Moondoggie had been hounding me to do a Lowers mission and we decided today would work. The forecast looked grim for the next few days, so I figured I should surf before it turned to slop.
I met him at his place in Carlsbad just before 5:00. The walk in the dark was cold and our feet were feeling every little pebble and imperfection in the asphalt. We both were reminded of "Missed It" Mike who if he was with us would be howling in pain and reminding us with every step that his feet hurt.
After we crossed the bridge, we saw someone speed past us on his bike, effeminately yelling out, "Good MORning!". I jokingly said it was the kneeboarder who has been out EVERY time I've surfed Lowers this year. We were in the water by 6:10, the fourth and fifth guys out.
A nice set came through and Moondoggie and I were frothing for some goodness. We paddled out and sat inside of the three guys. Two of them were telling (you're not going to believe this) the KNEEBOARDER (!) that they'd been out for a couple of hours.
About ten minutes in, I caught my first wave. I thought it would be a left, but it turned into a better right. I got one hit off the top but buried my outside rail. This happens sometimes and I've never had this problem before surfing this board. I attribute it to its width being 18.125" instead of the usual 18.25"-18.375". An eighth of an inch doesn't make much sense in an of itself, but if you multiply that difference by the non-tapered length of the board and it makes a huge difference...
My second wave was better. I caught this right in a good spot and did my best turn of the morning. I was so late on the turn that I got hung up on the lip, catching the offshore as the hang time counter progressed. I made it down, recovered, then pumped. I laid into a roundhouse cutback, hit the wash then kicked out. I was a long way from the peak...
Moondoggie caught a wave, and then I caught one. I did a solid backhand smack, then Fosbury Flopped over the section as it dumped under me.
My right forearm was back to aching. Every paddle and duckdive taxed my pain receptors and the pain signals made my enthusiasm waver ever so slightly with each pulse.
About twenty minutes after this, I caught a left that I really had to paddle for. HARD. A guy paddled on it inside of me, on the shoulder. He looked right at me, and he took off. He pumped, did a small hit, and kicked out. I kicked out right behind him, super pissed. The wave wasn't worth squabbling over but I stinkeyed that guy a couple of times until he looked away.
I have zero respect for people who do this and will act if it's done more than once (so long as it's not an accident). Knowing me though, it's all talk...!
Moondoggie was getting vibed by one of those cliché guys who think they're the ish. He told me on the way to Uppers (which we skipped due to crowd/inconsistency issues) that the guy told him, "This isn't a longboard spot". What an a-hole!
We paddled out at Cottons even though the tide was too high for it. We saw one guy get a sick one and our hopes went up, but they were soon dashed. We went in within about a half-hour or so.
"If the best surfer in the water is the one having the most fun, Eddie P would be a promising amateur who eventually burns out and is forced to perform 'favors' for surf wax" -Anonymous
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Showing posts with label Sunrise Session. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sunrise Session. Show all posts
Monday, October 17, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
8.29.2011 Lowers (then Uppers) Sunrise Sesh, Bioluminescence!
Another week, another Lowers sunrise session. Had I had my druthers, I wouldn't have gone to Lowers as the swell was fresh in and everyone would be frothing... I told my buddy Eric about surfing Lowers before the sun was up while on the way to a Friday poker game and he wanted in and PRONTO!
The night before, Eric asked me what would happen if he was attacked by a shark (there was a great white sighting off Mission Beach over the weekend). I told him that I would marry his wife and raise his two girls as my own.
I told him I'd meet him at his house in Carlsbad at 3:45 and was making great time when I pulled off the freeway and realized I'd forgotten my leash. This is probably only the second time this has happened to me. I called him and circled back, got it and arrived at his place at 4:05. His fifteen-year-old stepbrother was joining us and we were up there.
We were the second car there and on the way down the dark path I spotted what appeared to be the kneeboarder from last week speeding by on his bike (bastard!). We made it to the railroad tracks and I counted my steps back from last time so I could more easily find the path through the brush, as it was pitch black with very minimal artificial lighting helping us. The kneeboarder was out already and the two guys I was with were lagging putting their stuff on so I paddled out into the great dark abyss without them.
I was definitely weirded out as it was SO dark out there. The shark crossed my mind a couple of times, but I didn't have any panicky what-is-that-touching-my-leg moments. This is where the best part of the morning comes in...
While looking out at the waves at night, all you will typically see is the whitewash where a wave has already broken. There was a glow to these waves that I noticed, but I wrote it off as its whiteness being the only thing for any ambient light to bounce off.
As I made it to a safe paddling depth, I jumped on my board and started scratching. It was SCARY how dark it was. I kept paddling and I noticed that my hands were lit up! The bottom of my white board was also lit up and it made me feel a little like this guy:
Another cool aspect is when I took my hand out of the water and looked at it, it looked like tiny lightning bugs appearing and disappearing sporadically in a scattershot manner.
It doesn't sound nearly as cool as it looks, but hopefully you get the idea a little bit.
I got out there and it wasn't difficult to see unbroken waves but it was damn near impossible to judge them. I managed to catch a garbage left and kicked out. I paddled back out and got a nice left on which I did my patented slide/slash and it looked pretty sick with the glow! I recovered and rode it a little longer. It was difficult to see where on the wave I was, but the intermittent beacon atop Cottons Point helped a bit.
More and more guys paddled out and before I knew it there were seven of us and still no light. I then caught a short right and did a couple of turns, nothing too special, but solid. Within two minutes, I caught what was the best wave of the morning and did a great snap followed by a decent backside roundhouse cutty to kick out.
It got more and more crowded and we bailed to Uppers. I hadn't surfed Uppers in about ten years and was looking forward to reacquainting myself with it. The waves there weren't as juicy, but I caught a right and did a good snap on it with another backside roundy. I also caught a sick one that I raced but got caught up in the white wash. I can't remember the last time I pumped and was going so fast on a right and it was a great feeling!
The night before, Eric asked me what would happen if he was attacked by a shark (there was a great white sighting off Mission Beach over the weekend). I told him that I would marry his wife and raise his two girls as my own.
I told him I'd meet him at his house in Carlsbad at 3:45 and was making great time when I pulled off the freeway and realized I'd forgotten my leash. This is probably only the second time this has happened to me. I called him and circled back, got it and arrived at his place at 4:05. His fifteen-year-old stepbrother was joining us and we were up there.
We were the second car there and on the way down the dark path I spotted what appeared to be the kneeboarder from last week speeding by on his bike (bastard!). We made it to the railroad tracks and I counted my steps back from last time so I could more easily find the path through the brush, as it was pitch black with very minimal artificial lighting helping us. The kneeboarder was out already and the two guys I was with were lagging putting their stuff on so I paddled out into the great dark abyss without them.
I was definitely weirded out as it was SO dark out there. The shark crossed my mind a couple of times, but I didn't have any panicky what-is-that-touching-my-leg moments. This is where the best part of the morning comes in...
While looking out at the waves at night, all you will typically see is the whitewash where a wave has already broken. There was a glow to these waves that I noticed, but I wrote it off as its whiteness being the only thing for any ambient light to bounce off.
As I made it to a safe paddling depth, I jumped on my board and started scratching. It was SCARY how dark it was. I kept paddling and I noticed that my hands were lit up! The bottom of my white board was also lit up and it made me feel a little like this guy:
Another cool aspect is when I took my hand out of the water and looked at it, it looked like tiny lightning bugs appearing and disappearing sporadically in a scattershot manner.
It doesn't sound nearly as cool as it looks, but hopefully you get the idea a little bit.
I got out there and it wasn't difficult to see unbroken waves but it was damn near impossible to judge them. I managed to catch a garbage left and kicked out. I paddled back out and got a nice left on which I did my patented slide/slash and it looked pretty sick with the glow! I recovered and rode it a little longer. It was difficult to see where on the wave I was, but the intermittent beacon atop Cottons Point helped a bit.
More and more guys paddled out and before I knew it there were seven of us and still no light. I then caught a short right and did a couple of turns, nothing too special, but solid. Within two minutes, I caught what was the best wave of the morning and did a great snap followed by a decent backside roundhouse cutty to kick out.
It got more and more crowded and we bailed to Uppers. I hadn't surfed Uppers in about ten years and was looking forward to reacquainting myself with it. The waves there weren't as juicy, but I caught a right and did a good snap on it with another backside roundy. I also caught a sick one that I raced but got caught up in the white wash. I can't remember the last time I pumped and was going so fast on a right and it was a great feeling!
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