Buddy on a swell?
Also check out Buddy's pics.

"Rapidly rising swell on Sunday morning up to eight feet." That was the forecast that we were looking at. Buoys readings were inconclusive, with a few sporadic 17 second periods popping up on buoy #2.

We drove out to our newly found Westside south swell spot, hoping for the best. Well, it wasn't really showing, but we jumped in anyway, in anticipation that it would eventually come up.

Surf was about head high, with funky conditions. Although the winds were light, the waves were warped by refraction waves coming off the jagged shoreline. It was inconsistent, but still really fun. The best part was that we had it to ourselves.

The water quality was suspect that day. Had some strange, fibrous detritus floating around in the water, giving Buddy a weird rash. Then there was this dead porcupine fish, bobbing through the lineup--fugu anyone?

Makani shot a little bit of video with Buddy's Mini-DV cam, then quickly jumped in the water with us.

For like four hours, we waited and waited for a bump up in the swell. We constantly looked towards the horizon, hoping for those lumps. It never really came.

Still, we had a blast, riding some pretty decent waves. The high expectations of bigger surf dampened the stoke, though. So spoiled, eh?

I think that one aspect of surfing is to always anticipate and hope for swell. In that way, we all have a tendency to look towards the future. There's always something over the horizon.

Aloha from Paradise,