Loc: Churches
Time: 1545-1830
Crew: Bri,
Cassady & Rick
Conditions:
2-3 FT+, sunny, cold water, offshore, consistent, crowded.
My friend Cassady had shown up with a big
ass watermelon. He cut it for us before he headed out to surf Old Mans. Our
initial plan was to meet up in the morning and paddle out together, but he said
he ended up drinking at some bar in Long Beach late last night. There’s something
about Long Beach and their bar culture. Anyway, Cassady takes off with his longboard
and Rick shows up a little while after. He’s rambling on and on about work, the
wife, the kids, and surf. He’s talking just as fast as he’s pulling out
equipment.
I must say . . . Rick is like a dad to me,
so I am always happy and glad to have him here on these trips, especially after
all the times that he’s invited me to his. Literally, he could take a shit in
my tent or watch Briana and I do the nasty; I wouldn’t care.
Old Mans is looking better than it did this
morning. The left is breaking all the way north into the first couple of
campsites. I want to get out there myself, but with Rick here now, it would be
better to wait until the evening sesh.
When Cas gets out of the water, I introduce
him and Rick to each other. Cas has been to Costa Rica too, so I know they’ll
have a lot to talk about.
Bri’s taking a nap in the tent, but at
about 1530 I wake her ass up to let her know that we’re paddling out.
#
So we’re walking on the sand past a few
Marines, when I hear some of them talking towards us. I pay no attention and
keep walking, and then I hear the undeniable words: “Do you have a boyfriend?”
Bri says, “What the fuck? Are they talking
to me?” She turns her head and says to them, “My boyfriend is right here, fuck
off!”
I turn. Bri has this look on her face that
tells me she’s quite comfortable in these sorts of confrontations. I look over
at the Marines, raise my thumb and say, “Yep, right here.”
“Oh!” says the shirtless, pale-chested
soldier. He raises his open hand in a peace offering and says, “Sorry.”
I put my arm around Bri’s waist. We kiss.
#
We paddle out at the south end of Churches.
I’m stoked to see Cas and Rick surf together as well as seeing Bri surf with
Cas, since we three go to school together.
The lineup is doing the same thing as this
morning but with three times the crowd. Initially, we sit wide south, but as
usual, it’s a bit inconsistent. On my way to paddle north through the lineup, I
see Cas on his longboard, noseriding. He has his arms in front of him, straight
out at the elbows but raised at the wrists, leaning back and balancing himself
as his log cuts into the face of the wave. It’s my first time surfing with him,
and he’s . . . pretty damn good.
Rick draws second blood. Cas and I watch
Rick paddle battle it out with a couple other guys, finally getting the right
and tossing water over the back with his yellow Zamora Fish.
I’m fucking frustrated. There are waves but
too many people. Bri still sits south. I’m glad that she doesn’t mind doing her
own thing in the water. Either way, I had gotten too anal at “instructing” her
at one point, so she probably prefers that I paddle off and go somewhere else.
Whenever I have a wave I have to back off.
I try shooting to the outside at the hunch of a set but constantly mispredict
them.
Cas paddles up to me and talks about Bri. “Hey,”
he says, “I seen Bri, rolling around on the inside behind her board, but . . .
she’s going for it, dude!” He stops, squints at the horizon, and then looks at
me again. “Not too many chicks would do that.”
Finally, as the sun sets and the crowd
thins, there are more unridden waves, while the swell builds at the same time.
Rick is the first to go, followed by Cas and Bri. I know it will be dark soon,
but I also know that this is a prime window. I can possibly catch as much waves
in the next half hour as I have all session.
There are a couple memorable rides here.
There are now about five guys left in the water with a fading metallic sky
coming to a wane. The outside sets become more consistent, breaking about four
feet. I get one of the set waves all to myself, finally going down the line. I’ve
missed Trestles. There’s something about riding a perfect, cobble-stone right
hander, especially when the sun is behind it when it’s dark. It’s like riding black,
fluid marble. The face itself is so dark that your eyes lack depth perception,
so it looks like a vertical wall. With less visibility there is the heightening
of the senses, feeling the tail and rail cut into the wave’s face, hearing the
splash, and the white wake disrupting the marble in streaming gashes. After
this wave I catch another three-turn right. I know I should go in now, take a
shower, help out with the camp fire, but how can I? It’s impossible after
catching a good wave. I paddle back out, and it’s my demise. A lull hits, and I
inch my way closer to shore to see if I can catch an insider, and that’s when
the outside set comes, and I have to rush back out. By the time I’m done
duckdiving, I can barely see the horizon. Crazy enough, there are two
longboarders still out here. Lights are shining in the hills and at the power
plant. It’s time to go.
Back at the campsite, Hideki, Cas, and Bri
are trying to start the campfire. Rick is walking around, trying to get some
hot water going.
I walk up to Bri, whose staring down at the
flameless bundle of wood. She looks at me and says, “I think you should do it.”
I smile and say what’s up to Hideki.
Of course she thinks I should do it and
that’s because I know how to make a fuckin’ fire. I think that’s some real man
shit right there. I mean, God forbid I have to change my own oil, but building
a campfire? That’s some cave man type shit. If you can’t do this then you need
your man badge revoked.
However, I can’t because they already
fucked up the wood formation, didn’t put it into a teepee, and they didn’t even
get any starter wood or twigs, or anything that’s highly combustible to help
with this shit.
I take a quick shower, say by to Cassady
who has to leave, apologize to the rest of the boys, tell them that Bri and I
are starving, and then I take Bri to Sonics. I had asked them if they needed
anything, and Rick only needed some eggs.
After dinner, Jimmy B. makes it out and
joins our campfire. I bust out the S’mores and show off my professional S’mores
making skills. But I do have to give Cassady some credit because he turned me
on to using Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups instead of regular Hershey bars.
Bri turns in early, and we plan our wake up
time for tomorrow. Meanwhile, Klaude, Dais, and Khang are just leaving L.A.
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