HELLO CHRISTINA / GOODBYE ZIPPI, WED 24JUN2015

Here's a throwback pic to a really good session that I had in the fall of last year at Churches. This Zippifish was so good that it made a tiny day of surf really shreddable. Photo courtesy of John Amador. 

Loc: Manhattan Beach

Time: 0830-1030

Crew: Bri, Christina

Conditions: 3 FT+, sunny, glassy, low tide, fast, broken up

     Surfline says that South Orange County is 3-4 FT+ Fair-to-Good. As much as I wish I could surf there, Bri doesn’t have the day off. Also, our friend Christina, who had moved to Australia MONTHS ago, is in town, surfing local this morning. Time to chum it up with old mates.

     Since CC said she’d paddle out around eight, Bri and I sleep in and plan to second-shift it. We score free parking on Highland and 29^th. Even though there’s a light onshore breeze, the water is still glassy. There’s activity. Three-foot lines are rolling in. We watch a longboarder draw a line on a fast right. The sky is blue. The air is hot. Looks like pure SoCal summer conditions to me.

     Hitting the sand, the lineup is crowded from Marine to 30^th Street. Vietnam Vet Mike, Toru, Miles, and a few of the 26^th Street Wrecking Crew is out. Those guys can be intimidating, so I know I won’t be surfing by them.

     Bri and I paddle out just north of the tower in front of the brickhouse, saying by to Toru as he catches one in past us. Surrounded by groms, we’re picky at first.

     Bri draws first blood and starts working the inside. I catch a left that has a shoulder. I do a check turn and pull off a small floater.

     Getting quality rides is hard. They’re out there, but it’s one of those right-place right-time sessions. There’s consistency in the windswell, but the lines are a bit broken up, and finding a good corner’s like playing the lotto.

     My best wave is a fast shouldery left. Going down the line, I see the open face before me. I go into a deep bottom turn and try to pull off a carving gouge. I pull it off, redirecting down the line and doing a closeout floater, but that’s it. One turn, and I’m pretty sure the turn felt better than it actually looked.

     Meanwhile, Bri’s doing well on the Becker. Going for the smaller inside waves, ones with good shape and shoulders.

     Christina paddles out at 0930, an hour after us. It’s nice to catch up. She has the blue Zippi back in her possession. She says she’s seen the pics of me and her board tearing it up on some tiny surf.

     She paddles for her first wave. It looks good from behind, but she gives up her paddle and pops up too early, getting left behind. She’s a little rusty, that’s all.

     The onshore wind starts to pick up, and the water goes choppy. Most of the crowd leaves. More sets start popping up out the back and bigger into the four-foot range. Still, it’s hard to get a good down-the-liner.

     We all catch up. CC tells us all the ins and outs about Australia, how it’s different, the things she misses, Whole Foods being at the top of her list.

     I ask if she can store her Zippifish with one of her friends since my garage is strapped for space. She says no problem.

     Bye bye, blue Zippi. We’ve had some good times together, but you’re too big, too easy to catch waves on, and I could use a board just like you, but much smaller for more performance. I’ll have a special place in my heart for you always.

GUT INTEL, TUE 23JUN2015

Loc: Huntington Cliffs

Time: 0700-0900

Conditions: 3 FT+, sunny, onshore, choppy, fast

     Yesterday’s plan for today was to surf HB in the morning, but Bri and I got lazy last night, so I retexted Cassady and Hideki and told them that we’d be staying local.

     This morning, I turn off my alarm at 0515 and get sprung awake from a series of texts. The WHC is already at Rosecrans. What stands out is a text from Hideki that reads: The Cliffs look good, come down!

     I look at the HB cams. Doesn’t really look that good. I check the Porto cam. Looks cleaner but a little fast. I could stay here, trust the cams, but I have a buddy at ground zero with the official word—it’s good. What’s a girl to do?

#

     Passing Bolsa Chica and entering Seapoint, I see some small scattered peaks rolling in. Doesn’t look like classic HB, that’s for sure, but it definitely looks better than the last time I got skunked at Goldenwest.

     The first lot is packed at The Cliffs, so Bri and I park at the next one over. Without checking the surf, we change and head down the hill. It’s Bri’s first time here, so she’s sketchy about scaling the dirt decline to get down to the beach.

     When we reach the water, there’s a pack of surfers in front of the gap, which is the actual path to get down just east of us, and then there’s another group at the western tip of The Cliffs. I don’t see Hideki, so we paddle out in between the two groups.

     The current drags us west. The water’s choppy. The peaks are sectiony from the onshore wind and the low tide. However, there’s only a thin crowd, and despite the onshore wind, the surface conditions are still semi groomed. This place does well on a low tide, and the way that peaks still sprout up on the outside sandbars is testament to HB’s appeal.

     I catch a few closeouts, but most waves are fast and shouldery, the kind when you’re already way down the line by the time you pop up, open face dissolved.

     The current has us paddling the whole session. The group to our west leaves. Only a few heads are at the gap now.

     Aside from the mediocre shape, there are those random set waves that A-frame on the outside, and Bri and I are fortunate to be their only takers. Again, this isn’t classic HB, no perfect down-the-line almonds. Instead, they are spilling but open and racy. My waves are single hitters. I get a backhand snap. One ride I connect a frontside snap into a small floater. A few waves are so decent that they actually stand up and slot. Me being a fool, I set up for turns instead, missing the hollow sections. Either way, I’m stoked that there is decent shape for delivery.

     When Bri and I leave and turn to look at the ocean, it’s hard to believe we had as much fun as we did. The ocean looks choppy and drained. Yet, when we drive away on PCH, the surf still looks groomed from Goldenwest on eastward.

     We do breakfast in Sunset Beach afterwards. Bri shows me the surf over there, too. I’ve never seen that part of the beach before.

     Driving back, I’m pretty satisfied. Thanks to Hideki’s intel, Bri and I had a worthy session. I’m sure local would’ve been fun, too, but I’m glad I followed the gut intel.

OFFICIAL SUMMER, MON 22JUN2015

 

Loc: Manhattan Beach, 26^th 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.