Crowds arrive...

Ran to the beach in the late afternoon. The surf and crowd was a huge contrast to the morning sesh. There were something like 40 people in the water, poised around multiple peaks in the very choppy, onshore lineup.

The hierarchy in the water was much more obvious. Older, longboard-types on the outside, shortboarders in the middle peaks, and bodyboards way inside on the southern shorebreak.

On my paddle out, I grabbed a leashless board that came in. The guy was grateful, and I felt good about my good deed. Thinking about it later, that guy may have been the infamous Roger Raffee (aka Cortical) of alt.surfing fame--found out later it was! I should’ve asked, but I didn’t.

I had a poor session. Got outpositioned twice by the incredibly talented Joel Tudor. He was riding a retro mini-tank, and was just so smooth.

The rest of the crowd was... interesting. I decided to try the middle peaks, and was immediately surpressed in the competitive lineup. Was on the receiving end of some good jockeying and major stinkeye--not totally unexpected.

I jumped from peak to peak before calling it a day. Not the best sesh, but still fun.

Aloha from La Jolla,