Loc:
HB/Cliffs/Dog Beach
Time:
0730-1015
Crew:
Hideki, Chris
Conditions:
3 FT+, overcast, offshore, strong current
Due to the demands of school I’ve missed a
couple pulses that have brought some waves in the last ten-odd days, but this
Thursday morning I have a chance to paddle out. I’d like to take advantage of
my parking pass and head to Brookhurst or Bolsa, but Hideki says that he’ll be
paddling out at The Cliffs in the morning. I’ve never surfed there before, and
I’m not keen on paying for parking, but I haven’t surfed with any of the homies
for a while, so I don’t mind the sacrifice. Aren’t a couple of bucks worth some
face time with friends?
When I arrive, I’m not even sure if I’m
even parked at the proper spot. I have no idea how to get down to the surf, and
I don’t see that much surf activity where I am. As soon as I step up to the
railing to take the bird’s eye view of the surf, I see two big peaks breaking
right in front. For me it’s validation enough that there’s some swell happening
out there.
I change and watch some longboarders hop
over the bar and disappear down what looks like a very steep trail.
Unsure of what fin setup to use, I stick
with the thruster setup on my Mini Driver and scale the cliff down to the
water.
I have no idea where Hideki is or if I’ll
even run into him this morning, but I figure I can paddle out and maneuver
through the lineup and find him that way.
I’m wading waist deep on the inside, not
even paddling yet, when I notice Hideki’s streak of silver hair through his
black mane, and he waves at me, probably seeing my chiseled jawline and my pecs
through my wetsuit. From that distance, it’s hard not to notice.
When I reach him, I notice Chris further
north, catching a left. I ask Hideki how the surf is, and he says that the
current’s taken them all the way down here, but that they had originally
started off by the “V”. I wave at Chris and notice that I’m getting pulled
further north too, so I fight the current back to center of the cliff.
About fifteen minutes later, I see Hideki
and Chris on the sand doing the carousel, walking back on the sand to reset and
paddle out further south. When I see them again in the water later, they catch
their waves in and leave for work.
My surfing is off. I’ve been smoking a
little, here and there, so my lungs struggle for air. The inside is walled and
consistent, not that big but really punchy. I struggle and get caught on a long
set, getting pummeled despite my duckdives.
Understanding
the Drive:
There are a lot of lefts this morning, but
the waves are so racy that I have a hard time connecting more than one turn.
Further south I see a guy get a legit in-and-out cover up. I’m envious but
props to that guy. He earned it.
The current’s strong, so I have windows
when I’m alone until guys drift in my space. I fight the current, but every
time I catch a left, I have much more distance to get back to my spot.
Seeing that guy getting barreled motivates
me, so I start pulling in on waves. I practice my pig dog going right, and
surprisingly I get a little distance inside. Not much, but it’s enough to
notice that it’s a lot longer than usual, than when I usually just get closed-out
on right away. I pull in going left, and there’s a moment of clarity inside the
tube. Again, it only lasts a second or two, but I notice the difference. I have
air or free space inside, like discovering an air pocket if you were buried
alive in a dirt grave, and then I realize something. . . Shit, after all this
time, years even, of me saying that I’ve been getting “pinched” in the barrel,
I’ve been using that term incorrectly all along. I wasn’t really getting “barreled”
to begin with. All those times pulling in, all I was doing was wiping out—induced
wipeouts on closeouts. But this morning, on those two waves, I got a little bit
of “drive” in the tube, and that’s what makes the difference. These things are
becoming clearer to me, especially after my recent sessions at DMJ. Without any
distance inside, I shouldn’t even use the word “barrel.”
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