Storm Troopers

Yesterday. March 10. We weren't holding our breath about getting surf when we strapped our boards to the roof at 7am. And the view from the parking lot didn't exactly have us falling over eachother to get in the water. Rain, high winds and big, cold, lumpy swells awaited outside our warm car. Eventually we did jump off the rocks and into the rip. At first, we tried our luck on the big rights that were thumping in. I caught one, but it closed out. After spending some time battling various deep water currents and managing to get caught "inside" a couple times - where Nash claimed to experence his longest holddown - our better judgement took over and we joined a few other guys on a grinder that peeled off the rocks. Shoulder high, the wave had serious oomph. If you didn't keep up with the steep face after the drop, you'd most likely have a run-in with barnacle encrusted boulders. More than once.

It took me a while to figure it out, but eventually I caught a larger set wave and was treated to the kind of experience only a point break can offer: fast, clean, walled-up, machine-like ... did I mention fast? The speed was deceptive because the wave almost seemed grind in place, reeling up and over itself rather than down the line. I only became aware of my velocity when I flew off the back as it shut down inside. I soared up to the end of my leash, diving head first into the rip.

When we got back to our car, we noticed that the right on the outside bar had cleaned up substantially. There were a few troopers who were tearing it up, probably stoked to be going frontside for a change.





Tobin Sprout - Gas Daddy Gas