Fourth Consecutive Day of Surf 122611

Surf Report: Super fun 4 footers

Water: Cool

Winds: Off shore

Atmosphere: Clear and sunny and cold.

Fourth day of surfing for me… how amazing!  But this is also the second day I haven’t seen Roy out in the water.  I’m kind of bummed about that.  Out of all the locals at 26^th Street, he has to be the soul and embodiment of the Aloha Spirit. 

I manage to drag Fransauce out of bed this morning, while Rick and his brother John were able to drag Matt out of bed too.  I scored free parking up the hill and got a call from Matt.

“Hey guy, I was trying to waive you down.  Do you have a leash by any chance?”

“Nope, but call Fransauce, he’s on his way,” I reply.

It’s another beautiful day with freezing concrete and sand.  I swear my toes are going to fall off as I trot down the hill and see Christina’s car parked on the side. 

I see Matt stretching on the sand as he waves at me.  We both catch up on how the Lakers lost yesterday (big fucking surprise) and talk about our Christmas day.  I convince him to paddle out leashless, since it’s not that crowded and it will be a fun experience. 

I stay in the usual spot that I surf in, but the Westside Hurley Crew (WHC) paddle towards 33^rd street.  The break is definitely working nicely for the right handers.  I see the usual faces of Eric, Don, and Chris.  We are all getting our waves. 

Fransauce makes his way down as Christina and Apolla and Matt congregate a little between 26^th and 33^rd Street.  Matt goes in to grab his spare leash, and we all just kind of sit and bob up and down. 

There were a lot of waves today, since the swell from yesterday had died out a little bit, and the shape was much better.  It seemed everyone was getting a lot of waves in our little group. 

Rick lent Christina his grey fish, and was killing it on her Becker board.  Fransauce was killing it as usual, pulling into some close out barrels and going down the line on some right handers. 

Christina took a horrendous wipe out in front of Matt and me.  She pretty much belly flopped on the take off and got the wind knocked out of her.  The wave was a solid four footer and just tossed her salad like the lovely ladies at Lawry’s.  She paddled in after that.

Apolla was still out here when the rogue sets came through.  First wave she ditched her board, and got annihilated.  Second set she was closer to the detonating lip.  The third wave was the worst:  She was right where the lip detonated.  I saw her board fly up in the white wash and tombstone.  She definitely took that one on the head.  I yelled out, “Apolla, are you okay? ARRREEE YOOOOOUUU OKAAAAAY??” in between duck dives.  There was a total of five waves in that set, but the third one was enough for her to paddle in. 

It was starting to get a bit lonely out there, and I started to get cold since I wasn’t paddling for any waves.  I told Fransauce I’ll take the next one in, and that I was cold and tired. 

I waited and waited, and drifted towards the right hander in front of 33^rd.  I then see Rick, Matt, John, and Dave T.  Seeing them uplifted my spirits, since I thought they had already left.  Dave said that he’s been here since 600 AM, and that he was getting out soon.  Rick and John said they’ve been getting some fun ones out here, and right on queue I see Matt go for a nice right.  He gets two small top turns on his backside.  Fransauce is in the thick of the crowd. 

I too am in the thick of the crowd, but a bit south.  There are guys all around me, and they are getting waves as I back out from them. 

Just one more wave… just one more wave…

This small wave lurches it’s head in front of me.  I paddle hard for it, and I’m on the peak.  No one is in position for this wave except for me.  I pop up.  I grab the face of the wave and stick the high line.  I feel the lip crumbling on my shoulders as I get a little shampoo action.  I let go of the face and speed down the line.  I initiate my bottom turn but see the lip crumbling already, so I straighten out as the white wash starts to detonate ahead of me. 

It was the perfect wave to end the session.

I suppose I could have pushed it for one more wave, but I was satisfied.  My arms were tired, and I had caught a lot waves already.  It was a great way to punctuate my Christmas weekend. 

John paddled in, along with Matt, who did a funky chicken on his knees in the white water surf.  We all cracked up on that.  Rick paddled in too, and we all shared stories of how the waves were this morning. 

Mahalos Mother Ocean!!