SURF OBSERVATIONSMad Dog -- 6/21/03 Date: June 21, 2003 Words: Tim "Mad Dog" Maddux from the alt.surfing newsgroup was in town--time to get more points. Picked him up at his hotel at 5 AM, then ran to Zippy's for coffee and donuts. Knew there was no rush since the titanic south swell had all but disappeared. Tim and I joined the newsgroup at around the same time (1994) and have been trading dialog since. It's always a trip meeting someone IRL (in real life) because they may or may not be similar to their online persona. In Tim's case, he was. Cool guy with lots of smarts. Kind of on the fair side though (since he spent the past year in Massachusetts) :-). We checked the swell at the lookout, and decided to head out after the coffee and Zippy's Apple Napples. By that time, some others were waxing up and getting ready to head out too. Tim used my shortboard and I jumped on my longboard. Surf was OK, with some head-high peaks. The winds were lighter at dawn, but got progressively stronger, chopping it up pretty bad at the end. Tim had a tough time in the start, but kind of got the hang of the spot eventually. Lighthouse is a tricky wave, usually with a dual swell running--positioning takes some experience. Buddy and Rich eventually paddled out to join us, and Buddy immediately spotted Tim out. They chatted for a little while before Buddy got down to business with some waveriding. However, soon Tim got a little out of position as a set came through and ended up getting washed over the reef shelf. The way the water comes in, it's really difficult to paddle back out because there's a fairly strong current running over the reef. Tim did the smart thing and paddled towards land over the shelf, but not before slicing his hand on the reef. After a while of looking, I finally headed to shore and found him cruising on the beach. He had had enough of the surf and decided to cruise a bit. So we talked story on the shore until, lo and behold, Mama Sus arrived bringing her bright demeanor with her. We caught up a bit on old times and the group, but eventually I got the itch to get more water time. Sus didn't really want to ride the place anyway, so she generously offered to take Tim around and check out the area and have coffee. So I jumped back in, this time on the shortboard. Unfortunately, conditions got progressively worse, with the winds eventually slicing and dicing any semblance of ridable surf. This part of my session was near-comical as I vainly tried catching meager waves to no avail. Finally, I gave up and waited for Tim and Sus to return. They arrived just as a rain squall spattered through. We talk-story little more, but the rain hastened our departure. Although I only spent a little while talking and surfing with Mad Dog Maddux, it was still nice to put a real person to the online persona.
Aloha from Paradise, 
|
