Xing Boarders

Santa Cruz Camp 2010

2011-01-28T12:48:00.000-08:00

Santa Cruz Surf Camp session III 2009

2009-08-04T23:00:00.000-07:00

Well since a picture is worth a thousand words I will refrain from writing much since these photos are worth about 100,000 words and there is no way I could match that considering we just finished moving to Half Moon Bay and I have my new job teaching 7th grade science at Menlo School to prepare for with students coming in less than a week.

I will say that we had such a wonderful week and it was one of the highlights of my summer for sure. Thanks to all those who came. We had a great variety of personalities and the group was fantastic - fun, interesting, funny, positive, and respectful - what else could you want in a crew for an expedition style surf trip.

Solomon the solo man. We were bummed Solomon had to go home early due to coming down with the chicken pox. I love this photo of him although it turned out to be the only photo I have of the mystery man.

We saw Star Trek in the theater and created a crew of new Trekies (this movie for the first time made me a Star Trek fan as well)
The bell bottom wetsuit, throwback to the 70's.

Rebecca demonstrates the what many are calling the best surf move ever performed, the 'dead bug'.
We were joined by the original local surfers on more than one occasion. If anyone loves dolphins you should check out the incredible documentary "The Cove" and get involved. The movie is moving and thrilling, heart warming, but also sad so don't see it if you do not want an emotional roller coaster.

The California Brown Pelican - one of my favorite house mates on our home planet.
Lee, making the waves look better than they were, as always.

Because I am the photographer there are never any pictures of me. Lee noticed this problem and grabbed my camera to take a couple shots of me.

Red Tail reproduction caught in the act. They weren't shy about doing it in public, providing us with lunch time entertainment.
The grommets were an essential element of our week!

I love this picture, a surfer looking out over the Pacific. It makes me very happy to be able to have such an influence over young people's lives to be able to nurture that relationship. Plus my new home is 4 blocks from the beach you can see across the bay.

session II 09: Santa Cruz Surf Camp!

2009-07-01T16:58:00.000-07:00

Wow! What an amazing week we had for our first Santa Cruz surf camp of the summer! I gotta tell all you parents that your kids are awesome! Those camps really feel like we are on a surf trip with a bunch of friends and this week was no exception. We shared a great week with lots of laughs, waves, games, good food, sun, etc.
since a picture is worth a thousand words and I need to get some sleep before leaving in the morning for round Santa Cruz round two I will keep my comments brief.

Monday we lucked out with a day of perfect weather and surf at Stinson. Everyone stood up that day, even those who had never surfed, and it was gorgeous. No camera that day, in fact I did not take photos all the time since I was often in the water but I did pull it out on occasion as you can see below.

Tuesday we had even better weather and waves. We ended up surfing a beach called Wydell which is at the mouth of Big Basin Park. So we would look up from the white sand beach to see huge sandstone cliffs, mountains covered with pines and valleys full of redwoods. We had super clear water, no wind (perfectly glassy conditions), and pelicans gliding by overhead.

Everyone got lots of waves, even the adults got out for a wave or two!

Lee, my great friend from Australia, who is working with us this summer, showed us all how it is done.

The pelicans weren't the only ones flying that day.

Nothing like hanging on the beach after a hard day surfing. Especially if you are lying between two cool chicks.

Toe ring with a nice peak in the distance!

a few of the original surfers

Rebecca grabbing rail on a late drop and bottom turning to set up for a nice little wave!

Wednesday we surfed at Manresa and although the weather was not perfect like it was our first two days we had a great surf nonetheless. Once again everyone was charging with huge smiles!

And of course there were the wipeouts! A part of surfing that is always more fun for the observer than the participant (although if you don't enjoy the wipeouts at least a little you will probably not stick with surfing)

Thursday the group ended up splitting up for the first half of the day. The hardcore surfers charged Scott's creek, braving the cold water, gnarly waves, onshore wind, and sharks. The sign below shows you why we have you sign a waiver before coming to camp.

This picture was actually taken while we were at Manresa and it is a lovely dolphin, not a shark, don't worry.

After lunch the second group went to paddle the famous Steamers Lane. There was absolutely no swell making it into Santa Cruz so it was perfect for a calm water paddle. We put in on the north side of the point and paddled around all the way to Cowels on the inside. We passed tons of Sea Lions of their rock off the point, saw sea otters, harbor seals, played in a sea cave, uexplored the kelp, and checked the surf museum at the point.

Back at camp we compared war stories over the traditional smore roasting production line.

Maybe feeding them sugar before bed is not such a good idea.

Our camp site at Manresa is always a nice home away from home.

Friday was a day of surprises. The swell on the coast came WAY up. We found some fun waves at the jetty at Prinston Harbor and then we watched a guy paddle out in some big waves at Montara while we ate lunch. The paddle out was exciting to watch but we had to leave before he got a wave so we could hurry up and sit in some of the worst traffic we have ever experienced getting onto the Golden Gate Bridge.

session I 2009

2009-06-21T16:47:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday was International Surfing Day and although I did not get to go surfing, I did enjoy the day knowing that a handful of young people could enjoy the day for the first time as Surfers.

The first session of camp for the summer was our Beach Week day camp . We had a great week of weather of which we took full advantage by body boarding, body surfing, swimming, surfing, and playing beach games, the favorite of which was of course bocci.

It was a fun week for me as well as I got to work with my best friend in the World - Lee, an Aussie who I met during an epic two month stop in Nias (a little island off of Sumatra in Indonesia) while traveling around the world back in 1996 -97. Lee and I hit it off instantly with our common interests of music, surfing, and loving life and shared some epic session in Nias - including the biggest swell of the year, pioneering spot "X", and two midnight full moon sessions where we were getting crazy moonlit tuberides! Ask us about that sometime! Anyway Lee is now traveling the world again and is bringing his ripping surfing, conscious vibe, and positive attitude to Xing Boarders.

One of our campers, Sam has surfed a bunch with his dad so he was on it from day one. In fact with the south swell pumping on Monday and Tuesday, Bolinas was firing and Sam caught some of the longest rides I have ever seen a camper get while surfing the right at Sea Drift which was all time. At one point while collecting shells with the other campers I looked up to see a boy catch a set on the outside and proceed to ride it all the way into the very inside. I figured it was Sam and pointed him out to the kids around me. The wave kept on going and going and Sam gut and turned and glided his way perfectly down the line. Lee, who was surfing with him, said other surfers in the water asked if Sam was his kid. Lee told them no and they said "well he is ripping!"

Then we had returning campers Sofia and Michy who both knew just what to do and who wasted no time getting waves. Sofia especially made huge strides in getting back into the groove of surfing and was ruling by the end of the week. And of course Michy was keeping everyone laughing.

We had cameo appearances by two older siblings/xing boarders veterans: Ben and Phoebe. Both of them represented for the old school by popping right up and surfing with style. Ben deserves special recognition for charging the closeouts on the outside and getting some brutal wipe outs.

And of course we had our new campers, the latest addition to the surfing community. Matt, Kate, Mya, Eva, and Olivia.

Matt was dedicated from day one to try and learn to surf, despite the challenging conditions at Bolinas in the beginning of the week. He had his breakthrough day at Stinson and was charging - paddling out, flipping around, catching waves, popping up, and riding to the beach. He got it.

The girls were having so much fun body boarding and swimming the first couple days some of them actually said they were not going to try and surf. One said "surfing is just not my thing". Boy was she wrong. On the first day one of the girls set the tone for the week by saying saying: "this is so much fun, and it is only the first day!" They each had their share of wipe outs in the Bolinas shore pound but all shook it off, smiled, and went back for more - a requirement if you're gonna be a surfer.

Stinson proved to be the magic spot. The ground swell running from the south was providing perfect smooth whitewash that pushed all the way to the beach. We insisted everyone tries a surfboard first and then if they want they could go back to a body board when they chose to. They all stood up and surfed waves all the way to the beach. Mya made it look easy with her cat like poise. Eva, the gymnast, had no problem popping up and getting her balance. And Kate had the cool style which reminded us of the pictures of the ancient Hawaiians surfing Waikiki.

Friday the ground swell was gone and we were left with a junky wind swell. This proved to be challenging to surf due to the fact that the weak wind swell would break and then die back out soon after we caught the waves, and then reform again on the inside providing for some solid wipe outs (right Eva?) This day reminded us that the conditions are always changing and you do not get perfect waves all the time. A frustrating part of surfing but also something that makes it unique and makes you really appreciate when it is perfect.

Of course I cannot fail to mention the daily question "Can we stop at the Parkside today?" I make sure not to say yes everyday simply to try and teach them that buying junk food (as good as the ice creams and fries are) is not the goal of the day and in fact does not help one become a great surfer (quite the opposite in fact).

What a way to start the summer!

Adventure Day Camps 2008

2009-03-01T20:59:00.000-08:00

Santa Cruz Surf Camp #1 2008

2009-03-01T20:42:00.000-08:00

Santa Cruz Surf Camp #2 2008

2009-02-28T17:20:00.000-08:00