We had a great time at the Sacred Craft in Ventura. I got to roll with Quintin for the first time in years. Initially, I was gonna take the family, but the thought of Rebecca having to take care of the three yard-apes alone, while I was away all day at the show, just didn't seem like a good time. So, she suggested my old Mexico Co-pilot go along for the journey. Quintin is a great guy, super mellow, unless someone gets him all riled up. I think thats usually my job. On the way up, I asked how our old friend, "The Devil" was doing. He told me he was on the East Coast tending to some things. At the time, I was thinking how great it would be if he woulda been able to go with. We got up to Ventura, wandered around the campsite, and finally found a suitable site to take over. Nothing too close to the camp hosts, but, not too far from the beach either. We checked in and headed up the the fairgrounds to set-up the booth. After the fairgrounds, we headed over to a burger joint in Ventura for a beer and some grubb. That was something I had been craving for quite a while. This was my weekend off. Rebecca and I have been doing an all Raw lifestyle food thing over the last few months. While it's really not as hard as many think, especially when your wife is great in the kitchen, you still get these cravings for things like burgers and steak fries. That first bite of something warm and substantial was probably one of the top ten things I've ever bitten into in my life. Well worth the wait, but definately not something I will be going back to on a consistant basis, anytime soon. After the burger joint, we stocked up on some wood and headed back to camp. Started a nice fire, then bullshitted the rest of the night. Midway through the BS, Quint got a call, it was El Diablo, he was in PB and was heading up in the morning. Course for him, that means he'll probably be thier around dinnertime. At about, what we thought was 10, we decided to get some sleep. Quint looked at the time, and it wasn't quite what we expected. It was 1am. After working overnight the night before, then staying up all day, and making the trip, I was a little skeptical about how I would feel in the morning. My first day of showing the public what I've been pouring so much time into over the last year, and I'm a little drunk, and hadn't slept in a good 40 hours. Not a good place to be. Quintin knocked on the van at about 6:30am, and we headed out to the beach to have a look. The surf wasn't too great, sideshore, and a touch brown. We went out and Handplaned anyway. Mainly cause we needed to wash the stench off of the night before. It was a bit cold, and backwashing pretty bad. I got launched on my first wave into the flats. Did a huge bodyflop and for the first time, felt a bit of pain on impact. We finished up with a nice warm shower at the campgrounds and headed off to the show. The show was a good time. Probably the best consumer show around. I think I would rather be a particpant of Sacred Craft, ten time over any ASR event. Lots of cool people, lots of great products. El Diablo showed up around 2, which for him is pretty good. He and Quint went to get a burrito after the show ended for the day. I went back to camp. Shoulda been a quick trip for them, but with The Devil around, you never know what's gonna happen. 3 hours later, and on my last piece of firewood, they finally got back. Apparently they got lost on some freeways, funny thing about that, you never had to get on the freeway. The rest of the evening was pretty similar, except now we had Rich to entertain us. I woke up early the next morning, walked down to the beach alone and watched a bit. One guy out. Way cleaner than the day before. Lefts mushing on the outside then reforming and jacking and peeling on the inside all the way to the shorepound. I wasn't motivated at all. The surf was way better and I just sat watching, letting time tick away. Eventually I garnered the energy. Jogged back to the campsite and saw Quint walking back from the bathroom. I was already turning our wetsuits inside out. He just looked at me, like, "are you really gonna make me do this?" He's a troooper. We headed back down and had another planing session. There were now 3 guys out. Since it was pretty much breaking then backing off on the outside, I just sat about 30 yards inside of them. Caught a couple decent ones. A set wave came and one of the three guys caught it. I had to get out of his way, and I read the wave differently than he did. In my opinion, he should been cutting back almost right from the takeoff. So I swam toward the shoulder. Apparently he didn't think so. He he bottom turned and although he really didn't come close to me, he had a world of shit to say. Told me I was right in his way, where he was gonna hit the lip. I just looked at him in amazement, and said, "What lip?" He didn't quite like that response and got all grumpy, his buddy's had a few things to say also. I just shrugged it off. They told me to bail, which, eventually I did float down to the next peak, where Quint was, but, not before I maintained my presence for a good twenty minutes, and caught some more good ones. It's funny, cause I respect them and their local spot, but, when your gonna call someone out, make sure you know what you are saying. I didn't see one of em hit the lip the whole session, and they definately weren't killing it. Pretty much my age, but alot stiffer. Riding the wrong boards for the surf. They could surf, don't get me wrong, but nothing on any type of impressive level. It's just goes back to that totem pole thing. They had no idea Quint and I have surfed our whole lives, and could honestly run circles around them on a board. All they saw were two guys floating around the line-up, that might possibly get in thier way, especially if they misjudged another wave. After that verbal exchange, we continued to get some of the better Handplane waves I've had all winter. Just standing up perfectly on the inside sandbar and racing down the line. Such a great way to start off the day, and not ruined at all by the grumpy locals. After our session, we rushed back to camp, broke everything down, woke up the Devil, had 2 beers, then headed off to the show for the final day. As for the rest of the show, it went well. Met lots of good people, had a great response to the handplanes, shaped a plane in the shaping booth, and most importantly finished off all the cookies. I have to thanks my wife, Rebecca, for spending her thursday evening baking 3 huge trays full of cookies for the show. People loved em, and I think they will be a part of all future gatherings. Thanks to all that came by, and we'll see you in Del Mar.
