THE PIER, WED 29OCT2014

Loc: Manhattan Beach Pier

Time: 0745-0900

Conditions: 2 FT, offshore, small, inconsistent.

     I had told fellow surf blogger, Goofy Kook, that I’d make an effort to check him out by the pier. Makes sense after yesterday’s orgy at 26^th Street. Plus, the surf has dramatically dropped in size. In the past, I wouldn’t have even paddled out on a day like this, but I have decent small-wave equipment. This morning, it’s my checkerboard Kainalu fish.

     Scoring parking near Highland and Marine, I head down to the sand and draw a beeline for the pier. With a later start this morning, the sky’s already bright, and the sand’s a blazing beige.

     There are heads at 26^th Street. Surprisingly, the breaks between there and the pier are desolate. There are a few longboarders and one SUP guy.

     At the pier, there’s a longboarder sitting deep next to the pilings, two beginners just wide of him.

     The last time I had surfed the pier was my first lesson with Rick A. He took me here. I remember how the water was so green, and I was so “green” that I couldn’t even sit on my fucking board. That was all of lesson one, just sitting on the damn thing.

     I paddle out and look around. No surf signs in the parking lot. I don’t see GK.

     The longboarder sitting on the pier catches a long right, so I swoop in to see if I can get one, too. Even though it’s flat, I’m in awe as I paddle up to this structure. The shift in the tide makes the pier look like it’s moving backwards; I catch a short moment of vertigo. I sit and wait, but nothing breaks here. After ten minutes, I paddle more north.

     There’s a guy on the inside teaching a chick how to surf on a Costco foamie. As a wave approaches, he pushes her outside so she can get out of the impact zone.

     “I don’t think—” she says, before the wave breaks on her, churning her back up in a tangled mess of hair. Soon afterwards, they’re walking back on shore, boards in tow.

     A different longboarder catches a rogue wave. He bends his back knee hard on the bottom turn while throwing his limps up as if he were clutching ape-hanger handle bars. He snaps his board into the line he wants to draw, and when he does it, he really uses his hips and shoulders, never losing balance or being awkward. Style. I appreciate good surfing on any craft. Looking smooth and good in the transitions isn’t easy.

     My wave of the day is a left. I catch one of the tiny bombs, pump down the line, get a small floater, and end it with a layback turn. I don’t right out of it smoothly, but I hop towards the nose to force my board into the rolling whitewash for a legit finish.

     The smooth-styling longboarder’s on the inside, holding his board, making sure we don’t hit each other. I smile and put my palm out. He smiles back, jumps on his board, and goes out again. 

SHITTY WAVES WITH FRIENDS (SWV), SAT 25OCT2014

Loc: 18^th Street Tower

Crew: Bri, Klaude

Time: 0800-0930

Conditions: 2 FT+, light onshore, consistent, swampy.

     Because of the high school surf contest at 26^th Street, local surfers must breech the surrounding breaks. For us, it meant south of the contest.

     Being that there’s no parking because of the event, Klaude recommends that we park in his “secret garden.” Plenty of parking with good beach access.

     Seeing the ocean, the onshore wind’s already putting some texture on it. There are patches of light clouds that hide the sun in intervals. The pier looks crowded, but there is only a small group of surfers in front of us.

     A 26^th Street regular is ripping right in front of us, easily selling the conditions. The waves are barely three feet, but he’s getting down the line. His shortboard looks fluid under his feet. Goofy foot, he gets a small frontside air. On his next wave he gets a carving 360 but doesn’t stick the maneuver.

     Me, I got my Kainalu fish, and I don’t regret it. I’m not as good as homeboy, and I think volume’s gonna help as the tide creeps up further.

     The three of us paddle out, Klaude on his orange Zippi. The surf is a little disorganized but not unruly. Occasional three-foot walls roll in and some of them have a little bit of shape.

     I open up my session with a backhand right. Klaude’s on the inside. I muster out two backhand checks on the face, but they’re not snappy. Paddling back out, this board feels so unfamiliar. Just as long as the Zippi but shaped so differently with a much more aggressive swallow tail and rocker. It’s also a little thinner. As I duckdive, I have a feeling that I like the blue Zippi more. Of course, I push those feelings down. This is my board. I bought it. I own it. Loyalty.

     Bri and Klaude do okay. It’s not really a good day. I had expected the swell to die, so I kind of expected this.

     Meanwhile, the ripper dude is still killing it, and the chick he’s with is not doing so bad either. She’s shortboarding and looks like she’s about to blow a right, but she makes the drop. From the lineup, I can tell that it has good shape. She pumps, does a drawn out cutback, and gets a small toss of water out the back.

     Bri looks at her and says, “She’s making me look like shit.”

     Klaude laughs and says, “Yeah. Step yo game up!”

     I have a good wipeout on a left that I’m late for, but that’s okay. I get some other decent rides. There’s a floater that I pull off but don’t realize that I’m over shallow water. Luckily, no dings. I also catch some rights that give me some decent nose riding time. Sometimes I just love styling out, walking the deck, and crouching down with my arms thrown forward in a nose pose. I throw in a couple gangster leans even though we’re surfing crummy breach break.

     “Shitty waves with friends,” says Klaude. “There’s more tide here than a laundry mat.”

     He’s right. The surf slows down. More people are coming out. He makes the call to catch the “next one” in.

     Bri suggests we go to Mandy’s for breakfast. Later she tells me that she had told Klaude that she’d convince me, but I would have said yes regardless.

     When we reach Mandy’s in El Segundo, a bunch of El Porto locals are already chowing down at the outside seating by Havana Cuban Sandwiches. Brett’s there, another local surf blogger, along with Mark AKA Surfing Santa. Looks like everyone’s done by this hour.

     I order a new dish, corn beef hash and eggs. It’s good.