Evan on a fun one

Once again, an alt.surfer came into town. This time it was Evan (aka wavslav) from Santa Cruz. Buddy had surfed with him the previous day, so I was also looking forward to hooking up.

The plan was for me to give him a wakeup call early in the morning and meet him at the beach. However, it was scuttled when I was not allowed to call his hotel room. I left a message and hoped he’d get it.

Went out early and found conditions to be really chunky, with peaks coming up all over the place. There were moments when it was total victory at sea, with blustery winds, horizontal rain, and rogue peaks. It was a bit frustrating at the start, but when you got a good one, it was all worth it.

Soon enough, Buddy and Rich paddled out and joined in on the fun. Buddy had also tried to contact Evan in the morning, but failed.

However, an hour into our session, Buddy spotted Evan meandering down the walk path. Good!

Evan was a pleasant guy, knowledgeable with the NorCal situation and the scene at Santa Cruz. Interesting finding out about the happenings in the “other” Surf City, USA.

But back to the matter at hand--the surfing! I was happy to score a few wicked takeoffs on my longboard with some down-the-line action. The waves would sometime peak and bowl without warning. It was quite challenging, but really fun.

Evan was having a tough time of it, not being familiar with the lineup. Still he managed a few sweet rides.

Although I paddled *a lot* that day, for some reason my arms and shoulders did not get fatigued. It seemed like I hit a certain plateau or level where it became effortless. I’m sure long-distance runners get into this mode before hitting the wall.

Eventually I had to bail out, so I said my goodbyes and headed in. Evan and the rest of the crew stayed out a while longer--guess they were all slaves to the waves.

Rich, going off the bottom

Aloha from Paradise,