INSTINCT, SAT 02NOV2013

Loc: 26^th Street

Time: 0930-1030

Crew: Bri & Todu

Conditions: 2-3 FT, choppy, onshore, walled, crowded

     After wasting all of Thursday on shitty surf, I don’t paddle out on Friday. With the tide so high in the morning right now, I feel that it’s better to check it before noon when it comes down a little. Today, Bri and I are ready to go to the gym. It’s about 0900, and then Klaude hits me up for a breakfast invite.

     “I was at 26^th from like seven to nine,” he says.

     “How was it?”

     “It was actually . . . pretty . . . good.”

     Fuck. Please don’t tell me that I missed out. “Really?” I say. “I expected that the tide would be too high, so I didn’t even bother.”

     “Nah,” he says. “Despite the tide, guys were getting some long rides. Tom was out there. Roy was out there. It was offshore. Still is.”

     Bri and I load up our gear and head towards 26^th. On the way there, the surf looks a little walled and small. I find free parking, and then we walk out from 33^rd Street. The surf . . . well . . . it’s sunny and the conditions are nice. There’s a light onshore wind creating some texture, but the surf is fucking walled. The lines are long with a fast corner at the end at best. We walk all the way to the brick house and then to the 26^th Street tower. Fuck. It’s kind of crowded. The surf isn’t as good as I had hoped.

     Bri and I paddle out, finding Todu in the lineup. “Were you here earlier?” I ask.

     “No,” he says. “I just got here.” 

     And fuck . . . the surf is crappy just like yesterday morning. Closeouts and fast walls. I get a fast shoulder that I get some pumps on, but that’s it. Within the hour, more surfers pour out from the street, onto the sand, and into the water. Now there are no gaps as far as I can see.

     After an hour, Bri and I leave and head to the gym. Fuck this.