Ocean Beach Magic with Darrick (06)

Anke, Noah, and I have just ended two and half weeks of family sickness. Of course there are many hard things about such a situation, feeling bad, having those you love feel bad, not being able to sleep, being kept up all night by a sick child, missing work, missing parties, and worst of all... missing the surf!
The first week we were all so sick I didn't even miss the surf. You know when you are really sick when you don't even think about doing fun stuff. Then as you start feeling better you get anxious to return to the activities you enjoy. When I was finally close to being able to surf I began paying attention to the conditions which were good. Days of good waves. I had decided to wait longer to let my lingering cough get better. Finally it was my day to return to the ocean, but no. Anke was sick so I had Noah. Luckily my frustration was relieved by my friend Dave who offered to hang with Noah on the beach while I jumped in.
The frustration quickly came back Ocean Beach style. The waves looked great but they were very hard to catch. After being too far out to catch any I moved in to find myself too far inside and a set washed me all the way in. That happened three times in a row, once I got pounded super hard and my board hit me in the back so that a week later it still hurts. Then I caught a close out and got washed in a fourth time. I decided to go in and then my leash broke causing me to end my session by swimming in. A frustrating session but at least I got in the Ocean!!
Then I worked a few days and returned to the beach to surf again to discover that the week or two of good conditions had ended and the ocean was cold and stormy. Days like this went by. My next possible surf day was today and the forcast looked bleak. The morning report was dismal but today my luck was to change.
Monitoring the bouys I could see the potential for a wind switch and good conditions in the early afternoon. I did some chores, ran some errands, and drove to the beach to find 6 to 10 foot waves groomed by offshores winds an no one surfing. Not only were the conditions great but there were whale spouts just outside the line up. I got a hold of my friend Darrick and he rushed down to join me. While I was talking to Darrick a hump back whale repeatedly breached, jumping out of the water and making giant splashes with its massive body.
The surf was great for an hour and half and then just after Darrick got out to go to work the Ocean Beach currents kicked in, washed me into the no wave zone, the ocean got junky, and I called it a day.
I had a number of fun waves but there was one that sticks in my mind as one of those special moments when everything comes together and from my perspective everything in the world was perfect.
The swells were coming from a couple directions, causing a wedge effect. The trick was to be in the exact spot where two swells crossed up over the sandbar forming a big jacking peak. The right spot was just inside of where the wave peaked so that you could catch the wave under the lip. This kind of positioning is a psychological game because it seems like the wave is gonna land on top of you and if you decide to go you end up nearly air dropping into the pit. So on this wave I was just in the right spot to go left (backside). After a steep drop I cranked a bottom turn and looked over my shoulder at a perfect pitching wave. The lip was feathered back and held suspended by the offshores, the wave was backlit and turned from blue to green about half way up. I came up on the face and as I tuned below the lip I could see how much room there was below the lip. I usually have a kinda lame style of bending forward when I surf but this wave called for me to stand up tall. I stood up strait, arching my back as if I were channeling Gerry Lopez, and for a moment felt one with the wave as I leaned back and looked up at the bowl all around me. Even thought I was turning half way up the wave I had tons of room under the lip. Just as I did my under the lip soul carve my buddy Darrick gave out a huge hoot as he was on the inside of me paddling out. Having a buddy witness a moment like that makes it all that much more special and tangible, less like a dream.
Besides us there was only one other surfer out as far as you could see. In fact there were more whales in the water than surfers at that time. The picture of me standing tall under a green lip groomed by offshore winds while my buddy was paddling out and no one else was anywhere to be seen is one of those rare surfing moments. If someone saw that picture in a surf mag they would think, oh my god, where is that spot! Luckily it is our local spot and if are willing to put up with the frustrating sessions the beach can offer up, you will occasionally be blessed with perfection.
And after being out of the game this was the best possible reentry to replace my frustration with stoke.