Nothing Goes as Planned, and That's Alright 102911

Surf Report: 1-3 footers

Water: Cold

Atmosphere: Sunny

Winds: Mild

I waited in anticipation for Saturday. 

I knew the surf was going to suck, but it didn’t matter to me.  I need to surf.  I need to be in the water.

I had the day off on Friday so I could study for my CPA test that I sit for on Tuesday.  I studied most of the day, and stopped studying around 1130 PM.  None of the things I was going over were making sense at this time, so I figured my brain was fried enough, and I sat watching youtube videos while drinking a beer before I slept.

I couldn’t sleep.

I woke up to my alarm at 530.  It was time to get up, and I had energy buzzing through my veins. 

I got into the car without eating anything, and drove off to 26^th Street.  Da boys were surfing Huntington Beach, but I had to stay local so I could study later on in the day.  I got to 26^th Street before the sun rose, and the white lines in the horizon looked dismal at best.  They dribbled in like sperm from your penis hole on your eighth masturbation attempt. 

There were two cars in the lot, with guys furiously waxing up their brand new boards.  The faces weren’t familiar, so they must have been new, up-and-coming surfers who learned to surf during the summer crowds.  Kudos to them for continuing on with surf, after putting up with the crazy crowds of summer.  But, I questioned their actions.  Are you really going to surf in this CRAP??

I called Matt for consolation. 

“Yo, sorry bro, if I knew you were coming, I would have waited! I’m already in Carson!”

What, really?

I made the call to wait near Matt’s house and have Khang pick me up.  Dais was already there, and Khang said he would come as soon as possible.

Thirty minutes passed as I sat in my car, reading a magazine with the radio on.  I called Khang out of impatience, and he said he was two minutes away.

We loaded up my stuff in the car, and headed to Brookhurst.  I was a Negative Nancy the whole way over, saying that we’re missing the window since we left El Segundo around 700.  The car couldn’t move fast enough for my brain.  My brain took over and shot out negativity all around.

We got to parking on Brookhurst, and Khang opted to wait out the last thirty minutes of “no parking” from 800 PM to 800 AM.  Dais and I went ahead to the beach. 

The sun was baking me inside my wetsuit, but my feet were freezing.  The asphalt felt like broken mortar under our feet as our nerves got pinched and needled on every single point of surface area.  Once we got to the sand, the pinching and needling got worse.  We couldn’t get to the water fast enough.  We couldn’t pick up our feet quickly enough to escape the cold.

We got to the shore and saw the sparse crowd.  The waves were small, but hell, it was better than 26^th Street, I’ll attest to that.

“Whooooo~~~~” Dais called out.

A nice left hand, two wave set rolled through the river jetty.  The crowd over there was PACKED to capacity.  No doubt it was worth it to the locals surfing there, since those two sets looked really fun and big, especially for the lack of swell.

The surf session seems like a blur now, trying to recall it.  We surfed for a solid three hour session, which was totally out of “KK’s planned activities for the day.”  But then again, coming to HB and surfing with da boys was totally out of “KK’s planned activities for the day.”  So I figure it was a good day.

I think each of us caught at least one single wave that was memorable though. 

First off, Dais:  I was paddling for a right, and wasn’t really on the peak.  I was hanging on the shoulder, and felt lazy paddling for it.  I popped up and the wave just wouldn’t let me in, and I bogged out.  I was glad that I bogged out, since I immediately see Dais shooting across my peripherals.  As I looked back to my left, I see him laying the rail in the trough of the wave to bottom turn.  He continues on down the wave for a long ride.  He smiles and laughs, telling me it’s usually the other way around, where I shoot across his field of vision while he bogs out on the shoulder. 

Dais even got pushed into a wave by Matt.  I didn’t get to see it, but Matt was giving him props on it for taking it. 

Secondly, Khang:  He paddles for this wave that jacks up for him, and only him.  That was the kind of day it was today.  Just random peaks in front of the lifeguard tower.  He was able to take the wave all the way down to shore, and came back, then paddled for another wave.  I couldn't believe that he was able to catch consecutive waves.  Just like that.  Sometimes, surfing takes a little luck in where you sit, and he was sitting on the right spot.

However, he did eat it on an outside wave.  The wipe out was great!  I was egging him onto this wave, and he was paddling into it way too deep on the peak. He ditches his board, and just gets engulfed by the white water.  Surprisingly there was some oomph on these waves today.  He came up with a look of astonishment of how he got worked on such a small set wave.  I say small because compared to two weeks ago, these are easy waves. 

Thirdly, Matt:  I would say his lefts are getting better.  He was able to pump and weave over the white water sections on the waves.  On one wave, I saw him take off late but pump up and down the face, go sort of off the top (they’re not as critical as his back hand off the top snaps), and re-enter, then pump pump pump all the way to shore. 

He had this "miracle moment" towards the end of the session.  It seemed that he was just sitting at the right place at the right time, twice.  He was north of the lifeguard tower, when this sweet A frame rolls in.  He goes for the left, and just pumps all the way up and down the wave.  He looked pretty stoked after that, and while paddling out, his eyes got BIG.  Another set just rolled right through, and he caught that wave too.  Almost like a mirror image wave, this wave took him as far as the last one.  

Lastly, myself:  My most memorable wave probably came at the beginning of the session, where Matt told me to go on a right.  I was able to pump on the face, bottom turn and get a small front-side carve off the top.  I kept pumping on the wave until I was on the shore.  The best part is knowing that my friends saw me.   Dais gave me a small splash to show me how much spray he saw from the back.  Khang gave me some props, and Matt was grinning happily for me.  That one wave made my whole session.

One wave that they didn’t see was another right where I crouched low into the face, felt the wave cover me up, and stayed standing after it crashed on top of me.  I then saw the white water section and pumped around it, and bottom turned up to avoid the section all together.  I then got up on the lip, and stayed on top of it and re-entered the wave. 

A random two wave set would roll through the river jetty, and we would all watch in awe of it.  Then, our spot would get the two or three wave set.  Some of them were close outs, but some of them were nice, open faces.  These conditions weren’t epic at all, but we all had fun.  I think if I had surfed 26^th Street, all by myself, I wouldn’t have had any fun at all.  Surfing is fun, but surfing with friends is a million times more fun. 

“Damn, this is crazy, for the lack of swell, there’s some waves to be ridden!” Matt said, as another set bombed across the river jetty.  I had to agree.  It was a big surprise to get waves in the South Bay when there aren’t any waves. 

“Yea, and Klaude was all Negative Nancy about it all the way here,” Dais added.  He was right.  I was being a Debbie Downer about the whole morning’s occurrences, especially because THINGS DIDN’T OCCUR AS PLANNED.  But you know what?  What really goes “as planned” in life?  Usually nothing does.  Nothing goes ideally, step by step, as YOU planned.  And when you try to make things go as planned, things get more and more fucked up with each change you try to make so things go “according to plan.”  I wouldn’t go as far as saying just to be a casual observer, but things just happen, so just enjoy the ride.  Life is a wave, and your attitude is your board.  Life will come and go, but it’s up to you on whether or not you ride along, and then HOW your ride will be is totally up to your attitude. 

A big pod of dolphins kept going back and forth in front of us.  The brown haze of Los Angeles pollution hung over the horizon like an unhappy parent looking over her child’s homework.  The crystal clear water swayed and moved with every pulsating bump on the horizon.  Otherwise, the water stayed tranquil and peaceful. 

I have everyone to thank today:  All da boys that made the session memorable, Mother Ocean who graced us with her gifts, the pod of dolphins that frolicked with us, the Banh Mi Cali shop that we stopped by later to fuel up after three hours of surf, all of it.  Without any of them, I wouldn’t be so happy about Saturday.  Ever. 

Mahalos.