Forrest called me at four, managing to catch me in the middle of flossing my teeth. As we discussed paddling out, I happened to yank off a crown in my mouth (it was on a temporary bond). He asked what the noise I made was and I told him. Then, I told him I couldn't surf, as I didn't want to deal with the now exposed nerve being out in the open AND in cold water. He called me a name I didn't appreciate and we hung up.
It was Sunday, so finding a dentist who could re-bond it would be an adventure. I looked in the mirror, looked at my crown, lined it up and jammed it back in with my thumb. GAME ON! I called Forrest back and he picked me up.
We got to Cardiff Reef and it was damn near empty on a SUNDAY! This should give you and idea as to the quality. We sat there mulling our options. I kept seeing a left roll through at Restaurant Row (north end of George's) and talking it up. Forrest kept saying it wasn't makeable. I thought he was biased as he was looking at it from a longboarder's perspective. Plus, if he was right, at least it'd be fun to try!
We started suiting up and Forrest said he was over it. Within 30 seconds, he then said he was testing me and I'd failed. We finished suiting up and paddled out.
The paddle-out was about what I expected, frenetic dodging of shorter-than-average wave period swell. It had the strength of a groundswell with the frequency of a nearshore windswell.
I posted up about two-thirds of the way out, while Forrest opted for the main take-off spot. That looked a bit slow to me, and I wasn't in the mood to battle a sweeper and a couple of loggers out there. Plus, there were some juicy, albeit junky waves rolling through and I had a shot of them where I was with no one around me!
I caught a right within five minutes. I had to time the paddle right as it was flat and it hit the edge of the reef and jacked up quickly. I caught it and did a drawn-out bottom turn into an avalanche of whitewater that had passed me by halfway through my turn.
I caught a left which had a line to it, though I barely made it around the first section. I got to the closeout WAY too late and the lip readjusted my camera. Try to spot me trying to get some speed from the falling lip with my arm in the video below (towards the beginning of the wave).
I started drifting south until I was in front of the southernmost restaurant and in a zone of only closeouts. The sun was very close to the horizon and obscured by the clouds. The darkness made the bumpy surf look that much worse and so I bid it adieu.
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