The first dunk in the ocean upon returning from the tropics is always nasty. I arrived at Oside Pier at seven in the morning and saw a sweet 2' set break with no one on it. Missed-It-Mike claimed Harbor would be good so I gave it a check. It revealed nearly two dozen heads in the water, mostly congregated around the south jetty. In the few minutes I checked it, nary a wave was ridden. OVER IT!
I doubled back to Oside Pier and parked in the free lot. I paddled out at Tyson Street after a healthy jog. I wasn't seeing much in terms of waves, but I did notice an increase in the head count.
On my first wave, I caught it early and angled almost from the beginning. I pumped and got a bit ahead of myself. I ended up flamingoing, then endo'ing shortly thereafter.
My second wave was a right and I caught it a bit late. I descended and, still used to my heftier board in El Salvador, bottom-turned REALLY hard. Unfortunately, by the time I got to the lip, the whackable spot (at least for my ability level) had passed me by.
I noticed, in between waves, that my teeth were chattering. The water had dipped down to 63 in my absence, a couple of degrees away from 4/3 territory.
I had to fight to catch my third wave. I was successful in doing so, but the extra time allowed the wave extra time to section me off. I bottom turned right into the section and bailed out the back.
On my last wave, I was on such a small and abrupt wave that I couldn't get to my feet in time. The wave shut down in both directions and I ended up going straight on one knee. Not my proudest moment, but at least I didn't miss out on a decent wave.
I bailed, happy to re-lose my cold water virginity.
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