POST-OREGON SESSION, MON 30DEC2013

 

Loc: Palos Verdes

Crew: Bri

Time: 1500-1700

Conditions: 3-4 FT, glassy, soft, cool, sunny, low tide, crowded

     Bri and I got back from Oregon on the 27^th, but the surf has been walled since we’ve been home. We had checked Porto this morning but concluded that it was so walled that our only chance at decent surf was to go to either a point or a reef break.

     So it’s now the evening and the tide is dropping into the negatives. Any beach break in the South Bay isn’t even worth looking at, so Bri and I head straight for PV. On the way down the coast, I look for surf signs: cars, surfers, surfboards. But as we pass Torrance Beach, there isn’t anything of the sort.

     It isn’t until we approach The Cove that I see a line of cars parked. The conditions are right for The Cove to work: low tide, direct west swell, at least four feet of wave height. We park and take a look down the cliff. The longboarders far away are black dashes, paddling over smooth lines that look like dick veins. The inside is roaring white wash. I’m stoked.

     I whip out my 6’10 Becker Board just in case the waves aren’t as big as they look from the cliff, but I also want to sample it to see how it rides at PV.

     The tide is so drained out that we have to walk a good portion of the inside to get to deeper water. Rocks are sticking out that I never knew were there. My shoulders burn from the long paddle out, and when we reach the lineup there are more surfers than I thought I had seen earlier. Today, surfers are sitting directly in the middle of The Cove. I like to sit wide to the north, but the waves here are coming in walled.

     The main peak has the best waves. The sets roll in at about four feet, and longboarders are getting long rides, long enough that I have to back out even from my distant position.

     But waves do swing wide to where Bri and I are, but my Becker board feels sluggish. I still paddle and kick to get into waves, but I don’t feel the advantage of this board’s size. The best I can do is pump and get as much distance as possible. I get a half-ass floater that ends up being my wave of the day.

     With the sun already low, more people still paddle out. Now a pack of Brazilians sit next to me and Bri.

     The session turns frustrating, as I can’t scratch into the bombs. Even with this low tide and swell size, PV breaks so soft that big boards are the way to go here.

     Bri gets much better rides than I do. She even offers to swap boards.

     We surf until it’s dark, and even with only six guys left out, everyone is still greedy for waves. I sit in with the pack, and I still get outhustled by the longboarders.

     Back at the car, Bri and I change in the dark. I’m bummed that my first session back home has to be a frustrating one, but I hope that the swell improves. Maybe the shape will improve over the next couple of days.