NOW YOU SEE IT, NOW YOU DON’T: WED 11.17.2010 MORN

    Lauren worked early today, so I got to El Porto by 6:15 A.M.  I scored a free spot on the hill, so I took my time suiting up.  Shan hit me up last night and told me he’d be there.  I could tell just from looking down the hill that the tide was really high.  I saw an inside left and right form on the same wave, then they eventually crashed into eachother.  I love El Porto at high tide; it’s better than low tide.  Even if high tide makes the waves mooshy, eventually the tide will come down, and the waves usually get better.  Mooshy waves are still rideable either way. 

    I got to the sand and almost paddled right out at 45th, then I thought about Hammerland.  It could’ve been firing off, and my brother has been persistent about me checking it out.  The thoughts of untouched lefts firing off of the jetty were too tempting to pass up; I had to know.  I jogged there until I was tired.  I finally showed up to look at the left.  It wasn’t really doing anything.  In fact, the right that was going into the jetty looked better than any lefts on that side.  So sad.  I took a moment to piss on myself, then I walked back to 45th.  It at least looked peaky.  There were some long peaks by the smoke stacks, tanks, and the other usual spots.  I paddled out at 45th.  There was a different feeling paddling out.  It felt like I was in a deep pool or in deep water.  It made the paddle out effortless.  When I got to the line I realized that the overcast over the ocean, combined with the sun to the east, made it really hard to read the waves.  The glassy surface almost made the waves invisible, and I could only see them by the micro chops of texture on their faces.  My first wave was easily caught.  It was a left.  I barely had to stroke into it.  It was a fat wave that began to wall up.  I saw it getting a little hollow, but I ended up falling from trying to pump my board.  I thought about the wave the rest of the session.  I think it barreled just a little bit, good enough for maybe two seconds before it closed.  I regretted not making an attempt to get in the pit.  Shan showed up, and he motioned me over a little more south to where the left shoulder was.  There were a couple more guys on the peak, so I had to pass on some waves that others paddled into early.   Shan got a nice right.  The guys in the line were watching him.  I didn’t see any spray, but he got three good turns, and it was a long ride.  I got a couple right handers that let me do one bottom turn and one crack at the top, unspectacular at that.

    Shan had to leave early, then for some reason the waves got really inconsistent.  The tide was still pretty high, and it was a long wait for sets to come through.  Some of the set waves were about four feet, but fuckin’ walled.  I passed on the walls; I was desperately seeking shoulders.  I got a couple lefts that bogged out on me.  I caught a fast one, but I was behind the section, and it ran away.  I got on some more rights, but they were walled, and projecting up the face would’ve set me up for getting pitched.

    The set waves were actually a little punchy.  I tried to duck dive a wave right in the impact zone.  It flipped me upside down, and when I tried to resurface, my fins were right over my head.  I thought about how Lauren cut her head on my long board, but I was lucky that I broke no skin. 

    It was good when I got there, but everything just turned to shit.  I have a bad feeling that that was as good as today is gonna get.  I may check it out later.  I thought about my friend Al Jimenez.  He surfs in Santa Cruz, and he’s a lot better than me.  What sucks is that I probably surf at least twice as much as him, but he has to be better because he rides better waves.  Once my girlfriend gets a car and starts driving, I really want to make time to surf down south, or anywhere that has better shape.  I love El Porto, but it’s not great all the time, and I know that awesome waves are somewhere just a drive away.  They’re saying, “Matthew, Matthew, come fuck me in the ass!”  But I can’t. …  I can’t.

FORCING: SUN 11.14.2010 MORN

        I hit the snooze button one too many times.  I meant to wake up at five-thirty, but I woke up to Jon's call at six-fifteen.  I sped off to 26th thinking that I was late, but I was surprised to see open parking spaces.  I parked right on top of the hill and waited for Jon.  Jon brought his two friends, Christoph and Yo, to surf for their first times.  We couldn't get an extra wetsuit, so he ended up just taking pictures.  That left me on teacher duty.

        We went over some basic stuff on the sand, then I got them to the inside to catch some white water.  Yo had a hard time; they both did.  Christoph seemed to catch on a little better, and he actually popped up on one wave.  Yo kind of hung around on the inside and faced the shore with his booty in the air.  

        I saw Klaude on the shore.  He brought his tripod and camera to take some pics.  For the first hour when I paddled out with Yo and Christoph, there were some clean little three foot peaks that came through.  By the time Klaude showed up, the tide dropped, and the surf got smaller and inconsistent.  The tide swept us far north, and Klaude was motioning us back to the peak where his camera was set.  I paddled to the peak and had to share it with some kids and a couple older guys.  I missed out on some decent waves because of the crowd.  The ones I got weren't good rides.  They either closed out, or were small.  I wanted to see if I could get Klaude some good shots, but I couldn't.  I had one decent right that gave me one good bottom turn, then a mini crack off the top.  Jon and Klaude missed that.  Or maybe in my head I thought it looked cool, but in real life I look like a Barney.  I was pretty tired trying to charge those little waves.  I climbed back on shore and apologized to Klaude.  I hope the surf gets better.

RICK’S BIRTHDAY AT SAN ONOFRE: SAT 11.13.2010 EVE

    Rick had a camp site reserved right there on the sand.  My bro and I showed up at about 1:00 P.M.  Rick already warned us that it was small.  Right in front of our site were consistent two foot peaks.  The waves would form up nicely, and give fun little left hand shoulders.  One look at the waves made it obvious that Porto never breaks that good.  No one wanted to paddle out.  For them, it wasn’t a good day.  I kept looking at the waves, drooling, and fighting the impulse to just paddle out at that second.  No one else was on it, so it seemed like I would’ve looked like a dumb ass if I did.  Lowers and Old Man’s was dominated by long boarders.  We could see it breaking better at those spots, but there were just too many people. 

    After some beers, we paddled out right in front of the camp site.  The surf got inconsistent, and there was a long wait for sets.  I should’ve paddled out earlier, and I paid for it with the decrease in swell.  The rides were short and shallow. 

    I got one good right that opened up.  I was able to get two quick cracks at the top.  My brother and some other guys saw it, which was cool.  I got out the water when the sun set.  My bro gave me some pointers on the sand as I looked back at the ocean.  The surf usually looks better from the shore.  Some little waves started to come in consistently again, and I paddled out for another half hour.  I chased down little two foot peaks that were scattered around me.  I got more fun little rides until I was exhausted. 

    I know that place gets really good when there’s more swell. I will be back.

MAKING THE BEST OF IT: FRI 11.12.2010 EVE

    The usual characteristics of a beautiful day were all there:  sun, no wind, warmth, blue sky, etc.  I was in Santa Monica running errands, so I checked out Bay St. at about 3:00 P.M.  The tide was at about mid level, and there were two little peaks in front of the life guard tower.  There was one guy on a fun board getting some good rides.  I was really close to suiting up and paddling out, but I just couldn’t.  The waves were just too small, maybe two feet, tops.  I took a close look at the mountains, the Ferris wheel on the pier, and the crowd of beachgoers.  I turned around and drove off to El Porto. 

    The scene there was just as nice.  There were a lot more people in the water, but the surf wasn’t much better.  It was a little bigger, but walled and closing out.  I could’ve easily went home, but the weather was just too beautiful.  Small waves weren’t enough to keep me from getting wet. 

    I paddled out in front of the tanks to get away from the crowd, and it looked like there was a little peak there.  I shared it with two other guys.  The water was cold as hell.  I didn’t expect that because it was so warm.  The water was so glassy.  The peach and orange colors from the low sun gave the water a gold and honey-like appearance.  The water was so smooth and silky, only disturbed by the strokes of my arms.  There were a bunch of seagulls chillin’ in the water nearby.  At first I thought of it as a spectacle, then I thought about them pissing and shitting, and all that stuff floating into my mouth.  Maybe the joke was on me.

    Of course, the waves were small, but I tried my best to only pick those out that had a little shape to them.  I caught some rights that actually opened up.  The tide was going down, so it was really shallow.  I milked them for what they were worth.  Before they closed out, I tucked myself under the curl, grabbed rail, and enjoyed whatever open face there was.  I caught some lefts that actually opened up a little, as well.  The round, soft, and smooth shoulders formed, and I pumped my board hard to get as far as I could.  There was no rough paddle out.  I merely walked back to the line up for another ride.  My wave count was high, and even though I didn’t get a lot of fun rides, I got enough to make the session worth it.  The crowd was leaving, and it was just me and another guy out there by ourselves.  The sun was down, so I ended up calling it a day. 

    Tiny and small.  My expectations were low, so they were easily exceeded.  Little waves can be fun, too.  When things seem impossible, you can always try.  In the end, sometimes it works out.