This surf session was fraught with bomb waves, but one in particular was stellar. I took the Junod out today having learned from yesterday that a longer board doesn’t ease the paddle on a big day. And today was especially big – most waves coming in well overhead. Nearly every wave that came in was a nice beefy wave with a huge face and power like I’ve rarely seen in California. Every ride felt like a 10. And again, like yesterday, crowds were low, so wave count was high.
The wave in particular was my last wave (what luck!). I had asked a near-by dude the time – it was time for me to head in, I had a lunch date to get to. And right away this massive wave started building on the outside. I grew and grew and turned evil. I asked the two dudes near me if they wouldn’t mind if I took this wave. The time-guy said, “Sure,” and his buddy said, “I don’t want anything to do with this wave.” I positioned myself for optimum take-off and readied my paddle. I started getting into the wave and then some rogue back-swell jacked the face up and extra foot or more and locked me into the wave. The bottom looked a million miles away. But a weird and wonderful calm came over me, muscle memory popped me up and I sailed down the face. I dragged my hand through the face of the wave and stood up tall like I always see in the movies. So fast! I raced like a bullet all the way to the beach. Adrenaline was at an all time high when I hit the sand. I grabbed my board and started running full speed up the beach. A toddler wielding a plastic shoveled stared at me as I approached. I implored the kid, “DID YOU SEE IT?! DID YOU SEE IT?!” Nervously, he shook his head, “No.” I went on, “Oh MAN! It was AWESOME. YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN IT!” I described the whole wave to the poor kid. He was a good listener. Thanks, little dude.