Project Portfolio

Hello again!

While I'm sure it'll have been distributed somewhere else within my presentation, I figured I should pop the link to my final senior project portfolio into my blog!

You can find it here!

Morro Bay - Hooray!

This weekend I made another trek down to Morro Bay to visit with my mentor, Monica. My mom and I left on Friday afternoon, and we made the drive down. We ended up arriving around 10:00pm, and Monica graciously let us stay at her house for the night. Unfortunately my board, Finn, wasn't able to accompany us on this excursion (seeing as my moms car wasn't capable of carrying him) but thankfully Monica had a spare board lying around that I was able to use instead!

On Saturday morning, we awoke around 9:30am, played with her cute little tot for about half an hour, and then went out to The Rock. We went to the same location as I had previously been - so it was all very familiar (which I was thankful for!). I dressed in my wetsuit, grabbed my board, and we made our way down to the beach.

 Here's me in my snazzy wet-suit, with a sweatshirt on top, because it was pretty windy on the shore! The water was ALSO really super chilly, but I think I was moving around enough (and more focused on the waves) to be worried about the temperature of the water.

We spent a few minutes on the sand, recapping in what I'd remembered from the last time I'd been out, and the last lesson we had taken together (way back when with Dan). Monica pointed out that we wanted to stay in the part of the water far enough from the rocks that we wouldn't be in danger, but while still catching the white waves (which actually proved to be quite difficult when it came down to it). The waves were pushing us towards the rocks, so it was a lot of work to stay the appropriate distance away, while still staying in the white waves!

Practicing what I remembered, which was a little off-center, but Monica helped straighten it out!

 After we found a prime-location, we made our way out into the cold ocean. Keep in mind that the waves were nipping at our ankles as we walked into the water.

I'm the one on the left, if you can't tell!

Unfortunately, my mom wasn't the most tech-savvy person ever to be taking pictures, so while I actually ended up getting to my knees on a wave (catching it and then riding it back to the flatness of the beach)  it wasn't documented anywhere except for in my mind (and maybe Monica's, but it was really windy and there's a lot to focus on out there!).

She did however manage to snag a few pictures of the studs walking around on the beach, so I'd say, with my standing on my knees, being able to find the right area for waves, and cute pictures of boys - this day was very much a successful.

Monterey Bay

This weekend, my mother and I traveled down to Monterey Bay, in hopes of looking at CSUMB for colleges next year. While there, we figured we'd check out the beach closest to campus.

While the campus didn't exactly steal my heart, the beach sure did. With an open shore, and pretty chillax waves at the prime time of 2:00pm (when we were there). The only flaw that I saw were that the waves broke pretty far out on the water line, which is not anything I'm used to, and although I'm sure it would still work, it wasn't what I was expecting. 

My biggest concern has been the rocks that I would encounter when out on the water, and this beach didn't have very many rocks to be seen. The waves breaking far away from the shore might prove to be a problem, but I definitely look forward to taking the trip out to try again.

All in all, it was a lovely beach. While the school had a dim view, the water absolutely took my breath away. I didn't drag Mr. Finn with me this time, due to the lack of ability to easily transport him from beach to beach, however I look forward to venturing out to Monterey again soon!

Bodega Bay or Bodega Nay

Hello there!
Yesterday I ventured out to Bodega Bay - a cute little beach town about an hour or so away from my little home town. I hoped to find a prime surfing spot close by (an hour being close in my case). I ventured out around noonish and arrived around 1:00pm.
While the sky was beautiful, the waves were a little intense. While checking out the potential spots, we noticed signs like the one below scattered around the edges of the coast:

Quite literally - these were everywhere.

So while there wasn't a tsunami at the time we were there, the waves were chaotic enough to cause quite the scene.
On top of the crazy waves, there were rocks scattered around the water, making it unsafe if I lost control of the board (which would probably have happened with a rookie like myself).

So as beautifully breathtaking as it was, Bodega Bay doesn't seem to be compatible for my project intentions! However I'm hopeful to make my way down to Stinson Beach soon - so I'll cross my toes for something more safe/exciting there!

Project on Pause

Hello there!

Sorry I've been a little MIA lately...
I've been told that it's a bad idea to venture out on my own to surf, and I've had a hard time recruiting people to join me at the beach on a chilly day (November/December) so my adventure has been on hold!
However, I have had a blast practicing my footing with Finn (my surfboard) on the floor of my bedroom. Needless to say, his 8 foot length takes up most of my bedroom floor, but that's what I've got to work with, so we're making it work!
Also, I've had many friendly responses on my forum with tricks and tips for when I do FINALLY get to go to the beach again, and everyone is so kind it's heartwarming.
I now see that that forum will be a WONDERFUL resource for me when I do get to trial and error my skills.

Hopefully I'll get to go out again soonish!

Forum Added

I almost forgot! (Actually I did forget, hence the short post about to happen).
I joined a surfing forum!
It's called "Surfing Waves" and my name on there is "signe".
I just posted my first post, basically just introducing myself, but I also posed the question for tips and tricks - so we'll see what happens!

From Mail to Water

IT CAME IN THE MAIL.
My new 8 foot long, cutie patootie, blue and white surfboard.
His name is Finn, and I can't wait to take him out!

ISN'T HE THE CUTEST?!

I plan to go out either this Saturday, or next Sunday - seeing as those are my next free days (senior year's a killer, man). I plan to make my way over to Bodega Bay, and just see how the waves are then. My wet-suit has yet to arrive, so I probably won't stay long - seeing as the weather is immensely fall-ish, but we'll see how it goes!