Surgical Strike - Hazey Afternoon 030213

Surf: 3-5 feet faces, occasional 6 footer

Water: Cold

Atmosphere: Sunny!

Winds: On shore

I took out my Ukulele and jammed on it while we watched the waves crash on the sand.  We brought out our little snacks and shared with everyone.  We started to kill beers in order to reduce the amount we take back home.  One of the worst things to do at a camp is to bring too much food and bring it back.  So, we did our best to eat all of our snacks and beers that we brought.

Rick and Jimmy B came back, saying their secret spot wasn’t so secret, and that it was mad crowded.  We told them that although it was crowded we were, we got ours.  I kept jamming on the Uke as we passed the time….

We had to clear out of camp by 12 noon since there was another camping party coming.  We showed the meaning of haste and cleaned up everything.  The non-military personnel parked up on the bluffs near the office and Matt walked up to help with any loose luggage.  We reconvened at Matt’s favorite Chruches Tree that he parks at every single time he is staycationing down at San Onofre.  Matt said to just chill and relax until we feel like surfing again. 

I watched the waves at Churches, and people were getting long rides!!  There were definite stand outs, but it didn’t take much skill to catch the waves.  And this was Churches!!  I couldn’t imagine what Middles was doing….

Bri was in and out of naps on the sand, reading the surf magazine Rick brought for us.  “You guys can just chill, and we can paddle out whenever,” Matt said. 

I couldn’t wait.  I said, “I’m not waiting, I have to paddle out now.”  GO FOR IT.  The light clouds made a grey haze on the horizon, but the sun still blazed through and baked us on the sand. 

Matt and Khang said they were going to have a beer as Dais and I stretched out for our next session.  However, there weren’t any more cups and on base, you can’t have an open container unless it is aluminum.  “Well, surf it is then!” Matt said.  “That was easy,” he added.  Indeed, it seemed like everything just fell into place this whole day. 

We took a group picture before we headed off.  Bri stayed behind to tan and rest and keep our smaller camping space hospitable. 

“Brah, imagine, it might be one of those sessions…!” I told Matt.  One of my best sessions here still was that day Dais, Matt and I went to a secret spot and got skunked, then came here, and absolutely scored uncrowded, pumping surf.  And the conditions at Churches resembled that one faithful day.  The clouds were rolling through, but the breeze was light.  I could only be patient as we walked down in anticipation to the Mons Pubis.

I always love the smell of Trestles.  Its unadulterated smell of nature fills my lungs and heart.  The faint hint of seaweed melds with the golden Ocean breeze.  Occasionally the sounds of waves crashing would be interrupted by the honk of the train. 

There was a group of surfers in the same spot as this morning, working a peak that broke both left and right.  The left seemed to be working nicer, but the lulls were long.  We would see the sun glistening on the Ocean surface as the surfers bobbed up and down.  Then, a set would break and surfers were getting some nice rides.  We opted to surf a bit north of them, just like the morning session.  There was no need to be packed up like sardines in a box. 

I think deep down, I knew it was going to be one of those memorable sessions.  But I kept my mouth shut so I wouldn’t jinx it.  I could feel it inside though… this was going to be a magical session. 

Dais, Khang, Hideki, Matt and I paddled out in the same spot and waited for the waves.  There were some longboarders waiting out the back, but we had our space.  Matt drew first blood again.  He got this nice left that swung wide from the pack, and he was able to take the wave far to shore. 

I caught a left that lined up perfectly for me.  However, after bottom turning, I blew the turn and got unstuck.  I should have cranked my whole body on the wave instead of just my lower body.  I got unstuck and flew out the back of the wave.  Although I was mad at myself about blowing the wave, I laughed it off.  The sun was out, the sky was blue, and it was beautiful out here. 

However once I was paddling back out on this wave, the ten wave set came out of no where.  Khang kept trucking through, and got out further quicker than me.  On about the fourth wave of the set, a nice right rolled by, right where he was.  He flipped around, and paddled for an empty gem.  It was probably the best ride that he got at Trestles in his whole life.  I didn’t get to see the whole wave since I had to duck dive a lot more waves after that, but he came back after a long time, and said “That was such a sick right!”

Hideki’s wave of the day came from this session.  He was on the inside, but he muscled his way in on a wave.  He snaked a guy, but the guy simply pumped around Hideki.  Hideki took off on the left and got a long ride to shore.  He came back with that ear-to-ear smile only surfers know.  

Khang paddled up to the peak where the longboarders were.  I lost sight of him for a while, but saw him catching some nice waves from the peak.  Matt was with him for a bit too, battling it out with the pack of longboarders. 

I sat on the inside, minding my own business.  Dais and I would hoot people into waves, and throw shakas to surfers if they got nice rides.  They would flash a huge smile back at us.  We brought the good Aloha energy to the line up.  Even the old salty dudes were super stoked when they got hooted in by two young guys. 

I dropped in on a guy by accident.  Well, it wasn’t on accident.  I wasn’t going to back down on the set.  But the guy was super fast, and by the time I got to my feet, I saw him pumping down the line from the corner of my eyes.  I thought to myself, “I have to kick out!” but when I thought that, I fell on my ass.  In a last attempt to save myself, I pulled on my leash so the board wouldn’t shoot out into his line.  Khang said that EVERYONE saw me snake that guy.  I felt horrible for snaking him, but I never saw him after that.  I’m sure he was in the water, and I wanted to apologize to him, but oh well.

I wanted to get the sets, but the peak was infested with longboarders.  So, I sat on the Mons Pubis, and I kept my eyes on the horizon.  I would see these two longboarders bob up and down, and used them as buoys to indicate when a wave would come.  The sky turned to a grey haze, and the blinding reflection on the water made it hard to tell which waves were sets and which waves were duds.  The grey line up melded with the sky, and the only indicators of waves were the bobbing surfers on the horizon.  I had to let go of all my thoughts and just let the waves speak to me. 

The session seemed to just go by in a drunken haze.  I remember that I was surfing, trying to correct my stance, my positioning, and my turns.  I’m not sure how many waves I caught this session, but it was one of my highest wave counts.  I would catch a wave, and feel I was surfing too much on my front foot.  So, I would correct that on the next wave.  Then, I would feel that I wasn’t carving deep enough, so I would draw out longer lines on the next wave.  I kept trying to improve on each wave, and went for each set wave that swung my way.  The Mons Pubis was pumping!!!! 

“Man, you’re a machine!” Hideki said.  His arms were treading water, while I paddled back from another wave. 

“Just keep laughing, and you’ll get more energy,” I told him.  “Right Dais?”

Dais smiled back.

My new remedy for muscle cramps or overall lethargy is to laugh.  Just laugh out loud.  No matter what.  You might sound psychotic, but hey, if you’re not laughing, then you’re taking surfing way too seriously.  And strangely enough, when you laugh, you feel energized.  Just try it. 

More outside sets would break, cleaning up the line up.  “Small price to pay for these conditions,” I thought to myself.  Just a few duck dives and I was back in a peaceful state. 

Matt and Khang got tired of battling it out with longboarders, and started sticking to the inside.  That proved successful since they got a lot of rides on the inside.  I saw Matt and Khang going for lefts.  Matt and Khang were both killing it again on their shred sticks.  It really made me think that I want a board just like theirs.  They are taking their game to a whole ‘nother level. 

Another outside set would break and clean up the line up.  Some lucky longboarder would get the outside sets all the time.  The lulls were long, but the sets lined up perfectly. We all hooted them onto the sets as we duck-dived out of their way.  It was a line-up full of aloha spirit.

I saw Dais catching a lot of waves working the inside next to me.  I’m not sure how many waves he caught, but they were more than I could count on two hands.  He sat further down towards Churches away from the crowds, and scored a lot of waves on his own. 

My session culminated in this one insider.  I saw the three longboarders out on the peak bob up, and knew that the wave was going to break for me.  I paddled, thinking to myself, “Meet and greet, ride and slide.” – it was a lesson Fransauce taught me.  If you want the wave, you’ve got to meet and greet it.  Then you can ride and slide on her.  The peak was all mine, and I paddled hard for it.  I’m not sure what I did on the wave.  I wish I did.  All da boys called it “The Right.”  They said I did two turns on it, but I barely remember that.  I was caught up in the moment so much that by the time the wave was done, I was pumping on the flats, and looking back at the wave, thinking to myself, “Was I just riding that thing?”  I knew it was a good ride because of how I felt but I didn’t remember anything that happened. 

Hideki paddles back and yells, “Masanobu!  That was a nice ride!!” 

Khang, Dais and Matt give me props too.  Getting a great wave is great, but getting a great wave and having all da boys see it?  Just PERFECT. 

I definitely burned out all of my dopamine and serotonin in this whole day.  I couldn’t believe how my body was operating after four hours of sleep still.  I took a close out to end the session.  This day will forever be in our memories as the best day we’ve had at Trestles.  Despite the crowds, everyone got theirs.  The waves just kept coming… and coming… and coming. 

And to think, I was going to drive down here by myself and leave early!  What a bad decision that would have been.  None of these memories filled with happiness would have been possible without da boys.  I am forever grateful to be surrounded with such great people with so much aloha spirit. 

Mahalos Mother Ocean!!!  Mahalos to all da boys who made this trip possible, and oh-so-memorable.  I wish I had better memory to recall everything, but you know what?  It’s all about the feeling that we shared that day.  And this one day… has got to be the best!  It will be hard to top this surgical strike.  We were efficient.  We came, we saw, we conquered.  Vini vidi vici. 

Just GO FOR IT!!!!