Luigi's Pizza: Imperial Beach

Not much to look at - but good pizza. Give "the Sports Bar" or "the Frenchy" a shot. 

After surf eat rating? #%*# (out of five) minus points for never having the pies ready on time- add 15 mins to their estimate.

Brazos Rule (but Spanish sounds so much nicer than Portugese).

I like the way this guy surfs the stando. I'm not a huge fan of the airs and reverses but I will admit it is radical. Two things I really like about this guys style: 1. No stabbing/paddling while going down the line and 2. the switch hand, paddle inside, on the cutbacks- I've always thought that was such a cleaner way to wrap 'em.

Let's see if I can get this flick to post up here:

Lilly the Surf Dog: Memorial Day Surf Check

Memorial Day 2016: Lilly the surf dog wonders if the left hander is working off Admiralty street. A surf check request is submitted. Response? 10-4 Lilly, surf check ops commence.

First, convince humans to load up. Please bring plastic bag just in case I sniff something that triggers me to do some organic fertilization.

Let's walk down to the berm for a better look at that sand bar to the south- come along human.

Dang, kinda going off. Wait, what's that I smell...

Ok, that's either Great Dane or Pitbull- I'd bet my life on it. Best to jam my face into the sand and find out.

Alright humans, load up! Let's go wax up.

When it all comes together...

We scored. Sometimes you get lucky, we had some good info about swell and wind direction and we acted on it- the decision paid off. All things considered, the five days spent camped out at this spot were the most satisfying surf days I've had in Baja. Check it out:

An out of season south swell and a really mellow wind pattern produced some very fun surf. 

Lots of wide open waves- since nobody thought it would be that good.

Not a bad set-up, camp out in front of the spot you want to surf.

The water was aquarium clear and warm.

No barrels but good, clean, down the line, racetrack sections still provided a great time.

Nothing life threatening, head-high and fun for a week.

We were there long enough to have to begin rationing food, water and beer.

Fully deployed.

Glassy and empty, take your pick of the waves coming through but you better like lefts.

This inside racetrack section was empty all day long. Further inside, at a spot I call little reverse malibu, there were only fish swimming and birds diving.

Here comes a good one.

Early morning light hits the surf ghetto.

Long lines up the point- a couple feet overhead and reeling. And empty.

Ridiculously fun to carve big lazy turns all day long.

Or maybe you'd like to just come off the bottom and fly across huge open sections... the choice is yours.

Endless possibilities out there.

A gem coming right at me.

Off to the races again.

Only a couple of feet deep here but no urchins to worry about and nothing sharp to hurt you.

Doing this, leads to this...

Floating around on the white water rebound.

Fun to carve big arcs.

Fun to bury the rail off the bottom. 

I paddle, the ducks paddle.

View from the front porch.

We had to drive away from fun looking surf to score these waves, this isn't easy to do. But, nothing risked nothing gained AND I've now got additional data points to add to the supercomputer between my ears that will help me get it good someday in the future.

Happy New Year 2016!

We're going to be heading into a "zona secreto" tomorrow in search of some solitary waves, there's a swell forecasted to hit in the next few days so we may be scoring. The problem is that this spot will have no wifi so there will be an information blackout for a few days coming up.

Wild horses- couldn't drag me away. Saw these guys clip-clopping through the center of town.

Surf is building... best day yet. Supposed to get hefty, we'll see!

Home sweet, southern Baja, home.

Three hours from Punta Conejo is the Peanut. The Peanut is our home down here in southern Baja and after a couple days of roughing it in the Conejo sand we decided it was time to head for our home base. At the Peanut, life is pretty good, we've got shade, a clean place to cook, a sink with running water. Best of all, we've now got a brand new bathroom with a flushing toilet! All carved out of a piece of desert where there is no electricity or water supply (our water is trucked in).

CON KSO at the Peanut docking station.

The newest addition- a legitimate flushing toilet.

The best thing about the Peanut is its close proximity to a few different surfing options. Within a few hours in either direction we've got right and left point breaks, beach breaks and a couple reef breaks too. Now, to be honest, none of them are what you'd call "world class" and it takes a lot of good luck to catch any of them on a really good day but, they're nearby and if you can read the weather signs, you can score some good days. Lucky for us, the second day we were here, the winds started to clock around to straight offshore. When that happens, the surf starts getting really good.

The winds switched offshore and the surf went from okay to seriously fun.

Nothing too big or life threatening just good shoulder high fun waves. Rumor has it, something bigger is on the way.

 We've been surfing the local point (about a 5 minute drive from the Peanut) for the last couple days. I'm cooked off, sunburned and tired. The rumor on the beach is that something size-able should be here in the next couple of days. If the winds cooperate, I may be pulling up stakes and launching a surf patrol to the spot that's been inhabiting my brain for the last year. It's time to scratch the itch.

The best part of surfing down here is hooking up with old friends, my good old buddy Marcos lives down here about 6 months out of the year and surfing with him is a highlight. Surfing with friends is the best and during the winter, coming down here is like a reunion.