2/3–4 — Pacifica
Today’s session really started downtown, with a quick walk through a local garden collective. I was walking home on Howard street from breakfast and a nice guy let me walk around for a bit.
I’d like to say surfing was great today — it wasn’t. While the surf itself was fine, I’ve had a lot on my mind/heart that didn’t leave room for joyful surfing. Usually surfing tunes a lot out for me, but today’s feelings went over the emotional/mental dam.
I started on the north side of Pacifica by “sewers”, but the waves were closing out a bit much, so I moved to my favorite south spot. The best wave today was a 2-section right. The waves on the south side sometimes peak slow, so I paddled hard and rode on my stomach for a second before dropping right. The first section was a quick right. I angled toward shore with the little speed I had after it started dying out, gave it a second to reform, and the wave opened up into a glassy section where I was able to get two smooth turns up and down the face before sliding over the shoulder.
After 2–3 hours I got out and went to my car to change and head home. I had a quick phone call, but decided to head back out. A medium-build guy on a green board surfed by me while I was paddling out and did a somersault (literally) off his board. It was comical in a way, as it appeared completely intentional. A second time I saw the guy do the same thing: stand with a solid right, crouch down, and tumble intentionally off the board. I jokingly commented to him that he “had it”, assuming he just had poor coordination. He laughed and clarified that he was actually trying to do a handstand — far more respectable.
When I paddled back out it wasn’t breaking quite as cleanly, but I still caught a couple of nice chest-high lefts with a few nice turns. I surfed until it was dark and there were only 3 or 4 of us in the lineup.
I was also out briefly last night, the wind was light offshore and the small swell was clean. Decent surf? Yes. Poor emotions? Yes. Decent session? No.
