Peaky

Date: July 21, 2004
Time: 0500 -- 0645, 1730 -- 2045
Spot(s): W/S
Conditions: Virtually no wind, more crowded
Swell: Inconsistent ssw swell with a touch of nw
Surf: 3-6'+ California scale

Words: Waiting for a bit of light to come, I was a bit startled to see some specks moving around on the sand, clinging to bulbs of kelp. What the hell? They were jumping all over the place as I was stretching on the beach. I finally realized that they were these huge sand fleas, maybe 1/2" to 3/4". Didn't wait for daylight to confirm--I just jumped in the water, feeling "all uji."

Surf was a tad bigger, still with nice conditions. BA was out again and he continued to berate the crowd and introduce me to his friends. He scored some really nice rides on this day despite still being relegated to the kneeboard.

I caught my share and then some. :-) Then I went to class.

Went out again after work to catch the last minutes of daylight and milking what was left of the swell. Waves were pretty good, but I was just not in sync. Determined to catch a good one during the session, I stayed out as it got darker and darker. Lost the board a few times--darned leash's Velcro was just too weak.

On my last wave, I rode it to shore in the dark. Once again, my leash came off right in the shorebreak. Saw the board kick up on shore. No problem, right? Wrong.

When I got to shore, the board was nowhere to be found. I started freaking because it was Tom's board. I scoured the north side of the beach looking for the board in the near darkness. A couple of fellow surfers helped me out. I was there for like 20 minutes, pacing and thinking about what to do when one of the surfers came to me with the board. What a relief! Apparently, the current had pulled the board to the south--should've known that the small nw could have also affected the currents.

Promptly bought a new leash for Tom the very next day.

Aloha from Paradise,

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