Disappointed

I've got to stop reading the damn surf reports and forecasts. The only reports I actually trust are those from SwellMagnet. com. Those reports, unfortunately, are posted long after I've made my way toward the beach. Thus I'm stuck with a combination of Surfline, Wetsand, and Pacific Waverider. I could have sworn there was mention of a swell coming this weekend. Well, it came alright. These are the words I would not use to describe that little bit of swell that was in the water this weekend: epic, firing, well-shaped, long rides. Yesterday was a complete waste of my time. I zoomed out to the ocean and then drove up and down, back and forth, looking for something decent to surf. I spent way too much time looking for something that didn't exist. It may have existed at Malibu, but I wasn't even thinking about going there on a weekend. After wasting about 45 minutes vacillating, I surfed RPB. Why did I bother? It was pretty much flat. I got two or three rides. It was just plain stupid.

According to the forecasts and reports, the swell was supposed to be hitting it this morning. I was there at RPB again, bright and early. There was a little something in the water, but the operative word was "little". I'll admit that I caught more than a handful of waves and also made a few new friends while we waited around for the almost non-existent set waves. I do remember one wave. (In fact, I remember two but I'll only mention one.) This wave stands out in my mind because in the middle of riding it, I found myself in a bit of a quandry, wondering what to do and where to go. See, I'm still working on walking to the nose. I do it quite often now even if I know the wave won't hold up. I figure making the walk is good practice. On this wave, I walked toward the nose, stuck my lead foot out while up there, and stayed perched on the wave for quite awhile. The problem was that my toes weren't curled over the nose. The further problem was I couldn't figure out how to get said toes to the nose. I realized that I was so close to the nose that doing another cross-step would have landed me in the water. However, I wasn't close enough to simply pick up my lead foot and place it a little further forward. In other words, I was stuck. And when you're stuck, you end up doing the longboard shuffle. I don't even think it was a shuffle. It was more like a scoot. I know it was not at all graceful. No matter, it was fun.

I'm planning a day trip to San O soon. Perhaps I'll find something worth riding there. It won't be worth the drive if the conditions suck. Keep me in your surf prayers!