Day 40 - Bathroom Window

I was up early (5:15) trying to get all of the chores done that I had not accomplished over the tweakend (stuck in the editing bay the entire time). It seems that in my laziness (or activeness if you are my computer) over the last few weeks I have not been able to take advantage of a true dawn patrol, one where you have to squint to see your first wave. However, this is the time of year when every day gets noticeably longer. I hadn't realized it, but I could have been out there by 5:45 - the earlier dawn had crept up on me! This morning, after one look at the waves, my calculations told me that it was good, just the kind of waves I like, consistent, peaky wind swell with offshores and a low tide to force every last drop of power out of them. In between taking my dry cleaning (it opens at 6am) and getting money out of the ATM at the gas station (which took 2 attempts as I forgot my wallet the first time), I woke Jason up to to tell the inveterate early morning complainer to mobilize because I knew it was good. When I returned, he was on his computer questioning my judgement with regard to the waves. Not wanting to disappoint, I hedged and said I don't know, maybe it is not good (I knew it was). I ran to my bathroom, yelled through the house that I was going with or without him and began to change as I looked out my bathroom window at the oil tank behind my house. My bathroom window faces the refinery and there is not much to see. I think the depressing sight had me reflect for a second, "maybe it isn't that good". Who cares, I'm going. Suited up, Jason again questioned my haste... Two waves in, "What window were you looking out of? The bathroom?", as I recalled the sight that had me pause for a second in my thoughts - it was good and now I could question his judgement with that sarcastic remark. He nodded and agreed. In most aspects of life, being wrong does not feel so good. But in surfing, the majority will be happy to admit folly if it turns out to be a good session. Jason echoed this sentiment with his nod, happily accepting the unanticipated fortune. My first wave was a fast right, two pumps, float it, bottom turn and let loose. Yeah, it was going to be a good session. My only regret was that I was not on it at the COD - this time it means "Crack of Dawn". A left followed shortly, I got on top of it, my board was responding today. Jay had a right, I jokingly said that it would have scored a 6.2 in a contest from the Volcom series. He surfed it perfectly, an open face snap, speed section and close out blast. It was a good session. I had my fins out few times, a few cut backs, some open face turns and all the while the general population was sipping coffee trying to inject some artificial motivation in preparation for the first day of the week. Are you kidding me? When will people learn? Monday is the day!

I had been tentatively planning (thinking about) a surf trip for the last couple months. Cycling through the pros and cons of different destinations. Let's see, there was Tavarua, Indo, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Chile, Brazil, Easter Island, Samoa, the Galapagos and a few others thrown in for good measure. Nica was an early favorite as my buddy Ben was pretty interested in testing the offshore winds and barrels of Colorado's (a beach break in Nica). I had one of the best barrels of my life there... Down to a 6'8" (had broken my 6'3"), late drop, buried rail to avoid the curtain, high and tight and ducked a chandelier to come out clean. Flying out a jet engine only happens so many times for us mortals - the thought gives me goose bumps right now. Talk about an eidetic memory, one of the top 10 barrels of my life for sure. I'd like to ramble a little bit more here. To explain something about these weird words that pop up... You see there is an email distribution list called "Merriam Webster's Word of the Day", which sends me a new word everyday. My game is to try and use whatever word they throw at me each day in these entries - eidetic was the word a few days ago. The point is to see if I can identify them a year or so from now when I look back on this. Why? I don't know, just like I don't know why I'm surfing everyday. I suppose that I'm trying to learn to be a word snob and amusing myself at the same time. Oh yeah, back to the regularly scheduled babble... I think I'm going to take advantage of the swine flu outbreak and jump on a plane to Nica in 2 weeks! Yep, warm water barrels. The stoke is palpable right now. I still have to buy my ticket, but they should be cheap! Who wants to go to Latin America right now? Me! Who knows, maybe they won't let me come back for a while. Anyway, of course, I worked it to not break my streak, but there is always risk in traveling - I'll keep my fingers crossed. During the last streak, I did a week in El Sal, came back and got on a plane to NY to sit on an investment panel and kept the streak alive (surfed in the morning one day and then the following afternoon the next). So I know that it is possible. But, right now I'm looking forward to a local session tomorrow.