TRESTLES--GONE WITH THE WIND: SAT 5.28.2011 MOR

Shan, the first surfer on site. This was before the winds picked up.

CREW: Shan, Klaude, Khang, Khoa, Christina, Francis, Nicole, Dais
TIME: 0800-1000?, 2 hours.
CONDITIONS: Onshore wind, choppy, inconsistent, overcast, 3 feet.

    Saturday morning began with much anticipation. Shan, surprisingly, was already minutes away when I first woke up. At 0545 I could see the morning sky illuminating my tent from the outside. Lauren still lay fast asleep while I got the coffee going. Shan told me that there was a line of cars waiting for the state park to open. As soon as he was inside, we exchanged greetings and took a look outside. The morning looked promising, as clean, scattered peaks were visible all across Old Man’s. Even the surf in front of our site looked border-line surfable. I kept pumping up my session the day before and selling Trestles to him. We took our time getting ready while we waited for the rest of our visitors.

    Klaude hit me up and told me he was just minutes away. He also made me aware that we acquired two more guests, which was a big surprise to me. If you know me, you know I hate surprises, as I’m pretty much a control freak, especially if the gathering is a creation of my own.

    Just as we were about to paddle out, Khang, Dais, Christina, and Klaude showed up. They said that Francis was right behind them. Then Khoa, Karen, Sean, and Eloisa arrived. We did the introductions, Shan and I were itching to get in the water, so we told them that we’d see them out there. Unfortunately, with everyone else’s arrival also came the arrival of the onshore winds. The winds would set off the chain of events for the next day to come. I was in denial and had foolish hopes that the conditions would get better. Shan was optimistic and said that the wind could change when it got sunny.

    It was Shan’s first time surfing San Onofre, and he still agreed that it looked better than Porto. We made it just north of the Bud Light Lime Series and paddled out. Shan was stoked to be out there, but I was in severe disappointed at the thought of how good it was the day before. Shan got the first peeling left that rolled through. Even though it was getting windy and choppy, there were still some waves with a little shape. A long boarder came in from the north and stole the next left that I had been waiting for. Shan got a nice handful of rides, but I was pretty frustrated. I got a couple insignificant waves and noticed the rest of the crew showing up. I motioned Shan out of the water, and then we joined everyone else (minus Francis and Nicole). Khang made the call to paddle out in front of the Battle Position. From the shore everything looked good. I saw a set coming in despite the wind, and it looked promising. Shan went back to his same spot, and everyone else paddled straight out.

    The conditions continued to worsen. Honestly, everyone else seemed stoked except for me. It was so hard for me to have a good time. Even though I didn’t have control over the weather, I had invited everyone over for good surf, and I was pissed that the conditions turned to shit. Watching my buddies paddle for mediocre waves during a surf weekend that was supposed to be fun really took the life out of me.

    I paddled south of Lowers in hopes to get something. The crowd was much thicker. The more I paddled the more people I found myself in the middle of. I had to sit all the way on the outside to get some for myself. This time I pulled the asshole move by inserting myself in the line up and trying to take waves early. It was just that kind of morning. I ended up paddling back by everyone else. I saw Christina catch a couple waves, which to me was a good sign that at least some of us were having fun.

    The conditions got more inconsistent, and we all left in pairs like people sneaking out of a failed party. Lauren waited for me on the shore, and I walked back feeling all grumpy.

    At the campsite the sky finally cleared, it got hot, and the sun was blazing. Francis and Nicole said that they surfed somewhere else. There was still wind, but at least the site had the feeling of summer. I hoped for the evening session to clean up. I had no idea what was really in store for us.