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Monday, July 9, 2012

7.9.12 End of the Salvo Sessions: Less than Stellar La Bocana/La Bocanita

This morning I woke up at 4:45 so I could surf Punta Roca with my cousin.  Unfortunately, my hotel was on lockdown and I could not get my car out of the gate.  I decided to paddle out in front of the hotel to inside La Bocana.  The sets were slightly overhead, but slow.  They didn't look all that fun, just a nice drop followed by a lazy wall.

The only other guy out was the Austrian guy I'd met on one of my first sessions here.

The paddle out at high tide La Bocana isn't too bad, but getting in the water without getting your feet smashed is.  The trick is to walk quickly with the receding water and hope for a big wall of foam.  You jump over that and begin paddling if you feel it's deep enough to do so.  The rocks here are loose, smaller and duller than those found at Punta Roca or El Recodo so it's not nearly as involved.

Unfortunately for me, there was no giant wall of foam, just a piddly thigh-high wave of wash.  I took one foot out of the water so only the other would suffer as the cascade of high-speed rocks blasted past and, at times, against my foot and ankle.  Luckily, another thigh-high foamer came through and I jumped on top of it to paddle out.

I spent a lot of my paddle-out confused, wondering where I should perch.  A chest-high wave came and I snagged it, but it quickly closed out.

About fifteen minutes of dodging shifty peaks later, I caught my second wave.  It was a steep drop, and I stomped on my back foot to make up for the lack of scoop in the nose (or should I say, lack of nose) on my board.  I dropped down a bit brusquely.  I recovered, pumped once and did a slash/cutty.  Dubon, a local artisan, cheered me on.  I got him about $40 worth of business, so he BETTER be rooting for me!  The wave got into the shallows and I kicked out.

I took the opportunity to take the longshore express to the shorebreak spot, La Bocanita.

I had seen a right barrel spit and I had my eye on that peak. 

I caught a left that looked like it was going to barrel, but didn't.  I kicked out.

I caught a right which I went high up on from the get-go.  I zoomed back down and did a backside floater.  The push from the wash was weaker than I'd anticipated and I ended up stalling out and fading off the back.

I got caught in a rip and had to fight it for a couple of minutes.  I realized then how the lack of nose on my board had impacted my paddle power.

I was over it and went in.  It was a disappointment to finish the trip with such a weak session.

Hasta la proxima, El Salvador...

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