Loc: 45th St.
Time: 0830-0930
Conditions: Clean offshore, 2-3 Ft., semi dumpy, fun,
crowded
Board: Zippifish
Surfline
said the swell would be tapering off, so I expected a slow morning of lully
surf. I was even supposed to meet a guy who wanted to buy my 5’10 Lost Mini
Driver, which I barely ride nowadays, so I brought that board with me in case
he would be surfing. Aside from that, I ditched the Skipper for a change and
brought the twin fin Zippifish.
On my
way to Porto I could already see that there were waves, and not just waves but
a little bigger and better than yesterday. What the fuck, Surfline? As usual,
right before I hit the Highland Ave. and 45th St. intersection, I
have to make the clutch decision on where I’m going to park. If I make the
right into the lot, I’m committing to the meters. If I keep going straight, I
may end up pushing my way towards 26th to find some free street
parking over there, or…if I just keep an eye out, I might get lucky and just
find something right here. Lo and behold, I find a spot in the immediate
vicinity, so 45th St. it is!
I love
street parking because, one, I obviously don’t have to feed a meter. If you
surf four to five days out of the week, then meter costs eventually add up.
Also, when you score a street spot you don’t have to rush as much. The clock is
friendlier, and you can stay out and surf to your heart’s content without
worrying about getting a ticket.
Already
looking down the hill, I can see that my board choice is off. Fack, I should’ve
brought the Skipper. The surf looks consistent, a little sectiony, breaking
close to shore, and even a little bigger. When it’s dumpy like this I’d rather
practice pulling in with a foamie than purling on a big hunk of voluminous board
like…the Zippi I have now. But at the same time, it’s nice to change things up.
I’ve been leaning on the Skipper quite a lot lately, thanks to KK who sold it
to me (I’m sorry, brother, I had to buy it from you because I had been riding
it hard. It wouldn’t have been right for me to hand it back to you like that.).
So I
throw on my slippers and walk down. I’ve cut my feet so many times on glass or stepped
in globs of tar, a bad thing about street parking. When I reach the lot, I see
that it’s packed. Surfers are coming out of the water back to their cars, but
there are still a lot of people in the water, mostly congregated near 42nd
St. and in front of the sandwich shack.
I
paddle out right at 45th where there’s a noobie Asian chick on a
longboard. Immediately I start catching waves around her. Even though I don’t
have the preferable equipment, I start pulling in on closeouts. On my fronstside
lefts I’m developing a technique where, instead of my two-hand stall, I grab
the rail on my board towards the tail with my right hand and lean my left
shoulder into the wave, using my back to stall my momentum, and…it actually
works. I haven’t made it out of a barrel doing this yet, but it’s fun just to
mess around. This has been a breakthrough year for me in scoring tiny barrels. Being
honest, I don’t know if I’ll ever get a big barrel, but even the little ones
are so small that I’ll happily claim being a small-barrel guy if I can keep
getting them consistently.
After
years of eating shit, I finally know the difference between going nowhere and
actually getting a little momentum and distance in the tube. There is the flash
of travelling, being under the lip as it’s curling, and that extra second of travel
time that you get from holding on and just wiping out in the barrel, fully
committed and not preparing for a safe exit. This is arguably dangerous but on
these small dumpy days, they aren’t as consequential.
So I
kept going and catching waves unmolested. A guy with a familiar face paddles
past me and says, “Ain’t much out here today.” I’m stoked that he even
remembers me. It’s funny how you eventually become a local just by consistently
showing up, alone. It doesn’t have to be every day. It can be every once in a
while, but as long as you show your face you are a regular, and you do belong.
The
surf was consistent. I got enough of a satisfying fill that after an hour I was
content enough to leave. I’ve also been getting better at that lately. When I
feel like I’ve had enough, it’s a lot easier to walk away. I can move on to the
rest of my day, surf mission completed.
On
the sand I crossed paths with another familiar face. I didn’t even think he
wanted to talk, but when I looked back up he smiled and said hi. I’ve seen him
several times out here, have never spoken a word to him, but the familiarity
with having seen each other before was enough for a greeting.
I am currently
making moves in my life to further solidify this surfing lifestyle. Stay tuned.
Also, I recontacted the guy who wanted to buy my Mini Driver. I told him that I’m
holding onto it instead. I gotta see if I can get barreled on it this winter.
If not, I’m selling it.
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