Surf Session # 29

Return to the Lagoon and a lesson in perspective. The boss and I headed back out to the spot of surf session #23. This time there was less water, being a negative tide at 8 am and smaller, mushier waves...or so I thought.

Surfing new breaks always tends to bring out a gut-wrenching nervousness within me that can quickly turn into a frustrated exasperation at the thought that I should of just went out at my local spot of regular stoke. Yet, I do enjoy the thrill of being challenged and the glorious feeling of victory when I catch something significantly fun and fearful out in Mother Ocean, particularly when this is accomplished in the face of my own inner fear.

Well, we pull up and stare at the bumps of glassy liquid rolling in and closing out. There appears to be some shoulders to be had, but with no one else out...it would just be me and the boss. Since he is already dressed to go when I pick him up from his house, he quickly grabs his board and high tails it to the water's edge. I glance up to see where he went, and am met with the subtle yet horrific notion that these bumps are indeed much more substantial.

This particular spot has a vertical drop off angle, which from the perspective of the parking lot, makes the ocean appear eye level when it's really several feet below your line of vision. In other words, when you're looking at the waves from the parking lot, you're viewing them from the top of their peaks. As you move down to the actual water-line, you're angle of view is now moving downward, as the beach level drops off and away from the parking lot. Upon reaching the water's edge, the true perspective and scope of the ocean quickly becomes apparent. So, when I looked up to see how puny the boss appeared next to the breaking waves...my gut clenched hard as I began to realize that this would be no waist high, easy insert session. Moreover, this was going to be a struggle in over-head conditions, with a strong North to South long-shore current...that I could see the boss already struggling with as he paddled out.

After the debacle of the previous day’s session with my friend’s board, I forgo borrowed boards and rode my own big log. I'm glad I did, as with all of the paddling that was required in order to just maintain position, having the very floaty and stable platform of my 10'6" was a comfort.

Well, we were out for just over an hour and despite the struggles...I caught a handful of waves that were big and meaty. I had one ride where I dropped in going left for a bit before cutting back against the foam bubble on the right, then cutting back again left before dismounting and hauling ass back outside before getting caught by one of the incoming shore-break closeouts. Though this spot was indeed the best choice, I would of never surfed it alone...too NORCAL scary. The boss and I had our fair share of looky-loos on the shore, but no one else came out to join in the struggle. Typical NORCAL...the crowds tend to stay close to the familiar and less ass clenching spots.

Here be some pics: