LATE TRAIN PT.1, SAT 14FEB2015

 

Loc: Manhattan Beach, 26^th Street

Time: 1000-1130             

Conditions: 3 FT, offshore, crowded, racy.

Board: Lost Mini Driver, medium quad setup

     After celebrating Valentine’s Day early, Bri and I sleep in. The tide’s supposed to be high at first light. There’s still supposed to be plenty of swell left. We should have been up already, but it’s also the weekend and officially Valentine’s Day. Why not get that extra cuddle time for the woman?

     Summer in February it is. Everything is perfect: blue sky, no clouds, no wind, and the hot California sun. Also, we score free parking, which is always a major plus.

     On the way towards The Strand, Bruce is talking to Cliff, who’s parked on the side of the road. Other than them two, not too many local regulars are around. They’ve probably already left.

     In the water, Don K. is unmistakably standing out, flying down the line on a racy left. Roy’s on the next one. He busts an air but loses his board, nearly getting clobbered by it.

     The lineup’s scattered with the surf at a fun-sized three feet, but there’s an issue with the shape. Maybe the tide’s backed off a little too much. The waves are coming in a little too lined, and they’re racy with a little shoulder at the end of them. It’s an issue of being right on the shoulder, and on a good one that won’t run away, at that.

     So we paddle out, me in my 4/3 and Bri in her 5/4. We had prepacked the car, so now we’re stuck with too much neoprene. Before long, I’m burning up in it. I catch up a little with Roy. He says the surf was better earlier. South of the tower is where the lefts are, but it’s also crowded there. I’d hate to compete against the local legends, so I sit a bit wide.

     I catch a right, force one snap, and then the wave bogs out on me. I’m a bit behind on a left. Roy hoots me in it from the inside. When I pop up, the lip’s already curling, so I pull in for a pinch with my mouth open. I swallow some water.

     A little north, poor Bri is over there corralled in by the weekend crowd, but at least Toru is out.

     We haven’t seen him in a while. Turns out he had pulled a hamstring surfing a couple of weeks ago and has been out since.

     The rest of the session is a bit frustrating. There’s the crowd and the poor shape, yet everyone is content to sit shoulder to shoulder for race-away shoulders.

     I catch a small insider that has a little shape and actually get two baby turns on it.

     Leaving the water, Bri and I aren’t disappointed at all. Yeah, the surf wasn’t great, and it was crowded, but we know that we asked for it. We were late, and this is what you have to expect when you are. Still, with the cool water from the shower running off of my face and down my wetsuit, I’m still glad to have paddled out.