Moon Over Malibu

I'd call what CYT and I did on Independence Day a dawn patrol surf if it hadn't involved waking up before dawn in order to be in the water before the sun came up. When CYT and I surfed together on Saturday, she paddled up to me at one point and whispered something about doing Malibu on the 4th of July. My first reaction: this girl's on crack. Then she said we'd need to be early. How early? Early. You mean 5 a.m.? Yeah. I'm there! On Tuesday morning at 4:42 a.m., the clock radio woke me up. (I decided 5:30 was a better time to be at the 'bu since the sun wouldn't rise until about that time.) At a little after 5, I was heading to Malibu. Mind you, I managed to get dressed, fill the Bullys tank with hot water, and load the board in the car in the span of about 15 minutes. This was one of those occasions when you're thankful you're a morning person. Getting up early is easy. Staying up late, conversely, is torture. I pulled up at Malibu before 5:30. CYT was already there. You know what's a real trip? People were already in the water! My first reaction: they must be on crack too. As is our habit, CYT and I stood there staring at the water. She talked about making a run to another break. I wasn't thinking about doing that. The whole point of being at Malibu at that hour was to get in and get out before the zoo officially opened for business.

The session was fine. I'd been wanting to do another surf at Malibu, but I could not face that place on a weekend. So when CYT suggested an early morning session on the 4th, I was ready. There was no serious swell in the water. Nonetheless, it wasn't completely flat. The set waves made the trip worthwhile, as did the fact that the sun was out and the crowd was light for several hours. I caught the first wave I paddled for—I was going to write "for which I paddled", but that sounded idiotic—and got a bunch of waves to myself during the session. I swear I hit the lip on one. Every once in awhile, I can emulate the surfers I see in videos. I've often noted how some longboarders can climb up a wave just as it's about to close out, slowly hit the lip, and then ride out the closeout before kicking out. Well, that opportunity presented itself yesterday. I saw the wave about to shut itself down. I drove hard to the bottom so I could pick up speed to climb up the wave. (Okay, we're talking about a three or four foot wave here, yes. Don't forget I was on a single fin longboard and that getting that thing up to speed for this takes some work.) Then I threw my body around with all the power I could muster. The board tapped off the lip and I rode the wave straight toward shore. I must have done something right. A guy was watching me as he paddled back out. When I did that maneuver, his eyes got wide. Now, mind you, in my mind, I hit the lip with a loud "BAP!!!!!" (I'm talking about the sound my board made) that could be heard all the way in El Porto. I'm sure that in reality, it was more like a muffled "bip" that probably didn't even disturb the fish directly beneath me. No matter. I'm happy to hold onto my delusions of grandeur for today.

You know what's irritating? A kid trying to call you off of waves. WTF? Part of the reason why yesterday's session was good was the fact that everyone was mellow. No one yelled. No one ran anyone over. We all just surfed. And then, here's this kid, not even old enough to . . . I'm not going to go there since what I was going to say may be offensive. Aw hell, he wasn't even old enough to get a girl pregnant, and here he is trying to call grown folks off of waves. I wasn't the only one he irritated. CYT said she said something to him, as did someone else. I don't even know why this kid bothered. No one got out of his way. He tried to call me off while I was right next to him. Naw, little brudda, we gonna ride this thing together with everyone else. The vibe in the water was relaxed. We gave up waves when we could and shared waves when we couldn't. We all understood each other . . . except for that little gnat. And it's not like he was that good. He was no better or worse a surfer than anyone else in the water. Perhaps he learned a lesson yesterday. Leave the calling off to the locals. If they're not calling people off waves, why are you doing it?