DON’T FORGET TO VALIDATE YOUR LOCAL CARD, SAT 25APR015

Dave T. had texted me a couple of days ago and alerted me of this photo posted from April 15th on swellmagnet.com To think that I had bitched about this day being shitty. Didn't realize that I had actually gotten a decent turn.

Loc: Manhattan Beach

Time: 0645-0900

Crew: Bri & Klaude                                   

Conditions: 3-4 FT, light onshore, crowded.

Board: 5’10 Mini Driver

     My phone gets blown up with texts around 0530. It’s Rick and the WHC. They’re already parking around Rosecrans to surf Porto. I had just surfed last weekend with Rick, and when it comes to Porto I usually only surf there on weekdays. It’s been a while since I surfed my favorite local break. Since I haven’t surfed there in a while, I decide to make an appearance. Small waves or not, I have to keep my membership going. Time to punch in and get my local card validated.

     Bri works, so she drives there separately. I have to take a mean ass shit, so she leaves ahead of me. When she gets there, she shoots me a Vox and says that the surf is small and no one is out.

     Driving on Vista Del mar, the surf in front of Chevron and around the Jetty looks dismal. “Small and no one is out,” she had said. Exactly not what I want to hear.

     When I pull up to 26^th Street, I see some small lines rolling in. The ocean’s surface is textured like stucco from the onshore wind. Indeed, no one out. Yet . . . I already know I’m going.

     I’m already suited up when I’m walking down to meet Bri. I catch Stocky John and Mitch in the metered lot. After a small chit chat, I catch Bri in Vietnam Vet Mike’s VIP parking spot.

     We warm up just south of the tower. Just from parking fifteen minutes ago, the surf has already picked up a notch. The shape is a little messed up from the wind, but some fast racy peaks are still rolling through, some with shoulders to offer. Just north of Marine, the lefts look consistent and rippable.

     Oscar, Kai, Young Mike, and a bunch of other regulars are out. It’s crowded, but at least I know the faces here.

     Sitting on the left, I actually score a lot of rides. In the right place, I take off as the shoulders stand up. The waves aren’t round. They start off soft with shape and turn sectiony on the inside. A lot of them are four footers. Most of them are chasers, but they’re fun. I finish one wave off with a solid carve, my wave of the day. Before long everyone is out: Orlando, Jose, Ross, Roy, Don K “The King”, and Klaude.

     I had scored a lot of lefts, so I paddle north to the next peak where it’s less consistent. Obviously, Bri catches a lot of waves on her NSP. She should be on the Becker, but it needs repairs. She has to leave early for work, so for a while it’s just Klaude and I trading off waves with the local vets. It’s hard for us to get a good down-the-line ride, but Roy is shining, always picking the gems, getting at least two turns.

     About a quarter to nine, the wind picks up. A lot of people leave. The water gets choppier and the lowering tide makes the rides shorter. After the surf, Klaude and I meet at Goodstuff for breakfast.

     So today I wasn’t expecting much. With an already shitty surf forecast and tiny onshore waves at first light, the surf ended up producing more than what was called for. Most importantly, it was a day when everyone was out, all the regulars. I can’t say that we are all officially friends, but we’re at least friends in the water, part of the same class at the same school of surf. I showed up, participated, and got points attendance.