The Trio at El Porto 062611

Surf Report: 1-3 foot

Water: Cool

Atmosphere: Gloomy and overcast

Winds: Slight off shore

I thought about how I almost injured a guy by ditching my board mid drop and not going for the wave all night Saturday.  I kept telling myself to not hold back, and just go.  If I don’t I might hurt someone, and hurt myself. 

Hey, if I shake, would you give me some food? Please!!!!!! - Jack

Sunday morning I wake up and called Nicky and Khang.  This was a late day for me, for I was doggy-sitting Jack.  He wakes me up every morning around 0500 or 0600, and I take him for a nice long walk before any other dog is able to pee or sniff the morning dew.  Then, I took off to surf.  Nicky and Khang were both down to surf, so I picked up Nicky and headed to Khangs.  We all roll in his van and head to El Porto to check out the surf.  Christina had already texted me that she was at 26^th Street, and I told her that I will see her there.

El Porto, looking crappy

We pull into El Porto and park.  The waves looked alright, but the whole place was super crowded.  Khang says let’s just stay here, and starts to get changed.  I had to poop, so I skated the bathrooms and pulled down my boardshorts to my knees so as to not touch the wet floor, and let the poop flow.  I should have taken care of this in the morning, for it was a two-wave poop.  It was one of those poops that you would start wiping, and then you feel another wave of poop come out and so you have to cease wiping and let the poop splash toilet water onto your butt.  I wiped a second time and headed out, ten pounds lighter.

I think about Christina waiting for us in the line up at 26^th Street.  Oops.  Well, Khang was the driver, so I make it his fault later that we all had forgotten that she was there and that it was his executive decision to paddle out at El Porto instead of 26^th Street.  So Christina, it was all Khang’s fault, you see. 

For the first ten minutes, I felt a shitty vibe.  It was super crowded regardless of the lack of size, and it seemed everyone had no rules of who gets to go one which wave.  It didn’t matter if you were in or out of position. It was a free for all.  That’s what I hate about El Porto:  the crowds, and the lack of respect.  I was psyching myself out in the line up, saying that this place sucks, we should have gone elsewhere, and that we shouldn’t be HERE.  The waves weren’t rolling in at all, and I felt that it was a bad move to surf here.  But then, a set appears on the horizon…

Khang Mr. Plow Tran was first to draw blood.  He picked up a few quick rights and plowed through the flat sections. 

Nicky did his things on the lefts today.  It was all lefts, all day.  He took one right, but he took advantage of the lefts to its full potential.  No one was stopping his mission, and no body was able to keep up with him.  It was his day.  He would get into the waves early, pump down the line, and then kick out all the way down to shore.  It was just a machine like performance from him.  He made a guy in a white-ish wetsuit back out on a few lefts.  This guy was also pretty damn good going both left and right, but he knew that he shouldn’t snake someone when they clearly weren’t noob status, as most El Porto goers are.  Heck, we’re noobs, but we’re better noobs than most at El Porto.  This status is like being the smartest kid in special ed. 

I had two memorable waves today:  one was a right, another was a left.  The right came out of no where, and because of the crowds, I sat way on the outside.  I did this to evade the crowd, and also to get first pick of the rogue sets.  When I saw the bump in the horizon, everyone scrambled to get out of the way, except me.  I paddled for the right.  I wasn’t going to let anyone screw this up for me.  Everyone got out of the way, as I popped up on the wave.  I saw the guy in the white-ish wetsuit paddling for this wave too, but he backed out for me as I made the drop.  The wave just blasted white wash all around me as I made the drop and I couldn’t see a thing.  All I could think of was, “I hope no one is right in front of me right now.  If they are, I’m running them over.” 

Luckily, no one was in front of me, and I made the wave, pumping down in the flats to keep up with the section.  The wave closes out, and I had a huge smile on my face.  This one wave made the whole session worth it. 

I thanked the guy that pulled out for not snaking me, and he acknowledged me.  Show respect, get respect.  I felt that I could have gone deeper, or maybe I could have pulled into the barrel, or maybe I could have bottom turned up that lip and attempted to smack it, but what was done was done.  Another time, another wave.  I enjoyed the wave for what I made it to be, and it was still pretty fun to me.

The other wave of the day that I remembered was a left.  I remember this left because it was a steep take off and reminded me of the wave I had yesterday where I backed out at the last minute and hit the guy on the inside.  Not today.  No more of that, I said to myself.  I gunned for the wave.  I did my alligator wiggle and got into the wave, made the drop without grabbing rail, and started to bottom turn when I see Nicky drop in on me.  Nothing I could do now but to try to chase after him in his wake.  He kicks out as the wave closes out, and I let the wave crash behind me.  This wave wasn’t epic or anything, but to me I had a sense of achievement, since yesterday I had backed out of a similar wave, but today I pushed myself over the ledge and didn’t hold back. 

The trio of Khang, Nicky and I seemed to dominate the spot.  There were changing faces but we stayed for a solid two and a half hours.  We three just dominated the spots we sat in, and we all shared waves.  We were on every set wave, regardless of going left or right, and it was a lot of wave catching for all of us.  By the end of the session, the waves were bogging out from the high tide and we were pretty tired from catching so many waves. The size wasn’t epic, but it was still fun to catch those outsiders for me as I avoided the crowd. 

FCS K2.1's

A small review of these FCS K 2.1 fins:

The fins are Kelly Slater’s beach break model.  I got them 20% off from Killerdana by utilizing a coupon code.  These fins didn’t have the drive that I like, but they made the beach break surf soft.  It felt that every drop and every small pump I did was soft.  I couldn’t drive up the wave as easily on my other fins though.  It is most likely my lack of ability, but that is my two cents about these fins. 

Mahalos Mother Ocean for another fun session. 

Just Go For It 062511

Surf Report: 1-3 feet

Atmosphere: Gloomy

Winds: Slight off shore to on shore ripples

Water: Cool

Today, I went straight to 26^th Street to surf.  I had to stay local because I am house sitting for a friend of mine, and I didn’t want to leave Jack (the Burmese hunting dog) all by his lonesome for too long.  I left the house after walking him and giving him breakfast as he looked bummed out that I was leaving in the morning already.  To me, though, I was super late leaving the house.  I hate leaving late in the day because I feel like I’m missing out on some good surf when it is early out.  The crowds are thinner, the tide shift is usually favorable, and the wind isn’t on the waves when one goes out earlier. 

I get to the parking lot at 26^th Street to a packed house.  I knew I wasn’t going to score any parking when I saw two cars exiting the top parking lot.  I still pulled through the lower parking lot to see what’s up with the locals, and I saw a staunch amount of unrecognizable cars, peppered with the usual cars that I see there all the time.  Then, I rounded out and pulled up back to Highland Avenue and made my way to find some street parking.  I let Mellie Mel know my plans, for she was also on her way and to surf 26^th Street. 

I pull into my old, faithful 15^th Street parking lot at the city hall.  I love parking here because it’s free all day, and usually no one is parked there during the surf hours of the morning.  I park, change into my wetsuit, grab my board, leash, towel, and get on my skateboard.

As I walked down 15^th Street to the strand Mellie Mel pulls up and asks where I parked.  I told her where I parked, and made my way down to the strand and skated down to 26^th Street. 

I had to poop.  God, I hope I didn’t have to poop in my wetsuit. 

I walk down to the 26^th Street lifeguard tower and set my stuff down, then headed back to the bathrooms. 

The god damn bathrooms are locked.  Holy hell, I thought.  Ok, let’s work my charm.  I go up to a bald lifeguard shooting the shit outside of the grand meeting room at the lifeguard headquarters.  I asked him if I could use the bathroom. 

“Sorry, no, can’t let you.  Please understand.”

But I have to poop.

“Sorry, no, can’t let you.  Insurance and liability issues, so please understand.”

Please, I have to POOP.

“Sorry, no, can’t let you.”

FUCK.  MY.  LIFE.

Well, I guess I’ll have to hold it in, clenching my buttocks in hopes of not letting loose too much. 

I walk down to the 26^th Street lifeguard tower again and start to stretch.  I felt a presence sneak up on me, and turned around to Ninja Dais sneaking up to me about ten feet away. 

He tells me that Khang is feeding the meter, and that Khoa, DK, Khang and himself have been here for a while.  I see the main peak being flocked by a lot of people.  The peak north of the tower is thinned out, but not as consistent.  The south break is packed to capacity too.  Damn, if only I had been here earlier. 

Dais fills me in on the report:  high tide making things mushy and wobbly, but the texture is nice, and there are some fun lefts coming through.  He only went left today.  Indeed, today was a day only for lefts. 

We wait for Khang to get back feeding the wave machine and paddle straight out, compensating for the eventual drift north from the current.  The first two waves I get I go for the right, but these pinch off and don’t open up for me.  I had to go on my belly because it wasn’t worth getting to my feet for a white water ride. 

My first ride of the day came on a left, where I had the wide open face all to myself.  I “pumped” down the line (I think the board did most of the work) and tried to carve back into the white water, but failed because of my lack of speed. 

The tide shift made a soupy bowl right north of the lifeguard tower.  I tried to avoid this section by maintaining my spot in front of the lifeguard tower.  Eventually, I lost sight of Khang and Dais.  But, I did see some of the old 26^th Street locals, including that dad that rips and brings his grom kids that rip the shit out of waves too.

I take a series of lefts that allows me to get passed the rip tide bowl section, and I see DK’s NSP board.  I greet da boys, and wait for the sets to roll in.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have the patience to wait for these waves in this spot, and paddled back up to the lifeguard station.  The current carried most of the surfers away from this spot, so for a while, I had it all to myself. 

The water was warm in my 4/3 wetsuit, and it was a mellow morning made for chilling.  The water was clear and feeling good, and I had at least one decent ride under my belt. 

Cheryl paddled out today!  She’s back home from her Europe trip for a whole month with her family, and she was back on her longboard.  Indeed, some of these waves were better suited for a longboard.  However, occasionally a nasty rogue set would peak its ugly head over the horizon, and dump across the whole line up. 

As Cheryl and I caught up, Mellie Mel finally found me.  I must have drifted north, for I was in front of the pipes.  We greeted each other, and she tells me the following:

“This guy comes up to me, and he says ‘Hey, you must be Mel, my homey was looking for you.  He said look out for a girl with neon rails.’” 

Ah, must have been Dais.  It’s great to know that 26^th Street is kind of a small town feeling where everyone knows everyone.  But, today I guess there were more new faces in the water that have shown up.  Probably because school is out, and the weather is warming up, both in and out of the water.

Cheryl and Mellie Mel talk to each other as I sneak around them to take some inside waves, and some sets that roll through south of them.  I think Cheryl found it a little difficult to paddle into the pitchy waves because she would back out at the last second and have the wave pass up as it crashed on the inside. 

Mellie Mel came back in fire-blazing spirits, but her body didn’t quite cooperate.  She filled me in with her late night shenanigans of Vodka with her roomies, and that she had very little energy to paddle so she was being very selective with her waves.  After a wave that I caught, I saw her go for a no-hope close out that reminded me of why I called her the kamikaze warrior.  I see the wave just completely pitch up, and she free-fell head first into the water as her board pitched up into the lip.  The force of the wave crashing made her board dip into the water, then thrust back out of the white wash.  I saw her board tomb-stoning for a second, and then she comes out of the white water.  She takes a few more on the head as I duck dive right by her, cackling at her crazy kamikaze tactics. 

The mood was mellow yellow, and the ocean was blue green.  These sessions are more reserved for Sundays, but I loved it anyways.  The wind wasn’t really on it too much today, but the tide was definitely still messing up the inside bowl section.  I started to get the pain behind my left knee that bothers me at times.  I felt this while skating down the strand, but chose to ignore it.  Now, the pain was becoming unbearable.  I took a wave in on my belly, and got to shore.  I had to stretch that fucker out. 

After stretching for a bit, I saw Patty (Kyle’s mom, who’s always on a foamie and super stoked) and we talked for a bit.  Again, this is why I love this place.  Everyone is familiar with everyone, and they all have chill, good vibes.  I then paddle back out to the line up. 

Mellie Mel and Cheryl are right where I left them, when a 3 foot “outsider” rolls through.  Mellie Mel goes for it, scratches out, but still pops up.  Her board gets taken away with the crashing lip as she watches, wide eyed, down the falls.  Her board gets engulfed by the water fall but she miraculously escapes going over the falls and has her board back under her, paddling back out. 

I catch a few more waves after this, but nothing was really memorable.  They were all lefts, and my backside game is no where I want it to be.  I have no pumping skills, no bottom turn skills, and no top turn skills. 

The one notable wave that I remember was a wave that I backed out of.  Why is this wave memorable?  Because of the crowd situation, there was a guy right in front of me, paddling back out to the line up.  I swung around and just went for the wave, but at the last second, I got a sudden jolt of fear that made my body back out of the wave.  The wave pitched up as I tried to keep a hold of my board.  Mother Nature wrestled my board away from my weak hands and shot it straight out forward.  I could feel the wave just go over me and carry me up the lip and crash down.  All I could think of at this point was that I hope I didn’t hit the guy in front of me.

I resurface to the guy right next to me.  He clearly looks pissed.  I apologized to him, asking if he was hit.  He said he got hit, but I pointed out that there was no blood or anything.  He rolled his eyes as I apologized once more.  He paddled away, cursing at me under his breath (yea, my hearing is that good) and I felt horrible.  I should have just gone for it.  Why did I back out?  Not only did I put myself in danger, but I put another surfer in danger.  Major party foul.  What a fucking kook move.  I felt horrible.  Just fucking terrible. 

Mellie Mel said she was going to leave, and I decided to head out with her.  The session felt finished after that last wave, and I didn’t really enjoy the surf after that.  I paddled around for a last wave and went in.  Just then, I see Khang, Khoa, Dais and DK waiting on the shore.  They said that they will surf another twenty minutes, and that I should come out too.  I introduced them to Mellie Mel, said my good bye to her, and paddled back out with da boys. 

I was still bothered with the near collision of the surfer dude.  I got a few waves in this twenty minute session, but they were forgettable waves.  I made my way out after a while and headed back to the parking lot to say bye to da boys and skated back to 15^th Street. 

I learned a valuable lesson today.  Well, I’ve learned this lesson before, but I really took it to heart today:  Go for the damn wave.  If you’re not gonna go for it, then duck dive under.  Don’t hesitate, and don’t back out if you’re surfing.  This is the way I want to surf.  I don’t want to have regrets about “not going” for that one wave because it was a hairy situation.  I hoped to take this lesson everyday from now on.

Mahalos Mother Ocean.  We are all just creatures, playing in your infinite energy.  You give us joy and dish out pain, one serving at a time.  It is up to us if we want to learn from you or not.  I choose to learn. 

The Return of Death Wish Dave and Mellie Mel 061911

Surf Report: 1-2 feet max

Atmosphere: Gloomy and misty

Winds:  on shore

Water: cool (too warm in my 4/3!)

Sunday mornings seem to be “stay local” day for me.  It’s a day where we just lazily surf the home break, whether it be El Porto or 26^th Street.  I was prepared to surf alone today, since Nicky had texted me saying he had job training at Nijiya at 1030, and I knew Khang would be celebrating Maryann’s birthday the night before.  Dais was having breakfast with his lady, so I figure I could get a slow start in the morning. 

However, Dave had texted me to hit him up when I go surf.  Mellie Mel also hit me up saying that she wanted to surf Sunday morning, and texted me “The usual 630 paddle out?”

So I had to kind of get up early….

I got up around 610 and started to do my yoga stretches.  When it hit 630, I started to call people and find out the 411 from them.  Dave was up, and he said he would paddle out.  Mellie Mel was getting her caffeine fix and would soon be at 26^th Street. 

I picked up One Wave Dave from his sister’s house.  He was waiting outside with all his gear ready to go.  Dave is a guy who is organized and prompt on any appointment.  I feel bad because I’m quite the opposite of this behavior.  I pick him up and we stuff Sherry into the car, along with my “new” longboard. 

We shoot the shit and catch up on life and school and what not.  The misty morning started to put condensation on my windows, and I grew a little concerned.  Were we really going to be surfing in this kind of weather?  Oh well, no time to be a spoiled brat right now, Dave was with me, and Mellie Mel was coming out too!

Mellie Mel is a buddy of mine that I haven’t surfed with since November 15, 2009.  I remember this date because it was a pretty awesome day of surfing, where I snaked her nicely on a left.  She was super on point with her boyfriend’s longboard, and caught a lot of waves.  I like surfing with her because she pushes herself over the ledge and loves the slide of surfing.  She’s an avid snowboarder and skates too, so I guess surfing came pretty natural to her.  Nowadays, though, she has been focusing on getting her Masters and teaching high school math in South Central Los Angeles.  She’s quite a gangster for teaching there, and the stories she tells me are truly heart-wrenching, heart-warming, and unbelievable. 

So we pull up to a parking lot pretty much empty on 26^th Street.  Mellie Mel was parked up on the first lot, and drives down to the second lot to greet us.  We all get changed into our wetsuits and walk down to the beach. 

This is the first time I rode my single fin longboard that I purchased off craigslist for $180.  The list price was $325, but I think they still ripped me off.  The fin box had super glue in it to the hold the fin in place, and there was no screw to hold the fin in place.  They had some string to attach to the leash, and threw in the leash and boardbag for $180.  I should have paid $160 max, but hey, I wanted a longboard, and I got one. 

The waves looked even flatter once we got out to the line up.  Ok, it wasn’t that bad, but there was a reason why only a few locals were out in the line up and most of them just went home, including Bruce.  The sets were 2 feet max, but the current was super strong still.  I spent a good amount of time paddling back to the spot right by the parking lots, north of 26^th Street. 

Dave paddled out on Sherry, my beloved 8’4” thruster that I learned to surf on.  Come to think of it, that board is probably super hard to learn on.  Mellie Mel was on her 6’10” thruster with a swallow tail and some wings on, that she bought when she first started surfing.  I was on my 9’0” San O Long-bow. 

First wave I catch with this board… and I’m sold.  I took off on a small right, and bottom turn and trim on the face.  I bank off the lip and straighten out on the flats, and I was stoked from head to toe.  I had to wait for the sets to finish coming in, but once they did, I paddled back out to the line up and sat, waiting for more waves to chomp on.

It was a mellow day, a quiet surfing Sunday.  Mellie Mel caught her first wave on a close out and went left all the way to shore on the white water.  She was a shadow of her former surfing self, and she knew it.  I think she was hardest on herself, talking to herself and me about how her arms are so weak for paddling and how she is out of shape. 

Dave just floated on his belly.  When he would sit on the board, Sherry would just throw him off.  When he would paddle for the waves, he would absolutely pearl and eat shit.  The board would fling up into the air and land peacefully on the water.  It was as though Sherry was mad at Dave for not riding her at Santa Cruz.  I joked that she was pissed off at him for neglecting her for so long, and that he has to make amends with her before catching any wave.

I took one left, and Mellie took the same left.  Technically I snaked her.  She ate it on her board as I kept going on the white water.  We both laugh about it, and see Dave paddling for the last wave in the set.  We cheer him on, but quickly say “OHHHHHHH!!” as he pearls from the pitching lip of the wave.  He was in the worst place at the worst time.  Again, he lives up to his name of Death Wish Dave.

I paddled in to a lot of small waves today and made the most out of them.  I tried to walk up to the nose and hang 5, but would get flung forward.  I would do some small off the lips and bounce back into the white water.  I attempted to do a helicopter by riding backwards, fin first, into the wave.  I don't quite get that yet. I even did a lay back on the backside to dig my heels into the board.  This board was a lot of fun.

Mellie Mel finally gave in and asked to trade boards after she threw in more quarters into the meters for us.  I swapped her board with mine, and boy, did I have an eye opener. 

Her board just coasted on the water.  It felt like a smaller board than a 6’10”.  That thing was super hard to duck dive, but I got the hang of it after two duck dives.  When I caught my first wave, that thing just took off like a bullet train.  I guess the width generated a lot of the speed as it hit flat sections and maintained its speed.  I was amazed at how well the board rode.  I even managed to bank some turns off the lip. 

As Mellie Mel paddled into more waves on the longboard, dolphins started to frolic around her and Dave.  They weren’t just swimming past Mel and Dave, they were just chilling there for a good five minutes.  It was surreal!  They dipped in and out of the water with their glistening bodies of grey and white, blowing mist up as they exhaled and dipping slowly back into the abyss. 

I called last wave, and Mellie Mel said, “I thought you don’t like to call last wave?  Isn’t it bad luck?”

“Yea, but you’re here today, and you’re my good luck charm!” I told her.

Just then, a clean right peeled right for me, and I paddled for it.  I managed to pop up smoothly, pump once, bottom turn, bank off the crumbly lip, and land back into the flats.  I saw Mellie Mel right behind me, in the white water.  So I snaked her TWICE in one session.

Last Wave Dave didn’t get his last wave.  He paddled and struggled, and paddled in without having a wave under his belt.  The sport of kings has defeated Dave… but hey, it’s a start to his come back.  He demoted himself from One Wave Dave to No Wave Dave.  SO SAD!!! Don’t do it bro!!!  You’re still Death Wish Dave to me…

All in all, it was gloomy and the water was a bit warm.  The conditions were sub-par, the current was still strong (not as HB) but it was nice to surf with some friends I haven’t seen in a while in the water.  It was also nice to change up boards and paddle into some waves on something besides my potato chip Aloha board.  And the best part were the dolphins frolicking in the water near us. 

Mahalo Mother Ocean.  See you next weekend…

Huntington Paddle Battle 061811

Surf Report: 3-5 feet and mushy

Atmosphere: Sunny

Winds: slight on shore

Water: Cool (too hot for a 4/3)

SATURDAY! IT’S SATURDAYYYYY!!

I always look forward to Saturday surf sessions… but usually get skunked.  Hahahaha

Today, I picked up Nicky, Kai, and Dais to join up Khang and DK at Porto.  When we arrived to Porto around 730, the waves looked dismal at best.  It was just another typical SoCal day, with the high tide filling in quickly.  The waves mooshed out throughout the line up, and we waited and watched for a while.  I even skated down to 26^th Street (about twenty blocks) and everything looked the same.  26^th Street was less crowded but it was definitely a day for a big board. 

I decided to drive down to Huntington Beach so we could score some waves.  I hoped that the SW swell would be hitting HB nicely, and that we could make the window of opportunity to ride some decent waves.

When we got to HB, it was about 0900, and we stared out from our car to Goldenwest.  The peaks came in consistently, and there were a lot of surfers tearing it up on some nice 3-4 foot waves.  The winds were still slightly off shore, and the lip looked pretty mooshy.  Well, if we were going to go surf, now will be the time.  I scrambled to find parking in the residential area and scored one right by our “old house” where we spend many a nights in the car to surf HB.  We three got changed as Kai went back to sleep and be lazy.

We paddled out in front of the light blue tower, but by the time we got to the line up, we were half way over to the dark blue tower.  The current at HB is always strong… Nicky and I have drifted three towers before getting to the line up on numerous occasions when a solid SW swell was hitting HB.  Today wasn’t a solid day at HB, but the current was strong.  I kept repeating in my head that if I ever even fathom about taking my game to somewhere like Hawaii (again) or Bali like Matt, I need to get my paddling power on another level.  I am proud to say I didn’t get out of the water once to walk back and paddle out again this session.

My first wave was a small left where I grabbed my rail and dragged my butt on the face.  It wasn’t all that exciting, especially since I ate it half way down the face.  I can tell my grab rail technique has improved somewhat, but this wave should have been caught without grabbing the rail.

Dais and Nicky were bobbing up and down, waiting for the sets to come in.  I kept paddling to maintain position, and before I knew it, I lost sight of Nicky.  Dais kept up for a good half of the session, but he eventually drifted out of sight, only to reappear like a ninja in the water. 

I hear a contest horn go off and see that some small contest was going on towards Goldenwest with lifeguards on duty, using their megaphone.  I kept paddling towards the light blue tower. 

I took Pab’s advice and started to time the sets coming in, especially since these SW swells have such long lulls in between sets.  I figured that the ones that came in between the sets looked rideable but were unrideable.  They all mushed out and bogged out on us, and we left with blue balls between our legs.  And then the rogue set would appear after about five misleading waves, and clean out the whole line up.  I figured out that about every twenty minutes or so these rogue sets would come.  Not only that, the first wave was the only decent wave, and that the following two waves in the set were close outs and had questionable shape. 

So, I waited.  I waited singing to myself.  I waited controlling my breathing, and waited even more.  A lot of other surfers were scratching out on the misleading waves, and I patiently waited, paddling further south to fight the current continuously.  I think I spent about 80% of this session just paddling against the current. 

I heard in the distance, “Hey, you surfers out there, paddle south or paddle north, but get out of the contest area!” from the lifeguard truck’s megaphone.  Uh oh, better get out of the way.  I kept paddling further south to combat the current.  Other surfers followed and paddled south to get out of the way. 

I grew frustrated.  Did my judgment misguide me?  Was I not sitting in the right place?  Did we get SKUNKED, yet again??  I started to paddle a little bit in, when I see other surfers furiously paddle towards me.  What do they see? 

I look back, and there was the rogue clean up wave.  I started to gun for the shore, doing my alligator wiggle and kicking my feet as I paddled for this left.  I caught it right on the peak, unadultered and uninterrupted by anyone in the line up.  I slid down the left without grabbing rail and made the drop down a clean, azure wave face.  The face bogged out as I redirected to the white wash, but it was too late, and I fell off on the inside from losing all my speed.  I see behind me the second and third wave crashing and engulfing everything in sight with no riders on them. 

I kept paddling out, away from the contest and away from the dark blue lifeguard tower.  Just then, Dais snuck up on me and we regrouped.  He said that he’s only caught two waves this whole time, and that he was called out by the lifeguard people to get out of the contest area. 

I too was only able to catch two waves today.  Apparently, Nicky caught a lot of lefts today.  Go figure.  He and his fish going left are unstoppable.  Both Dais and Nicky took the current all the way north, where they were asked politely to leave the contest area.  They then drifted even further, got out, walked up to the lifeguard tower where we started from. 

I kept paddling further south to fight the current, but I couldn’t position myself for any waves like I did before.  My patience was wearing thin, and I grew increasingly frustrated with myself.  Dais drifted again out of sight, so I was left all alone. 

I started seeing more surfers on the inside taking these short rides on the shore pound.  I decided to give it a go, and caught one or two waves that were not memorable but in fact, quite dangerous.  I decided to get out and start body surfing. 

I body surfed a lot of waves and made some crazy drops, but I drifted down north again.  So I got out, said hi to a nice bodied Asian girl with a meh face, and went out to body surf more.  I drifted north again, so I got out, said hi to her again, and body surfed some more. 

I went back to the car, but Kai was gone.  I was tired, but I couldn’t do anything about Kai not being there, so I went back to the beach to body surf some more.  As I made another round from lifeguard tower to tower, I sat on the sand and rested.  I rinsed off my board to go back to the car when ninja Dais snuck up on me again.  We both recounted our waves and fighting the current, and decided this was a better call than Porto, but we should have come here straight.  Another time. 

Kai and Nicky were already back at the car, changed and riding skateboards.  We all shot the shit and went to the Taco place right by the pier and ate some delicious tacos there.  We then drove to Lee’s to pick up some sandwiches, and headed home. 

We didn’t surf our brains out, and we weren’t stoked from head to toe, but it was a nice day to be out in the water, Just Enjoying The Surf. 

Mahalo Mother Ocean. 

Ten Minutes to Make a Session 061611

Surf Report: 1-3 feet max, clean shape

Water: Cool and a beautiful azure

Winds: Slight on shore

Atmosphere: Quite cloudy, but nice on the horizon

Khang calls me on my way home.

“Bro, what you doing?  Come to El Porto! It’s clean, and it’s firing!  I got Nicky with me too,” he said.

That is all I needed to hear.  I ditched my swimming plan and headed to grab my gear at home. 

I get to the El Porto parking lot to see lines just marching in.  Yea, it wasn’t that big, but it looked really clean.  I started to froth in my pants.  I nab a parking spot and couldn’t get changed fast enough into my wetsuit.  I threw in enough change for an hour so I don’t “overstay my welcome” with the metermaid.

Khang had texted me that Nicky and he would be out in front of 45^th street, so I stretched out and paddled in front of the lifeguard tower.  There were Latino’s frolicking in the water, cringing under the cold water which was a stark contrast from the hot sun that baked our bodies on land.  The water was clean and clear, as the waves rolled in super glassy.  I couldn’t believe my eyes…

I paddled out and sat in the line up by the tanks.  I scratch out on my first two waves, and I hear Khang and Nicky calling me.  I paddle further south to greet them, and we all shoot the shit in the line up.  They tell me that it’s been really good for the last hour, and Khang told me that it was super good this morning too. 

I catch my first wave on the third try.  I was able to “snake” Khang on the shoulder (he didn’t catch that wave, so I didn’t really snake him) and I was able to get to the flats, bottom turn, and go up the lip.  I tried really hard to bust a turn but came out the back of the wave and lost all my speed.  Oh well.

Khang was a mad man on the waves.  He took every single wave.  He even took off behind a peak as it broke in front of him as I watched him, hoping he would fall.  I kept off that wave, and good thing I did since he punched through the white water section and came up the face to pump down the line, all the way to shore.  He came back saying the ride was “OK.” 

Nicky caught some nice little lefts that rolled through, but he seemed more or less frustrated that he couldn’t catch waves when I got there. 

In all honesty, the first ten minutes was totally worth all the traffic jams and meter maids and paddling.  After that, the place kind of shut down.  Khang still caught his fare share of waves, and so did this one long haired dude.  The long haired dude caught numerous waves going left from the peak, chop hop and Ollie over the flat sections, literally popping airs, and hacking on his backside creating major buckets of spray.  He put all of us in place.

I took a weird wave that doubled up on me after riding the face.  I had to step forward towards the nose of my board to not pearl, then step back to my tail pad so I wouldn’t eat it once again.  I made the wave but I couldn’t do anything else.  It felt good to know I could think on my feet like that with the changing conditions. 

Eventually, the time ran out on us, and I grew desperate for my last wave.  I paddled for a rogue right, and took it on my belly for a second.  I then felt the bump of speed go two fold, and wanted to pop up, but I couldn’t see from the burst of white water.  I should have just popped up… but my body wouldn’t listen to my head.  In the end, I took the wave on my belly all the way to the inside.  My last wave made me flaccid out of disappointment. 

But, the first ten minutes was definitely worth it.  Mahalo Mother Ocean.