CREW: Solo Bolo
FLAKES OF THE DAY: None
RAN INTO: No one
TIME: 0700 - 0800, 1 hr.
CONDITIONS: Strong off shore winds, wind chill factor, mid tide going lower, 50 degrees, sunny, walled, chest to head high, bigger on the plus sets, lots of damn dolphins.
Yesterday I met up with J at El Porto just a little before 0630. I pulled out my 6’2 DMS board and noticed that the tail felt sharp as I pulled it out. When I took a closer look, I saw that a square piece of the glass popped out of the tail, and the foam was exposed. I didn’t bring the Merrick with me (I’m over the Merrick), my JS board is still at Rick’s getting fixed, so I didn’t have any other options. I apologized to J that I wouldn’t get to paddle out, and that was after I already suited up at my apartment and put on some sunblock.
I really didn’t want to, but my only other option was to temporarily use my brother’s 6’0 Tokoro this morning. He’d probably kill me if he found out that I used it, but I really didn’t want to regress by riding a bigger board again. I hoped that one session on it wouldn’t hurt, and I planned to fix the DMS on Friday. I almost contemplated on taking the DMS to a professional board repair shop, but last night I came across this link that shows how to do a proper tail repair:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gT2zYnth20
I actually have Solarez, and watching this clip made me realize that I’ve been doing my repairs wrong! So … I am more than confident that I can do a good repair tomorrow.
I text Shan and J last night that I’d be at Porto at first light. I got to the lot at about 0630. I was optimistic at first. The new swell looked smaller, the tide looked at that right height to produce some good waves, but I didn’t see any defined peaks. I saw one guy sit on the shoulder at 42nd for the left that comes through there, but he had to catch it fairly close to the inside to get the open section. I saw nothing but walls. It was about chest high, but the plus sets were over five feet. I wasn’t very enthused after that, so I thought I’d check out 26th instead, as it can hold shape better at times.
I got free parking right by the Life Guard Training Center. The wind picked up considerably. As I grabbed my gear, gusts of wind picked up leaves and swayed my hair. I could see the texture on the water from the off shores. It looked like it was better when I drove down to my parking spot. Good ol’ 26th, I thought. I’ve had a lot of good sessions there, and God bless the free parking. My favorite spot there is off to the side of 26th. There weren’t that many people out, and I would soon find out why. I watched … warmed up … watched some more … and then I finally came to the conclusion that the whole fucking South Bay must be walled up. But I had to surf, or at least paddle out and try. I was one day dry, and I was already getting cranky from not getting wet. I tried my best to pick the spot with the most potential for a peak. I paced the shore until I realized it didn’t really matter.
The Tokoro is a little shorter, an inch to be exact, than the DMS. It felt a little more chippy on the paddle out. If I ever felt like I was barely moving on the DMS, then this was worse. Although, I have learned something over these past months. Being ready for a shorter or more challenging board relies heavily on your state of mind. For a while I doubted my abilities to ever ride a short board, especially after seeing my brother catch waves with ease, waves that I couldn’t even get on my Merrick. The attitude of self doubt or the lack of confidence can get you stuck in a rut, and as long as that’s in your head, you will be limiting yourself on that board. I guess my attitude has changed because I’ve accepted that I’ve still got a lot to learn before I become proficient on it, but that hard work, paddling, consistency, and repetition in popping up will eventually get me to where I want to be. If I wipe out due to my lack of skill, that’s okay because as each day goes by I’ll gain more and more experience.
I tried to make peaks out of the sets coming in. I angled my head in funny waves and squinted my eyes, but I wasn’t fooled. Where I saw a peak, I also saw the long building line stretching far across, and only someone on the edge of the envelope would be lucky enough to have a little shoulder before it shut. I went for some, anyway. I paddled for a steep left and ditched my board in mid air; I just got pitched. I caught a close out. The best left that I saw came to me. For once, the shoulder was sharp and angled, there was no wall past it, and I was sitting right on it. Being a walled-up day, it was still fast, but I paddled and popped up right on the corner. Despite my momentum from the punchy face, the section was still too fast, and I had to penetrate out the back. Well, I guess that counted for one experience point. It was a semi technical drop on a racy day, I stuck the landing, and I didn’t fall on the slide.
The dolphins were catching their waves. Those bastards … they were getting some mean aerials coming out of the line up, and they were jumping out really close to surfers. One jumped out right next to me and made me give out an “OH SHIT!” You have to wonder … you know that they are fucking with us humans. As long as they’re not nibbling on us, I guess.
It was frustrating after that. Surfers all around scratched out on walls, and some gave up waiting and just caught the bombs for fuck sake. I talked to a couple guys in the water. This one surfer looked like Rush Limbaugh. He said, “Maybe it’s just the tide.”
Yeah, maybe … but I wasn’t staying any longer. One hour, that was all I needed. I caught my last close out and shivered in the cooling wind. My toes were so numb. The wet sand was blistering cold. Some guys were checking it out from the strand, and I saw Bruce looking through his binos from the lot. The sun, now higher, casted an orange glow on a tree‘s leaves. The wind whirled them about on their stems. The swishing noises of nature surrounded me. It was a beautiful morning, but not beautiful surf. Sometimes we have to appreciate the other things that the water brings us closer to.
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