Three Days Now
3 days of head high to double overhead waves. (no I’m not talking double overhead mitch waves).
I’ve got a couple pictures to share, but nothing spectacular; nobody is ever there with a camera for spectacular.
So let me tell you about one wave of many spectacular I’ve managed to not wipe out on today.
I almost didn’t paddle out from two sessions of surf the previous day, but I thought about the last flat spell and next thing I knew I grabbed my 6’ 9” Rusty semi-gun and jumped on the bike. Los Pinos is a left point break. I am regular foot so that means my back is to the face of the wave. The waves have been good, overhead sets coming pretty consistently. About 6 peps out, (ok, one was a hot hispanic chick who surfs super well and eventually got some respect for me even though I cut her off,,, there was someone in front of me and I’d screamed yo voy vo voy,,,nm she knew she was too far back to make it and I fist bumped the guy who dropped in on me as he cut back..)
So, this is supposed to be about the best wave of the day and patience.
I had noticed that every now and then,,, 30 mins? A bomber set would come in and clean us all up on the inside. We sit on the inside because there’s more likely to be a wave, albeit smaller, on the inside. But then, sure enough (but not sure enough) a cranking big set would come through, we’d all paddle outside, but no, too late it was already breaking and heading left fast.
Sometimes you get clues. Off to the south you can see swells starting to build. South’s with a little west push that will bring them around the point…
I would see bombers, (nearly double over head faces; 6 foot hawaian measured from the back)
So, I decided to practice PATIENCE! I paddled way to the outside, a about 15 yards from where everyone was sitting. I sat and sat and after 15 minutes gave up and paddled in … and you guessed it BOMB, two of them but all I could do was what everyone else did and scramble over the top, too late to take off. Disappointed I sat inside and caught some smaller shit.
But, after seeing a couple bombs sneak through I went outside again… I swear I sat out there 20 minutes on my butt while other smaller stuff passed to others but
Finalmente!
I could see a pretty big bomb coming for the place I’d thought it would hit. I thought I saw a second coming, (usually bigger or??? Door number 1 or door number 2, 3?) I didn’t want to wait, it was nearly double overhead, people were paddling for the outside and I didn’t want to give this one up.
Perfect position, hardly needed to paddle
Main thing to focus on is pop up quick,,,, don’t stare down the elevator shaft like a deer in the headlights.
I’m not a quiet surfer. I’m always hooting for others and I’ve made lots of friends here. I usually am shouting something out as I take off too. Yo Voy! Is common, but no one was in position, I was the only one going for this bomb; everyone else was just trying to get over it. So I started screaming and yelling ‘Oh shit, here I go!’
In moments like these you revert back to your native language.
It’s safer on the outside really even though you’re catching a larger wave. Deeper water, just stay away from surfers trying to paddle over the wave and your own board if you wipe out.
So I stroke into this massive thing, hop up hearing hoots from others, Pretty easy take off as the wave is still lifting (not a late take off), I remember adjusting my foot back toward the tail and then,
The drop began. The wave steepened up, I crouched a bit, and just slid forever left to the bottom. I hit my bottom turn with a lot of speed and stayed on the lower third of the wave as it towered above me and in front of me. Eventually I got to the weaker shoulder and cruised on it for a bit. The big waves flatten out into the harbor; it’s about the drop and the bottom turn up into a huge face.
I went out a third time and sat nearly 20 more minutes before giving up.
