After yesterday I knew that I would have to give this morning a shot. Instead of getting up at the ass crack of dawn, I decided to get up at about 6:00 AM. I got free parking on 45th when it was still dark, so I couldn’t really tell what the waves were doing. I was already suited up when I got there, so I put some wax on my board, locked up the Outback, and I headed to the tower.
The glassiness of the water, plus the heavy overcast made it hard to see the horizon again, but after warming up I saw about three good peaks rolling in: the tanks, the tower, and south of 45th. I paddled out right in front of the tower. Getting to the line was easy. The peaks were coming in very consistent, and even though they were a little long and walled, the shoulders were close enough to chase down and paddle into.
There was thunder and lighting in the distance by Redondo and Torrance, and I was able to see the rain and moisture fill that distant sky. It was still dry at Porto, but a lot of people didn’t want to fare the weather, so there were just a small handful of guys out. I ran into this kid, Steven, that I met by the Jetty on the day that I cut my shin. He’s actually a local Westchester kid. Lucky for us that barely anyone was out. The parking lot was damn near empty.
I could see little patches of sky in the overcast, so I thought that I would be able to see some sun. It’s been forever since I got an open left, but I got this one that just felt awesome. I popped up early, drew a high line, and just pumped high up on the face as far as I could go. I didn’t set myself up that well for any spray, but I still tried and did a half ass tail slide.
It was hard to make out the waves in the distance. I had to count on the little bits of texture and the shadows it made to get any depth perception which seemed impossible. In that first hour of surfing, the rain started to come down hard. It was the first time that I surfed in hard rain with thunder and lightning not too far away. The texture in the water changed to being smooth and splashy, and it made it even harder to tell what was rideable or not. Either way, that didn’t stop me from catching some waves. I was able to go back side and practice some snaps. The shape wasn’t perfect, but it was good, and it was so worth being in the rain to get it. I was going back side on a wave, and another guy was watching me while debating whether or not to paddle into it. I bottom turned, went back up the wave, and let out some spray when I hit the lip. … He didn’t drop in on me.
The rain stopped, and the sun rays finally poked through a hole in the overcast. It was the first time that I’ve seen the sun's rays in days. I was able to see them in the distance over Santa Monica, and there was even a fucking rainbow over by the jetty. Then next thing you know, it started fucking raining again. It was almost 9:00 AM, and I wanted to go for my last wave of the day, but something happened that made the surf funky. Blame it on the tide, the waves became inconsistent with a long wait for a set. I caught my last wave and made it back up the hill.
I’ve learned that as we progress in surfing we are looking for more than just popping up and going straight, and we are looking for more than just surviving a steep drop. We need good shape and decent size to help refine our carving which will eventually lead to maneuvers and tricks which will define our very own styles of surfing. This session helped me work on my progression. I was blessed with good shape this morning. I hope there will be more to come.
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