CREW: SOLO BOLO
FLAKES OF THE DAY: No one said they would be out, so nope … NO FLAKES!
TIME: 0700 - 0845, 1.75 hrs..
WIND: Calm, like my anus after the wrath.
WATER: Cold, but so glassy it made the waves invisible on the horizon. Low tide just over two feet, shallow on the inside, four feet on the plus sets, surprisingly punchy, a little rip on the inside, kind of walled, there were fun rides, but there was a LONG wait.
I’ve said it before, but it’s really easy to get unmotivated to surf in the winter. My wetsuit hung damp over the bath tub this morning. Half asleep, I felt the lower legs of the suit. Just as I expected, still drenched. I filled up my hot water bottles, grabbed all my shit, and I was warming up my car by 0614. The temp gauge was at forty-nine degrees. I made my way down Vista Del Mar; it was still dark. I passed on the free spot on 45th and snagged the free spot in the lot, lucky me. I still couldn’t see out there. I was cold, but at least there was no wind. I left the car running with the heater on full blast. I text a couple people to let them know what the conditions appeared to be, then I finally suited up. Compared to the swell as of late, today looked tiny. It was one of those mornings where people pulled up then drove away, too small in their eyes.
I was able to make out that the first guy on the sand was Ray. By then the sun illuminated the sky to a faint blue, and I could see the waves. The tide looked low, but it wasn’t totally drained out. The waves were about three to four feet. The main breaks had long peaks that broke fast, but there seemed to be random nugs here and there. At about 0645 I locked my car up. There were a couple more cars parked, people congregated in the lot, and a guy was carving on his skateboard. I walked in front of 45th to stage, and the sand gave me cold burns on my feet. A little warm up and I was out. I felt awkward on my 6’6. I actually had a hard time paddling out. I definitely underestimated the waves. From the shore they were small, but gawd damn were they punchy. They packed a little wallop and hindered my progress. It took me a while to get to the line. I mistimed it and battled a consistent set. I said hi to Ray, and I bullshitted with the old timer that knee boards.
There was a current pulling south. Initially a lot of people were at 45th, but they all drifted and stayed at 42nd. The three of us decided to duke it out with the current and stay where we were. I was lucky to pick off some shoulders. The water was so glassy that it was hard to distinguish the bump in the surface from the horizon. I moved with a purpose every time a good shoulder was forming. In between the walled sets there were some clean and easy peaks. The lips were soft, inviting, and curling, as if it was a palm just pushing you into the wave, saying, “Come here, Little Buddy. Don’t worry, I got you. Yayyyyy, now slide down the wave!” Other waves were deceiving. They looked like a shoulder, but upon dropping in there was just a wall to the left and right. My first wave was a fast left with a building wall. I got to pump my board about three times before I fell. No, it wasn’t a great ride, but it lasted long enough to appreciate the speed that I felt.
Once the sun was over the horizon the atmosphere changed. I looked to the east to see the blinding gold glow; it sparkled in the sky and poured onto the glassy surface. Soft little mounds floated with black shadows that looked like gentle blobs of black. At that point it didn’t matter that the conditions weren’t phenomenal; to be cradled in the sun’s natural wonder made it worth just sitting on my board.
Some random outside waves would clean up the line every once in a while. I thought that I was the only one having a hard time, but I saw Ray and the knee boarder hanging out in the white water for a while. When I talked to them later they said they were caught in a rip, and that the waves held them there, too. I had to duckdive a wave as the lip crashed on me. It took my board from me like an old grandma being viciously mugged. Fuck mugged … raped! I thought that my duckdiving sucked, but I really think that my last couple boards have been so long and thick that they were just too buoyant.
Aside from my mediocre rides, I was the lucky recipient of two good lefts. One random peaked came out of no where. It was a punchy three footer that sent me down the line pretty fast. As it walled up I pumped my board and was able to get a decent top turn and reentry. I still had more wave to work with, but then I stalled on the cut back. I think I stall out from: 1. Lack of skill, and 2. Too much board. It’s probably more of the former than the latter. The second left was the same, but smaller, and I fell on the attempted top turn. I did get a couple rights, but I couldn’t get any spray because the lip was already curling down before I could bash it. There were dolphins playing in the water out ahead. I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful morning. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I was immersed in a sea of honey, it seemed.
At 0745 I caught my last wave. It had a long wait for it, so I paddled in and rinsed off. Shan text me to ask how it was and wanted to check it out in the afternoon. I told him that the forecast showed it to be biggest in the morning, and that I wouldn’t expect much for the evening. Surprisingly, it was a fun morning. I wrote earlier that it’s hard to get motivated in the winter, but when you’re walking back to your car after a good session and look back at the water … you’re always glad you made it out.
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