THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE AGGRO II, TUE 08APR2014 (Double)

Loc: EL PORTO, 45^th Street

Time: 0700-0845

Conditions: 1-3FT, high tide, inconsistent, swampy, sunny, offshore.

     I brought the wrong board. I had put my Motorboat Too in a different surf sock, but I forgot, so now I have my standard shortboard (Tokoro)—not ideal for today’s high-tide surf.

     Wagner is selling the surf, consistently catching back-to-back waves in front of the bathrooms. No one else milks the soft surf like him, going left on his backhand, snapping, cutting back, rebounding, all the way to the inside. I don’t even bother paddling over there.

     At 45^th Street, the surf is inconsistent. I could leave, but it’s part of that surf sickness that all surfers suffer from. We all have obligations, other things we should be doing. Personally, I should be scheduling an appointment with a recruiter to go over the options of my reenlistment. And how about the other bodies around me. We sit shoulder to shoulder, like the starving and oppressed waiting for one chicken bone. When the random wave comes, only one, two of us at most, will ride it. But still, everyone persists to be here. The lengths surfers go for a wave. I can relate.

     Surprisingly, I get one solid turn. It’s on a weak wave that reforms on the inside close to shore. Before it closes out, I get one bang off the lip. It feels good on a standard short versus my other boards, but for the rest of the session I don’t have enough volume to get into the waves.

     I’m in my car and driving away by 0900. The lowering tide hasn’t improved the surf much. I have a bad feeling that tomorrow won’t be much better.

EVENING SESSION

Loc: EL PORTO, 42^nd Street

Time: 1700-1830

Conditions: 2-3FT, sunny, onshore, warm, slightly walled, inconsistent, crowded.

     I should be at the gym, but how can I when it’s so gawd damn hot? Hot, cold, hot cold, SoCal, please make up your mind. Regardless of the small surf conditions, I have to be in the water right now. Unfortunately, every other surfer has the same idea.

     The left in front of the bathrooms is working, and there is already a crowd jockeying around there.

     I paddle out at 45^th and see Nyoman on his longboard, killing it on the left. I sit with him, expecting to be in good position just outside of the crowd. But more surfers invade the lineup. 45^th was desolate just ten minutes ago, and now, there’s only a barren gap where the channel is.

     To my south, I hear someone in the lineup yelling. I turn, and two surfers are face to face. One is screaming at the other, saying, “Don’t fuckin’ drop in on me!”

     To my north, a buff guy, who looks like a gorilla in a wetsuit, turns towards the shore and yells at another guy on the inside, saying, “Fuckin’ kook! You trying to kill somebody with your board?”

     This is two days in a row, three altercations. There’s some bad energy going on, something contagious. It’s usually not that bad here, and the surf is fucking SMALL.

     I can understand correcting someone in the lineup, but to the point of intimidating and bullying other surfers? We’re supposed to be adults, right? Why have such a big ego? I feel like the ugly side of surfing shows man’s regression into a primal state, like surfers have that “kook insult” chambered and ready to be fired off at some unlucky beginner. I guess it’s in our nature—we love to shit on one another. 

     If anything, I’m not annoyed by the beginners. I’m annoyed by the two SUP guys who keep patrolling the outside. They tag team the waves. One takes the first wave of the set, the other takes the second, leaving the rest of us to scramble for the scraps. They paddle back out to the outside and do it again . . . and again . . . and AGAIN. Now that’s bad etiquette. Greed.

     I actually get a right. One snap. I cutback but go too high and lose the wave before it mooshes out. And that’s it, my claim to fame for the day.

     San, Khang’s homeboy, paddles up to me to say hi. He paddles further south where he’s the victim of another aggro altercation.

     With the tide going up, the surf goes inconsistent. The onshore wind gets stronger, and the surf becomes choppy and swampy. And this is the best we can expect for the surf. People are willing to fight over this. . .

Since Bri's been out of town, I can't help but splurge a little. Ate at Waikiki Grill in El Segundo after surfing. Not bad for $8