IDEAL 26th STREET, SUN 15SEPT2013 MOR

Loc: 26^th Street   

Time:0815-1100

Crew: Bri, Christina, Klaude, Dais                           

Conditions: 2-3 FT, sunny, glassy, consistent

Pre Blog:

     I used to keep my favorite local spot a secret, but it’s no secret. It’s so goddam crowded that I now see the hilarity in not naming this spot. So here it is: 26^th Street, Manhattan Beach.

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     I can only dawn patrol so much, and into the third day of surfing in a row, Bri and I sleep in . . . accidentally. Also the morning is a fiasco. I’m so tired that I can’t find my fucking car keys. We burn about a half hour, easy, going from the garage to the house and to my car searching for them. I finally give in and take out the spare.

     The parking situation is a disaster, so I park at my secret spot. It’s a far walk, but worth it since parking is so scarce in these parts. It’s a late start for us. I imagine Klaude and the boys already gone and me later on telling them how I got on the late train. The walk down between the Manhattan homes is lined with palm trees and million dollar homes. It feels more like walking through a resort than a neighborhood.

     When we reach the sand, we see that the crowd is actually manageable. I expected it to be worse after Klaude’s report. As we walk towards the 26^th Street Tower, we see Klaude in the lineup. He’s so easy to identify with his jet black hair and pale face. In contrast to the OC, the beach is so sunny. The water’s also glassy, and when we paddle out we find that it’s warm too. Thankfully the wind hasn’t picked up yet, and the small surf rolls in consistently.

     “Heyyyy,” says Klaude.

     “We’re on the late train.”

     “Yeah you are.” He looks at his watch. I have to leave soon.

     We go through the usual meet and greet which involves a man hug, one for Bri too. Shortly after, Christina shows up with one of her friends, and we all claim the peak, sharing it with only a few other people.

     I don’t know how to describe the rest without sounding so repetitive. Let’s just say that the waves break differently here. With the tide, the waves are spilling and kind of mooshy, but this place handles tide much better than the OC. Instead of stand-up faces, the waves are soft with a little bit of race to them. All of us are trading off on waves. To my memory, most of them are the same, none of them stand out, and it’s not a bad thing because I remember having so much fun.

     Christina leaves about a half hour after she arrives, even before Klaude does. When Klaude leaves, Dais surprises us from behind, so now our stoke is rejuvenated.

     We expect for the tide to make the surf swampy and for the wind to pick up, but the wind only does so slightly. Even with the tide, the surf is still rolling through with just a slight drop in its consistency.

     It’s been a while since I’ve surfed at this time of day with the sun so high. The sand is much brighter than I usually see it when I’m packed up and gone on my usual surf schedule. The third shift is a scant crowd, surfers who have planned to give most of their Sunday to the ocean.

     Instead of breakfast at Mandy’s or Blue Butterfly, we go to Indian Summer. It’s Bri’s first time here, and we catch their lunch buffet for ten bucks a head.

     The long surf session has us exhausted. We spend the rest of afternoon in a coma, napping on our futon for hours. What a blessed feeling to be drained from surfing.