« Post-session | Main | Post-session »
September 19, 2006 (Tuesday)
Retro-view
You know, there were some big ones yesterday morning. I was surprised.
When I first glimpsed it from the road as I drove by to find parking, I could see there was no one out, and thick, long lines were stacked up with a pronounced west-y angle. I was excited.
As I walked with my board, a car was leaving, and I looked to see one of the regulars (really, a newcomer, but he's been coming out a lot) in the passenger seat looking at me with a huge grin, his arm thrust out of the window in a shaking thumbs-up, his head nodding up and down in the affirmative. Okay, so I know he surfs the Right-hander. Check.
As I neared the beach, I could see there were only two guys out and spread very far apart at my regular spot. I walked along the sand about a hundred yards to where I was going to enter the water. One of the regulars was walking the other way. He had just come in. Thirty minutes, closed out, strong current, washing through, un-doable. That was his report. That was enough for me. I could fully appreciate what he said. That put what I was seeing into context--gave me a narrative to make sense of the scene. Up to that point, I could only guess what it was actually like. I've been there many times at this place in such conditions. It's not fun when it's like that. Of course, it would be a monumental waste of time.
So I turned around and walked back up the beach to the Right-hander. Maybe six guys--empty. I jumped in. I soon found myself over shallow reef. What? But the tide is pretty high? I looked back at land to get my bearings and realized that I had been carried over the shelf that usually I'd be nowhere near because I'd be paddling in the channel. But apparently there was significant rip right off the beach. Wow. That's very unusual.
When I got to the lineup, I was a bit intimidated because it was big and I felt under-gunned. There were some solid 5-footers, at least, and it was powerful. It was windy, too, and the wind would hold up the peak so that it would quickly build into a vertical cliff that would fall over on itself, setting the trap for the unwary or unskilled or for those with not enough length on their board (I qualify under all three categories). This was the biggest stuff for me in a while.
Eventually, I relaxed and settled in. I tried to catch whatever I could as soon as possible so I could warm up. I needed to get the arthritic knee and the hip with tendonitis moving. As the session wore on, the sets got more inconsistent, and the size dropped. At the end, it was only me and one other guy. It got quite crappy: messed up and choppy. But I did have some good ones. I also got pitched on a few from the takeoff with no chance to stand. Overall, I guess I had fun.
I'm off from work today, so I'm looking forward to a long session. Gonna probably take my time and get to the beach around 11, 12-ish. I'm anticipating smaller, more-doable surf.
Posted at 9:53 AM