See Santa Claus surf, skateboard and more

Nothing says “Christmas in California” like the sight of Santa on a surfboard.

The Jolly Old Elf caught some waves this week at Pismo Beach, and he looked like a pro.

Santa, obviously in the mood for a little R&R on the Central Coast, didn’t stop there.

He also performed some impressive faceplants at the Los Osos skatepark, skinned his knees on the steep rock face of Cerro Cabrillo, caught some air on his mountain bike at Morro Bay and got teed off (nyuck, nyuck) at the Dairy Creek Golf Course. Not bad for a fat guy in a fur suit.

“Santa Comes to SLO-Town” has hilarious pix and videos of Santa’s latest escapades, including this beauty. Check it out!

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Photo by Joe Johnston of The Tribune.

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It must be getting close to Christmas. This morning I awoke to frost on the ground. And just yesterday, I spotted the Jolly Fat Man himself — getting the Stoke in Pismo Beach.

At first I wasn’t quite sure if my eyes were working, so I did a mental checklist: red suit, beard, bellowing.

Then I took out my camera phone and snapped a few photos:

 So, yeah, here’s the Big Man, walking with what appears to be a fun shape board. My first thought upon seeing this was: Santa seems to have slimmed down this year. But, you know, maybe he trains a lot as the big day approaches. An elf’s gotta have endurance, you know.

Later, he was spotted on the pier. Apparently, he thought there was a roller coaster there, but I had to tell him that this was Pismo Beach — not Santa Monica. He was a little disappointed, but his spirits seemed to lift when I told about some of the other things he could could do around here.

So then I was like, “Hey, Santa — are you really gonna surf or is that a gift you’re giving to someone?” Of course, in the back of my mind, I was thinking: Because, you know, I’d never turn down a free surfboard. And he just sort of looked at me and winked.

That was it — he winked. And the next thing you know, he was paddling out on a 3- to 4-foot day.  He wasn’t the best surfer out there, but, hey — it’s not like the North Pole is known for it’s waves.

Of course,  I was a little surprised because I’m thinking, you know, it’s gotta be close to crunch time, right? But those of us who surf know what a great stress reliever surfing can be. And any job that entails delivering toys to kids worldwide in one day has to entail some stress.

Later,  I found that Santa apparently had listened to my suggestions for things to do here and decided he needed to relieve stress a little more. 

Who knew Santa had a skateboard?

So for all those doubters, here is proof. Yes, indeed — Santa is a surfer.

I hear there will be further proof — video and photos — on this site next week, so stay tuned.

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Pismo Beach hosts the Clam Festival is this weekend, and Atascadero has Colony Days.

Clamming used to be a major event over 40 years ago, but at some point the clammers and resurgent otters began to outnumber the clams. The Chumash and the dunites could live off the clams on the beach but that era was coming to a close.

Extra low tides in January and June brought out clam hunters out in droves. This is from a front-page story from June 11, 1964:

OCEANO – C’mon in! The water’s cold and the clamming is great!
That seems to be the word today along the South County coast where more than 10,000 men, women and children braved the water along the 10 miles from Pismo Pier to the Oso Flaco area below Oceano.
Raymond W. Westberg, Pismo Beach State Park superintendent, said that a car count of persons was made at the three entrances to the beach at Pismo Beach, Grand Avenue and the Oceano ramp.
Bill Lovern, bait shop operator at the Oceano ramp, said there were 2,000 to 2,5000 clammers in his area at sun-up.
“They really slaughtered the clams,” he said.

A year-and-a-half later the Focus section ran a story under the headline “How long can clam population last?” on January 8, 1966.

Extra state fish and game wardens were brought in from other parts of the state to handle the huge crowds combing the area’s beaches for clams. Last January, when more than 150,000 persons swarmed to the county’s beaches, only five wardens were available for duty.

So many clammers invaded county beaches last January that the area supply of fishing licenses was depleted and wardens were unable to enforce licensing laws.
But this isn’t the case this week, and the public is reminded that all licenses expired last week.
Pacific Telephone Co. has added extra operators to handle the many calls from this county. Last year the local office was swamped with calls and had difficulty handling them all. Extra pay telephones have been set up near the beaches to ease some of the load.
The effect on the clam population itself is devastating. Fish and Game officials last year said that more than a million clams were taken from the county’s beaches and that clamming would “probably never fully recover” from the onslaught.

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Call me weird, but some times I just like to look at surfboards.

That weird?

I’m the same way with drums and guitars. I’ll go into a store, and I’ll just . . . feel them.

So it must have been quite a sight to see the entire stock of Central Coast Surf Boards being moved from its old building to the new location on Marsh Street. (That’s a photo of some of the movers above.)

CCS has been around for a while. But like many independent stores, its vitality could be impacted by corporations offering the same products for less. For instance, Costco sells boards, which, some have pointed out, are made in China. 

One would assume Wal-Mart will be next.

Anyway, I wasn’t planning on whining about China, the economy or Wal-Mart. Besides, it’s not like I have enough money to buy a new surfboard right now.  That economic stimulus check that’s coming?

Bills.

When I think of bills, what I really want to think about is surfing. And since a lot of bills are due this week, here are my favorite surf spots in SLO County:

1.) A-Beach. Even on the most crowded days, you can usually find a stretch of beach here that’s less busy, proving that this ain’t Southern California. And, of course, there’s always great views of the Rock from here. Speaking of:

2.) The Rock. Remember that movie where the guys yells, “I love the smell of bird crap in the morning!”  Okay, so I just made that up. True, there are lots of birds here. And true, birds tend to smell. But sometimes the power plant makes the water freakishly warm, which — while freaky — is kind of nice in the summer.

3.) Shell Beach. When it gets too big or windy everywhere else, it’s nice to escape to calmer conditions here. I prefer the old guy vibe of Silver Shoals, which is more of a longboard spot. Check out the gentle peeler to the right here. That’s Silver Shoals for you.

4.) Pismo Pier. This site took a big hit when the city decided to put meters in the parking lot. But the locals know where to go to avoid them. Since this place is pretty touristy in the summer, I usually hang in Morro Bay. But Pismo pier, even if it doesn’t have the greatest surf, offers a great SoCal feel.

5.) Cayucos pier. There are quite a few old timers here who are really good, so there’s an interesting (and a little intimidating) vibe. And it’s seldom really good here. But when it is, the place is just classic. When it’s mellow, it’s a nice retreat. But it can also toss you around on bigger days.

Photos: Nick Lucero, Dave Middlecamp, Joe Johnston, Jayson Mellom

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It took a lot of hustle, but I did it — I achieved the surf nooner.

I honor of International Surfing Day, I high-tailed it down to Pismo Beach Friday and jumped in the water over my lunch break. As it turned out, the balmy weather made it a perfect day for a noon-time stoke. And the conditions were so good, I had a real tough time leaving. Alas, work had to be done. But I got just enough waves to brag to all the suckers stuck indoors.

I’m just glad I didn’t encounter any severed human feet in the water, which is apparently a problem in Canada right now. 

Right now I’m trying to work up my paddling strength because in three weeks, I’ll be headed to Southern California for a surf trip. During my planned stop in Malibu, I guess I’d better avoid Matthew McConaughey. Or at least avoid taking pictures of him in the surf because, apparently, that gets you beat up in Malibu.

As my bumper sticker states: Can’t we all just get a longboard?

Maybe this would be a good time to add to my list of surfing celebs.

 Photo: Candi Pemberton

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