Bret Howard Pulls Into Puerto

This story is from the personal travel journal of Bret Howard.

With some free time coming up and a series of south swells in the window, I couldn’t help but buy a one way ticket to my favorite beach break! A few things I know I can always count on at Playa Zicatela are stiff offshore winds, warm water and plenty of barrels!

My timing for a vacation proved to be perfect as I walked into 6 weeks of non-stop south swells and perfect weather. The surf was consistently head high to double overhead for the entire month of October and first week of November. The highlight came on November 6th when a monster late season south swell slammed the beach break with triple overhead plus bombs. Out of respect, I have to give it to Rusty and Greg Long as well as Will Dillon for absolutely dominating this day with their paddle-in performances!

Every morning I was putting my 1 mm Matuse BC Vest to use to keep my core warm and my arms free. The vest functioned extremely well as it never gave me a rash or rode up over my head during the routine beat downs.

After this swell dwindled down, the surf hovered in the solid head-high range for the 2nd and 3rd week of November. With the smaller surf and change in seasons came cooler water temperatures which allowed me to break out my Philo 1 mm Jacket. The buttery Geoprene was just what I needed after not wearing a wetsuit for a long time as it did not feel restricting in the arms.

I had to eventually return to work around Thanksgiving and cold water. Luckily for me I had a Matuse Hoplite 4/3/2 on ice at my house ready to tackle the cooler waters of San Diego. I just want to commend the efforts of the team over at Matuse Wetsuits for supplying me the tools I need to stay warm and flexible in the water.

Lots of Respect
Bret Howard