Pray for Summer

It's June 12. Not only am I back in my fullsuit, but I'm also braving the "Victory at Sea" conditions for the second week in a row. What's up with that? Today's waves were mediocre at the beginning of the session. We all caught something. But within an hour, we were back to what our break does best: closeout. Then the fun was watching everyone, including myself, get pitched. You get so desperate for something—anything—that even when a wave is obviously going to close out, you go for it anyway. I don't know what makes everyone else do it. I always hear a little voice saying, "Oh, you can make that." That little voice is almost always wrong. There's nothing to "make" (a fact you realize as the wave jacks up and pitches you headlong into the water). All in all, it was an uneventful session. It was nice to be in the water at my home break with most of the crew in attendance. I suppose surfing with the same people is like training on a bike with the same people. You reach a certain level of comfort because you know the habits and idiosyncracies of those people. For instance, John is a wavehog. There are no ifs, ands, or buts. If he sees a wave coming, he will cut you off. He will snake you. He'll do whatever it takes to get that wave. And yet, he's one of the sweetest guys in the world. It's just that he gets what I consider a sort of tunnel vision; he sees nothing but that wave. So you know to either give John some room or snake him. It's rare that he gives waves away. I don't think he's capable of doing so. Then there's Mike. He's so self-deprecating that he doesn't get into most of the waves he goes for. When he's going for it, I go ahead and paddle for the wave too. Three times out of four, I'll end up with the wave he wanted. He tends to back off, even when no one else is going for the wave. Finally, there's Grace. I try to stay out of her way when the bombs roll through. See, I'll hesitate. Grace won't. She likes the big, hairy waves . . . and she usually makes the drop . . . on a longboard! My point is that even though the waves today weren't good, I still enjoyed myself.