s summer or something! Otherwise, today’s session offered nothing unique to anything else I’ve been getting over the last few weeks. Water is still in the VERY low 60s, but with the sun is out it a lot of hot top/cold below. Summer crowds continue jamming in, trying to get in one last beach day before vacations ends. (Not complaining – I totally get it. I used to live inland too.) The wave period was long and waves moving slow which meant the waves would…
Continue Reading ⇨More Will Than Waves
While on a conference call this afternoon the power went out. I immediately took that as a sign from Poseidon that I was supposed to go back out and surf. As fast as I could I got my trunks on and my bike loaded before the power came back on. But the afternoon winds blew out the glassiness from this morning and the crowds were insane. The chop was ferocious and waves were blending into other waves, all mostly unridable. It was a real effort to catch a wave. It was even more of an effort to catch a wave…
Continue Reading ⇨Small Glassy Waves and…Rain?
There wasn’t anything in the surf forecast that was driving me to the water, but it had been three days since my last surf (and stingray attack!) so I think I just had ants in my wetsuit. I have plenty of work to take care of, but I just could not focus or concentrate on what I needed to do. Sensing my restlessness, my wife finally came into my office and said, “Just go surfing and get it over with already!” Good call, baby. Surfline was pretty accurate with the 2-3, though it was heavier on the 2 side. But…
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