ANOTHER SCORCHER, SUN 28AUG2011 MOR

Crew: WHC to our north, Francis, Klaude, Dave, and Christina.
Time: 0645-0900
Conditions: 2 ft., glassy, sunny, hot again.



    Last night I was on the verge of telling everyone that I couldn’t make it out. After yesterday, it’s an easy call for a lay day to heal. It’s just a struggle when you love surfing so much. Take it easy . . . for real. That’s my mantra for the day.

    I get to 26th a little bit later than yesterday, but the metered lots aren’t even opened yet. Surfers are already there, and there’s no free parking by the station. I park up the hill a bit as Francis pulls up right next to me. I inform him about the parking, so he grabs the last spot right behind me. He introduces me to his sister Berenice who’s in town visiting.

    As I’m changing, the two Amador brothers, minus Rick, pull up next to me. We talk for a bit before their two car convoy parks at the now opened meters. I give Manny and Chris their Bintang shirts. Finally, I have officially given away all of my gifts from Bali.

    Francis and I paddle out to the same spot as yesterday. I don’t know if we’ve qualified as locals yet, but we should be familiar faces by now. Out of a couple short rides, I finally get a right that lets me do a small top turn on. It feels good. Klaude’s on the shore warming up next to Berenice. Eventually, Dave and Christina show up too. We all drift a little south right in front of Jon’s camera set up. The surf isn’t as consistent as the day before, but the conditions are so nice that the waves are almost irrelevant. It’s a long wait, but I don’t care. Francis leaves, and Klaude paddles into the main pack to score a wave. Today’s approach is less aggressive so as not to aggravate anything. Christina steps up her performance during the weekend. She’s on the foamie which is a good choice for the conditions, but she’s more assertive in her wave selection instead of sitting there and wondering if she should paddle or not. Dave . . . Dave is the highlight of the whole weekend. He went from Death Wish Dave to One Wave Dave to just plain Dave. For the first time, his pop-ups are early and on point. Instead of seeing the board fly up in the air after the explosion, I’m watching him go down the line.

    I could stay longer, but the tide’s killing it. I avoid further tangible damage. I was injured for two weeks, but I made it just in time for this end of summer session. For me, this was the summer of surf; I‘ve never surfed so much in my life. It all started with pre summer camping trips, Bali training, Bali, surfing my brains out, and then finally an inevitable injury. My shoulder‘s still messed up, but I‘ll work through it eventually. Even though it‘s the end of summer it‘s not the end of surf. I hope the fall brings some good stuff our way.