Express Elevators at Venice…Going Down

I got up for some swell this am.  Things were looking good in the forecast.  But when I got to Venice it was Close Out Central.  2 – 4 ft waves dumping on the beach, churning up all kinds of sand.  It was rather unpleasant out there.  There were some dudes looking for something to ride.  Once in awhile we’d find something, but most of us paddled for stuff and hit the eject button at the last second because almost every wave of decent size was closed for business.  I did manage to drop into one wave that was chest to shoulder high, it was so walled it felt like a vertical take off but I got on my feet and held on tight.  It was a fun drop in and I got some face time with the wave before the inevitable happened and that mother closed out all around me and swallowed me whole.  It was fun while it lasted.  Peter and I call those waves Express Elevators (a phrase we often repeat, originaly quoted by the one and only Bill Paxton in Aliens).  Its a real good time dropping in and you have a moment or two of glory with the wave, but then you pay a heavy toll at the end.