San Diego Day Trip - Part 1 070911

Surf Report: 1-2 feet with the occasional 3 footer

Water: Cold

Wind: Off shore switching to on shore

Atmosphere: Gloomy

SD road trip!  Dais and Khang planned a small day trip to SD so we can surf down there.  Our gracious host Kotaro allowed us to stay in his living room and sleep, while showing us around the places he likes to surf in SD. 

Accidents!  Try not to let it bother you while popping up!

The night began with accidents all around.  When I was getting into Khang’s car, I hit my foot on the bumper and tripped.  Not to be outdone, when I boarded the car, I hit my head on the trunk.  When we arrived to SD and were waiting for Ko, I was skating on the streets and hit a bump and ate it, scraping my hand and elbows while bruising my thigh.  Well, at least I got that out of my system. 

First session of the day was at a spot called 1,000 stairs.  The location is Solana Beach, where a public parking lot allows surfers and beach goers to stay as long as they wish.  The spot is nestled between million dollar homes and town houses on a cliff.  The steep stairs go down to the beach.  With every cautious step, I am reminded of Japanese homes that have steep stairs in the old style homes.  The beach was quaint and quiet, with no other people around.  Ko’s friend Ben commented on how “crowded” it was, when all I saw were fifteen people max out in the line up.  So, what is “uncrowded” here then?

The crew was Ko, Khang, Dais, DK, J-pon, Damon, Nicole, Ben, and Jason.  J-pon and Damon were Ko’s frat brothers.  They had just picked up surfing recently.  Most of the SD crew were in wetsuits, while the DRC was in boardshorts only.  That proved to be mistake.

The SD Crew, J-Pon, Nicole, and Damon

Khang and DK, ready for action

The break looked like El Porto on an average day.  I honestly was unimpressed by the spot.  It didn’t seem like a place where I wanted to be surfing, especially after a long drive down to San Diego and sleeping for four hours while getting bit by bugs as I slept.  I felt dismal and unstoked. 

Khang and Dais seemed stoked, and they were making the most out of the conditions.  It was a beach break, but there were some rocks in the line up, since the set waves seemed to break on the same place every single time.  And every single time a set wave would break, this one old dude on his longboard would use both arms to paddle into the waves and pop up after three strokes.  He took every single set wave.  I hooted him on the first two, but after that, it got ridiculous.  He was on EVERY SINGLE FUCKING WAVE.  I didn’t hate on him for that, but man, there was just no competing with this guy.

On top of that, the lulls were a bit long, and the water was cold for just boardshorts.  I was shivering out in the line up, and tried to stay warm but couldn’t.  I caught some mushy waves that would die on me after two seconds, and so I was pretty disappointed.  I hoped that the waves would get better, but I quickly lost the plot and started thinking about the afternoon session.

I was a Debby Downer.  A Negative Nancy.  A Sorrow Sucker.  I was griping in the line up to myself the whole time, wishing that a wave would come to change my whole outlook.  A wave came, and I went for it.  I pop up… and I see Khang right in front of me.  If I didn’t fall out the back of the wave, he would have fin marks all over his back.  Alas, he paddles for the wave, and doesn’t get in it.  The wave was too mushy, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. 

I did see the potential here though.  Further north up the point the waves would break into a clean almond shaped C.  I could see that the waves, if given the right tide and swell size, would barrel out here.  I wondered why the wave looks so clean over there… I would soon find out.

I took a left on my belly.  The left didn’t open up so I took the white wash in as far as I wanted, and when I got off and got off my board, I felt a huge jagged rock under my foot.  I was surprised that there were rocks here.  There were no rocks on the beach.  But, it does make sense.  We were staring at a cliff towering sixty feet over us.  There has to be rocks.  So, it made sense that the right swell and tide condition would make this place epic.

I was still griping in the line up, and let da boys know that I wasn’t too happy about the waves.  Just then, a small jewel popped up and I paddled into the right.  I had to stomp on the front of the board to keep going on the wave, but I finally made it to the inside section where it doubles up.  Dais, who had been catching waves inside here, hooted me. 

It wasn’t a spectacular wave, but it was a game changer.  The sun started to shine through above the cliffs, and the water turned a clear blue, reflecting the clear sky that showed as the winds blew away the clouds and the sun burnt off the marine layer. 

Dais told me I should stay on the inside to catch some fun ones.  I did.  However, my patience ran thin, and after a few waves on the inside, I called it quits.  I was done for the morning session.

J-pon, Damon, and Nicole were hanging out on the shore.  We chit chatted a bit and they parted ways.  Ko came in and went back out after fixing the string that connects the leash to the board.  DK came out and had enough surf for this morning, and tried to nap in the bright, warm sun. 

Khang and Dais were the true troopers out there today, staying out for another hour and a half after I came out.  They were frothing, taking in the moment and surfing like stoked groms.  They definitely caught a lot more waves than I did this session, and they had the right tactics of sitting and positioning.  Like Gerry Lopez says, the best surfer in the water is the one who is having the most fun in the water.  These two were the best surfers for the day.  Well I guess the old guy on the longboard too. 

The tide swing started to clean up the sets and shape of the wave.  There seemed to be more “oomph” in the wave, but I wasn’t feeling all too stoked about heading out again after sitting on the shore for a while.  I just laid out on the sand and relaxed as the waves crashed on the fine San Diego sand.  (The sand here is definitely a finer grain, more like a kakigori snow cone.)  I got a sharp bite on my upper thigh, right towards my ass.  I cringed and brushed whatever that bit me.  It was just a small bite at first but now it’s bulging like a bad Japanese mosquito bite.  Perhaps a poison spider?

When I first got to the parking lot, I was thinking about the beach.  When I got to the beach, I thought about the cold water.  When I got in the cold water, I thought about the crappy waves.  I look forward to the afternoon session before the first thirty minutes passed in the morning session.  I was not living in the moment, and therefore I didn’t have much fun. 

Now, I was thinking with my stomach, on what to eat.  We went to the Pizza Port, where they brewed their own beer.  Their wings were amazing, the pizza was great and plentiful, and the Swami’s IPA was delicious.  We headed to Ko’s work place to see where we would head out for the afternoon session…