The Surfer I Want To Be 090411

Surf Report: solid 5 footers at Manhattan Beach

Water: Warmer than County Line

Atmosphere: gloomy

Winds: on shore

Staying Local.

Woke up at 600 AM to Matt’s text.  He was already at the beach.  Now, I told him the previous night that none of us will be there until 730 or 800, so I didn’t quite know why he was up so early already at the beach.

Sunrise

We exchange texts and I tell him that we will see him later at the beach.  I convinced him to just watch the waves by playing devil’s advocate.  He has pushed himself a lot surfing lately, and now that his shoulder is really bad, I didn’t want him to paddle out in the swell conditions when he isn’t 100%.  That is just another reason for Mother Ocean to teach you a valuable lesson that could keep a surfer out of the water for more than three months. 

I do my usual morning routine and by 700 I am ready to go. 

I get to Khang’s by 730, and Dave arrives shortly thereafter.  We pack up our stuff and head out when Matt calls.

“Bro, I’m leaving,” he says to us.

“Nooooo don’t leave!  We are just heading over there…”

“No, I’m leaving, this is crazy, I’m not paddling out.”

He gave us an annotated surf report and left us with blue balls.  Oh well.

We got to 26^th Street and found free parking on the Strand.  ON THE STRAND!! This never happens, meaning all of the locals aren’t here… that’s usually a bad sign.

So we three watch the waves…  three surfers are paddling out.  On the first duck dive, they drift about ten feet.  The second duck dive, they pass in front of us, and on the third, they were past the pipes, going to 33^rd Street…

One of the locals was out, and tearing it up.  But still, even he got washed away in the current.

I told Da Boyz we should try not to pass our parking space, and fight the current.  This proved to be a good goal to have throughout the day. 

When we first paddled out, Khang went a little further south to paddle out.  I chose to paddle out right in front, and so did Dave. 

Dave hit the water before me, and I followed afterwards.  A few strokes in, and I could feel the pull.  I paddled diagonally to keep myself in position.  By the third duck dive, I passed Dave and left him behind.  I paddled for a good ten or fifteen minutes trying to get out of the impact zone.  I saw Khang got out pretty quickly, and tried to paddle towards him. 

I felt like I was on a treadmill.

No matter how much I paddled, I would look back, and see I had not moved an inch from where I started.  So I put my head down, breathed longer, and made my strokes longer.  Eventually, I ended up in front of the 26^th Street tower.  A lot of guys were being washed out towards us while Khang and I maintained position.

Khang caught this one left where he made the drop and slid down the face.  He didn’t do anything else on the wave though.  He then caught a right that he was able to do a bottom turn on, but that was the end of that ride. 

There were shoulders to be ridden, but it was just tough getting to the shoulders.  I employed the same tactics as yesterday, trying to paddle for the little bumps I felt on the horizon.  However, the waves weren’t as clean as I had wished, and so I kept on paddling and backing out on waves.

First wave I was able to pop up on bucked me off the horse.  I was flung into the air and I landed on my fins.  Not only did I land on my fins, I was anally raped by them.  The two side fins hit both my cheeks, and the center fin hit my tail bone.  Ouch. 

A clean right came to me, but I rushed my pop up and just ate it.  I was mad at myself for not being able to pop up cleanly, and so I’ve decided I need to get better at my pop ups once more.

This board is for the surfer I want to be, not the surfer I am now.  If I had my other Merrick (the Rising Sun one) then I would have been able to ride out a few of these waves for sure.  However, the board I need to be riding is this board, since this is for the surfer I want to become.  I want to get better riding this board, and so I have to stubbornly stick with it. 

A lot more paddling ensues, and Khang and I both maintain our positions.  We see Dave on the shore, and Christina also there too.  They give it a go to paddle out. 

Eventually, Khang and I decide to take the next wave in, and stop fighting the current.  In the last twenty minutes of our surf session, we drifted about 3.5 lifeguard towers, or about twenty blocks.  Christina drifted with us, telling us the stories from last night where she went to go see Thich Nhat Hanh in Pasadena.  She seemed to have had an enlightening experience.

Khang took the last wave.  He paddled for a left and was able to pop up on a vertical face.  I couldn’t believe he actually made the drop and rode it out to shore.  He definitely was the performer out of all of us.

I said my good bye to Christina as I took the paddle of shame.  The waves just seemed to have shut down, although the current didn’t let up.  I got out and watched the Ocean as it churned and swirled in a rhythm of its own tune.  I was humbled by today again. 

Khang and I watched the line up fill in with more surfers.  Some of them were tearing it up!  Others struggled to even get out of the shore pound.  Dave came walking down the beach, and came back to the parking spot.  He said he struggled most of the session, as did all of us. 

I am not the surfer I want to be.

Sunset

Mahalos Mother Ocean.