STAYCATION SESSIONS—SAN ONOFRE, WED 7.13.2011 MOR

Crew: Frances and Rick

Time: 0730-1030, 3 hrs.

Conditions: Onshore wind, inconsistent, three feet, racy.

I've been dying for the opportunity to surf HB or go further south to San Onofre. Rick's friend John has a campsite reservation, so it seems like a good idea to go there for the whole day. Frances was down for the trip, so Wed. morning was all planned out.

As Frances and I exit Basilone Rd., we have a good view of Lowers. Unfortunately, the texture on the water is undeniable. The waves look crumbly, and nothing seems to be breaking other than Lowers. It's another gloomy morning. We park as close as we can to Churches and watch the waves roll through. It's not the San Onofre homecoming that I was hoping for. Frances has never seen Churches or Trestles in all of its consistent and glassy glory. There's just too much wind which is making things a little choppy, knocking down the waves prematurely.

I call Rick, and he's still on the road. Frances and I decide to walk to Middles, just south of Lowers. We score a peak all to ourselves. It's inconsistent, but at least there's no crowd factor. We sit there for at least an hour and a half, trading off rides. Trestles is a pretty slopy wave, and in the past month I've surfed nothing like it. I struggle and scratch out on a lot of waves while Frances does his front side attack on many. I get one good right that gives me two solid top turns. My backhand is still a little rusty, but that wave makes my morning and leaves me wanting more.

The high tide shuts our peak down, so we walk towards Churches to find Rick. We spot his bald head in the line up and paddle out towards him. Even though our peak at Middles was inconsistent, at least we didn't have the crowd of surfers that's at Churches. I have to give up on a couple waves to the longboarders on my inside; I can't compete with them. Rick paddles in, and minutes later I'm surrounded by a pack of about ten high school aged chicks. They start talking about plans to skinny dip at night. I look at Frances. Frances looks at me. We take this as our cue to call it a morning.