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Surfed at Church!

Olga — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 01:55:35 +0000

September 29 — I really liked surfing at Church, which is one of the spots at Trestles beach area, last Sunday. Trestles host the Hurley Pro each September. There were 1-3 feet clean right waves, incredible sunset and shower under the stars.

PS: it was too cold for surfing in bikini. Hello wetsuit! By the way I don't yet get it why Fall officially starts on September 22-23rd here, but I can feel it in the air now.

Surfing tip 1: never leave your surfboard in the car

Olga — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 01:28:52 +0000

My first Californian surfboard got stolen.

I'd left it in the car overnight. Funny I remember making some jokes about thieves on that night. First thing I knew in the morning: somebody broke in the car, and the only thing they took was my surfboard. I'm very happy that Craig helped me replace my loss with a new shiny board so that I didn't grieve at all and we just went surfing at Pipes next day!
Lesson learned here: never ever leave your surfboard in the car.
Introducing my new Flower Power!

Another important update: I now can surf in bikini! Yay!

6 Reasons To Love Night Surfing

Olga — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 08:35:16 +0000

Yesterday (August 18,2011) I tried night surfing for the first time in my life. It was not planned, it was not expected, it just happened when we stayed in the water after the sunset. The sky was cloudy, but bright lights from MTV house, that hosts 'Real World' reality show, provided some sort of visibility. It didn't really help, actually, as I often wasn't able to see a wave approaching me until it was too late. Seriously, I felt I had to do it like Luke Skywalker - close your eyes and follow your feelings.

6 Reasons to Love Night Surfing:

1. No Crowds — that's probably a most obvious one. Surfing scene in San Diego might be competitive even on the smaller days. But most likely, eventually you will be left alone with the ocean once the sun is down. So you can have all the waves to yourself!

Click that oval button below the post for more.

2. Glassy waves — the wind usually dies down at night, so you can enjoy clean glassy waves.

3. No need to apply sunblock! Moon and stars won't do harm to your skin.

4. Privacy — whatever you do in the dark ocean will be a well-kept secret (like making dolphin sounds)

5. Improve your surfing — since you really rely on your senses you get better at reading (feeling) waves, and also become quicker at turning around to catch them.

6. Thrill and surreal experience! The thought of not knowing exactly what's going on in the dark ocean will get your adrenaline pumping. It is also kind of a spiritual thing.

Dawn patrol — Tourmaline, Crystal Pier and La Jolla Shores — 1-2 feet surf

Olga — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 19:36:49 +0000

I woke up at 5.00am today as we agreed to go surfing at sunrise. It was hard to get up as I'd only slept for 3 hours while I usually need 8 hours to feel like a human. But I was very dedicated to showing up at Tourmaline at 5.30 so I finally grabbed my board and a wetsuit (water got cold again, hey summer!) and drove to the spot. I was pleased with the empty roads.

Tourmaline was dull, flat and windy. Nonetheless, there were a few older surfers with their huge hungry boards. They disappeared in morning gloom in silence. Parking lot was filling up quickly. The ocean wasn't producing any rideable waves as far as we could see but people of different ages and colors kept coming, entering the water, then paddling out to join other floaters in their morning ritual. They seem to have no questions about the waves or surf as though just being in the water was all they were seeking.

We walked to Crystal Pier (Pacific Beach) and noticed that conditions started to improve with the rising tide. 2 hour sunrise stroll on the beach. I ended up surfing at my home spot — La Jolla Shores — around 8am today. Got myself a few waves. Saw dolphins. Great start of a day!

2 Things to be found in San Diego only

Olga — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 22:36:38 +0000

I'm still new to San Diego and sometimes get very surprised with what could be found here. There's the California Surf Museum in Oceanside (40 min drive from San Diego)! They change their exhibits on a regular basis, the current one is called «Transitional Thinking». I really wanted to see a previous one which was WOW — Women on Waves, Performance, Beach Fashion, and Feminine Mystique in the World of Surfing, but they had changed it before we could get there.

Another «discovery». Once when we were surfing at Tourmaline at dusk, I asked my friend Jim about «that house on the cliff, full of lights». Luxury property turned out to be MTV's reality show «Real World» house in San Diego (Season 26th). Although the place looked very cool and emanated fun, I caught myself thinking that I like it better to be on the other side rather than inside of it. Floating on the waves that is.

Inside the Surf Museum:

Scripps HD Pier Cam — Ocean, earth, and climate science with a view — Live!

Olga — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 05:08:00 +0000

Scripps Pier, photo by Patrick Smith Photography

There's a new HD video camera right at my «home spot», which is La Jolla Shores & Scripps! I now can easily check surf and beach condition by simply clicking this link: http://sio.ucsd.edu/piercam/ Love it love it love it!

The Scripps Pier Cam, sponsored and powered by Surfline.com, provides a streaming HD video feed of surf north and south of the Scripps Pier, located at the heart of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego campus in coastal La Jolla, California.

Ocean enthusiasts around the globe can now virtually step on to the Scripps Pier for a live, crystal clear view of the waves below – at no cost. (source: UCSD News Center)

Road trip to Swami's

Olga — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 08:27:59 +0000

Last Saturday we went on a road trip to explore a coastline of San Diego and to find some fun waves. We finally landed in Swami's which is «internationally known surfing spot». I honestly didn't know what it was famous for, so I did my homework to find out that:

1. Swami's is immortalized in the famous Beach Boys song, Surfing USA
2. It was named after Swami Paramahansa Yogananda who founded Self-Realization Fellowship ashram that sits on a cliff overlooking this surfing spot. Isn't it amazing? Its like a visual partnership of yoga and surfing. See the sign on this picture? Could be Surfing Temple! Its ashram really.

The waves were small and mellow. I didn't know I could surf in California without a wetsuit. California = cold water always, that's what I was so sure about. Its awesome to be wrong! It was as warm as the water of the Sea of Japan in my hometown Vladivostok in summer time (around 20C, 70F) Hello bikini surfing!

Find out 3 more pics behind a link

Just Do It!

Olga — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 09:58:05 +0000

I don't really know how to start my new post after several month of posting zero. So many changes in my life over the last 6 month. But one thing has definitely remained unchanged — I still surf and enjoy it more than ever as I now live near the Ocean in the beautiful city of San Diego.

I'm currently taking «Marketing via Social Media» class at University of California, San Diego. Starting our own blog was actually our assignment for this class. So I got my impulse on starting writing again from that. Thanks to our Instructor Becky Carroll (check out her cool blog) and Jim C., a friend of mine who took this picture at Swami's.

Hope my inspiration will last longer than our social media class. I wonder why I was more inspired to write about surfing when I was far away from it. Just do it!

Goodbye China, Hello California!

Olga — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 13:43:36 +0000

Photo by Alexander Isaev (RIA Novosti)

I left China right at the time when Hainan was hosting its first professional surfing contest. I'm very glad for China and hope this beautiful sport will bloom there.
Я уехала из Китая прямо в то время, когда Хайнань принимал свои первые профессиональные соревнования по серфингу.

As for me, seems I finally found my way to the ocean. At the moment I'm having a break from... from everything in Vladivostok. In the end of December I will be moving to California.
Что касается меня, то я, кажется, нашла свою дорогу к океану. Пока я взяла паузу от... от всего во Владивостоке. А в конце декабря я переезжаю в Калифорнию.

Here's a question what to do with my «Surfing China» blog. I won't be able to search and ride waves in China any longer. Shall I close the blog or keep on blogging on my surfing story in California? Feel like picking the second option. If you have any ideas, I'd appreciate your feedback.
Тут вопрос, что дальше делать с моим блогом. Я ведь больше не смогу искать и обкатывать волны в Китае. Закрыть блог или писать дальше мою серф-историю в Калифорнии? Кажется, я склоняюсь ко второму варианту. Если у вас есть какие-нибудь идеи, то буду рада, если поделитесь.

Thanks to everyone who read my blog and found something helpful.
Ну и спасибо всем, кто читал мой блог и нашел для себя что-нибудь полезное.

The 5th trip to Bali

Olga — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 10:00:06 +0000

I can compare my last trip to Bali to a weekend break at a summer cottage in countryside. Familiar landscapes, magical soothing atmosphere that carry away all worries and at times even some belongnings (minus one of flip-flops). I've surfed at a couple of new spots. I especially liked Race Track near Kedungu. There was a problem with my camera so this zen-like shot of sunset at Gili Trawangan is almost all of my photo-baggage from this trip. By the way, Gili islands are so beautiful, I'd highly recommend. Gili Trawangan has only 1 surf break (in front of Comodo hotel) which generates small waves at certain conditions (I couldn't figured them).

PS: Garuda Indonesia Aircompany is cool. I'm so grateful for this trip.

Мою последнюю поездку на Бали можно сравнить с вылазкой на выходные на огород летнюю дачу. Знакомые пейзажи и волшебная успокаивающая атмосфера, уносящая далеко все заботы, тревоги и иногда даже кое-что из имущества (минус 1 шлепанец). Покаталась на нескольких новых спотах, особенно запомнился Race track рядом с Kedungu. С камерой у меня случилась неполадка, так что эта дзен-фотка, сделанная на закате на острове Гили — почти весь мой фото-багаж с этой поездки. Кстати острова Гили — волшебное место, рекомендую. Самый крупный из их троицы, Гили Траванган имеет только 1 серфт спот — напротив отеля Комодо. Этот спот дает маленькие волны при определенных условиях (я не поняла, при каких именно).

И еще — авиакомпания Гаруда is cool. Спасибо ей за эту поездку, мне она была необходима.

Accomodation and a «doorman» in Gili/Жилище и «привратник» на Гили

Turquoise of Java sea/Бирюза Яванского моря: