I got to Forrest's pad at 6:10 and I suited up. We took off in his ride, briefly checking Tamarack. Forrest kept talking about surfing SoPa (South Palomar) but came to his senses and pulled a U-ie to check Oceanside.
Unfortunately, Oceanside didn't have anything for us. The pier looked surfable, but we weren't excited by the prospects on display. We checked N. Pier, but that looked worse. We decided to check Harbor, but I didn't think it would be working due to the rising tide.
We continued south and spotted a macker breaking in front of the power plant, a place neither of us had previously surfed.
We kept going south to soothe Forrest's need for SoPa so we shot down there. It didn't have anything for us.
We circled back and finally parked. While retrieving our boards, we noticed there was a circle of guys standing just west of the lifeguard tower with their heads bowed. At first, I thought it was memorial, but they were out there for about twenty minutes, so I switched theories from memorial to prayer circle.
We paddled out without issue.
My first wave arrived within five minutes. It was a solid-looking right which had more steepness than I'd anticipated. I popped up off-balance and ended up rolling up one car window. I recovered and did a quick pump, into a cutback. By the time I pulled it around, the wave had passed me by.
I dodged three mackers to the dome. Two of them I barely made, the lips hitting me in the legs and threatening to set me back enough to take the next one in the set on the head. I couldn't remember the last time I surfed waves that hit this hard.
The next wave was a sick one. Forrest and I split the peak! I went left and the wave immediately started bowling over. I did a quick lip analysis and came to the conclusion it was unmakeable. I pulled way into the wave so as to escape out the back unscathed. I was successful. Here is the footy.
The next wave I caught was another left. It was mushier than the last one. I went for a floater but noticed in the footage that I keep doing the same thing at the top of the wave. I start with my arms and chest opened to the direction I want to go, but at the top, my shoulder swings back to my chest. I would imagine this makes my weight swing backwards, thereby explaining why I keep falling off the back. I will have to actively mind my arm position on future waves.
The prayer circle guys started paddling out and made it downright crowded.
Another wave came and I caught it. It was a left which was slow to develop but quick to close out. I kicked my board up and hit the water ass-first, letting the wave wash over me while not giving up too much position in the water.
The last real wave of the day was a right. I managed one turn on it, one I had to cut short due to the cascading lip. The wave then closed out and I finished the wave with a backside version of the last wave's ending.
Forrest had to meet his accountant at 9:30, so we bailed prematurely. While leaving the water, I made note of our crowd of two turning into ten heads.
While putting our gear in the ride, we saw a guy catch a sick right on his frontside, pump several times and EVISCERATE the lip. We hooted him the whole way.
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