A Barney in Bali--Day 20, 27JUNE2011 MON

Rain:

    Last night I watched some of my old surf movies. It’s funny how you watch surf porn different as your skill level progresses (not that I’m that great, but I definitely sucked more before). I watched one of my all time favorites, Snapt 2. I watched some of the barrel riding in the “Young Hawaiians” sequence and some of Bruce and Andy’s old footage. Then I put on some SAE and watched the Haleiwa sequence. Those barrels looked perfect, but everything looks easy on TV. I shut out the lights at 2300 and woke up to monsoon-like rain at 0300. After we woke up, Randy and I stared out of the window and watched how his front yard was being flooded by rain, boards and all.

    We waited until the late afternoon but conditions didn’t improve. Day 20 ended up being a forced lay day because of the weather conditions. Balangan is about forty-five minutes away and not an easy ride in heavy rain plus traffic. I spent the rest of the day reading Matt Warshaw’s “The History of Surfing.” I’m on page three-hundred; it’s a thick ass book. I stopped on the short board revolution chapter. As I read I thought about what our surfing predecessors went through while the art was constantly evolving. George Greenough called the barrel “the green room.” I hope to get me some green room time too.
    It was a lay day, no surfing, that’s all I have, nothing to report.