CLASSIC EVENINGS, TUE 5.24.2011 EVE

Crew: Dais, Khang, Shan
Time: 1830 – 1945, 1 hr. & 15 min.
Conditions: dying onshore wind, some texture in the surface, long burgery peaks, fun slopey shoulders.

    After surfing El Porto's version of the dollar menu on Monday, I realized two things. One, I refused to freeze my ass off from my defective wetsuits. Two, I forgot how much I love summer evening sessions. I didn't surf Tuesday morning because I needed a new wetsuit. Trust me, my wetstuits have been holy since February, and I've been toughing it out since then. The line had to be drawn. I called Surf Concepts in Manhattan Beach. Billy answered the phone. I gave him my height and weight, and he let me know their deals and what they had in stock for me right off hand. I drove there right after and bought a brand new Rip Curl 3/2 E3 E-Bomb. I'm usually a cheap bastard, but this purchase was more of a need than a want.

    Dais hit me up and said the he and Khang would be surfing Venice. I told him that I'd be surfing local. From there, they decided to check out Porto instead. I pulled into the lot at about 1750. The water looked choppy with a lot of texture on its surface. The wind was weaker than Monday but still prevalent. I texted Shan and let him know that if the wind died, it may be worth it.

    Itching to try out the new hardware, I paddled out at 1830. The current was pulling north. I couldn't believe how warm and dry I was under my new gear. For months I've paddled out and felt that cool chill of water bathe my balls and run up the small of my back. It sucks. The feeling of being completely sealed up made me feel impervious to the cold.

    I caught a weak right which turned into a burger, but I caught a pretty long left that I pumped down the line on. It was the perfect conditions to practice on, so I bottom turned and attempted a layback snap on the lip. I pulled it off, but with my lack of speed it looked more like a “layback wipe”―all movement, no power, and no spray. Still, it felt nice to play around and try something different. I befriended a guy next to me who commented on how fun it was. His name was Chris from PDR.

    I turned around to see Dais's long hair blowing in the wind, and then I realized it was actually Khang's long hair blowing in the wind. When they got to the line up, the wind had died even more. The onshores turned faint and continued to dissipate. The afternoon was perking up to be a classic, golden sunset session. I caught a right which reformed on the inside and changed direction, and just as I dropped into the left I saw Shan paddling out. We were all sharing the peak in front of 45th.
   
    There seemed to be a lot of people in the water but rightfully so. All the elements were perfect: warm water, the beige sand adjusting its colors with the sun's fading light, and palm trees behind us silhouetted by the dark blue sky.

    I can't recall all my thoughts at that moment, but the peace and serenity was overwhelming. It was almost satisfying enough just to be there regardless of the waves. Khang caught a left where I was kookishly in his way. I was at the point of no return as far as paddling left or right. I duckdived but didn't go deep enough. When I resurfaced, I saw that he had ditched his board to avoid jousting me. I apologized, and we returned to the  line up. Shan and I spotted a bump in the ocean in the distance. We both wanted to paddle for it, but Dais was already sitting in the perfect spot to receive it. We called him onto the wave. As he paddled into it he disappeared and got a nice ride out of it. He came back to thank us.

    I had to leave early but without regret. There was no way I could've taken that experience for granted. I couldn't imagine anywhere else that I would've wanted to be.