OLD ETIQUETTE (double sesh), TUE 21AUG2012 EVE

Location: Old Mans

Crew: Briana

Conditions: 2-3 FT, hot, light onshore, consistent, crowded.

     Bri and I take another gander at Churches from the lookout point, but we both know that we’re not going there.

     There’s something about surfing small waves on a funboard that makes it easier to surf while intoxicated. For one, the waves are so small that there’s no need to duckdive, fight a current, or worry about getting thrashed on the inside. Second, Zippy makes it easy to catch waves that I’m not expending as much energy to get the drop. Third, being that this is Old Mans, the way the wave breaks here is so beginner friendly. I couldn’t imagine surfing Porto in the winter at first light after a six pack. Nope, that’s what summer time at Old Mans is for.

#

     We paddle out to our break much earlier than yesterday to make sure we can milk our last evening session here. Unlike yesterday, it’s a little crowded this evening . . . on a Tuesday.

     Two guys are paddling, lying too far back on their boards. They scratch out on all the waves. This is a comforting sight since Briana is learning as well.

     I catch a right, but in front of me is a guy standing in the shallows. I keep an eye on him, ensuring that I’ll steer clear, but he smiles and waves me past him as if saying, “Go ahead, you’re clear.”

     Back at the lineup, I motion towards an outside wave. This Japanese longboarder with long hair is in the perfect spot sitting still. He starts to turn like he’s going for it, but he looks back when he hears me paddling. He returns his gaze to the horizon, motionless. I take the wave.

#

     The waves are lining up better this evening, so I get long rides all the way to the inside. A long wall with a shoulder sprouts on the outside. I see it. I casually paddle to the shoulder and stroke my way in, but I scratch out. I watch the long peeler roll away from behind, empty without a rider.

     I go into a bout of cursing at myself because I got complacent and lazy, and I blew it. I make the mental note to still stroke hard and kick until I get the drop.

     Bri’s even more consistent, still struggling to stand but milking each ride a little longer than the last. I’ve left her alone this whole trip, and it’s paid off. She’s spotting waves for herself, being alert and aware of other people on the waves, and she’s gotten more comfortable in the crowd. I’m glad I’ve been able to turn off my “control freak” switch and let her discover things on her own.

#

     We stay out until dark because some other people are still surfing, but once we’re the last two we head in. A full day of relaxing, drinking and surfing catches up to us. Tonight’s meal is excellent, but we can’t keep our eyes open through the second act of Nacho Libre. 

     It’s our last night here. The last couple days have gone so fast; I wish we had another day. I guess I just love this place so much that it’s hard to leave every time, whether I’m sleeping in my wagon, tent, or a cottage.

SOFT PULSE, TUE 21AUG2012 MOR

Location: Old Mans

Crew: Briana

Conditions: 2-3 FT, hot, glassy, consistent, crowded.

     Good luck on waking up early with Briana. There is just too much plundering going on to make up for the two weeks that I was gone. My alarm goes off at 0600, but we stumble out of bed at about 0700. There’s no debating on what to wear this morning. Bri and I both put on trunks and rashguards.

     The sky’s a bit overcast which gives the illusion of cold, and as we walk towards Old Mans I still can’t tell what the wind is doing. When we reach the lookout over the water, I take a good look at Churches. Some small rights are on tap. The north side of Churches, going into Middles, has another peak working. I turn to the left. Old Mans is clean, and the northern most peaks are working all the way towards the military campgrounds.

     We venture back to the same spot. As much as I’d like to check out the other breaks at Old Mans, they just look too crowded. It’d rather be at the edge of the lineup here than in the middle. Besides, we have a pretty good streak where we’ve been surfing.

     There’s a small gap between the crowd at the peak and the surfers sitting wide. We paddle to the gap and wait. I feel that my back and arms are sunburned from yesterday. My nipples are also raw. I wince as I rub them through the rashguard, paying no mind to the other surfers giving me weird looks.

     Some sets come in at three-feet, but the longboarders at the top of the wave have first dibs. It’s hard to get started. Impatient, I rush to the top of the wave at the first sign of a bump. I hear splashing behind me, and a longboarder races past me to get prime position and take the wave. When the next wave swings wide, I hurry my little ass on Zippy again to catch it, but the same longboarder paddles out to catch that one too. I stare at him as he’s making his drop in the first section. I think my paddling ability is not too shabby for an intermediate surfer, but I can’t compete against seasoned longboarders; there’s no way.

     A chick that he’s surfing with sees the frustration on my face and says, “Darn longboarders.”

     “Every wave . . . fuck.” I paddle away and head towards Bri.

     “I just realized what I hate about surfing,” she says.

     “What?”

     “Crowds.”

#

     I catch a wave that swings wide, and then another one. Soon my wave count goes up, and I’m stoked all over again. Some walled sets break on the outside. I always think that some longboarder’s gonna be on it, but this spot is so mellow that most of them pass up the wave if they’re too deep. I gun for the shoulders. Zippy’s so fast in the flats that I’m able to pump, and get at least one turn on the second section before it closes out. Being on this big, meaty fish and these small waves have made surfing slow motion for me. All the turns are slower, but it forces me to get really technical on feet placement and weight distribution if I want to pull anything off. I really think I stopped longboarding too early because I didn’t know how to turn yet, but being on Zippy is cool because I get to practice all the fundamentals that I’ve learned since then. I now realize how important it is to have the right equipment. To think I disregarded Rick every time he told me to ride a fish “because you need a board for Cali waves,” he’d say. But there I’d be, trying to catch two-foot mush on a standard shortboard.

     It’s nice to drop in on such small waves with the confidence that I’ll get to the open face. I take late drops that are still noncritical, so easy, so mellow. I’m able to practice the basic turns and fundamentals of surfing on such a small scale at Old Mans. Up on the highline, I can see the wave forming. I drop back down with speed and trim back to the highline, throwing in a slow, graceful turn if the momentum and shape is right. But when I say turn, it’s like trying to move an ocean liner. I think that for small days, days like these, I really do need a custom fish in my quiver. Zippy’s really refostered my love for small surf and the stoke potential in them.

#

     Bri’s picked up where she left off, still going through her fundamentals. On my way back to the lineup, she’s paddling for a wave breaking towards the outside. She’s so deep. She’s on her belly during the drop, and she purls. I hold my breath as the 7’10 Epoxy NSP shoots out from behind her, landing full-length where Briana’s head is. She stands up in the shallows next to her board. Slow and rattled, she gets back on and paddles out.

     “Did your board hit you?”

     It takes a while for her to respond. “No. I’m okay.”

#

     Once the wind turns onshore, we decide to head back to the cottage. After we shower and change, we head back to the commissary for tonight’s dinner: tilapia, zucchini, and squash.

    

SHORTER DAYS (double sesh), MON 20AUG2012 EVE

Location: Old Mans

Crew: Briana

Conditions: 2 FT, hot, onshore, inconsistent.

     By the time we got back from sushi and did the grocery shopping for the night, the sun was pretty low on the horizon. I miscalculated how much daylight we had. Being that the summer solstice was two months ago (minus one day), the days are already getting shorter. No more evening sessions with visibility until 2030.

#

     We stop by Churches first for a look to see if it’s worth it. For some reason, it doesn’t look as good as Old Mans. The peaks are dribbly. We walk out on the sand to catch a glimpse of Middles and Lowers. Everything looks flat until the Lower’s peak. Some black dots are going down the line. It looks small, but we’re far away. With daylight burning, I decide on sticking to Old Mans since it’s closer.

#

     Even though the morning was warm, I throw on the 2/2 wetsuit just in case. We can tell that the lineup is thinning out as soon as we enter Old Mans. Most surfers are working their way in through the rocks and loading up their vehicles. There are still a sparse few that remain in the lineup.

     We paddle out at the same exact spot that we surfed this morning. Even with the low tide, small two-footers are still rolling through, despite long lulls in between.

     Briana capitalizes on her day’s progress by standing up on most of her waves. Still slow on the pop-up, but honestly . . . she’s learning a lot faster than I did.

     I get waves similar to this morning. Once the sun dips below the clouds for one last show before heading below the horizon, the waves get a little harder to see. Just like the evening sessions at Lowers, the sensation of feeling the wave takes over.

     I can’t remember any memorable rides during this session; it was short. Once the sun is down, the lineup clears. Probably because the lot has to close down soon too. We are the last people in the water, trudging through a long lull to catch one in. The scenery turns eerie with the line of headlights exiting the lot behind us. Surfing at Churches is fun in the evening because there are still people camping nearby, but there’s a sense of isolation here. We both catch the same closeout and head back to the cottage.

#

     The cottage is so convenient. No more showering separately, sand in the tent, condensation, and cooking in the dark. We have three bedrooms, cable TV, a full kitchen, our own shower, dishes, couches, etc. Since our lunch was huge, we just eat some sandwiches we bought from the mini mart. However, we get a serious case of the hungries later and eat some Lunchables and S’mores Pop Tarts. 

     I hope to rent this same cottage out for a DRC get together later this year. There are beds for four people, but I’m sure we can fit no more than ten heads in here.