SHITTY WAVES WITH FRIENDS (SWV), SAT 25OCT2014

Loc: 18^th Street Tower

Crew: Bri, Klaude

Time: 0800-0930

Conditions: 2 FT+, light onshore, consistent, swampy.

     Because of the high school surf contest at 26^th Street, local surfers must breech the surrounding breaks. For us, it meant south of the contest.

     Being that there’s no parking because of the event, Klaude recommends that we park in his “secret garden.” Plenty of parking with good beach access.

     Seeing the ocean, the onshore wind’s already putting some texture on it. There are patches of light clouds that hide the sun in intervals. The pier looks crowded, but there is only a small group of surfers in front of us.

     A 26^th Street regular is ripping right in front of us, easily selling the conditions. The waves are barely three feet, but he’s getting down the line. His shortboard looks fluid under his feet. Goofy foot, he gets a small frontside air. On his next wave he gets a carving 360 but doesn’t stick the maneuver.

     Me, I got my Kainalu fish, and I don’t regret it. I’m not as good as homeboy, and I think volume’s gonna help as the tide creeps up further.

     The three of us paddle out, Klaude on his orange Zippi. The surf is a little disorganized but not unruly. Occasional three-foot walls roll in and some of them have a little bit of shape.

     I open up my session with a backhand right. Klaude’s on the inside. I muster out two backhand checks on the face, but they’re not snappy. Paddling back out, this board feels so unfamiliar. Just as long as the Zippi but shaped so differently with a much more aggressive swallow tail and rocker. It’s also a little thinner. As I duckdive, I have a feeling that I like the blue Zippi more. Of course, I push those feelings down. This is my board. I bought it. I own it. Loyalty.

     Bri and Klaude do okay. It’s not really a good day. I had expected the swell to die, so I kind of expected this.

     Meanwhile, the ripper dude is still killing it, and the chick he’s with is not doing so bad either. She’s shortboarding and looks like she’s about to blow a right, but she makes the drop. From the lineup, I can tell that it has good shape. She pumps, does a drawn out cutback, and gets a small toss of water out the back.

     Bri looks at her and says, “She’s making me look like shit.”

     Klaude laughs and says, “Yeah. Step yo game up!”

     I have a good wipeout on a left that I’m late for, but that’s okay. I get some other decent rides. There’s a floater that I pull off but don’t realize that I’m over shallow water. Luckily, no dings. I also catch some rights that give me some decent nose riding time. Sometimes I just love styling out, walking the deck, and crouching down with my arms thrown forward in a nose pose. I throw in a couple gangster leans even though we’re surfing crummy breach break.

     “Shitty waves with friends,” says Klaude. “There’s more tide here than a laundry mat.”

     He’s right. The surf slows down. More people are coming out. He makes the call to catch the “next one” in.

     Bri suggests we go to Mandy’s for breakfast. Later she tells me that she had told Klaude that she’d convince me, but I would have said yes regardless.

     When we reach Mandy’s in El Segundo, a bunch of El Porto locals are already chowing down at the outside seating by Havana Cuban Sandwiches. Brett’s there, another local surf blogger, along with Mark AKA Surfing Santa. Looks like everyone’s done by this hour.

     I order a new dish, corn beef hash and eggs. It’s good.