FLAKES OF THE DAY: Shan
RAN INTO: NA
TIME: Guestimating from 0730-1030, 3 hrs.
CONDITIONS: Light onshore winds, chest to shoulder high, inconsistent, cool, overcast, and a little bit of texture on the water.
After yesterday’s session, Al took off, and it was just me, Boris, Dais, and J at the camp. Well, just like how the weather was shitty on Friday, Saturday night would put us to the test.
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| The German chef, Boris the Blade |
Onshore winds blew throughout the whole night. Tiny dissipating sprinkles fell out of the darkness. I couldn’t see the stars which was a bad sign. Boris saved us with all the food that he brought. He grilled up some bacon, pork, and steaks. He also prepared some pasta and potato salads at home. J grilled some hot dogs over the fire. The whole weekend was filled with a combo of different eats, and Boris’s barbecue was the best. Someone brought some magic chocolates which made the fellas act pretty funny. First, they went off to feed an injured bird that they found on the sand.
I saw them congregating under the lantern light, and all I heard was Boris say, “Yah, we can cut the beef into pieces.”
J said, “Someone grab the hot dog buns!”
After their failed attempts at force feeding the bird hot dogs and steaks, Dais and J wanted cookies and milk. I went in the tent to pour some cups for them, then those three clowns told me that they were taking an excursion to go on an ice cream hunt. When they returned they had tall tales of the vending machine eating their dollar, and the Dipping Dots machine that they found. From my POV it was all hilarious.
Dais slept in his car while the rest of us shared the tent. When I woke up, the rain had stopped, but everything from the sand to the tables was wet. Same routine, I got the fire and the hot water started.
I got the first text from Klaude at 0603; he was on the way. Minutes later I got the text from Michelle and Cheryl. The morning conditions looked clean, and I wanted to get out there before the wind picked up. We commented on the overcast and the overnight rain. We all talked about how the worst of the weather had passed, but it started raining again, and all four of us were by the fire huddled underneath the beach umbrella. At 0645 I got the text from Cheryl that they were just leaving Santa Monica. I called them and said we’d already be in the water by the time they got here. Since Klaude was only a short ways away, we decided to wait for him. By the time he showed up it was raining pretty steadily. We all dawned our drenched wetsuits, waxed our sticks, and headed out.
As we reached the beginning of the trail the rain actually stopped. It was Klaude, J, Dais, and myself. No one was frothier than Klaude. He wasn’t just there to surf; he was there to redeem himself. I let them make the call of where to surf since their time was limited, and I had the whole weekend. We walked short of Uppers again to only see that the surf there was mediocre. It was back to the BP. J had borrowed Boris’s thruster, and Klaude took out his repaired thruster, which I named “The Rising Sun” because of the artwork on it. The surf was noticeably smaller than the previous morning, and I didn’t expect much. The lulls seemed to take forever, but when the sets came, they were generous and had well shaped waves. Unfortunately, since we had a late start, there was already some texture in the water. I paddled further out, just south of the main Lowers peak. I got a couple waves there but worked my way back to the BP with the rest of the group. Boris led Michelle and Cheryl to us. I saw Cheryl scratch out on some waves. We tried to cheer her on to get her into some, but I’m not sure if she actually got any. Michelle was representing for the females. It’s refreshing to see a chick in the line up, charging, and going for everything that comes; she probably caught more waves than I. Stand out surfer of the day was J. Bionic J with his bionic paddling arm. I thought he got overzealous when he took Boris’s thruster out, but that guy was still paddling into a lot of waves on that tiny potato chip. If there was a hint that the smaller board hindered his ability, none of us could tell. There was so much going on that I can’t recall everyone’s waves, but I know for a fact that Klaude caught waves all throughout the session. I saw Dais nail a late take off and drop in with a drop-knee stance.
We surfed until the sun came back out, another whopping three hours. By the end of the morning session I was ice cold, shivering in my wetsuit. I was beginning to make mistakes, falling on my landings, and not pulling off any more turns. I even walked the nose and tried to turn in a circle before falling.
Klaude said, “Matt’s out here longboarding!”
I do recall one wave that I got. I think Cheryl and Klaude might have been paddling in the inside as I top turned off of the lip before the wave closed out. That seemed a little technical to pull off, but maybe it didn’t look as good.
Our group was the largest that it was for the whole surf trip; six of us walked back to camp, separated in little groups, and all sharing our conquests of the day.
Shan and Rick called and said they couldn’t make it. Oh well. Michelle brought a lot of homemade chili and a homemade apple pie. Thank goodness I had some rice on deck. I grilled up Boris’s left overs and help set up the feast. Unfortunately, Boris had to get back home, but we thanked him for his tremendous contributions.
The day completely changed. It was sunny, hot, and there were only small patches of sun in the sky. Everyone was full, snacking, conversing, chilling on the sand, and just watching the ocean. Lauren even came by to hang out for a little while on her way home. It was the most relaxing atmosphere short of being on a tropical island. Some of us took naps, Klaude got into his yoga stretches then walked on the beach collecting sea shells. I don’t know what else to say. The day was made for us.
