Merry Christmas!

Two nights ago, in a late nigh pre-Christmas panic, I realized we didn't have any pictures to include in our Christmas cards this year. So I sat down at the computer and went through the digital pictures I took during the year, and settled on one featuring our three rugrats while we were on vacation in San Francisco during the summer.

Using Inkscape, I imported the image and added a bit of text to it. Here is the final picture (reduced in size by 25%):

Costco now prints out digital prints in around an hour, so I dropped off the image on my lunch and picked up 40+ prints of it after work. I was very pleased with the quality of the Costco printing, so I'll probably be doing a bit more of this in the future.

Have a merry Christmas, as well as a safe and prosperous New Year!

Pictures of Last Big Swell 12/15/2004

Last Wednesday, the largest swell of the winter so far showed up. With a shredded finger, I decided to take pictures of the surf instead of bleed in the line up. It was probably a damn good decision, as the waves were big and closed out at our local beach break. Unfortunately, on our lunch we don't have much choice in our surf spots due to time constraints, so Bob decided to go for it. As the pictures will show, it was quite an impressive display of nature's power.

When I arrived at the beach and saw the waves coming in, I thought to myself: “The sea is angry my friend...”

Bob paddled out to meet his maker, and maybe get a wave or two.

He quickly found one to his liking.

The offshore winds were a-blowing.

There was only one other person out in the lineup while I was there. Here he is on a nice sized wave.

It was a truly beautiful winter day here in Encinitas, with temperatures dropping into the low 70s. Hehehe!

Bob's final wave of the day produced a nice little cover up on the inside section. And with that, we called it a day.

Surfs-a-Thumping Surf Report

We have seen a large spike in swell size here in San Diego today. Today, I went down to my beach break and watched a friend get continually drilled by set waves, and picking off more decent sized waves as they appeared. I'll post some pictures up tomorrow, but the wave sizes were easilly overhead + on the set waves - probably in the 8 to 9 foot range! Unfortunately, most of the beach breaks here can't really handle that size, and so close outs are the norm. However, every once in a while a nice shoulder will form and the opportune surfer can score a nice ride.

From all indications, it appears that Friday and maybe Saturday could see some HUGE surf - in the double overhead range! That will certainly be a day to go and watch the awesome power of mother nature...

Oceanside Pictures

Last Saturday, on the way to pick up balloons and a cake for my son's 6th birthday party, I stopped by Oceanside Harbor to get a few pictures of the beautiful day which was just starting out. Here are a few of the better pictures:

Lunch Surf Pictures from Monday

As promised, here are some of the best pictures I took on Monday, the day the swell came to North County. The tide had dropped quite a bit since my early AM look, and the inside was dredging up some pretty fun waves. The lifegaurd-on-a-ski was out, having some fun in the waves:

Tucking in for a brief cover up:

The inside seemed to have a head on it as thick as Guiness at times:

Sand grinding barrel sequence (think he made it? ):

Beauty, eh?:

So, how big was it out there? Big enough to do this:

And just before I left, a huge cleanup set rolled through. Yowza!:

Monday AM Surf Pictures

As promised earlier, here are a few pictures I took this morning of the swell as it rolled into North San Diego County early this morning. It was early enough that there were'nt a huge number of people out there, and the size certainly helped deter folks uncertain of their ability. Light offshore breezes were blowing, making for some truly beautiful looking waves.

After the Storm Surf Report

As seems to be the norm the last few weekends here in North San Diego County, the weekend brough with it a good does of rain over Saturday and Sunday. While this didn't stop the Chargers from beating the Denver Broncos on Sunday, it did prevent me from surfing over the weekend, and due to the run-off, for the next three days.

And right on cue, a nice swell arrived this morning and with it some very nice offshore winds. Driving in to work this morning along the 101, I saw several overhead sized, spitting barrels go unridden. What a waste! I stopped to take a few pictures on my way into work and should have them up later in the day. What torture! Arggggggg.

Seaside Reef Pictures

The following pictures were taken last week on November 29th, during my lunch. It had been a while since I had taken any pictures, so on my lunch I stopped by the beach and snapped a few pictures. Enjoy!