Loc: El
Porto
Crew: Bri
Time: 0700-0830
Conditions:
2-3 FT, scattered peaks, crowded enough.
Bri only has an hour to surf because she
has work, so we drive separately. The initial plan is to surf a little further
south, but Bri calls me and says that Porto is looking fun. As I round the
corner on 45th and look down the hill, I see scattered lines rolling
in. Sold.
Some of the waves are a little lined up and
fast. Good positioning will be key this morning. A bigger board also helps,
since some of the waves are breaking a little late. Of course, Bri schools me
on her NSP, able to catch just about anything that rolls through. While I’m
concerned about being positioned on the shoulder, her thick NSP makes the
sections, and she’s getting long down-the-line rides, which are
uncharacteristic for Porto.
I fall behind the section on my first left,
but the face stands up for a while, so I consciously try to pull off a wrap-around
cutback. By the time I rebound and try to redirect my board, the section closes
out. But, I do get some fun, racy waves, and am able to finishing off with
single carves. On one I get a baby floater, so despite the shape I’ve already
reached my stoke quota for the day.
Bri leaves for work, and I had already put
in enough coinage until 0830, so I’m looking forward to catching more rides.
Unfortunately, someone must have put the word out about the surf because now
the lot is filling.
More guys come out, and since the waves are
only breaking semi consistent, a lot of heads wait for the next rides.
A longboarder catches two waves too small
for me. He comes back. When the set wave comes, he back-paddles everybody and
takes that wave too. Motherfucker. He has no concept on sharing. No one wants
to see him catch three waves in a row, just coming back over and over again and
taking the waves for himself. I’m not a violent person, but I feel closest to
it when I’m in the water. That’s not good.
Then an SUP guy does the same thing. Doesn’t
give a wave up. On the rights, he paddles back out after each one, going for
the next one coming in.
I swear, I’m so love/hate with Porto
sometimes. It’s already 0835, and catching a “last one” is so goddam hard with
all this greed. I love surfing, but I’m actually leaving the water angry and
unsettled.
Thanks so much for your blog. Love it. I'd like to apologize for the SUPers that are greedy. They give all us SUP guys a bad name. I respect my fellow wave lovers and don't hog. I want a great groove out there for all of us. Please don't hate me in advance.
ReplyDeleteMichael, first off, thank you so much for even commenting on my blog. I figure only one or two people (including myself) even bother to read it. And no, you don't have to "apologize." You know how it is when it's frustrating out there and other people are hogging all the waves. It just comes with the territory. If one loves this art of surfing then you must take in the not-so-great things that come along with it. It's not frustrating all the time. Please tune in to my next couple posts to read about some uncrowded surf sessions. Thank you for reading. Maybe I'll see you out in the water some time.
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