Thank you everyone for all the stoke.....Thank you for putting up with me.....
I came home with some really cool stuff....a Rainbow 7" cutaway with a floral print , a 9" True Ames cutaway , an 8.5" True Ames flex , an Aercor Thruster glass on set , a Temptations CD , a fat belly and a hangover!
Thank you everyone....I needed a vacation really bad....Now it's back to work...on time every time
Ray
Thanks to Ray I got to ride a new board today. It’s a beautiful blue resin tinted egg. I added a set of Durb’s side fins and a 7" Rainbow long rake center fin. Waves were waist to head high with moderate offshores and very peaky. Perfect conditions! Had at least a dozen good rides before work. Tomorrow I’m gonna try it with a 7" Yater that has less rake to it.
Rooster set me up with a nice set of Speed Dialers for my fat boy quad which I hope to play with next next. Will post pics of both soon.
I’m really stoked on the generosity of the Swaylocks collective. It’s really refreshing to meet a group of surfers that are so sharing rather than the typical “me me me…all about me!” attitudes that we see so often in the water.
We’ve met some great new friends on this trip and were especially lucky to spend the weekend with Lillibel and family. Nick made a new friend with Isabel and Jeff’s wife Sonia and my wife Karen really hit it off. What a great time!
Marc
OH MY GOD!!!
I am gonna make it again with those proverbial freakin’ bells on…
Thanks for postin’ all the pics too all.
Worse than hearin’ some say of the surf, “You really missed it!”
Sharein’ the vicarious stoke from way up North -
the people made this trip special as usual. you know you are with fun people when the surf doesn't cooperate and you still have an AWSOME ''surf'' trip. lot's of memories and new friends that i can tell are going to stay friends for a long time. shared some laughs that still have me laughing when i think about them. the campfire on the last night was the best! Mark, i need those pics of my brother for blackmail later on. i'm sure his wife would like a copy too for similar reasons.
everyone so sharing and giving. the food was great. it was like hanging out with friends that i've known my whole life when in actuality, i've just met or only actually known you all for a short time. the stoke from everyone was contagious. the kids were awsome! and had me smiling all the time. those of you who brought your kids: Mark, Karen, Jeff, Sonia, Keith, Ian, Barbara, Christian, Melissa, etc., are all doing a great job. very well mannered and polite but still full on kids having fun and bouncing off the walls. it was inspiring to me in regards to how i hope to raise my own daughter. the boards were all really interesting and inspiring. it was great to talk shop with you all, i learned a lot.
i'm only bummed that i missed Bernie. i was in the water and someone said he was up at camp. i came in and made the walk up only to find out that he had just left.
unfortunately, i was far too busy talking shop or surfing all weekned to take many pics so i only got a few.
can't wait 'til next year! i'm going to be buzzin' off this one for a while.
Another great Sways Plaskett trip. Thanks to all for sharing your time with me. Made new friends and reaquainted with old. The surf was wild and woolly for sure. You 6'2" guys need an orange 8'3"!!!!
Kegstand anyone ;)
I want to thank Scott of "Foam Fins and Fiberglass" in Ventura (near C Street) for the blank that we raffled off. I stopped in his shop for a few T's and a fin for my new egg. Scott graciously turned us on to a blank for the raffle. Everyone needs to stop in and buy something from the shop when in Ventura. We actually put names in a hat and drew. Jenna (from the Mira Mesa Boys Crew) won. Jenna charged sets with us one day and was full of stoke. Thanks for the smores thingy Sat. night, yum. I think Chase is gonna shape it but Jenna stipulated that the board must live in Hawaii with her.
I love the idea of the camp sites nearer to one another, we were all pretty spread out.
As as always on this trip everyone was full of Aloha. I cannot wait till next year!!!!
yah, i need an orange 8'3" for sure...
i'm gonna hafta pm Jay
ORANGE TaylorO ORANGE ......
TIMMAYYYY - You, my friend, continue to spread the stoke…
When I get the dig.cam. one of the first things I’m gonna post - granted, I’ll have to learn how to do that too - is a pic of the carrot I drew with the words “Sway Love” next to it on the board I made out of the blank I won…
Speaking of Orange - “Coasty Orange,” as in the Coast Guard…
Four guys climb on the rocks ‘cuz they do not know the sea, weak rip next to the head w/2-4’ waves breaking in it… In the end they get their boards tossed by the rescue swimmer and rides in the basket up to the heli…
The next day I notice a long line along the rocks where they’d been… The line was there for 4 weeks, and a couple days ago I couldn’t stand it anymore, I paddled over as the tide got to low and the waves got crappy, climbed up, the end next to me was just frayed and hanging there, bright “Coasty orange”… I climbed up, picked up the line, coiled it up as I went about 20 yards later I get to the other end, down in tide pool about 15 feet below me, but as I continue my casual coil the othe end doesn’t move… I look at it, it seems to have some kind of red thing on the end. I give it a little tug and it moves, so I pull it up, and it’s a red heavy duty lead shot filled nylon throw bag with some sweet heavy duty French made stainless steel clips… I coiled and tied it up, pulled it over my head and one arm, got my board, threw it in, jumped in, and went home with a sweet useful souvenir… Ha!
Anyway - That’s what I did up here while you all were on your way home… Stoke up and down the coast!
The only regret I have is not having met everyone. Next year at least on one occasion, we should all gather in one spot.
Here’s a couple of photos.
Sr Pato’s leg warmers
Neither of us caught much- Sr Pato got a 6" perch and I got 60 loads of whitewassh on the head.
New friends
Llilibel learning about aloha from the book Bernie gave her…but mostly from the great company.
I didn’t get a good picture of AFOAF, but ask anyone who was there- this is what his hair was looking like-
As usual, I had a GREAT TIME!!
But... sorry I had to leave by noon on Sat. I had to get to Lake Lopez where my wife and kids were. They did a Tri there (all took first in their age divisions!!!) and I was scheduled to compete in my first OFF-ROAD Triathon on Sunday.
I was so focused on my pending race that I forgot my T-Shirt! Please let me know how much I owe plus shipping (1009 Sonoma Ave., Seaside, Ca 93955). Thanks
I agree with the suggestion that we should be closer together. The 'Group' area was better. Lets work on that for next year. And... would it work better if we had it a few weeks earlier?
I too am sorry that I missed you Onuela!!!!!!! Maybe I'll be able to see you in Hawaii next year.
Looking forward to nest year!
LEs
Les,
I have your t shirts. Don't know anything about the money, though. afoaf can pm you or something. I can drop them by your house after work or this weekend sometime. Let me know. Mike
OH, and thanks again Sting Ray for the fiberglass. I've never used anything as nice so I will try to make it an extra special board, my friend. Mike
does anyone know what happened toall the fins I left behind for you guys to try out?
Sorry about the timing Chris/Dr Les…
Maybe next time, but my niece was dying to to get to the shopping mall in Gilroy.
She said she’s not much of a camper.
that was sure one hell of a drive with the pedal to the metal…
Hi Bernie -
Thanks again for making the drive and spreading the stoke.. The story "Then There Were None" brought a tear to my eye.
I have the fins and a few assorted items that went unclaimed. I'll get them in the mail to you pronto.
[img_assist|nid=1046438|title=Big Sur 0/9 Sand Dollar|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=480][img_assist|nid=1046439|title=Big Sur 0/9 Sand Dollar paddle out|desc=|link=none|align=center|width=640|height=389]Props to the guys who paddled out on the 3/4thick pine alaia board.
Wow, what a road trip! I had a great time with all the Sway brotherhood. Wish we had time to test ride all those crazy boards.
Thanks to John and everone who came. It was nice to put some new faces to your names and fondle some exotic boards.
My wife & kids enjoyed it as much as me. Marvel ended up with two mystery Hershey’s chocolate bars too. HHmmm.
Ps: I think I ended up with mike’s garbage can-wood can.
beatifull landscapes ,refresh and peacefull fellings.Love the pictures.
Looks like you guys had a great time , stoked for you all , and a little jealous too.
The setting reminds me a lot - a lot - of the place where i usually surf … the trees , the cave , the coast , the look of the ocean , this shot’s a classic example.
thanks John
some of you guys are more like brothers in arms than anonymous avatars these days.
sorry i missed so many and sorry i couldn’t bring more surf toys for you all to play around with. Mark and Keith know I like Keith, have way too many surfing contraptions fro my own good. Sorry we missed each other gain Keith but Harry says hi…
hopefully sharkbait and I will make the journey with ambrose up there again one day.
glad you all enjoyed the books,and hopefully the tea, and coffee took an edge off the cold. Exchanging hawaiian sea salt is a traditional custom among island cultures and i figured you all might be barbequeing up there. I expect to see alot of new fins and boards coming out soon from you all with all that fancy preprinted Japanese Washi (rice paper) I leftt behind. Hopefully there was enough stuff for everyone just wish all the bracelets and letter openers showed up before I drove down there.
John,
my classmate the actress Elizabeth Lindsey (China Beach) made a short documentary based off that book. It usually shown on Public TV. I thinks that and the PBS documentary “The Navigators” are the best storys of my ancestors.
Take Care all and I guess its back to real life again …
