Loc: El
Porto
Crew: Bri
and Rick
Conditions:
3-4 FT, offshore, cool, sunny, high tide, crowded
This is the pre-Oregon session because Bri
and I are flying out tonight to visit her parents for a whole week. Yup, so
that’s a week without surf.
My brother Randy is in town from Java for
the holidays as well, so the three of us have arranged to meet Rick for a surf
session this morning.
Upon pulling into the lot, Rick’s already
here and is talking to Dave T. We go through the morning greetings, and then
Bri and I start suiting up. When I’m done, Dave tells me that he’s going home
instead. Randy’s not dressed either. “I’m not paddling out,” he says.
I’m wearing my 3/2 wetsuit. I had packed it
this morning because I was gonna let Randy use my 4/3. I had also packed my
brother’s board and a towel for him, but now he’ll just be hanging out in the
parking lot. I look out at the surf and . . . yeah, so it’s not phenomenal, but
it’s still rideable. There are peaks similar to yesterday. The main difference
from yesterday is that there’s now a weekend crowd.
Rick goes out ahead of Bri and I, and we
see him paddle out at 42nd right into “the pack.” I have a special
place in my heart for the waves here, but I usually don’t surf here on the
weekends because of the crowd. As much as I’d like to follow Rick, I look north
and pick a spot for me and Bri in front of the tanks.
The tanks . . . back in the day this was my
favorite spot to surf at Porto, and as much as the sandbars have shifted over
the years, it seems that there’s a right here that breaks consistently.
In the water, I run into Brett AKA Whiffle
Boy, my fellow South Bay surf blogger. Ray’s out here too. I haven’t seen him
in months. I wave, and he waves back. The crowd here’s a little thinner, and it’s
nice when familiar faces go along with it.
I get my wave of the day early. The tide is
going from medium to high, so the waves are starting to go a little soft. A fat,
right-hand peak rolls my way. I paddle into it late to prevent from scratching
out. Whiffle Boy’s on the inside as I’m paddling for it. My take off is much
later than expected, but the mooshiness of the wave is forgiving, and I get to
my feet as the lip crumbles behind me. I get a steep drop and wind up from my
bottom turn to set myself up for a backhand snap. It’s a set wave, and seeing
that textured face behind me with the rising sun in my face, just over the
Manhattan homes, fills me with the feeling of home—this is my local break and
waves like this make me fall in love with Porto every time.
Whiffle Boy just makes it over the shoulder
as I’m climbing the face. I get a gouging backhand snap and reenter the wave
with speed. The sensation of feeling, seeing, and hearing the bucket toss of
water out the back is invigorating. I’m just so happy to be a surfer.
Back at the lineup, Whiffle says, “That was
a late drop.”
And . . . the tanks get even more crowded
with surfers. With the tide rising, we shortboarders begin to struggle. In the
distance, Rick is now in front of 45th, so Bri and I paddle there.
HOW
VETERANS SURF:
Rick gets this long ass left all the way to
shore. From behind, I’m watching, and during his whole ride I watch him throw
buckets out the back on his frontside (he’s goofy foot too), and his head turns
from going down the line, back into the face, and then rebound again for another
carve. Rick’s using the full potential of the wave, cutting back the whole
time. My brother once told me that spray comes from carves, and Rick is living
proof of that. Rick isn’t even trying to snap the lip, but the railwork on his
cutbacks is so clean that he’s throwing water out the back just from his arcing
carves.
I need to be more like Rick. Instead of
just setting myself up for snaps, I need to go rail to rail.
CLOWNING
SESSION:
And Bri gets way more waves than me
nowadays. She and Rick party wave a left with Rick on her outside. Bri’s timing
and wave selection have improved so much that watching her from out the back,
it’s unquestionable that she draws good lines. Even other guys watch in
disbelief that a girl surfer can catch wave after wave and look good doing it.
She only needs to do three things to bring her to the next level: 1. Pop up
faster 2. Never pass up big waves 3. Lean to turn.
And I need to do one thing to help her, which
is find her a smaller longboard.
Regardless, I’m proud of the progress she’s
made, and I’m proud that that’s my girlfriend out there getting her clown on
while other guys watch.
#
Two hours later, we head back to the car.
Randy’s there, chilling by the railing and watching the surf. I feel bad that
he’s been there for two hours, but he could’ve paddled out and surfed if he
wanted to.
We grab breakfast at Blue Butterfly with
Rick. After that, Bri and I spend the rest of the day packing before Randy
drops us off at the airport. I hate being away from the surf, but now that the
school semester is over, I think that this is a much needed break. Sometimes it’s
good to disappear from your life, even if it’s just for a day. For me it will
be a whole week. Food, family, and cold weather. Oregon, here I come.
No comments:
Post a Comment