Surf-ON

As I pried my eyes open this morning and looked at the clock that read 5:00 AM one thought was in my head. The surf off starts now. But it seemed like just hours ago I was riding a mechanical bull in downtown HB and I was feeling the effects of the evening prior. Not just the remnants of a few libations but also a pain in my right knee from going head first over the horns and in my right shoulder from holding on for dear life. I figured I could put the surf off about an hour and I laid my head back down on the pillow and immediately fell asleep. It felt as no time had passed when my eyes sprung open this time to see the clock reading 6:00. This time it was on.

I quickly gathered myself and headed down to the Cliffs in HB (my home break). As I turned onto PCH I got a glimpse of conditions and I could see things were starting off right. The predicted eddy hadn't happened and despite slight onshore conditions were clean. On top of that there were a couple of moderate sized swells in the water, a windswell out of the NW and a longer period less frequent SW. As I pulled into the parking lot I didn't see the normal cars lined up in their usual spots. Rob, Neil, Mullet Mike, Jeff, Richard...nowhere to be seen. I decided to forego my usual routine of checking conditions in favor of suiting up immediately. I knew I was surfing, the surf off settled that days ago, and I wasn't going to waste time driving around looking for the perfect spot either. I was already running later than usual and I just wanted to get this thing under way.

As I walked up to the bike path I noticed it wasn't very crowded, especially considering the conditions weren't particularly big or small. In fact I walked about 100 yards south and was able to get a peak pretty much to myself. I paddled out and the water was warm, but conditions were a bit more mixed up than I thought they might be. The combo of swells and the rapidly changing tide seemed to have the waves indecisive and shifty. Some would kinda mush on the outside or not break at all while others would dump right from the get-go. It took a bit to get out and the first wave that came to me I gave a look but didn't go. I needed to rest my arms a bit. Another came behind it that was too good to pass up so I quickly turned and then realized as I paddled that I was too far inside. As I went over the falls I thought to myself "had this whole surf-off thing gotten in my head, have I just forgotten how to surf altogether?" Now I had a bit of nerves I wanted to log my first surf off wave and I didn't want to wait for the ocean to deliver it. A couple of long minutes later it came. A small but perfectly lined up left, and I was in driving down the line on a waist high wave. Nothing to write home about, but it was certainly a wave and the surf off was officially on and I was into it.

Now I was just surfing but still thinking about all of the surf off categories. What would I blog? How big are these waves? I've never surfed with anyone else in the contest so I have no idea how they communicate wave size...besides even if the freakish monster set came through I had no witnesses anyway. About that time a fun sized set came through. I took a look at the right but didn't quite commit and pulled out before I even got in. Another bigger set came through a bit later and I was pretty well positioned. As I paddled and the wave was building underneath me I realized my 6'0" was maybe a bit undergunned for anything over head so anything near that size I would have to really scrap to get in. Unfortunately my epiphany was a bit tardy and I found myself on the top of the lip starting to go over. There was no pulling out now so all I could do at this point is get to my feet and go over in as controlled of a fashion as possible. I made the drop but was too far behind the section to try and actually ride the wave. It was a good sized wave and it hollowed out, so I was determined to get in front of one of these.

Moments later I got my chance. Another, slightly smaller wave (shoulder high) came through and I was in. The drop was one of those where the bottom keeps falling out under you and you wonder when the drop is over and the ride begins. But I was in and it lined up left and I recalled how the previous wave pitched so I slotted myself and stalled hoping the barrel would come...it didn't. I had to look like an idiot on the face of a completely rippable wave just squatting down like I was in the tube.

Next wave I wasn't barrel hunting, as I don't really have a great nose for the barrel anyway, as the previous wave demonstrated. It was another solid shoulder high wave, but this time going right, and I made the drop clean and made a good round bottom turn and instead of trying to slot myself I finished the bottom turn back to the top. As a goofy footer that has no snap in his back side top turns I wasn't sure what to do next as the lip was starting to form. I just turned at the top as hard as I know how performing something between a round house and a snap...nonetheless it was more water than I've ever thrown so it felt good to me.

Got a few more waves, nothing else notable. Session lasted an hour, I rode eight waves with the biggest being the one described where I got hung up at the top and rode the white water down (maybe HH). Now it's off to breakfast with the Mrs. and I hope to talk her into going to the beach later and if the wind stays manageable I might get to log my second session in only our first day. Cheers.