That Shiznit Hurts!

Not only were the waves small, but the jellyfish were plentiful. After a long, pointbreak-type ride going frontside (at El Porto), I felt what I thought was a plastic bag brush up against my ankles. Nope, that was no plastic bag . . . but it was close to the size of one, and it got me on both ankles. Forget that jellyfish sting I talked about a few sessions ago. This was the real deal. I stayed in the water for awhile after it got me. Finally, I admitted defeat. I asked the lifeguard for vinegar. He had something even better: ammonia! It didn't make the pain go away; he said, though, that it works better than vinegar. Of course, CYT and our friend, Mark (from our homebreak), were still in the water so I got back in. I caught a few more waves. By then I was freaked out. I'd seen a stingray in the water and I also stepped on something slimy that made me scream like the girl I'm not. I'd had enough of the natural aquatic world. With that said, once again I got out smiling. We'd headed out today with the expectation of finding nothing. Our first stop was the Breakwater. Lake. Then we went to the Venice Pier. Lake. Finally I said we would go to El Porto since it was worth a look. It was a lake with a few ripples. At this point, that's good enough, especially when you have a longboard. Most of the rides were short. Some of them were rather long. I did manage a full-on, toes wrapped over the nose successful cheater five today on the Slick. That is the first time I've had my toes in the water while doing a cheater five. And you know me, a ride like that will make the entire session a success. I also figure that long ride that preceded the jellyfish incident was also a "wave of the day" type of ride. So I'm not complaining at all. I expected nothing from today's waves, thus the session was a nice surprise. I didn't have the camera with me. I took no pictures of the sting. This one was serious enough to produce little bumps all over my ankle and lower leg. By the time I got home a few hours later, the evidence of the sting was gone.