LEVELED, MON 31MAR2014

Loc: Manhattan Beach

Time: 0700-0915

Conditions: 2-3 FT, offshore, slightly overcast, gutless.

     I step out my car after I park to look down the hill. The surf looks sectiony at mid tide, but it’s consistent. Broken up lines are rolling in. The surf always looks bigger when you’re looking down at it, but it’s looking like 3-4 feet and standing up, so my Lost Mini Driver’s today’s board choice.

     In the lineup, I’m surrounded by local groms. Some are even body boarding it. A kid takes a right in front of the brick house, pumping hard, moving fast as a blur. He disappears behind the wave for his explosive attempt. Suddenly, he boosts in the air for a 360 rotation but doesn’t stick the landing.

     “Whoa!” yell the groms who are next to me.

     It’s an overcast morning. To think that Surfline had given today’s forecast a “poor” rating. The wind’s offshore, but the waves still aren’t coming in in nice defined peaks. I take a right-hand shoulder, which is at the end of a wall, and crank out one solid backhand turn. After that, the wave closes out. I expect the surf to get better once the tide fills in.

     After the kids leave, the tide fills in, and it levels out the ocean’s surface, taking away the sectiony conditions, but now there’s another problem. Earlier, the waves were sectiony and slightly vertical, but now the surf has turned gutless. I curse myself for not taking out the Motorboat Too. After catching a closeout, I go back up the hill to swap boards.

     Now the first shift has cleared out, and in comes a few dedicated locals to surf the second half of the morning.

     One of them turns to me, shaking his head, and says, “It’s weak!”

     Shan’s out here too now. He’s on his fish, but even he’s having some problems getting into waves.

     On my Motorboat, I don’t feel any significant edge. I fall off of it a lot, like I’m forcing it to do more than the conditions are allowing me to do. I get a left and pump down the line. While trying to cutback, I dig my nose and inside rail into the face and wipe out. This happens a couple of times.

     I finally tell myself to slow down a little, which leads to a couple long rides but nothing spectacular.

     By 0900 the wind shifts, but the surf also picks up. Out of nowhere, a long set of waves stampedes in. Most of us are stuck inside. Uncle Miles gets the bomb of the morning, scoring a right on his longboard.

     Back up on the hill changing, I’m still glad I had paddled out. It didn’t turn into a three-hour session, where I’m stubbornly waiting for the wave of the week. I surfed for over two hours, got a couple of decent rides, and now I can begin my day. And Surfline was off. Maybe that’s why it was so empty. No one thought it was going to be offshore, but it was, and there were a few good waves out there. Thanks to poor surf forecasting. Thanks to Surfline.

Post-surf patrol at El Porto