THE WIND (double sesh), SAT 10NOV2012 NOON

Loc: Churches

Crew: Bri

Conditions: 2-4 FT, low tide, strong sideshore, choppy, sunny, cold.

     There’s no way Bri and I are going back to L.A. without at least checking Churches. Bri’s hoping for San Onofre, but I know that Old Mans doesn’t handle the northwest wind that well. As expected, Old Mans looks like shit when we pull up. Churches has nine heads out. We watch a longboarder make all the racy sections going right, making it to the open face.

     Despite the wind, Churches is still holding some shape; it’s definitely better than Oceanside is with the wind. The bigger waves are walled but some of them line up for at least a couple of turns. The windswell has waves popping up randomly; there’s no right place to sit.

     I change into my dry, extra wetsuit, but Bri has to put on her wet bikini and wetsuit. I hear her shriek from the dripping neoprene, and I’m sure that the wind-chill isn’t helping either.

     We paddle out at the south end of Churches, working our way closer to the pack. The waves looked rideable from shore, but we have to sit and wait once in the water. The waves look like they’re going to break, but there isn’t enough of a trough to pick me up, even on the Zippy.

     When I finally get my first wave, a right, I’m unprepared for the speed. The wind is knocking down the waves which make them faster. I shoot down the line so fast that I almost fall backwards on my bottom turn. My next turn off the lip is slow and sloppy. If anything, I’m just trying to down-turn into the face so as not to lose momentum. As I redirect down the line, the shoulder tapers off.

     In rapid succession, I get a closeout left and then another right. I paddle back to Bri, who’s having a hard time just getting “one.”

#

     Solid four-foot waves start popping out the back. They look like they’re going to line up, but just as they approach, the sections build and wall-up. I pull out of the first two waves, taking the last one. I shoot down the line again, and the oncoming section is approaching. I bottom turn and attempt to cutback off the oncoming shoulder but purl as soon as I rebound off the lip.

     Bri says, “I’m done. Meet you at the car.” She paddles in.

     I take two more waves before leaving. I explain to her that, unfortunately, this is the less desirable, other half of surfing: The Skunk.

     We make it back to L.A. in good time, not needing coffee to stay awake during the drive.

     Even though we didn’t score good waves, and Bri didn’t have a good session, it was still a fun day. We made the best of it.

THE WIND, SAT 10NOV2012 MOR

Loc: Oceanside

Crew: Bri, Rick, John A., Gary C.

Conditions: 3-4 FT, high tide, strong onshore, choppy, sunny, cold.

     Bri and I show up a little late around 0730. It’s a long drive to Oceanside, and since the clocks went back an hour and since the weather’s been colder, it’s been harder to wake up early.

     Still, we are here because it’s Rick’s birthday weekend which he planned at least a month in advance. Despite the conditions, rain, or shine, I knew I’d be here on this very morning—commitments.

     We expect the onshores to be strong, but surprisingly it’s still light. The air is still cool, despite the sun gleaming over the mountains.

     On the sand, we spot Rick right away. It’s harder to make out the two guys next to him. One of them goes for a closeout barrel and gets pinched. When he resurfaces I can tell it’s John. While Bri and I warm up, John goes for another wave. It’s just over three-feet, and the inside stands up. The wave is full of white-wash, but it’s vertical enough to get slotted. John hunkers down in the tube, not completely covered, but he takes it for a long distance, coming out dry.

#

     I’m trying to time the lull for Bri before we paddle out. On the next flatspell, we head out. The inside is still consistent. I make it out and turn around. Bri is still on the inside. I have faith that she can handle it, so I paddle up to Rick.

     John asks if we saw his barrel. It takes a while for me to confirm that it was him on the wave.

     Bri makes it to the lineup. It’s not the day for a funboard or any beginner, but she makes it. This deserves some merit in itself.

     The waves are coming in consistent, but they’re those “windswell waves,” where the shape isn’t clean. Instead, a lot of unrideable waves come in barrages, and somewhere in the mix is a standout which gives a shoulder with enough size to paddle into. It’s a picky morning trying to figure out the right place to sit.

     I catch a left. As I’m going down the line I can see the section’s about to closeout. Since the Tokoro is down for maintenance I have the JS, and I try to top turn off the lip before the ride ends. It’s sluggish. I get stuck and fall, but it’s still fun.

     Gary joins us. He was on the shore taking pics but decided to join in. He’s talking to John. “The wind’s changing,” says Gary.

     He’s right. Texture and ripples start forming on the water. The flag on the shore is blowing strong from the northwest wind. Within minutes, the ocean turns choppy—victory at sea.

#

     Bri’s caught on the inside. I see her, and another bomb is about to closeout on her. I try to keep tabs on her position.

     John paddles up to me. “Gary’s leash broke,” he says.

     I turn around. Rick and Gary are heading in. John catches one in too, but I can’t find Bri. I catch a wave in, turn around, and see that she’s way outside to my south, mixed in with three other surfers. I’m pissed because I have to fight my way through to get to the outside again.

     Bri and I reunite, and she gets worked one more time, unable to make it out again. I catch a last, uneventful wave to end the session.

#

     Back at the campsite, Rick makes Bri and me some coffee. He’s happy just to have us here. John and Gary include Bri in the conversation, showing her pics from their trip to Costa Rica. Bri and I hope to go there some time.

     Before we all part ways, we stop at COCO’s for some breakfast. Despite the shitty conditions, I’m happy to be here to celebrate my friend’s birthday. Sometimes waves aren’t everything. 

SURFLINE SAID . . . , MON 05NOV2012 MOR

Here's a pic that my brother sent me of him getting barreled in Java. He said he and some guys from SD were daring each other to go DEEP. The other guys to the right of him only wanted to take off on the shoulders. He said that it was a barrel machine that day and that EVEN THE AVERAGE GUYS WERE GETTING BARRELED!!!!

Loc: Huntington Beach

Crew: SOLO

Time: 0730-0845

Conditions: 1-3 FT, low tide, glassy, sunny, offshore, inconsistent.

     I should be at school reading or still in bed, well rested for the day ahead of me. But no . . . I’m sitting here in the lineup at Huntington Beach in the midst of a fifteen minute lull. Surfline said it would be 3-4 FT+, but it’s more like . . . there ain’t shit.

     Finally a wave comes. I paddle and try to pop up, but I never get into the wave. It breaks in front of me, possibly could’ve been the wave of the day.

     Guys are leaving the water. There aren’t that many of us. River Jetties doesn’t look too crowded. Magnolia looks like it has some peaks, but it’s too far of a paddle; I don’t have that much time.

     I go for everything in desperation. I paddle in going left and right. The waves are long and racy today, so I pull in for imitation barrels because they are too quick to turn on. I get one grab-rail, suicide run before the wave closes out over me. It’s over before I travel a couple feet. Sadly, it’s my wave of the morning.

     Right before I leave, the tide picks up a little bit more, but the waves are still shitty. The south wind begins to make ripples over the water. Gawd damn . . . I hate it when the gambles don’t work out.

FIRST DATE DO-OVER (double sesh), FRI 02NOV2012 EVE

Loc: Palos Verdes

Crew: Bri

Time: 1700-1830

Conditions: 2-3 FT, low tide, glassy, inconsistent, soft, mooshy, cool.

     Bri’s not talking to me when I pull up to The Cove. She’s mad . . . I’m mad. I have work this weekend which means I won’t get to surf for the next two days, so getting in the water ASAP is paramount. She was about to piss in her pants, and she couldn’t hold it. We only had ten more minutes to drive, so . . . I was being a dick when I had to stop short of our destination so she could use the bathroom.

     The silence is thick. I give-in and apologize.

#

     The waves look good from the top. About twenty longboarders are down there. Even though the rest of the South Bay is onshore, the wind is calm over here.

     I didn’t even bother to bring the Zippy. I’m on the JS like I was in the morning. We’re not at Manhattan Beach because it was walled when we drove by, so now we’re here.

     We lock up and trot down the sharp, brittle trail. The water’s cold, a little too cold for my 2/2 short-sleeve wetsuit. I tell Bri to follow me, and I paddle us right into some shallow rocks. We have to stand and walk to deeper water again.

     Once we’re on the outside, I see it’s smaller than it looked from the hill. The sets are three feet, but it’s mooshy. PV needs to be bigger than five-feet to be fun on a thruster. I curse myself for not having Zippy.

#

     These waves are perfect for Bri. It’s been over four months since I took her here for the first time. That first date, none of us caught any waves because it was too small and the tide was too high.

     Right now, she’s having trouble getting into the waves. It’s almost too mooshy compared to this morning’s pitch-fest. Since we’re not at the main peak, our waves aren’t as long, but she manages to paddle into one . . . and then a couple . . . and then a couple more. She’s in classic San Onofre form, not catching every wave but confident and catching at least half of them. This place is too easy, too mellow not to have a stoked longboard sesh.

     I wait for the plus-sized sets, but I can’t manage to get a turn. Either way, Bri’s learning really fast. I remind myself how lucky I am to be with someone who I can share surfing with.

#

     We stay until it’s dark. Only two people are still out there when we leave. Other people are changing in what’s left of the faint horizon. The majestic cliffs are dark with just a couple houses on top with their lights on. Bri’s stoked. She says she’s perfectly fine with surfing PV any time.

She never brings up that I was being a dick earlier about having to pull over so she could piss.