Raw NorCal - A Trip to Pacifica Part 2 060312

Surf Report:  Solid 6 footers

Water:  Ice Cold

Winds:  Off shore

Atmosphere:  Sunny!

Linda Mar Morning Sickness.  The Sun Shows up Shortly!

I woke up around 800 AM.  I felt my arms were a bit sore from paddling so much yesterday, but was stoked to see the sun out.

“Man, it’s never like this during June,” Fransauce said. 

We go downstairs to plates full of omelette made by Mama Aurellano (she told me to call her “Mama” when I was staying at their house.)  We ate some bananas with it, and took the morning slowly. 

The Drive Thru Devil's Slide.  Beautiful!!

Fransauce was calling and texting Jerwynn back and forth, trying to come out to surf before he has to open up shop at Sonlight Surf Shop.  We get to Linda Mar and got changed and waited for Jerwynn to show up.  Fransauce started to skate around, and so we traded rides on the skateboard, getting our legs warmed up.  Finally, Jerwynn arrives, and says that he doesn’t have enough time for a pre-work surf session.  He anticipates a busy day at work, and that we should probably head towards Montera to go surf.  Montera was a spot Fransauce suggested since Linda Mar wasn’t breaking all too well, and it was kind of crowded for the size and shape.  So, after a few minutes of chit chatting, we decided to drive up to Montera. 

We drove through “Devil’s Slide”, a road that goes up and down through the forest and cliffs.  There is a big hole in the mountain, and Fransauce points out that they have been trying to build a tunnel for a few years now so that cars can safely travel through.  They don’t call it “Devil’s Slide” for nothing.  Apparently, when it rains heavily, and it does rain heavily up here, the whole road gets washed out and makes it impossible to travel on the road because of all the run off. 

The Armory

We pass by an old armory on the cliff.  And then we pull up to the dirt parking lot, grab our surfboards, and walk down the stairs.  The surf spot is nestled between crevices of cliffs, with brown, jagged rocks sticking out of the side.  A small ravine runs through the crevice, with a small lagoon trickling down, like a stream of water running down a girl’s firm breasts. 

As I stretched, Fransauce told me he will wait for me. 

“Ok Klaude, you’re new here, so you should just watch the waves first.  Don’t take the first wave you see, cuz you might get stuck on the inside.  Always use the channel to paddle back out.  And don’t take the wave too far in, cuz you’re gonna get pounded by the shore pound.”

I nodded in recognition to process all that information.  Must be a gnarly spot.

“Ok, you ready?”

“I’m ready.”

And just like that, Fransauce starts sprinting to the water.  I run after him.  He slides on his surfboard, making it out past the first shore pound.  I follow suit, and start paddling like crazy.  The water was FREEZING.  It actually hurt my hands and feet while paddling.  I didn’t fret; I just paddled as hard as I could to get out of the shore pound.  The shore pound was at least four feet this day, and I did not want to get crushed by the waves.  The coldness was the least of my worries for the time being. 

The paddle out was pretty long, but the channel definitely helped.  There was a smaller crevice in the cliff side, so we used that as a marker for where to sit and paddle back out.  This water was more freezing than any winter surf I have experienced in SoCal.  It was unbelievably cold and raw.  There were two other guys out with us, both wearing hoods and booties. 

This session, Fransauce just killed it.  He took the outside sets right where the white water was peeling, manage the drop, and take the wave for a nice turn, then stick with it to the reform on the inside, and cap off the wave with another turn.  He took the waves all the way in, so he took a long time to come back out. 

He would take rights like no one’s business, waiting for the section to build up, race ahead across the white water section, and whack off the top.  Even the other surfer next to me said, “Damn.”

I remember on this wave where I paddled over, he was just about to take off.  He pops up with his back foot bent and his center of gravity really low.  He waited for the drop, then started to pump as I paddled over.  I would look back at the wave breaking, and see some spray from his cut back.  Then he would disappear from sight, and I would think he was done with the wave and watch the horizon.  Then in the back, I can hear a loud splash, and see more spray on the inside section.  Another cut back, a-la-fransauce. 

I had a hard time here.  It was another new spot, and I didn’t want to just go for every wave.  I definitely made some wrong wave choices by going for close outs or the in between waves.  I definitely should have gone for the sets, but I never go for sets at a new place, not unless I grow comfortable there.  And it was hard to grow comfortable there.

I got a warm up close out that shook the cob webs from my head.  It was just a four footer that came through, nothing special.  I was glad that I made it though. 

When I went for the in between waves, I would get stuck on the inside from the clean up sets.  And these clean up sets were a solid 6 feet.  They cleaned up every body.  I was surprised that the white water wasn’t so powerful.  They were actually kind of mushy.  Still, the paddle back out was always challenging, and I had to muster up a lot of strength to get to the channel, then paddle back out to the line up where Fransauce was sitting. 

“Man, I need to just go for the waves, but I don’t want to just GO for them,” I told Francis.

“It’s just water,” he said, cupping water with his hand and throwing it in the air.

A set approached, and I saw I could get into it.  Only problem was, I was about to snake a guy.  The guy pops up, and starts going down the line.  I’ve already gathered speed, and so I have to bail out of the wave.  I get off my board, and grab my surfboard by palming the wax on the board.  The board miraculously sticks to my hand and doesn’t go over the falls. 

A lot of the rides I went for doubled up from the back wash.  There was always a step on the take off, and I got bucked off the wave every time.  It was just not something I was accustomed to.  I should have stayed lower to brace for the step, since once you negotiated that step, you were off to the races, with down the line surfing on a clean face. 

There were rights and lefts at this spot, but it seemed like the rights were producing cleaner rides.  The lefts were definitely there too, but they seemed racey and fast.  I couldn’t get around a section for the left, and got stuck on the inside.  I tried to paddle out, but couldn’t!  I had to paddle in, paddle parallel to the shore to the channel, then paddle back out. 

What seemed to be an eternity out in the water only turned out to be 2 hours.  I was pretty tired, and frankly freezing my ass off.  I took a close out insider in, and timed my exit from the shore pound.  I did a few duck dives on the shore pound, and finally got myself out of the water, unscathed.  My feet stung from the hot, grainy sand.  This was a testament to how cold my hands and feet were.  My whole body was shivering, and basked in the glory of the sun. 

I see Fransauce coming out of the shore pound.  “Man, I face-planted in the shore pound!” 

I give him a fist bump for a raw, challenging session.  Just as our bodies started to warm back up, I felt an awful pain in my right foot.  I look down, and there is a bump on the top of my foot, near the ankle.  I probably hit my surfboard and didn’t even notice it because of the cold. 

We get out and get changed, and head to Starbucks and L&L for a light snack.