HI Surf Advisory
SURF OBSERVATIONS
After a few days in SoCal, I finally got a break from work. Checked out Imperial Beach and it was onshore, mushy waist-high. Naaahhh, shine it!
Decided to risk valuable water time and haul my butt to La Jolla. Driving down Prospect Street, I noticed that the place is getting to be a yuppie haven. I hope they don't choke out the surf shops. I arrived at Windansea at 7 pm, and was greeted by head-high sets and three dozen surfers. Yippeeee!
Whenever I travel, I bring my bodyboard. It happens to be my favorite wave riding vehicle, but from a practical point of view, it's easily transportable (from the islands). I say this because I know that Windansea is longboard heaven, and sponges are not really appreciated there. If I had my 9' 0", I'd be on it, but like I said, gotta be practical.
But this spot is the best around, so I jump in. The water is comfortable in the mid-sixties--at least it's not too much of a shock for this spoiled warm water regular.
I headed towards the inside peak, when this set rears up with a longboarder on it. Unfortunately, I'm directly in harms way. Don't get me wrong--I have years of experience and understand paddling ettiquette. But I was just caught in the wrong place, along with half the rest of the crowd.
From behind, I heard someone yell, "Run him over!" Aloha to you too, bruddah! The longboarder just glided past. No confrontation, no probs.
So I kept surfing. I positioned myself just inside and to the north of the guys sitting outside, and managed to get a few to the beach. There was a definite south push to the swell, with light onshores.
It might've been my imagination, but I felt a lot of guys trying to stare me down. I just ignored them and kept to myself. Overt drop-ins were not too common, but quite a few guys took off behind me after I had gained trim (I rode under their boards before they took off).
One guy actually called me "Kook" while he kicked his board between my butt after he dropped in on me. Afterwards, we ended up paddling back out shoulder-to-shoulder, but he refused to even make eye contact. I have no respect for guys who only can only "act-up" anonymously.
Hey, I'm not looking for trouble--I'm just like everyone else; just want to catch a few good ones.
One guy with a yellow board with orange rails surfed quite well out there--he caught the best ones while I was out. There was also this fiftyish longboarder who caught this nice overhead set. Good locals.
There was a beautiful sunset at about 8, and it got dark soon after. I caught some small ones inside, and headed in. Of course, once on the beach, a bomb set came through with only the first wave being ridden (isn't it always the case; just when you leave the water...).
Through my experiences, I've found that the surf in California is fun and can be downright good. I've also noticed that animosity (especially towards bodyboarders) is much greater. It would be nice if we could all just get along, but this might be a bit too idealistic.
I'm looking forward to the weekend. Hope to get in some good surf south of the border.
Aloha from San Diego (another paradise),
sponge
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