Things were lined up well for a great session, but this morning far outstripped expectations. Near perfection in the Park. Even as I first walked out, a solid set, well overhead, was rolling in, green and glassy in the morning overcast.
Hugh was out in the water, giving different meaning to the phrase, shooting barrels (leftmost in the photo below...click for full size):
Russell Riopelle was there, for his first session since last year, and Mark Ghattas pulled in as we were pulling on the wetsuits. 66 degrees...shorty time, for sure!
Steve Harkins, whom we haven't seen in a couple of years, was at the rail and Rick Ciaccio pulled in, in a few minutes as well. Including Hugh, already a pod of six, and Eric Ackerman joined us shortly after we got in the water.
What a great session it was! We swam out at LG1, which appeared as big & consistent as Main Peak, but far less crowded. For the next 2-1/2 hours we had it by & large to ourselves, with minimal fiberglass to deal with.
First wave set the tone for me. An outside set, a beefy 8 foot face, looked fairly walled up, but I wanted to get started, so took off anyway. Surprisingly, the left face held up for a fairly long ride before the inevitable close out.
Today, the Park was offering all its gifts. Though there were some distinct lulls, there was a steady diet of freight train lefts interrupted by interludes when the West swell would combine with the SSW for some nice corners offering long, fast slides to the inside. The only hassle was a tough swim out.
Peaks...corners...bowls...tubes...long slides...a good pod...warm water...an overcast that burned off...plenty of stoke. What could be better?
Above, Hugh at work (lower left) early this morning.
After a couple of hours fighting a stiff current and some tough swim-outs in sets up to 9 or better foot faces, we reconvened in the lot, to tell story...
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