Barrels o' Fun

I started the search at dawn. Karen left out the bike (thanks, pal!), and I headed for the point. The trek was a bit harder than last time, due to unusually soft sand at higher tide. But, nothing beats the lift of the heart to see two different sets of turtle tracks in the morning light, one set in and one set out. I imagine the eggs, warming in the summer sand. Grow little turtle, grow. And, hope to the heavens that when you see your first day, that it is not marred by oil in the water...

At the point, oddly enough, it looked smaller than it had further up the beach. The water was a rusty brown, and I knew that meant cold. I rode all the way to the tip of the point, but the waves had no shape, just weak lines coming in and listlessly closing out.

I decided that I would just ride all the way to the pier, and hope for rideable surf. It was stupid. High tide at the pier? What a dumb idea. But, I was determined not to chase it all over today, burning fuel - and daylight - for something resembling a wave.

Well, lucky me. I parked the bike at the rocks, where I could ride no further due to the rising tide. What the... look at that right peeling off! I watched as a longboarder rode a chest high, glassy wall all the way to the inside. The combination of the high tide and that little crook in the landscape had equaled a decent little break. I scrambled to get ready, and paddled out without even stretching.

Three hours later, I came in exhausted, sated, and stoked! The waves were finally breaking, walling up with enough power so that you could fly along, cut back, hit the lip, and even (believe it or not) get tubed. I had so much fun out there today...

One wave in particular stands out... I saw it jacking up, closer to the pier, a bigger one, and dropped in a bit behind the peak. I just pulled into it, looking out the almond eye and held on and on as it broke over me. Valerie kept talking about it the rest of the morning, and that made it seem real. She said, "You're showing the boys how it's done!" I loved that. There were others, some I came out of, others I didn't. The walls were so breath taking when they rose up in glassy peaks and walled up steep and fast - for once! Today it felt like a real swell, as if it might be coming up. But, after talking to Bob, and everyone else, I think I just lucked out today, and caught everything coming together in the last place you would ever think it would.