Lost Boys & Co.

Lost Boys & Co... S o, not only do you get to watch the ponies run and place a few well considered bets , but on special nights, you also get to wander down to the grass and catch "The English Beat" with Dave Wakelin.  Yeah, they played all the faves and a few that we'd forgotten... I t's one of those days when you have to work your way through the photographers hired by the Chamber of Commerce to illustrate what a wonderful place Redondo Beach is to visit.  25 miles visibility under clear cerulean skies, yes, cerulean...  Air temp was 62.9° and the water was 65.7° and going up by the minute.  High tide was at 10:26am +3.7' and low tide will be at 2:50pm +2.3'.  The buoy tells us that it's a SSW swell out of 203° at 2.6', but we know it's a solid 3' and looking very good.  All kinds of fun out there this morning!  O h yeah, except for that guy who gave Vinny the stink eye and a few choice words for allegedly cutting him off.  Hey, it's

Lost Boys & Co... L istening to a bit of sophisticated hula, while watching the whirly-gig hit a couple of hundred lazy rpm's.  We got this shot of Rooster this morning as he was getting ready to do a rock dance and scare up a few halibut.  He' had some pretty good luck lately, right off the end of the jetty... C loudy, not quite overcast skies this morning and about 15 miles visibility.  Winds out of the NW by 4.6kts and the sea surface was lightly chopped.  The air temperature was 63.7° and the water was 66.0°.  High tide was at 9:53am +3.6' and low tide will be not very low at 2:10pm +2.3'.  The buoy is reading a SSW swell out of 196° at 2.6'.  Some fun micro-cruisers this morning as we watched Hudson work it on his new stick.  It's around 9.0' and it might as well be 10.6'.  He must weigh about 85lbs... D on't forget happy hour this Friday!  Flashbak is back at Keegan's starting at 7pm, but the Professor is suggesting we meet earlier at

Lost Boys & Co... M oving right along, we snapped this shot of Ivan, Michele, LoLa, Danger Girl, Buck and Danger Boy as the horses were coming out of the tunnel.  You can tell by their eyes, they're not quite as interested in getting their picture taken, as much as they are in checking out the horse flesh.  If you go down to the paddock, they'll give you a few tips on spotting a good pony, like:  Make sure their ears are pointing forward - it shows that they are eager.  Check their hindquarters and note if there is a certain amount of "bounce" as they warm up.  Finally, make sure their tails stand a bit raised off of their butts.  If your favorite exhibits any of these traits to excess, be careful - they might be too wound up and not preform well.  Rasta Pete, found this little filly (Marcy) and she seemed to exhibit all the proper qualities. O vercast this morning with 15 miles visibility.  Winds were up early out of the SSW by 4.7kts.  The sea surface was glas

Lost Boys & Co... L ooks like we've dipped the tail of this balsa winger in honey and were waiting for the bees.  Should be ready soon, then we can see if it attracts waves and not hornets! R eally looked like summer this morning with 20 miles visibility under clear skies.  Winds were out of the SSW by 3.6kts and the sea surface got to be a bit riled up to the point of a light chop.  The air temperature was 62.2° and the water has finally risen to the magic 65.5°.  Shorties were the order of the day.  High tide is at 8:40am +3.2' and low tide is at 12:45pm +2.4'.  The buoy was registering a 199° SSW swell at 3.3' to 3.6' and it was just that at most of the local breaks and fair to good.  Some sweet ones at Sapphire, even though it looked a tad bumpy. L ast Friday it was off to the races with the crew at Brother's Burritos!  Photo #2 has the Brother-Man himself Ronnie and his lovely wife Lori.  We were down at the paddock getting ready for the second race w

Lost Boys and Co... H ow many people can say that they learned their trade at their father's knee?  Well, John Mangiagli can.  He's jumped into learning all facets of the surfboard industry, including laminating, sanding and finishing.  Steve, is arguably one of the best laminators in the industry, so John is learning from the best.  The board?  A Barahona-Paine balsa twinny... 20 miles visibility this morning with hazy skies breaking into sun about 10am.  Winds were out of the south by 7.0kts and the sea surface was lightly chattered.  The air temp was 64.5° and the water is 64.0°.  High tide isn't that high at 5:04am +2.9' and low tide isn't that low at 10:14am +1.9'.  We have a SSW swell out of 199° at 3.0' and that's exactly what it is.  Buck and the Professor after consulting with Boomfwappa on the status of their retirement packages, hit the Cove as the tide was going down and got some nice ones all morning long... W earing what looks like a deme

Lost Boys & Co... 4th of July is sneaking up on us and it's time to indulge your palate in the traditional Portuguese holiday fare of linguiça and beans.  Appropriate, because it's liberating, causes your heart to beat faster and may result in seeing fireworks...  The particulars: Monday, July 4th, 2011 - 5:00pm (goes until the tiki torches come on and the fireworks start.) 516 Paseo de las Estrellas, RB  90277  (If you're lost call 310-373-5138) If you'd like to bring something feel free.  If you plan on coming earlier bring an appetizer - if you plan on coming later bring a dessert.  If you are Margot Sullivan, bring Chocolate Lush. "When the surf breaks, we'll fix it..."  The Professor!!

Lost Boys & Co... H ere we have a shot of Brian and Joe Murphy doing a bit of father/son bonding.  This was at the South Bay Dozen last Saturday and you can see that the sun smiled on the proceedings.  All the Murphy fam was involved, with Joe Beach marshaling, Diana doing administrative work at the tent, Chris, Brian and Danny competing and Mike running the whole damn show...  Quite a spectacular effort! O vercast this morning with 6 miles visibility and the sun doing it's best to burn the whole thing off.  The air was 62.1° and the water was listed as 64, but was really 63.5°.  Low tide at 9:27am +1.5', followed by a high-ish +4.6' at 4:37pm.  We've got a SSW swell out of 207° at 2.3'.  Depending on where you look it's 1' to 3'.  Nothing from Hermosa to Rat, but look further north and give Seal a check...  Still supposed to be getting better... W ater.  River water.  Specifically, Boise River water. R e: Kellen Moore and Lily Panda Cheeseburger If

Lost Boys & Co... O ur first photo was recently discovered in a file labeled "Whatever."  We immediately recognized it as the Portagee Ski Team, training in the Idaho Alps for the Luso-Celtic Games which semi-annually pit Ireland and Portugal against each other in an event chosen by the loser of the previous contest.  Portugal lost in '09 so they got to pick the sport and the location.  They picked skiing and the location was Mt. Kilimanjaro.  Predictably, the Irish lost this year and have selected the steeplechase and Manila, in the Philippines for 2013.  In this photo they are discussing which way to go.  Apparently, "down" wasn't their first choice.  The Professor in red (Port.)  Julia Burke in blue (Ire.) Marco "the Shark" Leao in yellow (Port.) and Anaconda Burke in black (Ire.) U nder overcast June skies we have 9 miles visibility, on this first full day of summer.  Winds were out of the SSE at 2.3kts and the sea surface was smooth to gl

Lost Boys & Co... W ell, summer came flying in low at 10:16am PDT this morning and tipped it's wings before disappearing into the mist enshrouded Palos Verdes Alps.  This is what the first day of summer is supposed to look like here in the So. Bay (just in case you were worried.) J ust like the photos show, we have a low overcast and 10 miles visibility.  Supposed to clear up around 1pm and be mostly sunny the rest of the day.  Winds were out of the NW at checkout by 3.4kts and the sea surface was smooth with a slight ripplation.  The air temperature was 63.2° and the water is 63.0°.  Low tide is at 8:04am +0.5' and high tide will be at 3:03pm +4.2'.  The buoy is reading a SSW swell out of 199° at 2.3', but we're calling it 1' and poor.  Okay, maybe there are a couple of two-footers, but not many...  WetSand was suggesting that we might get a little action later in the week, so we'll keep looking...  and looking... and O kay, photo #3 is a young man hol

Lost Boys & Co... A ll we did was put the box cutter to the side of this baby and it sprang full grown from the box!  A barbecue you ask?  No, no friend this is a "PermaSteel Pro- (for protein) NukeMaster PG-40402SOL."  Look at that side burner!  The searing unit!  That cobalt-blue powder coated exterior...  No, no, not a barbecue - this my friend is poetry!  Just for grins, we took a shot of the virgin interior - rest assured, that'll be the only time you see it that clean... F or the last day of Spring we have overcast skies, giving way to sun by around 10am and 12 miles visibility.  Winds were out of the SW-NW from 1.1kts to 3.3kts and the sea surface was smooth to a heavy ripple.  The air temperature was 62.3° and the water was 62.6°.  Low tide was at 7:24am -0.0' and high tide will be at 2:15pm +4.1'.  The buoy is reading a SSW swell out of 193° at 2.3' and we're thinking that's just about how it read.  Some nice little peelers at Topaz and Sa

Lost Boys & Co... O ur first photo was taken in Costa Rica of this woman harvesting sea turtle eggs.  Aren't sea turtles protected?  See those white bags in the background?  They're all full of sea turtle eggs.  This brought some questions to mind:  Do they do this every year?  How come there are any sea turtles left there?  Why do the turtles keep coming back?  How many turtle eggs does it take to make a soufflé? E nough breaks in the overcast to call it partly cloudy, like mostly partly cloudy.  15 miles visibility and lots to see.  Winds out of the NW by 5.2kts at checkout and a light chop chattering things up a bit.  The air temp was 62.3° and the water is 62.6°, giving us an entire week of temps above 60!  Yahoo!  Low tide was at 5:24am -1.2' and high tide will follow at 11:59am +4.0'.  SSW swell out of 199° and a shameless 3.3' top to bottom.  We're calling it 2' to 3' and some fun ones out of the wind. T he Daily Breeze picked up on our kelp

Lost Boys & Co... W ell, it's prom season again and we're featuring a couple of gorgeous prom queens.  First we have the blondness of Devon Bogart, pinning a corsage on her date Jack.  How would you like to come over to Devon's house and have Lethal Keithal open the door?  He must really be crazy about her.  Then we have Allison Lee Burke on her way down the spiral staircase to her fabu entrance.  We understand that neither were actually the "Queen" but you can bet she sure was uncomfortable having them there. A n almost perfect June morning complete with overcast, drizzle and almost 10 miles visibility.  Winds were out of the SSE by 5.0kts and the sea surface was either lightly chopped or heavily rippled.  The air temp was 60.3° and the water for the 4th day in a row was in the 60's at 63.1°.  High tide is at 11:15am +4.0' and low tide will follow at 3:54pm +2.0'.  We have a 3.0' swell out of 203° SSW and we're calling it 1' to 3'

Lost Boys & Co... S o for starters let's have 3 photos that don't have anything to do with each other!  Photo the first:  Almost impossible to figure out what we're looking at to begin with.  It looks like a shiny square hole with a girl laying next to it.  Well, actually, the girl is Allie Burke and the shiny hole is a wide screen TV, just prior to being installed at her friend's home.  They were so taken with it's size, that they were grasping for a unit to suggest how truly magnificent it was.  They settled on an "Allie," which would be right around 65" long. N ext the surf:  9 miles visibility under overcast skies.  No mistaking June here!  Winds were calm and the sea surface was smooth to a very light chop.  The air temperature was 59.3° and the water was 62.4°.  High tide was at 10:30am +4.0' and low tide will be at 3:08pm +2.0'.  The real kicker with the tides are sneaking up on us as the week proceeds.  We're sporting minus ti

Lost Boys & Co... L ast night while wrapping up our bike ride, we came cruising by the lifeguard tower at Topaz.  From the bike path it looked like someone had spray painted it black, half-way up.  Upon closer inspection (and closer and closer...) we found the "paint" to be flies.  Like hundreds of thousands of them, maybe millions, maybe even a brazillion.  Coelopidae Hendel, is abundant in the coastal wrack and usually amuse themselves by eating, mating, sleeping and goofing around on the kelp.  But every once-in-a-while they decide that the towers are a great spot to get out of the wind and end up in droves on the lee side of the structures.  We did notice that they wouldn't lite on the "keep area clear" sign, which points out their community awareness and a dislike for plasticized surfaces.  If you're having trouble with kelp flies, just have your jammies made out of that plastic material and they won't land on you...  You're welcome... A no

Lost Boys & Co... We ran across this sign in Boise.  They take great pride in "truth in advertising" in this part of the country... Another great-gray-glorious day here in the southland.  An excellent example of the "June Gloom."  7 miles visibility, under overcast skies.  Winds are out of the SSW at 3.4kts and the sea surface is slightly hacked, like not quite a chop, but disorganized ripples.  The air temperature is 60.5° and the water has jumped an unbelievable 4° to 62.1°!  Of course this leaves us wondering what the hell is going on.  Just this Saturday we were told that several reliable predictors were calling for another cold summer, citing the chilling 1970-71 summers as having the same indicators.  62 isn't great but it beats the hell out of 58.  High tide is at 8:51am +3.7' and low tide will be at 1:32pm +1.8'.  The buoy is reading a SW swell out of 220° at 2.6' and we're calling a high tide bloated 1' to 2' and poor to f

Lost Boys & Co... " W hen someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth." – Billy, age 4 F ace it, sometimes the surf is down and you have to go to plan B.  In pic #1. Tyrone James is testing the waters for a session in the pool.  This was the lap pool.  This complex, not counting the golf course, probably covered a couple of hundred acres and had something like 17 pools!  The Professor suggested they do a remake of "The Swimmer," but make it a race from one side of the resort to the other.  Like, run, swim, run, swim... A nother perfect June day, including a slight drizzlation in the early am.  3 miles visibility and the ever popular dense June overcast.  Winds were out of the south at checkout by 2.3kts and the sea surface had a slight bump.  The air temp was 60.5° and the water is 58.8°, nibbling at the 60° mark.  High tide started things out at 5:14am +3.5' and low tide will follow abr

Lost Boys & Co... S ome rugged coastline on the west side of Portugal.  This was just north of Peniche.  Can you imagine having a bit of a problem and trying to put in to a safe harbor along this stretch?  Even as we headed toward Sagres, there were still some pretty radical cliffs... T ODAY looked like textbook June, in our book.  It's supposed to be overcast, gray and just a little moist.  Then magically on July 4th it suddenly gets sunny and hot and stays that way for the rest of the summer, except for two days in August when it rains and everyone says, "Geez, it's never rained in August before..."  7 miles visibility and the wind was coming lightly from the south at 3.4kts and the sea surface was smooth.  The air temp was 58.5° and the water was an almost ditto 58.1°.  Low tide was at 9:58am +0.8' and high tide will follow at 4:57pm +5.1'.  We had a SSW swell out of a steep 193° at 3.9'.  Too steep for our best waves, so it faked-in at 1' to a

Lost Boys & Co...   Y ou have to appreciate the artistic integrity of this piece which LoLa is standing next to in Baléal.  Starting with your basic "No Parking" sign, some wag transformed it into a object d' art.  A little square nosed, even for the Professor and a couple too many fins, but still it spoke to us.  The best part was this guy had done it to almost all of the no parking signs on the beach!  Not only was it clever, but he had a significant body of work... L ookin' like June out there this morning with 5 miles visibility and overcast skies.  It's Wednesday so no parking on the south side of Topaz St.  Winds were firm out of the SSW by 6.3kts and the sea surface was just below a chop.  The air temperature was 60.5° and the water was up a couple from yesterday to 57.4°.  Low tide was at 9:05am +0.4' and high tide will be at 4:09pm +4.6'.  We've still got a SSW swell out of 205°, but it's jumped to 4.6'.  There's enough bend

Lost Boys & Co... I n keeping with the food theme we've got the lovely Mafalda working the linguiça booth in the Porto open air market.  She was selling all kinds of sausages and embalmed piggy meat.  In the tray on the right of the counter is a variety of piggy snouts, ears and feet, covered with parsley to preserve their delicate flavor.  The hanging linguiça and other desiccating meats (like the pigs head on the right,) are draped with bay laurel to keep off those pesky insects that like to hover about the renderings. A beautiful June morning we had 20 miles visibility under clear skies, unmarred by the typical gloom we have this time of year.  Actually, this worries us a little.  Usual water temps at this time of year are typically in the mid to low 60's.  Today's water temperature was 55.2° and the air was 59.3°.  Most folks are still in long rubber and there's a bit of chill in the afternoon wind.  It's usually a bit cloudier and softer this time of year