Loc: Manhattan Beach, 26th
Street
Time: 0800-0910
Conditions: 2-3 FT, glassy, warm, inconsistent
Board: Motorboat Too, large fins
During
the Labor Day camp trip, someone had told me, “Small board, big fins. Big board,
small to medium fins.” With that in mind, and without much swell on tap, I thought
it would be nice to experiment, so I grabbed the set of large Futures that Rick
had given me to donate in Indo, which I didn’t, and slapped those suckers on the
Motorboat Too. They have much more surface area than the medium Blackstix that KK
had loaned me.
As
I said, I wasn’t expecting much, so I even showed up late for the second shift.
To my demise, there was no street parking. I circled around and caught glimpses
of the high schoolers on what looked like decent peaks. My anxiety grew looking
for a spot, and I finally lucked out on Marine.
I
grabbed the MB Too and headed across The Strand, and there they were. Peaks, though
fast, they were pretty consistent just south of 26th Street. Unfortunately,
that’s where the majority of the surfers were sitting.
I
paddled out at the tower and scratched into my first wave. Don K., The King, had
to back out for me. I anticipated a zippy ride on my board, but as soon as I got
to my feet, my board felt so sluggish and just got stuck. Man, I mean, like it was
just shackled. Starved for momentum, all I could do was head dip the lip as the
shoulder took off without me. Oh . . . how lame. Ha! And for The King of 26th
Street to have to back out for me on that one? For shame. . .
And
that’s how the rest of the session went. I watched that one good peak break. One
dude, who I had never seen before, was just merry-go-rounding it one wave after
another, small rides but still fun.
My
best wave was just a pumper where I got down the line, but I cursed the big fins.
Yeah, there comes a good time for experimentation, but sometimes it just doesn’t
work out. Like going to your favorite restaurant and trying out a different dish.
You ever do that? I have, and most of the time I regret not just sticking to the
staples: beef chow fun, eggplant with garlic sauce, salt and pepper pork chops.
However, if you don’t try, you never know.
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