San Diego Day Trip - Part 2 070911

Surf Report:  2-4 feet lefts

Water: Warmer

Atmosphere: Sunny!

Winds: Slight on shore?

We decided to surf BLACKS.  All I think when I heard BLACKS was the surfer mag photo of a packed BLACKS with numerous peaks firing off left hand barrels.  I was weary of the crowd factor, but I was stoked to be surfing somewhere with the potential of getting barrels.  The crew for the afternoon included Dais, Ko, Khang, B. Ish(igami), Peter, their friend Charles, DK and myself. 

Blacks is accessible two ways, and the one we took is probably the most common.  We parked in the multi million dollar neighborhood of La Jolla where there is an enforced two hour only parking rule.  I guess the neighborhood doesn’t want people to over stay their welcome.  There is an entrance with thick guard rails that leads down to a paved road, and the road winds down like a snake through a valley of lush green and natural beauty. 

As we walk down the slope, we see a guy on a downhill skateboard walking up.  He wore a helmet and gloves, so we assumed he was a pretty serious downhill skater.  We get to the first hair pin curve, and see a bunch of other dudes with helmets and gloves, and realize it was a bunch of gnarly downhill skaters.  Khang suggested we stop and watch this guy do his thing.

We waited for two cars to go up the hill (these guys have “special credentials” that allow them to drive down the hill) and the other skaters gave the signal.  The lone skater started to make his descent, then did a speed check 180, then another speed check 180, and then tucked in low for speed.  As he neared the hair pin curve, he put his trailing hand down and blew the tail out, skidding to an almost complete stop as he rounded the curve.  He then let go of the ground, and banked up the concrete slope, went down the slope more, and did a finishing 180 to come to a stop.  We all cheered and hooted. 

We walked all the way down the s-turn cliff and finally got to an opening to see the beach.  The beach in front of us looked ok, but Ko pointed further up the coast and there we saw peeling waves with surfers getting ride after ride.  I tried not to psyche myself out, but I was determined to redeem myself for the morning’s session.  The waves looked so good!!  It seemed the rights were very mushy, but the lefts walled up very quickly and were open for business.  I wanted to believe there were some rights in Blacks, but there were only lefts that offered any canvas to draw upon. 

Chairmen of the Board: Mr. Khang Tran

Dais points out that the white water looked like it had a lot of power.  I watched the waves crash down in front of us at 4 Stripes and agreed.  The white water looked like it pummeled anything in its way.  It was a slow, rolling white water bull.  We opted to paddle out a little bit south to get through a channel.  We paddled out in front of 4 Stripes.  I call it 4 Stripes because there were 4 Stripes right on the cliff side from darker hued rock, probably from the moisture from roots growing out of the side.  Da boys hung out on the shoulder side, but I wanted to be a bit closer to the peak.  I started out on the beginning of the shoulder, and inched my way up towards the peak while reading the waves.  The vibe was super chill and awesome.

Apparently, this was an average day.  But just like the “average day” at Trestles with Matt and Dais, this “average” day at Blacks was love at first sight.  The water was clear but one could see the deep channels that ran through Blacks.  There are Great White Shark nesting grounds about 50 miles out to sea, and those underwater canyons jack up some very nice lefts.  The lulls were long on this swell period, but when they came, boy did they do their job.  I sat, bobbing up and down, taking in the surroundings.  This felt like surfing to me.  The sun was out, the water was a clear green blue with gold flecks sparkling in the medium, and the winds were kicking up. 

I watched the guys on the peak duke it out.  The peaks looked feathery on the rights, but I couldn’t see what was happening on the lefts.  It seemed that I was sitting on the mushy right side of the waves, instead of the walled up lefts.  I came up on a left that appeared, as it doubled up right in front of me.  I was lucky.  I took the wave, and felt the speed push.  I popped up to my feet easily, and just slid down the face.  I bottom turned back side up the face but didn’t quite make it to the upper part of the wave where the lip was.  The wave crashes behind me as I straightened out, and I was loving the session already.

At one point, I was on the peak right between the 1^st and 2^nd Stripe.  I took a left, and made it down the line.  My right foot toes started to cramp up.  I paddled back out, trying to massage my right foot with my left heel, but I saw another wave come.  I took another left.  My right toes were still cramped up, so I massaged it a bit more while paddling back out.  I sat on my board when another wave came.  I took that left.  Now, my right toes were just killing me, and I had to stretch it out with my hands.  I sat all the way up on my board and started to stretch the toes.  I finally got the knot out.  phew. 

This Land of Lefts just reminded me so much of Spot X in Oahu.  It was just left after left after left.  However, when the clean up sets come… you better watch out.

One such clean up set came when I took the first wave of the set.  The lull was long, so I grew impatient and took the first wave of the set.  It was a close out that I tried to take right.  The section on the right ran out.  I think the left would have been better, but no time to think about that right now.  The waves here start to form all the way out.  Everyone see’s the feathering peak, but it’s a straight race to the horizon to escape Blacks.  The waves would feather and break at the top from the on shore winds, and then curl and dump after a few seconds of the white water feathering.  This made duck diving a little bit easier, since you had some leeway between duck dives.  On this set, I counted seven on the head:

One, paddle paddle paddle.  DUCK DIVE! Get pulled back slightly.

Two, paddle paddle paddle.  DUCK DIVE DEEPER! 

Three, paddle paddle paddle.  DUCK DIVE!!

Four, paddle paddle paddle paddle paddle paddle.  DUCK DIVE!!

Sit

Breathe

Five!

Six!!

Really?

Seven!!!

Fine.  I accept. 

I finally got to sit after that.  I drifted further north of 4 Stripes, where the blue tent used to be.  There were a lot of surfers out, but nothing compared to Porto.  There was a Japanese kid that was sponsored by Quiksilver that was taking some gnarly lefts back side.  There were two white guys trading off on the right handed peaks further north.  There was a long boarder on the shoulder backing out on a lot of waves, thinking he couldn’t make it. 

Da Boys and I all separated during this session.  I only saw Khang’s wave out of everyone.  He went for this feathering left that broke slightly to the side of him.  I watched his frame get picked up and slide down right at me.  I duck dived to the left of him, in the lip.  I escaped being run over by Khang as I looked back and hooted him on the wave.  Other guys watched as he took the wave down to the inside and jumped off as it closed out.  Any closer to me and I would have had fin marks on my back. 

One of the cleanest of lefts I got was early in the session, where I was able to bottom turn to the face, and reach down onto the face with my hand, and in turn using my body to do so, and redirected my board back down.  I doubt there was any spray, but I was glad to have stuck the top turn on my backside.  I definitely want to push harder on the back foot next time I get a chance.  But, for now, I got to do a small top turn.  As I re-entered the wave, I saw another surfer on my outside.  Oops, I must have snaked him.  I hopped off the wave and he took it all the way in.  He came back, paddling out smiling.

“Ho! Nice wave huh?” he said to me.

“Yea! Sorry I snaked ya,” I told him.

“Oh, no, there was plenty a room on that one!  I even got barreled on the inside!”

“Damn, maybe I shouldn’t have hopped off then?”

He laughed and kept on paddling further to the outside. 

I’m not quite sure how many waves I caught this session, but it was a satisfying amount.  The two hours ticked away as I spent my energy to depletion.  My last wave was a belly ride after a few sets on the head.  Sorry for not fulfilling the Surfer’s Code.

Ko was knocked out on the sand, and DK was standing by the boards.  Peter and Bryan went off, scouring the beach coast and stumbling upon the nude beach site.  They witnessed about “100 penises and 20 sets of boobs.”  The highlight was the guy with a cock ring on for sure.  Charles got stung by a sting ray and was bandaged up on his right leg. 

Now came the long walk back up the cliff’s trail. 

Missed my Golden Opportunity to snap a nicer photo

Dais and Khang were still out there, but I had a fear of parking tickets.  I started off ahead of the pack to at least be around the cars so they wouldn’t get ticketed.  My paranoia went away like a puff of smoke upon arrival to the cars. 

Dais, Khang, DK and I ended up going to Zenkou’s Sushi on the way home.  We each polished off a minimum of 28 orders, which was an unimpressive number compared to our first adventure there (ask Tony, the manager, who greeted us “Hey, it’s the Big Eaters!” when we walked in.)  Notable highlights were:

The Tuna (last time it was pink, this time it was red)

The Salmon

The Scallops

Yellowtail

And others.  They changed the fresh water eel (unagi) sauce.  Kind of like a mix of Otafuku okonomi-yaki sauce and Worcestershire sauce. 

We all got home around 1130, and I don’t know about everyone else, but I knocked the FUCK OUT!!  Best sleep!!

Mahalos Mother Ocean.  It just goes to show that San Diego might be the crown jewel of the California Coast.  The world is a great book, of which those who have not travelled have yet to read a single page.  Well, I’m starting to read a lot more pages.