NEW SWELL, WED 05MAR2014

Loc: El Porto (45^th St.)

Time: 0700-0900

Conditions: 6 FT, walled

     So far, the New Year has been great for the South Bay. There wasn’t much of a lull in between big swells, and on this Wednesday morning I’m lucky to score free parking on Rosecrans.

     I could walk further south to my favored beach break, but since I had so much fun on Monday, I figure 45^th will be the better call.

     The waves are about six feet and a little on the walled side, so I grab my Lost Mini Driver. I’ve been low on wax, forced to use my girlfriend’s colored wax that she got for Christmas, but I find a half bar of wax on my walk down to the water. A good omen.

     Rosecrans is looking good. A left lines up to shore, open shoulder and all. A guy paddles at the top of the peak and makes it, but some other guy paddles into the wave on the shoulder and snakes him. The guy who got snaked throws his hands in the air, while Snake just starts ripping, not even looking behind him, throwing buckets out the back.

     That’s not how I want my session to go, so I walk further north towards 45^th, the only problem is that the shape is not as good there, but . . . there are fewer heads.

Fish Hangover:

     My brother told me that it’s good to stick with one board for a long time in order to get it dialed in. “It’s not good to jump too much from one board to another,” he had said. But that’s exactly what I’ve been doing, but I’d like to think that I’m doing so in good judgment. Besides, I’ve been riding the Mini Driver since Java last summer, so I’ve been on it for a while.

     Paddling out in head high surf on my big-wave shortboard is harder than the fish though. I already struggle with the loss of nose volume. The board has less stability, rocking side to side easier. I feel slower.

BAMBOOZLED?:

     So I’m sitting out in the lineup with about six other guys. Wagner is out here, local ripper. He used to talk to me, but now he doesn’t even recognize me.

     Some guys are paddling into waves, but for the most part, we’re all watching the smoke stacks and Rosecrans, where there is actual shape.

     I go for a left, and as I’m sliding down the face, I see the whole thing wall up, so I bail just in time to jump back over the lip.

     On the sets, all of us dart out towards the outside. Even into the second hour, I tell myself that if I get just one good wave, this whole session will be worth it.

     And there is one good wave with shape, but I’m way too deep for it. I turn and go at the last second as the lip’s about to curl. A guy on the outside lets out a “Whoooh!” as I paddle in. I’m so late on the drop. Looking down at the nose of my board, I’m just waiting for it to go under and purl, but it doesn’t. However, when I reach the bottom, the wave bottoms out, and I fall backwards at the base of it.

     Out of frustration, I finally go for one that looks a little walled but might open up. I go left, and it closes out. On the inside, I look out the back and see the rest of the set coming in. I’ve been out for almost two hours, so I say fuck it and point my board to shore.

     In the parking lot, I run into Khang and Dais. I tell them about the surf this morning, and then a guy who I was sitting next to in the lineup also comes up and talks to them. He says how there’s an epic right breaking there and how he got some “sick waves.” The whole time I’m thinking . . . What the fuck are you talking about? I was sitting next to you the whole time, and you didn’t catch shit.

     Anyway, and that was that. Swell underestimated. If I knew it was going to be that big and walled, I would have went somewhere else.

     After I’m done changing, I’m curious to see what my favorite break is doing, so I drive further south and check it out. The surf here is only three quarters of the size than it was at Porto, it’s less crowded, and there’s shape.

     Sometimes Porto isn’t the best option.