Wednesday, November 28, 2012

So Stoked 112412 - 26th Street


Surf Report: 1-3 feet
Water: Cool
Atmosphere: Foggy to sunny
Winds: Offshore

The size dropped off a lot today… but the crowds stayed home!  So stoked. 

Matt and I were sexting back and forth last night.  His choice was to go to HB.  I was willing to concede, so I told him that I’ll tell my dad to come out another day to photograph.  The waves were going to be small every place, so why not travel with a friend? 

After a few more sexts, Matt says that he’ll just stick to local guns.  I shook my head in disappointment.  He gets swayed by outside forces so often… I know he’s just trying to please people, but c’mon mate!!  Set your foot down and do what YOU want to do, not what others want to.  I told him that over the phone, and he said, “Yea, I know, but you know, my brother’s in town.  I’ll see you tomorrow, k?” 

Dawn patrol!  And no one was out.  It was a beautiful morning with the thick fog.  The sand was semi cold, but not the coldest it’s been.  I trotted down the sand and stretched.  The waves were breaking pretty close to shore, so I was glad I didn’t travel for surf like this. 

But where was Matt?  He usually keeps his word… maybe he surfed HB with his bro afterall. 

Longboarder Tom was catching some nice waves.  And so was Mr. Oscar.  He had his foamie out today.  It was definitely a good call.

Some rogue sets would catch us off-guard, and so we started sitting further outside.  The cool fog stayed thick over the grey waters.  The water wasn’t rank of red tide smell, but the patches of red tide were still present.  The water was clear, but had the scent of red tide in it still.  I noticed my paddle becoming lazier in the mediocre surf.  So, I started to paddle with more power and purpose as I used to in Hawaii, regardless of wave size.  My arms felt better from doing this. 

My body started to warm up, and I paddled into a right close to shore.  I pumped and saw the oncoming section.  I bottom turned, shot my board out to the oncoming white water section, and turned my head back to shore.  Surprisingly, the board bounced off the white water, and I found myself completely parallel to the wave, heading back to where I came from.  I couldn’t straighten out to complete the move, but it felt crazy to actually have that bounce back on a maneuver. 

Christina came out with Apolla this day.  I hadn’t seen Apolla for a long time.  Last time she was going back to Canada, and then she went off to New York for a film making job.  She finished that, and was back in California.  Right when they both came, the sun started to shine through and burn off the fog.  Symbolic, isn’t it? 

The waves started to become inconsistent, but there were waves to be had.  Roy was again killing it.  He always waits patiently on the outside, spots the good waves from afar, paddles to meet it, and lacerates the wave to shreds.  It amazes me how well he always surfs, and the biggest quality of his surf is the smile he wears every time he catches a wave. 

Christina is getting more consistent with choosing good waves and going down the line.  She had two back to back lefts that she was able to take all the way to shore.  The stoke she had was comparable when she got that one right a few weeks back, going down the face and onto the open section of the wave on purpose.  These lefts were similar, but they were longer rides.  The smile on her face was priceless.  That is the stoke that makes me say that surfing is sometimes better than sex. 

Apolla had one nice ride today!  I was on the inside, and she paddled for the semi-close-out left.  She was grabbing rail at first but let it go half way down the take off.  She bent her back knee and was turning towards the open section, but the section closed out on her.  Christina, the one-person cheer squad, hooted her for the ride.  Apolla was all smiles. 

One of my last waves was a right, where I had to call of the yellow body boarder.  I started to pump and saw him on the shoulder paddling into the wave, so I hooted him off.  I kept pumping all the way into the shallow end, and was trying to finish it strong, but the back wash warped the end section and I couldn’t throw all my speed into the maneuver.  I was kinda bummed that I couldn’t finish strong, but Roy and Christina were stoked for me, so I was stoked too. 

I took two close outs and headed out of the beach.  It wasn’t a long, epic session, but it was enough to fill my soul.  I was stoked. 

I drove Roy down to Khang’s shop on the Promenade.  Roy’s been saying he needed a new suit for the longest time, so I told him that I’ll drive him down there in the afternoon.  He took my up on the offer and got a brand-spanking new Cypher 4/3.  Mahalos Khang and Dais!

Mahalos Mother Ocean!!!  So stoked…

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