Thanks, Andy!

Today was probably the second best day of surfing of the entire summer. July 23rd would be hard to touch, but this day is right there behind it.

I met Andy at the boat ramp just as the sun was about to break from the horizon. We jumped on the jet ski, and were off. How fun is the ride out there, the wind blowing around you, the bouncing over ripplets from the boats, the smell of the air? When we came around the bend, at first it seemed like it wouldn't be all that great. But, the tide hadn't filled in enough yet.

Andy threw out the anchor, and I jumped overboard. One guy was already out. I saw a peak here and there, but today's true worth had yet to reveal itself.

I caught a few that were pretty fun. Andy paddled out and caught a good right. The water felt a little warmer than yesterday, and clearer. Look, that wave looks green! Chuck Lanham and a buddy rode their bikes up and paddled out next. I watched Chuck get a good one. Oh, yeah. It was happening. I saw one green wave pitch out, and said to Andy, "Did you see that?"

"Oh, yeah," he said, "good call to come here, huh?"

Every minute that passed, it only got better and better. Some more guys arrived, Chuck and Bert on a boat, some young rippers. That was when it really started to happen, probably an hour before high tide. I caught a big right that opened up, green and steep, and heard someone hooting as I dropped in. Then Chuck took off on a green wall, so gorgeous, as Bert was hooting to him, "GO!" There were some amazing looking barrels out there, today. I was thinking that if anyone saw them they would not believe it was here. One left I had was the best wave of the session. It loomed up and I dropped in kinda late, saw the wall was going to hold up, and just went for it, PIG DOG STYLE! It just felt like the best left I have had in a long, long time, and when I got back out, Andy was just shaking his head, smiling. "Was that as silly as it felt?" I asked. "Oh, yeah," he smiled, just grinning. One of the young rippers said, "Nice left!" to me when I got back outside. We talked about how fun it was and then Andy started paddling for a glassy a-framing peak and I had to focus. I saw him pull into so many tubes today, I lost count. He was so happy, and said he could even handle the in-laws after all this.

But, always, in the back of my mind, I was thinking about how Karen had to work at 8 am today. But, all too soon I will be back in the 8-4 grind, and I will be the one in torment.

Oh, what a beautiful morning....