Emergency, Hines! Emergency!

Andy said it all last night when he called to say that we were surfing in the morning. How could he be so sure? I liked it. Someone had to believe it could happen. He said he was losing his mind. We are in an emergency situation here, I was thinking. So, when I heard the reports at dawn, half a foot to a foot, and actually got excited about it, I knew.

This is pathetic.

I drove to the pier, and it looked exactly like a three foot at six seconds swell should look. Weak and mushy. I called Andy, who sounded morose. He had heard it, too, and wasn't expecting much. I told him how the pier looked, and said I was going to check Matanzas. Fat chance of that happening, but hope springs eternal and all that. I pulled up at Summerhaven and one guy with a longboard was looking at it from the comfort of his truck. It looked so slow, even for a longboard. I went to the ramp, and it looked even worse. Andy was on his way, and I passed him on the road as we discussed the futility of surfing here. He told me he was giving up and going home. I drove back to the pier, still hoping. One guy was out on the north side, not getting much. I have to get in the ocean, even if it is just to paddle around. Once in the water, I was surprised how warm it felt. I had my short sleeve 2mm full, and it was perfect.

It was cloudy, which added to the overall gloom. I had passed on the Saturday morning bike ride for this? Who does that? The tide was even coming in! What a chump I was. But, hang in, as Allan says. Little by little, it began to actually improve. I realized that the sandbars have been groomed with the lack of wave action. As the tide came in, a bit of a wedge developed. The guy on the red longboard said to me, after one decent set, "It's not that great, but it's better than the gym!" And me, gobin that I am, said, "yeah! Not as sweaty, either!" DOH!

Out of nowhere, a good-sized one (compared to the others), jacked up and I scratched for it, riding it all the way inside. I was thinking, wow, that was kinda fun! A guy that I had seen sitting outside smiled as I paddled past and said, "Can I ask... how long is your board?" We compared boards, and he said, "You're catching them so easily, and you're all over the place!" Wow, that was nice. He said he was an intermediate rider, and was having trouble catching them. I told him not to give up, that it was really weak. He smiled. Later, I asked him if he had caught any, and he smiled and told me, "I just had a good one, thanks!" Then I got lucky. I was sitting outside everyone (about four more people had paddled out), when the wave of the day jacked up. It must have been the wave of the peak high tide, because it didn't seem like the others. I did a late take off, and I could hear them all saying, go, get it! And, that thing peeled off all the way inside! I must have had four or five cutbacks, and it just kept opening up and peeling down the line. Then a bunch more people started coming. I had so much to do to get ready for family coming, that I decided to just go in, feeling satisfied with what I had. And to think, I almost went home this morning without even paddling out...