Very curious. We all make some adjustments or sacrifices in order to satisfy our wave hunger. I drive 20 minutes in the dark to get to the beach before dawn so I can have a 45-60 minute session, then change and drive another 45 minutes to work. What do the rest of you have to do for your daily dawn fix?
I dream. I live in Bakersfield, about 2.5 hrs. from the surf!
I used to live in Ventura, and work as a mailman in Montecito/Santa Barbara. Hit Rincon on the way to work, and again on the way home!
I during the school year most school days I am up between 4:30 and 5:45 due to crew practice, not that we get waves in Wilmington anyway. During the summer I live across the street from the beach but I will pack a breakfast the night before and work a whole day only eating a piece of fruit and a bottle of water. But I have gone to class in my wetsuit before.
i'm kinda lucky, even though the waters here in Nova scotia are frigid.. almost year round, I live right on the beach, so a typical day fro me is get up at 6..take a walk ( about 2 min to the sand) padle out for an hour or so. Since I work as a sales rep, and I travel, there are days i work from home ( usually 2 days a week) and i can take breaks through out the day. And even if I am on the road, i'm usually some where near a break, no matter how crappy or small. so no I don't get the warm water or the quality of waves that my brothwers to the south get, but I can paddle out pretty much whenever I want.
Wake up at 5:09, out the door by 5:30, in the water by 6:10. Surf until 7:20. Rinse off, change and back in the car by 7:30, in the office just beofre 8. If the boss is out of the office, I seem to hit “traffic” and make it into the office by a bit later. As a So Cal transplat from St Louis, I can’t complain.
I often hit it at first light. But I don’t go to work after. I go home and take a nap on the couch.
Being old isn’t ALL bad if you’re also retired…
In summer, up at 4am, drive 4 mins to beach, surf to 6.30, drive 20 mins to work. If it's good go back for the evening.
Winter, hit water at 7am for an hour, then to work.
Usually the first out - one of the local crew asked the other day if the missus had booted me out and was I living in my car at the beach. Haha
yup im a dawnie now, me and chip (ben) from sways hit it every second mornin. 5.30 to 6.30 then off to work. usually only me and him out there, its great. and a magic time of mornin too.
I check it every day on my way to work at 6:20am. Half the year I’m standing out there in the cold and dark, in whatever weather. Might sound crazy, but it’s how I get my peace before I go into the craziness at work. I never get to surf before work any more, because ever since I got “promoted” I have to be in too early… there’s just no light. So, my sessions are afternoons only… until dark, which can be a blessing at times. I’m usually the last, or one of the last ones, out of the water. Sometimes it doesn’t clean up until just before dark, and I’m the only one out, which is the trade-off. During the summer I get a lunch break, so I can hit it then.
I get up and go to my computer and check the five surfcams located within 2 miles of my house. If there is sign of swell I might actually go check it first. If surf is a definate I suit up, grab a board, get on my bike and go. I live just a few hundred yards from one of the most overcrowded surf spots on the east coast. The most important thing for me is finding a wave away from the crowds of kooks and longboarders for my morning surf.
Only way to beat the crowds these days. It’s a 20 minute drive to my secret spot. If there is any moonlight I’ll paddle out in the dark but mostly do what I did this morning; parked at 0600, borrowed hat and booties from Mr. Melville and we paddled out around 0615. Tried this reef and that, came in around 0745. Put on my Sunday go to meeting clothes and was at the office by 0830. Timing usually revolves around tide and swell.
It’s a 25 minute drive for me to surf. 15 minute bike to work. In the winter it’s tough because sunrise is as late as 7:30. last summer we had consistent surf. I’d get up at 4:30 AM -surf 2 to 3 hours and then go to work. it’s hard to get work done after a long session though. sometimes in the winter I flex my hours and go to work at 10:30. after 2 hour sessions in 0 C. water and way below freezing air temps(Atlantic Canada) I am soo cold and exhuasted that I never really recover for the rest of the day. the cold seems to wear me down more than paddling does.
Is it worth it?
every time. there’s nothing like watching the sun rise sititng on top of your board on a weekday morning. driving back into the city I see the people stuck in traffic and feel like the look on their faces doesn’t reflect the way I feel.
they don’t call it a surfing lifestyle for nuthin eh.
When I lived across the street from the beach, I’d go out before work and surf an hour or 2. Now I rarely dawn patrol. I find that the best time to surf is between 9am and 2 pm. The dawn patrol has too many aggressive alpha males trying to get a session in before work. They want to get as many waves as they can. Same for the after work crowd, except they’ve already been to work and some are in a bad mood from work.
The middle of the day crowd are the retirees, the night shift workers, and the jobless. It’s a mellower bunch, especially the retirees. I enjoy surfing with them much more. We take turns catching waves, and enjoy the conversation. The mid day bump is also a nice time to be in the water, but then there’s the sun. That’s the only negative, you have to be out at the highest sun damage time.
At one of the spots I go to a lot, the morning crew has been heavily impacted by SUPs. At another spot that has a little hike to get to, your car will get broken into by homeless. if you go to early in the morning.
Up 1hr before dawn, in the water (Northern LA / Southern Ventura) 20 min later. Surf for an hour or 2, then drive to the office salty & smilin’.
Best job ever - I had a night job in Santa Monica, and lived in Oxnard. Drove home on PCH every night and checked all of the points on the way home. Got Malibu alone quite a bit back then. I’d surf from about 2am 'till the first couple of cars showed up around dawn, then go home & sleep. If it was good, I could wake up “early” (11am or noon) and surf more while everyone else was at work.
Sad to say, but having to be “on” by 8:15 at the latest - In theory I should be in a half hour earlier - I only “bothered” to dawn patrol once in the last handful of years. Given the details involved - Mainly having to drive about half an hour, after a 10 minute hike, plus changing, etc. - Jeez, I feel like a whinny old kook - Anyway, mostly I hate to have my session ended by the clock, and much of the short time of year here I’d be lucky to get in much more than 45 minutes…
But - Once upon a time, when I lived and worked in “The OC,” I’d hit Huntington Pier by @ 5am, long before dawn, for a “pre-dawn” under the lights session, and when I saw the surf team show up a couple hours later I knew it was time to head in and go to work… Ah, the younger, earlier times… Ha!
I do get out of work early enough to get a session in even during the shortest days… ;-) And - as the days get longer, it’s nice to not get “sent in” by the lack of light… so soon anyway… Looking forward to 3/14… One more hour, one more hour… HA!
I get up around 5 and fix my breakfast & coffee, & take my work clothes to the car along with my wetsuit and board. Drive about 20 - 30 minutes. I have to stretch well before I surf, but with any luck I can get about a 90 minute session in. I have a big rectangular mop bucket with a handle that fits great in my car. When I shampoo my hair, I stand in the bucket and let the soapy water drip into it. Then I peel off my wetsuit, booties and rashguard and drop them in the bucket and stomp them around a little in the soapy water. This keeps them from getting stinky, b/c I usually don’t have time to rinse them or hang them up to dry till after work.
One of the biggest time-savers I’ve discovered, is NOT attempting to put on work clothes and underwear or socks at the beach - too hard to put this stuff on when you’re still a bit wet! Instead, I now “go commando” (where did this expression come from anyway? LOL!) with a fleecy hoodie, Uggs and sweatpants that act just like towels as I drive! I use the car heater to blow-dry my hair (and my feet!) on the way back. A quick stop at home to drop my board off - I don’t like leaving it in a hot car! - and to pick up the frozen dinner I’ll microwave for lunch. Then I change into my work clothes in the restroom once I get to work, to avoid being late. Voila, I’m a happy camper b/c I’ve started my day right with a dawn patrol surf!
I’ll admit, not too many women would go for this, especially if you have the unfortunate requirement of getting “all gussied up” for work, or you have to or like to wear makeup, or if you have a high-maintenance hairdo! (My sister once commented that I’d make a great bag lady!) But it’s SO worth it to get those weekday dawn patrols in! Keeps me happy, healthy and sane.
^you must be an awesome teacher. have you ever forgiven an absence because the waves were good?
Thanks! And yes I have, many times!
i see a lot of sunrises but generally stay in the water if its good and makes excuses later. i like a a good 4 to 5 hour session maybe 50 waves
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What do the rest of you have to do for your daily dawn fix?
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Wake up ;-)
when the waves are good I cancel all the plans I had , close my cellphone and put my land life behind me
sunrise to sunset i'm in the water.
off course I have to deal with the results later , specially since it happens at least once or twice a week.
but hey , why are we here anyway huh?