Double Dippin'

Is that a surfing term? I don't think so. But it's one I hear quite often from one of the women at the home break. She'll often start out at one break, drive directly to another break, and jump back in the water. There's a first time for everything, right? Well, today was my first time doing the double dip. I started out at RPB. I thought there would be more swell in the water than there was. To my chagrin, one guy told me it had been good at 6 a.m. Damn!! I was up in time to get there that early. I didn't head out because Pacific Waverider said it was 1-2 and weak. Dammit all to hell. By the time I got there around 7, it was small with sets rolling through every once in awhile. I couldn't decide whether to make a break back to my home break and, as usual, time was of the essence. The session wasn't bad. Thank god for huge boards. I caught enough waves to make me happy. Then, all of a sudden, the place just shut down. Boom! Lake RPB. That's when I started thinking I should go see what was going on at the home break. Instead of sitting around waiting for set waves I knew wouldn't come, I got out when I realized RPB was done. The only thing I bothered to do was shed my shortie john. Everything else stayed on. I never even toweled off. I shoved the board in the car—have I ever mentioned that station wagons are a wonderful thing?—and made run for home. Yes!!! There were waves there. It's so damn hot these days that I did something I've never ever done in my short years of surfing: I surfed in only my swimsuit. I was only in the water for about 20 minutes. I didn't have time to get cold. And, yes, it felt damn good. I got a few more waves at the home break, laughed with the crew, and headed home. One of the guys in our crew got on me good today. See, RPB is such a slow wave that I need to be closer to the nose when I paddle for wave. At the home break, I would lie a little further back on the board. Well, I had a little trouble making the switch between breaks. I missed one wave simply because I pearled like a damn kook. And what did I hear from Joey? "Welcome to the harbor!!! Pearl Harbor!" I couldn't help but laugh at that one. The waves were pretty good, totally different from those at RPB. I only stayed out for 20 minutes, yes. It was still worth it.


My surf buddy at work put this magazine on my desk last week. One thing they mention in the "67 Things You Must Do Before Your Last Ride" article is you should never wear booties with a springsuit. How about booties with board shorts? I saw a lot of both out there today at RPB. What the hell are the booties for? This isn't some exotic locale with a sharp reef in between the shore and the lineup. We're just talking about some rocks, people. I cut my foot pretty badly a few weeks ago either on some glass or a shell. I was jacked up, limping around for at least a week. Guess what? I still surfed. All I did was put duct tape at the bottom of my foot so nothing else would jam into the cut (which was deep and seriously painful). Why are people wearing booties in the middle of summer? If you can't stand the rocks, go to the south end and paddle out. Yes, it's a long paddle out from there. I'd rather do that than wear booties . . . IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SUMMER WHILE WEARING BOARD SHORTS OR A SPRINGSUIT. Friends don't let friends surf in booties.