Loc:
Manhattan Beach, 26th Street
Time:
0845-1015
Conditions:
2-3 FT+, sunny, light onshore, warm, dumpy
Board:
Lost Mini Driver
Bri and I spent Father’s Day weekend in
Oregon. During that time, I got a phone call from Klaude on Saturday, telling
me about how fun Local was. Fuck. . . Of course. I am the blackhat right now. Whenever
I’m not around, the surf is good, but good for Klaude. I’m not hating. I’m
always stoked to hear about my homies getting good sessions. And then, the rest
of the texts from the WHC came in. Good surf in the South Bay all around.
Fast forward to this morning. Bri and I
sleep in. It was a long weekend, plus we arrived at midnight last night. What I’m
not prepared for is how fucking sunny it is when I pull the curtains back. No
more June gloom. It’s almost too bright. It’s only 0800, but I feel like I’m
hours late. This still counts as a morning session.
It looks more like noon when we’re driving
out of El Segundo. The conditions are so pristine that it’s impossible not to
love everything about them, the air, the light onshore wind, the lazy traffic
on a Monday summer morning. Parking at the top of the hill, the surface
conditions are clean. A racy peak delivers a left in front of the lifeguard
tower. Also, Bri’s usually at work around this time, but she has the summer off
from her school job. It officially feels like summer.
Toru’s leaving the water when we reach the
shore. “The tide’s still kind of low,” he says. He’s only been out for a half
hour.
Bri and I chat with Uncle Miles and a couple
other locals. Kurt and Lori paddle out. He says he’s gambling on Churches the
next couple of days. Lori’s about to have shoulder surgery.
I tell her how Klaude went through the same
thing.
As far as waves go, on paper, the tide push
should be helping with the shape. There should be more water to slow down the
racy and dumpy surf. There’s no shortage on swell energy, but the peaks aren’t giving
open faces. The best I can do is blow a frontside floater. The water’s just so
shallow. Next wave, I get a wraparound cutback before the wave closes out.
The good waves don’t come my way. As scarce
as the shape is, I watch a few longboarders and shortboarders get decent rides.
Bri puts me in comboland, too. She’s not getting rippable waves, but she milks
them for distance on her Becker.
Around 0930 the beach gets packed. There’s
a surf school, the lifeguards are doing laps to the buoys, tourists creep out
from the strand, out of nowhere, and infiltrate the inside. The school kids are
out.
Maybe the June gloom was a good thing to
thin the crowd out, but I can’t be selfish. Everyone deserves a good summer,
and even though the surf isn’t all that, just the conditions alone make it
worthy to paddle out. To just sit on the sand or get your toes wet, going to
the beach today isn’t be a bad call for anyone.
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