Sunday = Funday 071711

Surf Report: 1-2 feet and clean!

Water: Clean and clear and under control

Winds: Marginal

Atmosphere: Sunny!

Sunday what a fun day!  Today I rolled with Khang in the morning and met with Maryann, Kim, Mellie Mel, and Mel’s friend Cynthia.  It was another lazy Sunday morning…

When I was at Costco filling up on gas, the wind was chilly, and the over cast was making things a bit nippy.  I got to Khang’s and told him my analysis of the weather.

“Man, I do NOT want to wear my 4/3!” he told me.

“Yea, but we just might have to…”

Well, once we got to 26^th Street, we watched the waves.  The waves were tiny, but looked fun.  There were a lot of longboarders out, but I didn’t bring my longboard today.  I wanted to shortboard it.  Anyways, Maryann was riding the foamie, so it was perfect:  no one gets to ride longboards today!  Oh wait, here comes Mellie Mel…

We greet Mellie Mel in her red Ford hatchback.  Her friend Cynthia was in the back, looking comfy with a pillow behind her with a coffee in one hand and an apple in the other.  Cynthia is a fellow UCLA alumni, and is an avid snowboarder.  She brought out a gigantic 10 foot longboard that was an amazing orange color.  Mellie Mel was on her neon railed board that I love so much, but I didn’t get the pleasure of riding her today. 

Reason I Love Surfing with Mellie Mel #23,897,043: She forgets her wetsuit in her drive way.  Hahahahahaha!  It was so comical how the news was broken to us, because the water temperature had to be the same as yesterday, but she made it work in her bikini.  I still think she forgot her wetsuit on purpose. 

Maryann is still learning to surf.  I remember when she first came out to surf and it was a gnarly day.  The shore pound was so crazy, it was definitely not a day for a beginner to be in the water.  I offered my assistance in her wave riding endeavors, which she politely declined at first, but accepted after a little pushing from Khang.  So, for the first thirty minutes, I was to dedicate myself to teaching another student.

Khang and I were riding leash less today, free from the bondage of suffering, I mean, confinement from a leash.  I guess we just hate being BOUND and CONFINED.  It was a small day anyways, so even if you lost your board, it wasn’t that bad of a paddle back in to shore to grab your board. 

So, I lead Maryann out into the water on the foamie.  We saw Patty catching some white water waves, and so I figured it would be a good time to teach someone who is learning to surf on the white water too.  I would pull Maryann out half way to the line up, have her turn around, and push her into waves.  She was half way standing up on all the waves I pushed her into, and she seemed stoked.  After fifteen minutes, she wanted to take a break, so I ran back to my surfboard and paddled out to the line up. 

It wasn’t hard to spot Khang, Mellie Mel and Cynthia.  I just had to look for two bare-backers.  Even my blind ass can spot that in the line up.  The waves seemed very forgiving today, and the sets would come in small increments where we were sitting.  It was just another beautiful SoCal day with a handful of friends in the water. 

I got a good wave count today.  It was enough to satisfy my insatiable hunger.  I remember pumping down the line a lot but not really doing any turns on my front side.  I also took a left which I thought of doing the “lay back hand drag” that I saw Andy Irons doing all the time, and I actually succeeded.  I felt my right hand (trailing hand) dig into the wave face as I stayed high in the curl of the wave.  There wasn’t much push in the wave, but I still had fun experimenting with front side and back side pumping.

On my way back out, I saw one of the most hilarious things ever.  I saw Khang catch a pretty nice right, but he came unstuck on the wave.  He fell, but the board kept on going.  Not only did the board keep going, but that board just planed through the flat section, and kept going down the line.  Then, the board hit a speed bump when the wave doubled up and started to double up.  Not to be defeated by some double up, the board dropped in to the doubled up section and still kept on going!  It was like Maria had a mind of her own.  “If you don’t ride these waves, I will!”  Maria finally lost all her speed and got tumbled by the white wash. 

Cynthia had one of the gnarliest wipe outs of the morning.  I was right in front of her, getting out of her wave.  She looked determined to catch the wave, but the wave pitched.  I saw her orange board nose dive and Cynthia just eat it badly.  I was hoping she wouldn’t be in shallow water as I duckdived right next to her board being tossed around in the white water.  She resurfaced without a scratch!  Phew! 

The Return of Mellie Mel the Kamikaze Warrior: 

Mel seemed possessed today.  Or maybe she got the webbing back on her hands and her gills back on her neck?  She switched boards with Cynthia and just went on a rampage catching waves.  She went left (backside to us surfers, front side for snowboard and skate lingo, as I would later find out) and right.  She made early drops and late drops, getting to her feet quickly, and taking the wave all the way down to shore.  Every time she came back, she had the hugest smile on her face.  She was telling Cynthia she almost ran over someone on her first wave, but still managed to move the huge board to her own will. 

Mel went on a “left” today.  I put that in quote marks because I was going to Turn & Go on that wave, but she looked like she was going left so I backed out.  Foregoing the T&G, I went under the wave to see her swing wide left and head right.  She took that wave all the way right down to the shore pound.  Mellie Mel had a nice wave count today, but I personally thought her front side attack (going RIGHT in surf lingo) was way better than going left.  She took two rights all the way to the inside section!

Khang was saying maybe it would have been better for his shortboard instead of Maria.  However, it looked like he was catching a lot of waves today, so I think he made a find choice in which board to take out.  I saw him go on numerous lefts that he was able to plow through the white water section, normally not done on his thruster.  And when he right, he was able to take them pretty damn far.  It’s always good to change things up anyway.  You get a new feel for a different board, and when you get back on your regular shortboard, everything is fresh and new again! 

Today was just a lot of pumping down the line on waves.  I didn’t have the momentum to bust any turns, but this one surfer definitely had the skills to generate speed and bust a few turns on a wave.  Clearly, my skill level isn’t where I want it to be, but that is a difference between needs and wants.  I need to surf, but I want to surf better.  I was happy with just surf today.

Mellie Mel and I paddled for a party wave.  I thought I had the wave, but at the last moment the wave didn’t let me in, and I saw Mel pop up and left me in her dust.  I was a bit disappointed in myself not being able to get in that wave too, but I was stoked that one of my friends got it.  She took that wave all the way to shore.  This wave was the potential wave of the Summer thus far if we had both caught it, but alas, I am still noob!! 

I took one last wave in, and was stoked from head to toe.  I lost my wave count at four, and saw the sun baking our skin and the clear water trickling an aquamarine jewel shower on the shore.  It was so much fun surfing this morning that it didn’t matter that it was only 2 foot waves.  I only lost my board once the whole session, and the paddle to the board wasn’t bad at all.  I got to see Maryann sort of stand up, the Real Mellie Mel return, and Khang catch a lot of waves on the fish!!!

Mahalos Mother Ocean!!

A little side note:  Did you parents ever buy a beach towel?  Mine never did.  Nor did Mel’s or Cynthia’s.  We just got those free ones or cheap bath towels as “beach towels” because our parents were so sheisty.  I didn’t notice this until she pointed it out, but our childhoods were deprived of being enveloped in a huge beach towel every time we came out of the freezing cold water.  But, as Mellie Mel pointed out, we have great credit score, which obviously is up there in importance as our last name.  So, we sacrificed the beach towel and comfy childhood by being able to get any loan you want!! Yay!!!