North LA County on Allan's 30th

Is there a better way to celebrate your kid's birthday than a surf session followed by a beach house party?  I don't think so.

North County Los Angeles looked like it would be small & messy, but ride-able.  On an overcast morning, with morning sickness from the early eddy (onshore wind) messing it up, there was more swell than expected - shoulder to chest high - and the long interval of the swell made for some fun rides at LG 3 Zuma, where it was surprisingly peaky.  Some waves crumbled pretty quick, but on a morning that gradually cleaned up there were others with decent tubes.  The water was surprisingly warm for that far north - maybe 64.

What made my first outing in a long time in North LA special, though, was that it was Allan's 30th birthday.  Allan and his brother Joseph were in the water on their boards with two of the Schwimer brothers - Kevin (Dogg) and Jeffrey (Fern) - along with another friend, Ben Jacobson, when I arrived with John Howell (father to Allan's girlfriend, Anna).  John & I donned full suits and fins and joined them for 90 minutes of good fun.  Nobody else was in the water within a lifeguard station and we worked the peaks up & down the beach without interference.  

The session was followed by a day-long party at a house Allan had rented along Broad Beach to host a celebration of his entering his third decade.  

Does not get much better.