The skies looked pretty dreary for a Tuesday evening, especially in light of the diminished swell following last weekend's complete and utter awesomeness. All gloom was dispelled, however, after a quick dip into the 72 degree Pacific Ocean by PB Drive w/ my 8'0 Craig.
Dolphins abounding, solid 3 ft lefts and rights that were either rideable to the shore or good for a couple of quick hits - the dark and gray clouds may as well have been a bright, blue sunny sky. Any negative energy is quickly washed away by these warm waters.
Just thinking about how much I love my 'Rastafari' board. The actual brand name is a 'Rusty Piranha,' the idea being that the board is a modern day, radicalized fish. Hence, the 'Piranha' label as opposed to the generic term fish.
Here's a detailed description from Rusty:
Our proven, extremely popular, everyday modern fish. Among other things, traditional fish have a long, straight, rail line relative to their overall length and a lot of area behind the foot. The tail area is stepped down with 3 sets of wings. This help to make the board quicker from rail to rail and tighten the turns.
Specs:
Rocker, bottom and thickness are similar to a performance shortboard like the Burnout. Has a full nose with the wide point nudged in front of centre. The triple wings step a fairly wide tail down to about a 5 1/2" inch split.
Fins:
All boards fitted with FCS plugs and come with FCS fins
My board actually has orange and green stripes swirled on the deck, which is why I refer to the board as the 'Rastafari.' Underneath are three super pretty blue FCS fins.
Until I get around to posting a pic of the Rastafari, I'll leave here a generic pic from Rusty:
OK - finally managed to get that pic of the actual board. Here it is:
The forecast had hinted at some good waves to come later in the week. Then the local news started reporting about high surf coming into the County. When Thursday rolled around and people who did not surf were asking me if I was excited about the waves to come on the weekend, I knew the beaches were going to be a complete madhouse. With even the slightest of hype about a swell, everyone and their mother feels the need to get out on the water.
I paddled out to Scripps on Friday morning, but the conditions there were actually smaller and less fun than they had been all week. The swell was hitting North County a lot harder, but I did not have a chance to get up there and back before work.
I caught some decent waves at Scripps then I jogged back to my car and headed into the office. After a full day of writing letters, filing motions, and other nonsense, I was finally liberated for the weekend. Headed to my car at 6 pm, I was anxious to find a way to make the most of the next few hours of daylight.
Surfshot reported thirty surfers at Cardiff. Forty at Swamis. Forgetting about going North, I decided to look at the waves by the office but area around Scripps was too overrun with tourists. I drove south and headed to Bird Rock but could not even find a parking spot . Finally, I decided to go to the trusty PB Point to see if I could find better luck.
The crowds were usually a little lighter at the Point. Although the staircase had recently been repaired, getting to the break required a long walk across an uneve bed of rocks, followed by a paddle out to the break in between the dry reef which jutted out in several places. As I had hoped, these obstacles had managed to keep most people away. I looked out and saw no more than ten surfers scattered about in the water.
I paddled out past the guys sitting on the inside and a little ways in front of a longboarder sitting on the outside. The one guy next to me was resigned to catching lefts because he was too nervous about the rocks on the right. This left me in the perfect spot to catch the rights that were coming in at my own peril.
The sets that came made the paddle out and the five days of work that came before all worth it. Mushy, flat takeoffs led to a sweet, open faces that allowed a freedom of movement not usually provided by the beachbreaks that I usually frequent. Some discretion was needed to avoid the rocks on the inside, but as long as I pulled out by the time I saw the water shimmering over the reef I was fine.
The lefts were the polar opposite, starting off with steep punchy takeoffs that tended to close out. I found myself holding the rail from start to pull out, only to be catapulted into the air over the lip as I exited. Still having a hard time getting my board to come up with me on those.
The few people that were out there were easy enough to share the waves with and friendly enough to talk to in between sets. This made the time go faster while we waited for waves, but as the tide filled in that time grew longer and longer until the waves stopped breaking altogehter.
By that time, I had rode my fill and felt completely stoked. It was time to go home, grab some dinner, and rest up for the next big day of windsurfing lessons with the wife!
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