CREW: Solo Bolo
FLAKES OF THE DAY: None
RAN INTO: No one
TIME: 0705 - 0850, 1 hr. & 45 min.
CONDITIONS: Smaller than the day before, about shoulder high, mooshy, high tide, clear and sunny, cool air temp, slight off shore wind,
After the MLK session, I was frothing for some waves with good shape to practice my turns on. The surf report showed that the swell would be dwindling, but I couldn’t help but return to the exact same spot from the day before. It was Tuesday, everyone would be back at work, so I expected the crowd to finally thin out. I got free parking on Highland and 27th, just above the 26th St. tower. I took my time to walk down to check the conditions first. High tide was pretty early, but I could see some peaks rolling through from the top of the hill. The waves were breaking a bit close to shore, but the shape was nice. There were packs of longboarders taking over the two main peaks, one by 26th, and the other just north of it. When I returned with my board, I could see that my spot still had a little peak.
I was finally getting really comfortable with the 6’2 DMS. I paddled out with ease, and duckdived through the inside with energy to spare. Sure, it’s not as fast as the Merrick, but I’d rather have the ability to punch through set waves on the inside.
Tuesday morning started off a bit frustrating. The waits for the sets were a lot longer. I got impatient and tried to work the inside line, but just as I would get there, that’s when the sets broke on the outside. It was ike playing “cat and mouse,” and I was losing. There were a lot of long boarders out, which was a bad sign. The waves were so mooshy that they seemed to break really late. That was all because of the high tide, and there just wasn’t enough swell for it. As I sat at the line I watched other surfers warm up and check out my spot. I couldn’t deny my primordial instinct. I felt like that was, rightfully, my peak since I got there first. Some guy paddled out right next to me. Just as he did, I turned around and caught a left, but the face crumbled away pretty fast. That was pretty much how the morning went. The peaks were a little long, and the shoulders formed all the way at the end, out of reach. I remember catching a right; it seemed like a good wave, then I saw some guy in my way on the inside. I had to kick out. After that I caught a couple waves that were only good for one top turn. I was pulling off some spray going right, but I wanted more. I needed some better shape that gave me more time to practice, but it didn’t happen.
I got a negative vibe being there. I felt like there were too many people around, and the wave quality in that spot wasn’t worth it. I paddled in and walked south of 26th to find a peak to myself. I saw some lone sets at the place where I surfed with the crew at on MLK. I paddled out but was deceived again. It was the same thing- one turn waves. I was cold, wasn’t catching any good waves, and it was almost 0900. I wanted to pull a solid two hours, but I cut the session short.
I had a lot to do to prepare for Lauren’s birthday. That afternoon I returned to see if I could get a sunset session in. On the way to Porto I saw huge waves by the jetty, and people on the rocks watching. The more I got to peek during the drive, the more I saw huge sets lining up in the distance. When I pulled in, the parking lot was packed with a lot of spectators. The face of Porto and 26th changed from what it was in the morning. There was overhead surf throughout the beach. When I took a closer look, it was really walled up. The only places that seemed to hold shape were the smaller sets at Rosecrans and the jetty. There weren’t many people out. I sat and watched for about twenty minutes, and everyone at the non prime spots could only go straight on the close outs. There was also some strange water movement going on. Between the tanks and the stacks, there was an A-frame peak on the inside, but it was still really messy. It didn’t seem worth the horrendous paddle out just to be a suicide bomber. I took a couple pics, and this is what I saw.
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| El Porto, Tuesday evening 19 JAN 2011. Typically walled and closing out whenever it gets over head. |
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