Training Day 101914

Surf Report: 5-6 feet +
Atmosphere: Sunny
Water: Warm
Winds: Offshore

First giant NW swell is here!! I was excited to wake up for the swell... It will be a great practice day for those big, gnarly waves we are expecting for the winter.

Bri voxes me and says that there is no shape and that she is going to PV. I had to coach a tournament, and our 3rd game was at 300 PM today in Huntington Beach. I had lots of errands to still take care of, so I was limited in my travel options.

I get to the 26th Street parking lot, and look over a familiar scene. The older locals are watching the waves, and there are only a few people out. The white wash BOOMS on the sandbar and launches water high into the air. The ideal, fun conditions of yesterday are long gone, and the Ocean looks morbidly marbled with brown and white hues. I change and head down to the sand.

"Okay KLAUDE! Make it look good!!" yells Jose.

"You can't catch barrels from the parking lot, boys!" I yell back at Robert and Jose.

They laugh, and continue looking at the Ocean in awe of her raw power.

I do my stretch, and paddle out. I duck dive once, paddle paddle. I duck dive twice, paddle paddle. I duck dive again and again, and paddle again and again. When I finally think I'm almost out there, an ugly set rears its ugly head. There's no way I can duck dive this... so I ditch my board. I get pounded inside, and surprisingly get released quickly.I resurface, scramble for my board, and paddle like shit towards the horizon. I duck dive one last wave, and make it out to the line up.

The waves are pumping!! It's the first time it's been this big in a long time. I try to stay patient for the cleaner ones, since most of them are closing out. The first wave I catch is a medium sized one, and I make the drop easily. I put too much weight on my front foot, and hit a speed bump on the wave. I get tossed forward and eat shit.

Eating shit on an easy wave.... what the fuck?

There's a guy who works for ZJ Boardhouse out here taking late drops. I hoot him on and we talk in a friendly way. He hoots me in to one, but there are groms on the inside, so I have to back out.

I catch a smaller wave to get some momentum on my side. However, the sets start pumping and I am pummeled on the inside. I feel great though... Just to be pounded by the white water and getting my shit pushed in from Mother Ocean. It feels good to get that back instead of the summertime mush we have been dealing with.

I catch one more medium sized wave, but it closes out after one pump. I only surfed for an hour, but I don't feel like going for more. The waves are closing out and a lot of them don't have shape. Maybe if I had my DRC out there, I would have stayed longer....


I get a Voxer from Bri, and she says, "Klaude!! Guess who didn't want to catch close outs too?? Ross!"

Turns out they were both at Palos Verdes and had an empty right hand peak to themselves. Good call Bri, good call.

Well, it was training day for me.

Mahalos Mother Ocean!!!