Surf Report: 3-5 feet and funky
Winds: Off shore
Water: Cold
Atmosphere: Gloomy
I was stoked to go surfing today since I didn’t have to go to work so early. We are pretty much caught up with all of our April 17th deadline, and my boss gave me the tickets to see the Lakers play the New Orleans Hornets at 12:30. The only trade off was that I had to show up to work after the game.
I woke up at 530 AM and started my stretches. I was trying to meet up Dave for a surf session since it was one of his last mornings back from UC Santa Cruz, and we really haven’t been able to kick it at all since he’s been back for spring break. I call him in the morning and he said that he will meet me at 26th Street.
I get to 26th Street around 630 AM, and the place is pretty packed already. There is a surf contest here, hosted by the South Bay Boardriders Club. I send out a text to Dave and Dais, since they said they will be coming.
“Ugh. I passed out lol sorry. Going to get gear now,” texted Dave. He was sleeping in OC, and had to get his stuff from Garden Grove, then had to head to 26th Street. This guy is a great guy, but he stretches himself a bit too thin. I laughed at his text and told him the situation, and told him I would paddle out north of 26th Street, around 30th or so.
There were the usual guys out: Ross and Don, the Philipino dude I always see, and a handful of other people I don’t know the names of. Roy wasn’t here since he was surfing Zeroes today. He texted me in the morning to come with him, but since I had to meet up with Dave, I opted to stay in the South Bay.
The paddle out today was hard. I got stuck on the inside on my first paddle out. I had to ditch my board on the shore pound a few times to actually get under the waves pounding the inside. The waves broke further out than normal, and it looked much better from shore than it actually was in the line up.
I told Don about San Onofre and how the board worked there, and he smiled at me for the positive feedback. He caught a lot of waves, but cranked out only one turn here and there on a lot of the waves. He would usually crank out three turns or more on a wave, so it must have been everyone that was feeling the funk from the waves.
There was a wonky shape to the waves today. They would shift and morph as they approached. Some of them broke, most of them passed us by. On top of that, the current pulled north and out. So, if you weren’t careful, you would be pulled all the way outside and further from the point you started from.
There was an in between wave that jacked up right next to me. Ross told me, “GO KLAUDE!” so I paddled my hardest, caught it, and started to go down the line. The wave wouldn’t let me get onto the face though. I had to pump and weave through the boils on the face, while the white water kept crumbling ahead of me. Finally, the wave doubled up on the inside and my ride was over.
I kept looking back at shore, trying to maintain my position in front of the lifeguard tower and look out for Dave.
I didn’t catch much of a memorable wave this whole session. I was spreading my attention towards the horizon and back to the beach than actually trying to catch waves.
I went back to put quarters in the meter, but I only found two quarters. Bummer. I got out to put in twenty minutes in the meter?? Man, I hope this is worth the risk of playing parking ticket roulette…
I went back to the same spot, and the tide was even lower when I paddled back out. This paddle out was easier than the first paddle out.
I only caught one good wave today, which was a left. I was glad it was in front of Don and Ross, since it was a set wave that swung a bit wide towards me, and they were on the shoulder. I paddled for it and popped up smoothly for the left. I heard Don go “Whoo hooo~” for me as he paddled over the shoulder. I did a check pump up the face and slid down the face. I jammed on my heels and eyed the shoulder. I felt the nose go above the lip and redirected it down the face. I didn’t hear any spray, but hey, it’s an improvement! The wave crumbled like feta cheese after that turn, and that was my wave of the day.
I got out by 900 AM and wondered where Dave and Dais were. I’m pretty sure they were in the water, but I just didn’t see them. Turns out Dave was around 36th Street after his paddle out, and got pummeled a few times during his session. Dais was towards El Porto, and was surfing with DK and Kotaro. So we were all in the same vicinity of each other, just didn’t see each other.
Dave and I met up for a little breakfast at Rutt’s where we shared a King sized Fried Royale and Portuguese breakfast burrito. We caught up on each other’s life for the short moment we were together. We will catch each other again when he’s back in LA, or when I make my trek up to Santa Cruz, which I plan on doing sometime before he leaves school. The only unfortunate thing is that it might be during finals week for him.
Mahalos Mother Ocean!
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