Another true-life surfing story,
sharing some fond memories from the early days of this century.
Won't you join me for another thrilling surf session?
It's looking pretty large...
Photo courtesy of Austin Schmid and http://unsplash.com
"The hardest thing I do every day is get out of the water." -
"Today is rather interesting...
I don't know whether or not I'll be able to go out, with reports of a 6 to 9 foot swell with 13 foot set waves...
I drive along the coastline through Carlsbad, checking things out. There is no one at all out there, and it's looking pretty large. I stop by warm water jetty and watch for a bit, then drive up and park in front of the power plant.
After watching a while,
I decide that I will probably survive if I try and go out, so I don my trunks and go for it.
There are 13 foot sets coming in...
Photo courtesy of Oliver Raatz and http://unsplash.com
The tide is very high,
and the waves are driving rocks up the steep beach slope. I have to time my entry very carefully. Stepping in a bit too soon, I get my shins pounded by the water-borne rocks, but then I hustle in and start paddling out.
There's a rather strong south current running along the shore. As I turn to watch my shore reference, I see that I am being washed northward a lot faster than I'm moving outward. When I reach the smallest of three jettys just north of the powerplant, I catch some whitewater in.
I have to be careful inshore because the waves are driving up against a sand cliff, and I don't want to get smacked with my surfboard.
Waves are driving rocks up the steep beach...
Photo courtesy of James Pritchett and http://unsplash.com
As I start walking back to the south,
there's an old fellow approaching. "Only world-class surfers ought to be out in this stuff" he calls out. Smiling, I thank him for his concern, but tell him that I do this almost every day, so I'm not too worried.
I walk almost to where the houses begin just south of the power plant, and try again. The experience is similar, moving fast to the north and slowly outward. I'm almost ready to give up and catch some small slop in to shore, when God offers me a brief lull in the onslaught of waves. I go for it, and soon reach the outside.
Waves are driving up against a sand cliff...
Photo courtesy of Levi Morsy and http://unsplash.com
Now that I'm past the strike zone,
things are pretty nice. The current is much milder. I have no trouble swimming against it and not only holding my position, but making progress to the south. The waves, although large, are generally "friendly" — not walling up and slamming down hard, but surging to a peak and spilling over instead. Yet, they are sufficiently steep for a take-off in just the right place.
Now that I'm outside, I decide that my goal for the day is to find one "glory wave" and ride it to shore. It takes a while to get the measure of these waves — when they are big like this my timing gets all thrown off, and I have to re-calibrate.
Past the strike zone, things are pretty nice.
Photo courtesy of Austin Schmid and http://unsplash.com
There are one or two waves I might have gotten,
but I chicken out. Then I try for a few, only to have them slip out from under me. I go for another a bit late, and wind up "eating it." But it's not as bad as some waves of the last few days; it's a kinder, gentler wave.
Finally, just the right wave appears. It peaks up nice and hollow in just the right place, with a shoulder headed to the right. I go for it, get up, and head right. It's not super steep, just steep enough to launch me in a cloud of whitewater and yet allow me to make it out of the foam and onto the shoulder.
I go for it, get up, and head right.
Photo courtesy of Lance Asper and http://unsplash.com
Riding right for a ways,
the shape keeps changing, and I find myself trimming and turning to the left to stay with the energy. By the time I turn left, the wave steepens again and rather rapidly closes out on the right. I continue left for a few moments and then trim back straight to stay with it. It reforms once more inside, this time maybe waist high, and so I ride it a little further in before it mushes out.
Of course, as I drop off the wave I have to shout "Hallelujah!" - it has been really nice! I'm pretty close to the beach just south of the power plant, and I catch a big surge of whitewater most of the way in, followed by a nice left-handed belly ride almost to the rocky slope. On foot once again, I hustle the rest of the way out between waves.
My goal is to find one "glory wave."
Photo courtesy of Ameen Fahmy and http://unsplash.com
Well, there you have it,
the Big Thursday report straight from Carlsbad, California... :) As I'm cleaning up, I do notice that one other brave soul has paddled out in front of warm water jetty, but I leave before I see him catch anything.
FIN
Thanks for your time and attention.
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I have very eclectic interests and hope, over time, to write about them all.
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