Filtering 090614

Surf report: 2-3 feet building swell
Water: warm
Winds: marginal side shore
Atmosphere: Clear skies

Today was Matt's mom's memorial service. It was held at Saint Monica's Church in Santa Monica. I opted not to surf so I could make it to the service. The service was beautiful, and I felt the love and sense of loss emanating from every one in attendance. However, the moment I walked in, my right shoulder cramped up. It felt like the weight of the atmosphere just collapsed on me, and I felt the pain physically and spiritually. I'm not a believer in God, but I am a believer in a higher power, and today, the higher powers were present, imbuing the air with the dampened sense of loss of a loved one.

As a Buddhist ritual, I carried a small bag of salt in my pockets. As soon as the service was over, I paid my respects to Matt, Bri, and Matt's brother Randy, and walked out of the church. There, I threw some salt over my back in order to "cleanse" the area of spirits that might linger. And just like that, my shoulder pain subsided. Although I don't attend temple anymore, I still hold dear to the rituals I grew up with.

I went to work afterwards, and knew I had to jump into the water. I planned on going to Topanga since the South swell was incoming. I shot Matt a text, and he replied that he was drained from the days' events, and that he had a family obligation still that night to fulfill so he wouldn't be able to surf.

The dream of Andy Irons was still sticking with me, and I contemplated on what he had said to me. "I'm always here, wherever people need me to be."

Sunset beach looked mushy and small. The tide was coming up fast, so I knew I couldn't surf there for long. I drove by Topanga, and spotted a free parking spot. I busted a U-turn as quickly as I could, and parked. I watched the surf from the stairs, and the waves looked do-able. It was crowded, but there were some surfers leaving, so I thought why the hell not. Probably better than Malibu, right?

WRONG. The locals start to come out. And at a point break like Topanga, we can tell who are the locals, and who are not. This older lady, on a longboard, she's a local. Regular footed angry guy, he's a local. Goofy footed aggro guy with his chick, they are local. Little groms on the inside, they are local. Every one else? Guests.

I catch two waves today. I tried to pull into the barrel, and I get pinched, dragged, and thrown over the rocks. Oh well.

"Don't even look at my wave, ok? I saw you paddling on the shoulder. Don't worry about me not making the wave, I'm gonna make it. Don't even LOOK AT THE WAVE I'M PADDLING FOR, OKAY?" says angry local. Turns out he's Hawaiian Haole. He's yelling at a guy who has been paddling on the shoulders of waves.

Taro, the Japanese grom, is humble and fun loving. He speaks perfect Japanese, and has been surfing since he was 9. He's 12 now, and is trying to bust airs.

Goffy footed local with his chick - that's Shane. I've seen him here before, and he's scrapped with an outsider on a big day. He surfs here all the time, shown through his knowledge of the wave.

"Hey, I know you can surf, but you can't 'Hey hey' me. You can't do that, you're just a grom," Shane tells another grom.

"Hey Shane, he's just..." says an older guy.

"No, we're cool, I'm just telling him he can't do that to me. He's just a grom." Granted, yes, he is a grom, and yes, he shouldn't do that to a local, Shane is teaching this sort of treatment is fine to another generation. Children are like blank canvases, upon each of our actions and words paint a stroke.

Shane paddles quickly, and pushes his girlfriend into another wave. It's an okay wave, but she gets twice as many rides as I do.

I just go with the flow of the crowd. I don't like the vibe too much, but I deal with it, keeping to myself. I ebb and flow with the crowd, paddling with a purpose. I respect those that are "local" status, and try to get out of their way as much as possible. Feels like Hawaii, all over again. I try to filter out the negative chatter going on in the line up, and only take in the good.



My teeth start chattering, and so I start to go for everything that swings my way, sitting way too deep up the point. The waves mush out because of the backwash, and I get frustrated with my surfing.

Not filtered

I take a wave in, and make my way up the rocks. I get changed, and snap a picture of the sunset. The sunset was beautiful, but my phone didn't capture it correctly. However, thanks to the lies that we can set up with filters, my sunset now looks beautiful.

Filtered the shit out of this one

Much like how I tried to filter my way through the line up, I filtered the sun.

Mahalos Mother Ocean.