Thanks for making such a great event, that much better. We have a ton of pics to help document the event and I will post them up over the next couple of days.
BTW- afoaf, you forgot the Star fin. I’ll bring it back down to L.A. with us on Saturday.
I hope everyone had a safe trip home through those crazy winds.
Marc
lavarat,
Oops. I thought there was a bit more room in my truck on the way home. Sorry about that and I hope you can use an extra can. I've got plenty at home. When you live on a hillside there is no use for a wheelbarrow. I hoist everything in big plastic cans. Mike
2.8 kilogram = 6.172 943 341 2 lb, lbs
according to http://www.onlineconversion.com/weight_common.htm ...
came out nice CJ3... i'm interested to hear how this one holds up.
i'm diggin' the logo too
[img_assist|nid=1046467|title=ff cross|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=75|height=100]
Thanks Oneula for sending the lovely care packages. Sorry we missed you. Used the ginger sea salt rub for our BBQ chicken tonnight and thanks to your rice paper prints I have my first Surfboard Logo. Nobody seems to care about the shape or construction but are really miffed that I do not have a Logo, until now. Am almost done with my first Bamboo skinned board and am really pleased with the way it turned out.
6’9" x 20.5 x 2.5
2.8kgs w/out fins
CJ
[img_assist|nid=1046468|title=ff cross logo|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=75|height=100]
Sorry I couldn’t be there. Glad all had a rippin’ time!
Mahalo, Rich
I loaded your boy down with extra chocolate…how was the drive home?!
Epic weekend…I have ideas for next year:
Select weekend privately, well in advance…book 10 (or however many spots) all back in that corner where Mark and I were and then draw locations out of a hat.
Benefits: we are all close enough to share fire and talk story, Mark can’t snatch the best spot in the camp before the rest of us and Mellor doesn’t get stuck camping in the oven.
Good times indeed. Very stoked I didnt miss out on it this year. All that wind may have made the drive a little bit more interesting than we would have liked, but it also gave us some good clean windswell in LA this morning!
Looking forward to seeing the pictures and to doing it all again next year. I think Tyler’s got a good idea regarding the campsite reservations.
Take care everyone!
That was a classic move. We’re just driving off down the road and Nick say’s “BTW- Uncle Tyler gave me a chocolate bar. Is that O.K.?” Of course he had just finished half of it. No problem man, we’ve got a few tricks up our sleaves for Art.
Did you make it to Taqueria Tepititlan? We ended up meeting Lillibel and family at Taco De Mexico in San Luis and scored some tasty tacos al pastor and chile rellenos.
Had a great time. I’d love to see this become a multigenerational kind of thing- iimagine the 25th annual Swayholics Anonymous, with the kids and the grandkids!
A friend of mine who’s surfed here a lot said, “I told you so” with regards the surf. He said every time he’s gone (he used to go every Thanksgiving), he’s gotten worked over by “the whole ocean pouring into the bay.”
Saw a lot of awesome boards.
I saw some good waves on the way home- the point at Cayucos, Refugio, Malibu and Topanga all looked very fun (no one out at Topanga…rare sight), but I was too tired and so was the family.
Sr Pato, thanks for everything, especially the breakfast burritos.
Keith, please thank your daughter again for the nice jacket.
Valiant effort by Bernie to push on through down to see us all…it was an honor to shake hands with the man (I got the beef jerky!)
4am departure from LA…we made it to a key breakfast joint for some grub and the sunrise
took the cut off from Paso over to the 1 to avoid meandering through Mellor’s hood
tuning up at camp
didn’t see the big rotting seal carcass in the stream until we got out…KeithMelville and LeeV are hellmen…we had to follow their lead. got a couple beatings and a couple of waves…got really creeped out by the bull kelp and shifty peak.
’
heading home…
Actually it was at the restaurant while asking for a gumball when Nick confessed- “Mmmmm, just to be honest, Tyler gave me another bar of chocolate.”
“Just to be honest…” I was impressed. It reminded me of George Washington and the apple tree. The kid’s got morals. Not so sure about Tyler 
Big thanks to Oneula for the “omiyage.” I’m reading my daughter a few passages from the “Little Book of Aloha” every night. She loves it. Although, when I asked her if she knew what aloha meant she said, “Hello, goodbye and love.” I asked her how she knew that. I can’t remember teaching her the definition of aloha and for sure it wasn’t part of her kindergarden curriculum. She said, “A dinosaur said that.” I thought she meant Stitch but she’s never seen that movie either and when I asked, she didn’t know who Stitch was. She said, “No, it was a dinosaur.” I guess aloha’s been around a lot longer than we thought.
Jesus, I forgot he gave him two bars!!! Ha, just wait Tyler…just you wait!!!
If you thought the wind was wild with a couple of boards on racks, try it with 24 feet of ultra light hollowness (complete with a mainsail-sized wind-catching keel) tethered with tripled-up granny knots. Made it with narry a scratch (or CHP ticket) although there were a couple of broadside gusts in Ventura that gave me pause.
The surf was punishing as usual but once you got out past the surf and turned around…that line-up is just breath taking. It was great to see a whole bunch of new faces. I hope they will make the pilgrimage an annual deal. The level of board crafting by everyone is amazing.
If anyone thinks that the stoke is gone from surfing, they need to spend five minutes with Darren, Evan, Chas and the Boyz-n-Girlz…
Thanks for the grub Mark, Ray, John, Keith, Judy, Tyler, and Daniel. I’m already jonsing for next year!
thanks to everyone for a great trip … really
surfed beautiful glassy linda mar fri am . got on the road by 2pm . got stuck in traffic for an hour for 10 miles by 101 in hollister . tip #1 . leave early in the morning , more refreshed and less chance of traffic .
arrived at camp at dusk ate dinner , hung out with all the great people . woke up sat am , hmm surf is too big . drove to willow creek just as big and gnarly as plaskett creek . somebody loved the alaia sat afternoon . he pearled it and after that it hit him in the ribs . ouch .
i was kinda lonely seeing all the kids and families and the couples with boyfriends and girlfriends . i had no wife to kick around and son to pal around with . sat nite was fun ate dinner hung around with the group and then went to the kids camp and finished the nite .
woke up at dark sun am , checked surf for 15 minutes . looks more manageable , rideable waves hmm , maybe get chance the keyhole was mellow and the cove seemed calmer than the days before . went back to camp ate something , went back down about an hour later to surf . what happened , huge sets closing the whole beach out , storm surf , water moving violently about . the keyhole did’nt look to inviting for me and my longboard , so i paddled out in the middle of the beach . 10 minutes later i am out in the white water and now i can see 8 to 10 foot sets in front of me . no way can i make it through those nor do i want to . i catch some white water waves and head back in .
i felt great , the water felt great , washing of all that smoke , dirt , and grumpiness away . i was walking away happy and rejuvenated just as the ocean usally does .
saying goodbyes at camp felt great , i wished i had spent more time with everyone there . then it came together for me on the drive towards san luis obispo to see my son . it was’nt about the waves it was about the fantastic people and the place .
sorry about being long winded . the waves are going to be epic next year and if not the people and the place will be .
aloha james
Thanks for the great camp out. Enjoyed meeting everyone. The kids had a great time. See yah next year if not before.
CJ
thanks for sharing your secret sauces…post some pics of that bamboo build.
I am sooooooo jealous…I can’t see straight.
What a great way to spend the weekend.
It was fantastic to see old friends, new faces, great boards and great kids. I finally was able to meet Bernie Alama, Jeff and Christian in person. Thanks VERY much to Bernie for making the long drive down with his niece from Stanford and bringing all the great gifts.
Thanks to everyone for keeping up the stoke!
Lee V,
I thought that paddle board was only 14 feet. Or, was it 28 feet? I knew you would make it.
I had a great time seeing everyone and meeting a few new Sway's friends. I wish I could have gotten there early enough to meet Oneula.
Daren and the Boys were great as usual. Funny, fun loving group. Very creative boards and totally STOKED! They even brought Evan and Chase's mother and uncle. Nice people. Mike
