Monday, April 14, 2014

Lemonade


It seemed like Winter ran into the dark woods the day it became spring.  Even the last big winter swell looked like one big ugly spring day.  Don't get me wrong.  I love spring and all.  But living in an area where it feels like summer 300 days out of the year, spring isn't a big thing.  I do miss the changing of seasons in NorCal.  But like NorCal, spring surf sucks in SoCal too.

Maybe one of the reasons why spring has sucked so far is that I haven't been looking for waves like I usually do.  I just drive out to my everyday break, put on the wetsuit and run out to the surf no matter what.  I've been getting word from friends that some of the usual summer spots in the O.C. and really down south breaks have been fun.  Chest high, sometime head high south swell stuff.  But that's a big risk for the probable lemon, with the drive and all, especially when I can walk down to my regular break and catch the same lemon, with no hassle. 


A friend of mine in the O.C. texted me that Lowers and Uppers offered up a next to empty lineup on Saturday with a few head high sets rolling in.  "The south wind acted like it wanted to come up, but it never did.  I think that's what kept everybody away".  I saw the "3's @ 14's" south swell read on the Dana Point Buoy but ignored it because I looked out my window and saw the south wind blowing as did everybody else.  My buddy scored.  I didn't.  I needed waves.  So I drove North to Trestles on Sunday, bringing my wife along who wanted a long beach to run and sun to enjoy her Nora Robert's book.


I've been coming to Trestles for three years now.  It's just a lot closer than it used to be.  My wife has never came with me, opting to use her vacation time in countries 10 hours away.  She doesn't surf, so I don't blame her.  I told her beforehand that the walk down the trail was going to be about two miles down and back.  She didn't mind.  She wanted the exercise.  She didn't even let me carry her bag or her chair, opting to burn more calories.  She's such a trooper, especially on my hunt for any type of surfable lemon. 

My wife getting some sun at our "camp". 

The waves were knee to chest high.  But there was enough power to paddle into them, especially with my "big ass board" aka The Webber.  And they were clean and the rides were longer than expected.  The water was a bit cold but super clear.  On one wave, I just stared at the coral below my surfboard.  I opted not to wear the gopro because of how small the waves were.  I figured out that small waves don't look very good on a gopro no matter how you position it.  But I should have.  It would have been great to just squat really low on my board and stick the gopro in the face of the wave and catch all the pebbles and rocks as I glided across some of the chest high waves that I rode.  But it's all good.  My wife had the camera.  When she needed a break from reading, she picked up the camera and took shots.

Me on one of the long, clear & glassy chest high waves at Uppers, compliments of my wife. 
I stayed in the water for about three hours until it got crowded.  I must say, it did get funner with the tide draining and all.  Like on most days, a lot of people were sitting on the main peak, but like always, I was a vulture picking off a lot of the better rides farther south near the bay.  I guess some others caught on to my spot, so I just shifted to their spot and took waves that they would have caught.  But then it started to get more crowded and this is what happens when it gets crowded at Uppers...

My first cutter-off'r of the day as it got crowded...

And 10 minutes later this happened...


The guy in front of me above opted to kick out... after the best part of the wave was over.  Thanks bro!!!  I decided that I had a enough fun for the day.  I  rarely get pissed about getting cut off now days, but after watching five to a wave as the tide dropped, I opted to keep my stoke alive and ride in.  As I was drying off I witnessed this go down...

Pretty funny stuff if you ask me.  My wife had a laugh at it too.  She has become quiet the surf fan as of late.  She really enjoyed the Margaret River Pro and was totally pissed when Bourez scored that 9 point something in the dying minutes against Slater in the Semi's (which I told her he deserved).  She is a pretty quick study at any sport.  After I dried off a bit I asked her, like I always do, "Do I still look like a kook out there?"  Most of the time, she says "Yeah, your still a kook." Which is cool because she always keeps it honest with me, and that makes me work harder.  But this time she replied, "No, not anymore, but when are you going to start pulling airs?"  I just smiled and said "Babe, when pigs fly".


Those aren't pigs.

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