A Cali Kind of Weekend

’Based in Costa Mesa, California, the avid snowboarder and action-sport enthusiast Kassandra Cassily (aka KC) shares her experiences from an epic surf weekend. Have a look and find out what the Cali Kind of Weekend is all about.  

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One fall Friday night, Josh and I drove down to San Onofre to meet the rest of our snowboard crew for a camp and surf weekend. As we pulled in, our friend Tim, who owns a fine meat distribution company, was already starting the grill for the evening’s activities. We unpacked our gear and, like many others in the crew, we turned our SUV into our weekend’s sleeping quarters. One by one, the rest of our snowboarding friends arrived: Nate, Chris, AK, their girlfriends and sisters. After unpacking we ate a feast and caught-up on each others’ lives after a summer apart. 

The next morning, the guys woke first, preparing for a dawn patrol surf session at the legendary Trestles. Chris and Josh were both stoked to break in their Notabags and used them to carry their towels, sunscreen, and keys as they headed out. I had ACL replacement surgery after injuring my knee during a closing day snowboard competition last season and am still a beginner in the water, so I hung back with the ladies.

We fetched a yummy breakfast at a local café that specialized in healthy (acai) breakfasts as well as Mexican burritos. After finishing our grub, we returned to the camp site and then went to Trestles to see our guys in action. We arrived in time to see a couple turns, and then headed back to camp to prep for a day at San Onofre’s gorgeous beach. After a gluttonous morning while the guy’s surfed, the girl’s carried the boards on the hike up from Trestles.

Once back to our site, we hiked down a hidden path through the rock cliffs that separated our camp site from the ocean, and found a deserted spot to call our own. I brought my longboard and a few of the guys brought their short boards. We all whipped out our blankets and spread out to enjoy the rays.

Everyone got out on the boards and we all kept upping the tricks in the water. First our friend Nate, a major Yogi, attempted to do a headstand on her surf board. Chris, another Yogi, quickly stepped up to the challenge and made a good show of headstand-surfing. Soon both had the trick dialed and they were attempting to tandem headstand on my longboard. After a few hilarious attempting, soon the Yogis were tandem headstand-surfing on the longboards. We were all so stoked everyone wanted to try something new.

As I couldn’t properly surf, Josh and I hit the water with my longboard to try and tandem catch a wave – he surfed while I lay on the board with my chin over the nose. For those who surf, you understand that you never want your weight on the nose of a board while dropping into a wave as it will dig in and send you flying. However, Josh weighs much more than I and we are both quite tall, so both of us laying down on a board to paddle meant I was right at the nose. We soon discovered this worked perfectly and Josh was quickly up behind me while I had a rush like riding a dolphin!

 

By the end of the day we had all tried something new and had a couple new scratches and bruises. Excited yet exhausted, we finally all headed back to camp to change and prep for dinner. While the girls wanted to shower and freshen-up, a few of the guys were still stoked for more surfing. I headed with a small crew to a longboard spot called Old Man’s, where we also met up with Chris’ uncle. I chilled on the beach with a couple of the fellas while the rest slowed down a bit and caught some long, chill waves with longboards.

 

Once the sun had set, we met up with the others back at the camp site. The evening again featured delectable meats and beverages and was a welcome change of pace from the full day of activities. After a couple hours of relaxing and eating, a few of us slowly pulled out our instruments and started a little jam session by the sea. Chris’s uncle in particular brought out a snare, bongos, and guitar. By the end of the night, I was on drums and singing harmony to Chris (on guitar) while everyone else was shaking shakers, drumming on tables and adlibbing in rhythms for a great finale to our day by the sea. 

 

About KC

With over 7 years of work experience, spread across three continents, KC has a strong background in international business, process and project management, sales, marketing and design. She left a career in finance/big data, based in Europe, to pursue a career in product development and merchandising in the action sports industry. Upon finishing her Professional Designation degree from FIDM in December, she will have degrees in International Business, Chinese, and Merchandise Product Development.