Crew: Shan
Time: 1915 – 2000, 45 min.
Conditions: ridiculous wind, choppy, disorganized, random peaks within the chaos.
After the morning session I had pho in Fountain Valley with my friend Tim. It was $3.50 for chicken pho, now that's a no-brainer right there. After that I drove to Compton to look at a 7'2 Merrick gun that was near immaculate except for a hairline crack next to one of the fin plugs. I snapped some pics, went home, went to the gym, and then I received a text from Shan. He said it was windy as all hell, but there were still some shoulders, and he was paddling out. There's no way, I thought. Not in this friggin' wind. Everything that wasn't a building flapped and swayed. I had an errand to run: go to Surf Concepts and pick up over thirty bars of tropical wax. If that was the case, why the hell did I drive back to my apartment to grab my surf gear?
I pulled up to Porto and saw the mayhem in the ocean―pure disorganization. Sure, there were some peaks, but the random and choppy kind. No, they weren't peaks, just huge chops in the water. The air temp was colder due to the wind. I saw a pack of surfers in front of the shitters and one lone guy in front of 45th; I knew it was Shan. I looked at my watch, just past seven. I debated, deliberated, was intent on leaving, but I somehow couldn't. I put on my wet wetsuit, struggled; it was stuck. I looked out again and thought about leaving.
I snuck up on him when I paddled out. I thought it would surprise him; he didn't see me coming. He turned to see one dark bastard paddling up. There's nothing like joining a buddy or having a buddy join you unexectedly, especially in the shittiest of conditions. We joked around in our greeting, and Shan caught two consecutive waves while I still waited for something to jack up. I caught a left that was slopey and warbled, but it was a nice long ride that let me pump pretty far down the line. I forced one turn out of a right that bogged out. With my eyes blurry, I did a blind drop-in on a left but kicked out early on accident. The irony . . . my rides were longer than any this morning, and I was actually having more fun. Could it have been because I was surfing at home or sharing the experience with a friend?
The sun was going down, and we said we'd catch one in. I caught another long left. They were the kind of waves that barely jacked up enough to get your momentum to slowly drop in. Despite the conditions, a ride is a ride, and those long, easy, sloppy ones were well worth it. I paddled back out for one more. The right hander I took actually stood up, good for a couple pumps, and a little top turn before it closed out.
Wow, not bad . . . not bad for the sixty cents in the meter. I got my money's worth and some. So Surf Concepts was closed by the time I got there. Still, a sacrifice well made. I feel myself being more open minded to shitty conditions. Maybe I was too harsh on Porto?
i always feel that surfing with your friends is astronomically more fun than surfing by yourself. it's just how it is. it's when you share the happiness, that you are truly happy. dais will attest to this.
ReplyDeleteone can be all alone in paradise, with perfect waves, surfing day in and day out, but feel empty because he is unable to share with another person. humans, like animals, are meant to cooperate and coexist with each other. however society tends to enhance competition and individualism instead of cooperation and working as a whole.
i have two boardshorts, size 33, that i don't plan on wearing, ever again. do you think your bro can use them? I will get them to you after this weekend, unless you want them this weekend.