By the Sea

I don't shoot too many sequence shots with my camera, partly because sometimes my lens loses focus and the second or third shot is messed up. But this 1-2 arrangement worked out perfectly in my opinion!
Erica in her element...

Insured for $1,000,000

I know it's not surf related, but I stole this off of Yahoo because I thought it was so rediculous...

Santa Barbara/Montecito/North of LA County

Hey Greeeeg,
I know you had a busy summer and couldn’t surf with us as much as we would have wanted, but here is a blog post dedicated to you and your new area of living. Hope your first couple days of college have been great, and keep us updated on epic sessions up north!

Erica makes me look good

Sometimes Trevor catches good waves

Sometimes Trevor catches good waves from Alex Swanson on Vimeo.

WILD DAYS

Erica and I went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park today, we became zoo members as well! A lot of cool things to do at the zoo, and since membership is only a little bit more than a one day pass, we figured "why not?!". I highly reccomend stopping by the zoo or the Wild Animal Park sometime soon, you won't be disappointed!

We buy boards every once in a while

Dimensions: 9'2"xReally heavy. Our 1960's(ish) Con pig is a really fun, really hard board to ride. I took it out at Doheny when it was 3-5 ft. and it worked pretty well. All of the holes are glassed over, there is pretty much no rocker whatsoever, and once you get it going, there's not stopping it. It was a great purchase, and I can promise you that we are gonna ride it into the ground!

50mm

Girlfriend!

Bestfriend!

These things inspire us and make us happy

“The big blue and green ball
where we all dwell
sun rises and sets
family friends food and drink
lots of love and laughs
arts and crafts
music and movie makers
glassy mornings and evening sessions
lefts and rights
drawing clean lines
swooping and sliding on
little big long and short ones
body wompage
concrete carving
shredding on land and one sea
road trips
new faces and places

keep your feet planted in today
and dream of a better tomorrow”

-Ando and Friends

We do what we want... most of the time

These are two from Erica's and My Cardiff session. Erica rode her 9'4" Point Concept Pointer, and I took out my 9'7" Gato Playdate. It was kinda funky, we hit it an hour or so before the peak of high tide. The intervals between the waves were really quick, so there weren't too many good ones. It was still really fun, and we're gonna go again tomorrow!

Taking advantage of late classes

Cardiff and L&L Hawaiian BBQ for lunch before my afternoon class! The water has been warming up a little bit, the surf has been pretty consistently fun, and I'll have more surf photos coming soon!

I don't know who, I don't know where

Photo: ??

Pretty stoked

Chilly rights

Finally getting settled into school down in San Diego, we surfed Cardiff with some clean, glassy 3-4 peaks. 80 degrees outside, and 65+ degree water, hello summer! Super excited for the fun fall swells coming in, and warm afternoons. These are the rest of the photos from the roll that Erica took of Trevor and I out at San O a couple of weeks ago.

Pendo

Erica and I stopped by the Patagonia Cardiff store after surfing up there this morning. They have some really cool new surf stuff there! The new suits are rad, they have a ton of Hydrodynamica boards, and there is a ton of clothes on sale right now. Go check it out, it's definitely worth it! The board that I'm holding is a custom Pendoflex that belongs to Cher Pendarvis, and is on loan at the Patagonia store. I put up a post of Tyler Warren riding it early this year...

PC Stage III

Here's a photo and a some footage of Ryan Lovelaces new super flex board: the Stage III!

Stage III Hull Flex Demo from Ryan Lovelace on Vimeo.

Ruff!

Trevor come home

From Paris. I miss you. Don't forget my presents.

Dirty water

Had our last Doho session tonight. Super fun, offshore, 3-4 ft. sets, and 50 of our best friends out ;).
Here's to another school year and Sunset/Cardiff sessions. Pictures to follow soon!

I'm a winner!

Erica and I checked out the Capt Helm opening in Costa Mesa tonight. Super sick! A ton of people showed up to support these guys. Also, I may or may not have won a free t-shirt/sticker pack! Yew! There was a third shirt, but I decided to give it to a homie sitting outside of 7-11.

Bikini kind of water

Remember when the water temp was warmer than 55 degrees?

Ten Piggies Over

As of today I am shutting down Ten Piggies Over....
jk jk lol lol!
But seriously, I really like doing this blog. It's a ton of fun! Thanks for putting up with everything :)
Photo: Erica!

laughlaughlaugh

Two from my disposable underwater camera of Greg and Erica at Laguna a few weekends back. It turns out that XXL tank tops work just like a Muumuu/Dress on Erica...

Only nice shoes

Only nice shoes from Alex Swanson on Vimeo.

I rode it, no.. seriously, I rode it

I finally took out my Gato single fin this summer at Thalia. 90% of the sessions I've taken it out, the board hasn't worked, but on a really quick, more hollow sort of wave, this board picks up and holds it's line super well. I find that the magic spot for my 9.75" Liddle Flex is at the back of the fin box... That's where I can get the most control out of this little guy.

57 degree water

No swell, cold water, sharks... These are all ingredients for a crappy summer. But, somehow this has turned into one of my favorite summers ever. Through all the cold early mornings to find out there weren't any waves hasn't seemed to bring down the pure joy that this summer has brought to me. I've spent time with my favorite people, worked some odd jobs here and there to pay for school, and I'm madly in love with the most beautiful girl in the world! Here's to yet another summer coming to a close.

A steal of a deal

Greg, Trevor, Erica, and I drove up to surf Huntington this morning to no avail. We stopped by this board swap that was going on by the pier and picked up this old Con pig for $60! Super stoked on our new summer board, thanks Bill W!

Lis

"We're just gonna keep surfing and keep making boards
and it doesn't matter what the media or the industry thinks
because it wasn't about them to begin with."

- STEVE LIS, HYDRODYNAMICA INTERVIEW
HAWAII, 2006.

Shark infested water

A couple more from the ISO800 roll that Erica shot of Trevor and I at San O the other day.

Aquarium days

Here are a few photos from Ericas and my trip up to the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific. There is a special deal this summer where after 5 pm, you can get in for $12. There weren't too many people, and the animals are just as cool as they would be at full price earlier in the day. I highly reccomend checking it out before the summer ends!
1) Ericas reaction after touching the shark
2) Reflections in the shark tank
3) Cliche aquarium shot

KIDS THESE DAYS

Thank you Jack Lynch for sharing

Jeremy Flores hates children from David Malcolm on Vimeo.

I eat sharks for breakfast

Erica, Trevor, and I made our way down to San O the other morning to hopefully catch what itty bitty swell there was. Little did we know that we had company in the water... by the name of SHARKS 1 & 2! The pictures were shot by Erica with some expired 800 film, super grainy!

Me my Shark and I from Chuck Patterson on Vimeo.

Trips up north!

Erica and I went up to Long Beach today to stop by Shelter Surf Shop and the Aquarium of the Pacific. We met Graham, the owner of Shelter. He's a really nice guy with a lot of cool things to talk about! I picked up some new film for the trip, and I almost accidently almost bought a womans 9 Plus spring suit, so for you ladies out there, you can get your hands on some sick old seasons 9 Plus suits at Shelter for $90!