 | ||
| Shan stoked for the uncrowded morning conditions. |
CREW: Shan
FLAKES OF THE DAY: None
RAN INTO: Rick, Jon A., Jimmy B., Michaelson
TIME: 0730 - 1030, 3 hrs.
CONDITIONS: Slight offshore breeze made the air a little chilly, clear sunny skies, high tide when we arrived, cold water temp., scattered peaks everywhere, soft waves, a little mooshy, long rides, chest to shoulder high, but it became inconsistent quick.
With school starting again soon, I really wanted to do a day trip to San Onofre to score some waves with good shape. The prior day at El Porto was a bit disappointing with all the close outs, so the drive seemed worth it. I sent out the bat signal, and Shan was the only one willing to take the early morning trek. I brought my 6’2 DMS and my 6’6 Merrick. Shan actually showed up early, and he bought some snacks and drinks. We were on the road by 0600, and it took us about an hour to get there. This was only the second time that I’ve ever taken a trip with my surf buddies, but I went with Rick and my bro a bunch of times. Initially, I wanted to surf San Onofre, but Rick was camping there, and he told me that the line ups were extremely crowded. I can’t give out the exact location, but when we arrived, there were only two heads out, and it was already a little past 0700. Shan and I commented on how crowded we imagined El Porto was at that moment. We walked out to the sand to have an initial look-see. The wind was slightly off shore, enough to give us a good morning chill under our jackets. One would think that the temperature gets warmer down south, but for some reason I’ve always felt Oceanside to be colder than L.A. We watched several scattered peaks without one surfer to claim them. Beautiful A-frame peaks produced clean, peeling, shoulders. The tide was really high, so the waves were a little mooshy. It was obvious that they would need to be caught a bit late, right when they were cloud breaking. Despite the mooshiness, they looked like fun rides. I called Rick and gave him the report.
Thanks to free parking right in front of the beach, we took our sweetest time, as there was no need to fear the Manhattan Meter Maid. We even took our time to find the perfect place to paddle out and wait for the lull. We had a hard time dialing in our first set. We were too far out and didn’t catch the waves late enough to get the slide. By the second set I got some waves. I got a couple really good lefts that I took all the way to shore. A perfect shoulder built up in front of me, and I pumped my board to stay on the face. There was a fun reform on the inside where the waves seemed to jack up. I stalled and then pumped to keep myself on the best part of the shoulder. I didn’t pull off any good carves, but that’s because I didn’t really have a chance to.
For the first forty-five minutes to an hour, the waves were consistently coming in, but we still didn’t figure out where the prime spot was in the line up. Into the second hour, the conditions changed: the waves became inconsistent, there was a long wait, a lot of small waves, the sets only had one big wave, and the peaks formed in different spots every time. A small crowd formed. To our north was about five guys, and to our south were two longboarders. Shan and I were the first ones there, and we thought that we’d have it to ourselves. Just like Saturday, people gathered just because we were there. We paddled further north to get away. Shan got his wave of the day; I didn’t even see it coming, but I heard his trademark, “WOOHOO!” and saw him catch it all the way in. He said it walled up, but it held, allowing him to change direction on the face.
We stayed in that spot until the second hour was up. Unfortunately, the miraculous conditions only lasted an hour when we got there. By about 0930 we walked the beach to find better peaks, and that’s when we ran into Rick and company. They were pretty stoked at the present conditions, even after we told them that it was much better earlier. We joined them in the line up, and even though there were still sets, they were smaller and a lot weaker. Rick criticized my short board again and told me that riding it was not helping my surfing. He kept insisting that I take out his spare fishboard. He was right about needing a different board. In the morning my shortboard was fine, but into the third hour the weak surf called for something meatier.
A little after 1000, Shan kept telling me that he was hungry. I could’ve lasted longer, but it wasn’t worth it. I tried to force a good ride, but every wave I caught bogged out after dropping in. I saw Rick bogging out, too, so it wasn’t just because of my board. Shan and I paddled in and spoke to Jon A. who was on photo detail. We watched the surf with him and saw Jimmy B. milk the most out of those waves and get some long rides. I doubt that he had one complaint at all. The winds turned offshore, which was indicated by the beach flag.
On the way back home we stopped at Pedro’s Tacos in San Clemente for some grub. For six bucks I was pretty damn full. The only problem was, after that, I had to take a mean ass shit. We drove north on Camino Real to a Starbucks, but the bathroom door needed tokens in order to open it. That’s San Clemente for you. The line was out the door, so I just held my shit in. Shan, being the awesome guy that he is, reclined his seat and took a nap the whole ride back. I find that as a bad omen, and whenever I’m in the passenger seat I stay awake for the driver. I played some New Kids on the Block and Debbie Gibson on full blast to fuck with him, but he didn’t even notice. After I filled up the tank and took a shit, he had the audacity to change the music station without even asking. I told him that he made the biggest mistake of his life, as I played nothing but David Hasselhoff for the remainder of the drive back. I thanked Shan for joining me. It was nice having someone to take the trip with, and it was also nice to have someone validate how rancid my farts are.
Shan had fun checking out the new spot. I want to say that the trip was worth it, but I was still disappointed. If I drive out of my way to surf, I expect good waves for the whole session, especially after I heard that El Porto was good that day. Despite the surf, it’s always a good thing to spend time with a friend, so I’m glad we took the trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment