Loc: 26th
Crew: Bri,
Klaude, Khang, Dais
Time:
0745-0945
Conditions:
3-4+ FT, mid to high tide, offshore, consistent, walled, crowded, sunny, and
cool.
I’m watching Klaude in the lineup next to
Calvin and Roy. Solid four-to-five foot walls start coming in, looking like
they might have shoulders, but the sections build and closeout once they hit
the sandbar. I’m trying to formulate the words to Briana, something to make her
feel comfortable on the 7’10 NSP barney board. This might not be a good idea.
North Huntington is the gnarliest place I’ve taken her to, and that was only a
solid, fast, and pitchy three-feet. Still . . . that’s only three feet.
The next set comes in. It’s fast and dumpy,
typical of the South Bay, but I’m stoked. I haven’t seen size here like this
for a while, and it’s a powerful, whomping kind of size.
I turn to Bri and hide my nervousness for
her. “You’ll be alright,” I say. “Just watch out for the crowd and be picky. Go
for the shoulders. Don’t get caught on the inside.”
“Okay,” she says, like it’s a normal day at
San Onofre.
We paddle out together, and even though I
choose a window where the waves are small, they are still punchy in the
whitewash. Bri gets pummeled. I hold my ground, duckdiving in place, waiting
for her to make it. Guys are now starting to catch waves. I’m in the way and so
is she. I can’t be so damn protective and controlling; I have to let go of the
reigns.
I paddle up to Klaude, say hi to Calvin and
Roy and say, “Briana’s with me . . . she’s getting worked.” I turn around, and
there she is, paddling over the last wave in the impact zone into the next
lull.
She paddles up to us and says, “Lucky the
waves stopped!”
Man . . . when I was at Bri’s level I
wouldn’t have made it out.
PICKY-PICKY:
Mostly walls are coming in. Unfortunately,
the juicy sets don’t have much shape, but that doesn’t stop Klaude. He goes for
a bomb, Khang-style. It looks like a closeout right. After his ride he paddles
back. I ask, “How was that?”
“Awwwwwuh,” he says, “I got worked.”
I catch one myself and go straight.
When Bri paddles, I hold my breath. Her
arms aren’t strong enough to get her in, and I’m glad because the waves dump
really fast once they hit the sandbar, morphing into steep drops and then
oblivion.
Khang makes it out around the time I catch
a closeout left. I pop-up, turn into the wave right away, take the highline,
crouch down, and get a glimpse of the lip curling over me. It barely lasts a
second, but I see Klaude paddling over the shoulder, looking into the tube. My
motion is controlled, penetrating out the back door. Klaude watches me paddle
back in acknowledgement. It was no cigar, not even close, but to even get a
perspective in the tube for a fraction of a second, controlled and not on
accident, is a milestone for our level of surfing . . . at least until we get
dry barreled.
Khang brings Dais and their homegirl. I
haven’t seen Dais with short hair yet, and I must say that I’m still jealous at
how handsome he is. I just wish I could grow facial hair like that.
I catch a closeout and ride by their friend
on the inside. She’s getting pounded on her foam board. A GoPro camera is
mounted on the nose. She’s sliding off of her board, getting rocked by the
whitewash, seasick. She doesn’t make it out.
#
It must’ve been good here this week because
the fucking lineup is PACKED. I don’t know how these guys do it, but some of
them are just getting good waves that line up for several pumps until the ramp
section at the end. Guys are doing 360 airs and landing them. The older vets
are choosing the right waves too, getting multiple turns. Maybe I’m sitting too
far out or going for all the wrong ones.
I’m paddling back to the lineup when I see
Briana try to make it over a wave. The lip rejects the nose of the NSP like how
Vlade Divac blocked Jordan in game one of the Bulls VS Lakers finals. I’m going
into Dick Mode. I told her ass not to get caught on the inside. I look back,
watching her resurface and take a couple more beatings, but when she returns to
the lineup she’s smiling.
“What happened?” I asked.
She says that instead of duckdiving the
wave, the guys in front of her cut her off to paddle over the shoulder,
stalling her in time to get sandwiched. Minutes later we paddle out to go over
one wave, and the biggest wave of the morning is right behind it.
“Oh shit!” I say. I want to give Bri
advice, but I can’t. We’re both deep. Even I’m scratching to get out of the way.
It’s a solid five-feet, and that’s being generous. So what do I tell her? I
sure as fuck wouldn’t want to turtle dive that thing. The wave is standing up
way on the outside. Before I duckdive it I see Bri ditch her board and dive
under. I duckdive it. The wave is so strong that it drags me back, but I don’t
get sucked down.
Bri makes it back to the lineup, visibly
shaken-up, but . . . she ain’t bein’ a bitch about it either.
TWEENERS:
Instead of going for the big ones, the
in-between waves are only three-to-four feet, and some of them have tapered but
fast shoulders at the end of them. I catch a right, but some bald-headed guy drops
in on me. I have to stall on my bottom-turn until he kicks out. He does, but
most of the ride is already milked.
Klaude’s gone. Khang paddles towards me and
Bri, and he’s wearing that face, the face of “fuck it’s crowded.” He’s
frustrated. So am I.
I tell him that Bri and I are going for our
last waves. Just then, a right-hand tweener starts to form. Bri’s paddling for
it. “Go. Angle right!” I say.
She gives her novice stroke all that she
has. She’s pointing her nose down the wave; she’s listening.
The Baldy is on her outside. He turns and
starts scratching for it too. “Go!” I yell. Bri gets the drop, and Baldy kicks
out. It takes a while for Bri to stand, but I see her from behind, looking down
the line as she’s gliding on it, away from me. Her ride is short, but it’s a
good wave.
My last ride is far from impressive, but
I’m stoked for the waves I got. The lip throw-out over my head was my best one.
The tweener waves were good even though I didn’t get many of them, and I’m glad
I got to see my crew out there on a rare weekday session.
I drag Bri to follow me to get my hair cut
and then we head out for breakfast. We talk about the session during the whole
meal. She says that water dripped out of her nose when she went to the
bathroom, but she looks at it as a good thing.
She’s definitely one of us.
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| Mandy's Family Restaurant, El Segundo, CA |
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