I gave my wife the option of risking the high tide or
staying local, but really I wanted her to choose local. Of course, I ended up
shooting myself in the foot because she said she wanted a beach day down south.
“We’ll be gambling against the high tide,” I said. Even though I hinted at
staying, I granted her wish. It’s part of being a good husband. You gotta
compromise.
We arrived at first light and scored parking in front of
Churches. I could tell that the water was swampy and that activity was already
slowing down, but the recent rain fall and runoff from the rivermouth still
produced some nice rights. Knowing that this would be the first area to get
crowded, we pushed it up to North Churches, but it looked too slow. Avoiding
any chance of being over invaded, we paddled out at Middle Trestles where only
a small pack of 3 guys sat. Unfortunately, 3 guys was all it took to make
catching waves challenging. Sitting at the bottom of the point, they had dibs
on the first waves to roll through. A few swung wide, and I managed a few
turns. My best waves came from being sneaky, paddling under those fellas and
scoring when they paddled out too far or scratched out.
Bri had a hard time, and I felt bad for her. Also, me being
the asshole that I am, I partly blamed her for being there.
When the tide got too high around 0900, we called the
session and hit Denny’s for breakfast. Their value meal is pretty legit. I
mean, you can get full off of like 6 to 8 bucks. Not too shabby. By then I was
feeling a lot better. Everything was going right. The waiter was cool as fuck,
addressed my wife as senora, and Mexican music played from the kitchen;
everyone was hustling. We took our time and headed back to Churches.
Parked directly in front of the surf again, we watched the
longboarders go to work. The tide begin its swing back down. Nose riders did
their showboating. Joel Tudor wannabes lost their boards on the rocks. I
smirked at them as I dozed and took a short nap, Bri next to me doing the same.
#
We suited up again at noon. It was time. I figured we catch
the tide swing and be in the water as the surf got better for shortboarding. There
was a pack at the bottom and the top of Churches, so we literally sat in the
middle, which seemed like an inconsistent saddle without much action. Here and
there, a left would swing wide, and I actually got a few fun rides, even on the
rights. Bri started catching, too, milking the small ones all the way to the
inside.
I truthfully expected the crowd to thicken. It had to,
especially with the tide going down and the wind still good, but that never
happened. Instead, people started to clear out. The top of Churches was
completely vacant, so Bri and I paddled there and had it to ourselves with only
a few peeps who didn’t get in the way.
The swell size also went down with the tide. The surf was
barely 2 to 3 feet, but it was still surfable. I was more picky, waiting for
the racy lefts. My best wave was a triple hitter. I had plenty of waves where I
just pumped for speed and practiced airs, but I must’ve looked lame because I
couldn’t break my fins free. Even though I got a few rights, Bri was the standout,
catching waves from the top all the way to where we had initially paddled out.
I enjoyed seeing how her surfing has progressed. She’s surfing more top to
bottom, stalling on the highline and crouching on the reentry, even throwing
her arms forward for style and balancing. On a few waves, I even saw some small
pails of water get tossed out the back.
That second sesh lasted about 2 hours and 15 minutes, a
total redemption from the morning. We stopped at Sake2Me in Cerritos for AYCE
sushi, and then went home. It was the first Saturday off we had together since
September, and we made it worth it.
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