Timing 090714

Surf report: 3-4 feet with the occasional 5 footer
Water: Warm
Atmosphere: Sunny
Winds: marginal side shore

I coached a basketball in Long Beach in the morning. We won, but I was unhappy with the way my boys finished the game. We stopped communicating, and we stopped TRYING. I felt like we should have killed the other team by 30 points, but we won only by 11.

I drove down further to meet Hideki to return his canopy and tent he let me borrow for my basketball team's beach day. We ate lunch at Islands and shared a beer. I told him that I had packed my board and that I was heading straight to San Onofre after this. He wished me luck as I dropped him back to his house. "Maybe Uppers or Cottons will be firing for you!" he tells me.

I made this solo trip because I felt it was the right choice to make. I'm already in Long Beach, San Onofre is only an hour away. Plus, there was swell in the water. Hopefully I can catch Middles with no one out...? I had to try. I also wanted some solo time so I can just be with my thoughts. I seem to love these moments by myself. Even when I'm feeling lonely, I feel like my own company is the best company.

I pull off the 5 freeway at Cristianitos. I haven't made this hike in a long time, but I'm up for it. I pray that there is a parking spot close by. I see a guy packing his stuff up as soon as I get off the freeway, but I see across the street that there is a space available. I whirl my car into the space, and down a coconut water. I get changed into my spring suit, and contemplate what I should take... Phone... sunglasses... not the good ones, the cheap ones... towel.... changing mat.... more coconut water.... yea that sounds good. I didn't want to take much because I don't like the idea of getting my valuable stolen. I've seen signs of STOLEN CAR- THIEF STOLE MY BACKPACK WITH MY CAR KEYS. PLEASE CALL whatever phone number. I feel better safe than sorry with my possessions.

I start my trek down to Trestles. I forgot how long this trip is... I'm spoiled with having a friend in the military who can drive me into Camp Pendleton and we can just park at Churches. The most we hike is three quarters of a mile to Middles. Not today, though... Today, I make the whole trip with my stuff.

A girl in a torn t-shirt and a black bra underneath walks by me. She's not carrying a surfboard or anything... what is she doing? Two guys skate down, and one guy stops. He tells her to get on the skateboard, and they carefully ride tandem, she squatting on the board Indian style, and he kicking mongoose. They disappear into the distance. A lot of people are riding bikes up and down the path. Maximize surf time, minimizing hiking time, I thought to myself.

The sun is blazing hot. I wish I had brought my hat. I'm wearing minimal clothing, but I am sweating balls I guess it's just the sun right now. I hear the gentle breeze rustle the trees like feathers of a bird. Small insects glide and buzz their wings. For a moment, I lose myself in the nature that has been untouched.

Finally, arriving at Cottons, I see that there are waves. It's crowded here though... I think it's because it's the first spot people see, they just set up camp here and paddle out here. Off in the distance, I can see Lowers, indicated by the Hurley scaffolding being erected in time for the contest. I start to make my way towards that area on the blazing hot sand.

Thankful that I wore sandals, I trudge along the coast sweating balls. It. Is. So. Hot. The Turkey burger and beer is catching up to me. Maybe it wasn't such a great idea to eat that before coming here.... I see Uppers breaking nicely. However, there are a lot of people on it. And it's super low tide. I've never seen so many rocks exposed here. It looks eerily inviting, as if Mother Ocean is daring me to make a risky choice in paddling out here.

I pass by Lowers to see the crowds of people gathered. There are so many photographers on the beach set up with big beach umbrellas and canopies set up. Tons of Pro's are out, and I see Jadson Andre suit up. He talks to a fine girl as he suits up. Mahina Maeda, a Hawaiian surfer girl in the Swatch Girls Pro as a wildcard, suits up into her red wetsuit. Her thighs look so thick and yummy... she's 17! One more year in California, but Hawaii it will be ok to be hitting on her.

I walk passed the scaffolding to see if any sets swing wide of Lowers. It seems like... there aren't any waves. I'm a bit disappointed. Churches is crowded as hell - I can see that from here. But Battle Positions?? No waves breaking?? Why????

I think about it... I think long and hard. I gather my stuff, and hike back up to Uppers. I set up my backpack and surfboard along a ridge and start to warm up. I get my Neck Beard out and start to do the cobblestone two step. I see some surfer chicks get out slowly and do the cobblestone two step too. They are both Japanese.

As soon as I get into waist deep water, I feel my knee tighten up. I start to paddle, and I can feel a cramp coming on. I toughen it out. I breathe as calmly as I can, and try to relax. My board needs more wax. I put on wax that I carried out with me, but the wax seems to be crumbling off as I apply more wax. Did I bring a tropical stick? What the fuck is going on? I stop applying wax because the bare spot is now bigger.

The waves are five feet on the face, but a lot of them are not breaking cleanly. There seem to be two turn waves, but they are scattered and hard to find. I paddle for my first wave, and get a clean take off. I bottom turn and try to drive off the top but my timing is way off, and I stall at the top and lose the wave. The cut back was badly timed. I should have done it earlier. I sit for another wave, and my left leg starts to cramp. I can feel my toes cramp, and then the shin muscle cramp.

I have to get out now. How. STUPID. Should have just waited after I walked miles and miles down to here. I was too eager, and so my body didn't have time to relax and rest. Now I'm doing the cobblestone two step on cramped up legs. What a kook I am.

I prop my surfboard atop the rock ridge, and lay down under the shade that has been created. I close my eyes and just listen to the waves crashing... the cobblestones rolling back with the ebb and flow of the waves... Just relax, KK. Right now isn't a good time for you to surf.

I'm not sure how long I slept, but I wake up refreshed. The tide is a little bit higher, and the waves are still breaking at Uppers. I brush off the sand and crack open my coconut water. I watch the waves and the crowd. The waves are persistent, much like the crowd's persistence to stay bunched up. I'm turned off by the crowd, and so I gather all my stuff and move back down past Lowers.

I put my stuff down at Battle Positions, and watch. The waves look small and inconsistent, when a three wave set comes. Two of them have shape, while the last one closes out. I can do this! Good timing, set waves... if they didn't come, I would have not surfed here.

I paddle out and duck dive the first few waves. I assess who are the rippers here, and who aren't. We are all about the same ability level, except maybe this older dude that is doing top turns going right.

An older surfer paddles out on his longboard. I watch him catch an inside right, but he kicks out and starts yelling at himself. "No wax on the board!! Shit!!!"

At this point, I remember Double D's entry at Jalama beach where a complete stranger hands him some wax when he needed it most. I can be that stranger right now...

"Hey, excuse me, do you need some wax?" I pull out half a stick of wax from my springsuit sleeve. "You can have this, I don't need it anymore."

"What... really? Seriously? I can have this?" the other surfer replies, baffled at the gesture.

"Yea, I don't need it. See, not everyone who surfs here is a dick!"

"Hahah!! You're right. Thanks brah! You can have any wave from me, ok?"

"Haha naw man, it's all good. We can share waves no problem!" I tell him.

So I just sit on the inside of everyone and wait for the sets.

My plan pays off immediately.

I paddle hard for a right. It's east five feet on the face. FINALLY!! A drop to get excited for!!! Only I realize, it's San Onofre, and there is no drop. As soon as I pop up, I can feel the wave is slopey and glides well under my surfboard. I get two pumps in, set up for a bottom turn, and see the lip coming towards me. I do a snap right under the lip, and the lip crashes onto my back foot. The force knocks me down and I fall off my board.

I realized that my top turn was bad timing. If I had committed earlier to the turn, I could have pulled it off. Instead, I was turning too late on the lip, and didn't fit the maneuver into the face of the wave.

I see the longboarder that I shared my wax with dig for a wave. He digs and digs and digs, but misses it. "GO GO GO!" he tells me.

I laugh, and start digging. I am too late, and miss the wave. I should have been paddling earlier and harder.

I look down at Lowers, and its machine like consistency is a wet dream for any surfer. The waves just keep breaking, perfectly, one after the other, with three people taking off on the right. The two kick out, and the surfer on the inside just shreds the shit out of it.

An American guy and an Aussie girl paddle out. He tells her how he is learning to duck dive deeper and time them better. Timing. Every thing is timing.

An older longboarder paddles way outside. He digs and digs and finally gets into the wave. I paddle so as to not get in his way. I hoot him and throw a shaka before I duck dive. He takes the wave all the way to shore and takes his time getting back to the line up.

The mood is mellow here as always. Sure, the shape isn't all that great, but hey, there are only a handful of guys out, and most of them don't even have the paddle power to get into these waves. The waves, albeit big, were mushy and slow-rolling. They required a lot of paddling and positioning to get into them. Again, I can't believe I used to surf blind. What the shit was I thinking?

As I sit in the water, I start contemplating about timing. Matt's girlfriend, Bri, and I had a conversation one time going to HB only to get skunked:

"So why didn't it work out with so and so?"

"Well, I asked her out, she didn't want to, so we stayed friends."

"You should have asked her again!" she told me.

"Naw, I'm about the moment. The moment was gone, and so I'm ok with that. She made her decision right then and there," I told her.

"No, it's about timing. I believe it's all about timing. The timing wasn't right," she said to me.

Timing. Every thing is timing. Sometimes we meet people just at the right time. Even just for a moment, it's the perfect timing to meet them, right then and there. And every moment should be cherished, for the timing may arrive for us to deepen our interactions. Just be receptive, open, and ready for it.

I get another right and start to pump as the lip crumbles on my feet. I can feel the water splashing over my knees as the white water tries to grapple at my feet with a thousand tiny hands. I get some speed, and drop down to the trough. Ok, bend your legs! I climb up the wave face. Ok, now look back down at the wave face! I carve off the top, and feel the lip pushing the bottom of my board. I push more with my back foot and then feel a big BOUNCE and then I'm knocked off forward, straight down to the flats. I brace myself, and get plunged to the bottom of San Onofre's cobblestones.

Well, at least I didn't touch bottom, I thought as the wave tossed me up and down. Hmmm... wonder what went wrong there? Bad timing on the turn, I suppose. I get out of the tumble dryer and get to the surface. Oh, another wave on the head? Why not. I dive down into the darkness of the warm water of San Onofre. I wait, and wait, and wait. I get back up, and start paddling back. I can see there are multiple waves in this set, and keep duck diving them. They aren't that bad... this place is just too mushy for any white water to be too gnarly.

Well, except for that one time... but that's a story for another time.

The scene, as I just get out...

I keep trying to do front side snaps and falling. I still need to time them better, to snap them stronger, and to land them. I feel like I'm not directly over my board and that I'm just throwing out the board too much. I catch my last wave in as the sun starts turning into a golden orb to the west. The clouds look just perfectly broken up to make a leopard like pattern.

I walk over to my backpack, and see a photographer getting the "shot" from where my backpack lay. He is shooting with a huge camera into the sunset, and was waiting for the surfers to do an awesome move in the foreground. After a few shots, he starts to move back towards Trestles. He is super ripped and toned. He must surf a lot too. What a job to have. I'm sure once it is a "job" it's not as fun, but imagine all the places he travels to and gets to capture great moments on a camera? It must be worth every effort.

The Money Shot

I pack up my stuff and start moving. I don't even get changed on the sand. I figure, I can change when I get back to my car. I stand by the scaffolding by Lowers, and watch the professionals tear the place apart. They are so fast and so precise. It's almost unfathomable of how well they surf, even in a huge crowd of people. 

I start to walk further down, and see a guy changing on the grassy area near the scaffolding. Great idea, I thought. I start to change, and get to see some of the most progressive surfing in the world. I can tell Jadson Andre's style, and watch him do three top turns, and finishing with a nose pick gouge at the end. He doesn't land the last move, but holy shit, he did some of the most amazing turns I have ever seen.

I see a butt I am familiar with. It has to be Coco Ho's ass. She runs past us, and disappears among the crowds of people on the beach still.

I keep walking down, and am in awe of the raw beauty of the sun and the horizon, melting together. I keep stopping in my tracks, just to gaze at the blinding sun. With every passing moment, the color gets more and more magical. I can't believe how beautiful it is. Great timing, I thought.

And just like that, the sun was gone, and the purple hues of the clouds got darker and darker with every passing moment.

Mahalos Mother Ocean!!