2017 – 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

            It’s so easy to fall behind in keeping track of my sessions, especially when I haven’t been scoring. As far as session number 9, Bri and I surfed local, and it wasn’t that great. It was a morning session at 26^th St. Manhattan Beach. Session 10 was another gamble at Trestles after scoring the weekend before, but this time the gamble did not pay off. The most interesting thing to note is how the recent storms have changed the San Onofre shoreline, eroding the sand so much that the beach is just getting shorter and shorter.

            11 was another lame local sesh. The sandbars are kind of weird now south of Rosecrans. They are extremely tide sensitive and swampy.

            Session 12 was my best one as of recent, which took place on WED, 01FEB. I got off work and couldn’t find free parking at Porto, so I parked by 33^rd Street. Lo and behold, despite the swampiness, I caught a nice, sunny window where the mooshy left was actually a little rippable. I got my first turns in a while, sharing the peak with a longboarder and some chick trying to learn with her instructor riding tandem, her ass in his face.

            I felt rusty as shit but extremely grateful to get the feeling of a few solid frontside carves and backhand snaps.

            Thursday the 13^th I was hoping for a repeat, heading back to the same area, but I got skunked. Even though the tide was lower, the surf just wasn’t doing it there. The only break that looked like it was breaking far out enough was Rosecrans and the rest of El Porto. A few guys got lucky, but for the most part the surprisingly semi-thick crowd served as human buoys.

            I had to take the paddle of shame in… Frustrated, I stopped by the Porto lot to see if the surf was any better. It was by just enough for it to be surfable. Most of the waves were breaking towards the inside, but it was something.

            So Surfline says that the local surf has been head high plus. Klaude told me he took a look at it and it was walled. Rick’s brother Juan even passed on it, with only a few takers out.

            As far as what I’ve learned from all this is, when the surf is not on, it’s time to dip into other things, both hobbies and errands. With my wife out of town, I gamed all fricken day yesterday. Today I knocked out the gym, laundry, and handled some military emails that needed my attention. Although, when I’m out of the water for a while, I worry for my surfer identity. I don’t want to be a guy who used to surf. I just need to find that stoke. All I need is another good day.

2017 – 7 & 8 First Trestles Sesh of the Year 14JAN, SAT

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.