Jon drove up from San Diego last night, so we organized a little surf session for this morning. I even text J (Jon #2) and Shan to let them know. Jon was ready to go when I got to his house, and we paddled out just before 7:00 A.M. Jon suggested that we surf only until eight, but I said, “Fuck that!” After all, who the hell only surfs for an hour if you have the whole morning open? I told him that he hasn’t been in the water for a while, and that it would be good to be in the water for at least two hours.
A couple small clouds over the homes in Manhattan Beach started to turn orange. I told Jon, “Look at this place! You belong here.” The sets seemed a little walled, but there were some waves with good shape that also came through. I immediately caught a couple lefts to try to pump Jon up to go for some. J joined us shortly after, and we had drifted from the tanks to the south side of 45th. We were in an area that was more walled. I hung out on the outside waiting for the set waves, but most of them were just bombs. I caught some waves there, but nothing with good quality. Just as I thought about how the waves weren’t that great, I saw the Rastafarian guy just going insane at the spot where we were earlier. This guy was fucking amazing, and he is every time I see him. He was getting some good air, planting the landing, snapping right after, cutting back, then snapping again. He was fuckin’ ruthless. When I saw that, reality hit. We all know that it’s not just about how you surf that makes you good, but it’s also about draining the maximum potential out of a walled up or shitty wave to make that ride as good as possible. Yeah, it was a little walled up today, but that motherfucker was SELLING IT. He made those waves look so good, that I could only take inventory of myself and realize that I still fucking suck, and that I still have a long, long, long way to go. We got out to put another hour in the parking meters and walked back to the tanks. We got some more waves over there. There were some huge clean up sets that came through, walled, and unrideable. In between those sets there were some fun insiders that were smaller (about 3-4 feet), but still fun. I caught some rights where I got at least one bottom turn followed by a spray, but I wasn’t selling them. The waves that I caught going left were really disappointing rides. I was able to paddle into them and go down the line, but I just can’t hack the lip or do anything cool when going front side; I don’t know why. Well, the obvious reason is that I still suck, but I just can’t generate speed. I need more practice. I need to be out there. As I sit writing this I can only think about the wave. It’s calling me. I need it. I need another wave.
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