Old Timers Day at the Park ?

Fears that two consecutive weekends of good surf was too much to ask evaporated with first view today, as crossing the tracks offered an enticing glimpse of the Main Peak at the Park doin' exactly what keeps us coming back.

Under a hazy sun, the texture on the water evidenced a side-shore breeze that apparently kept the crowds away but left the peaky swell unruffled.  Kahuna (Chuck Herpick, left) and Crawdaddy (Brent Crawford) were all smiles, just returning from checking it out at the rail/steps.

There was little competition for the waves at the Main Peak, and guys skinnin' it in the early morning promised warm water.

Further south, beyond the Rock area (which was exposed by the low tide in the foreground), it was firing at LG1, as well, with little of the holiday weekend crowd we would have expected.  However, there were plenty out at Cottons, which can be seen in the background in full screen view (click on the photo).

Meanwhile though, peaky sets kept rolling through at the Main Peak with only a few sticks in evidence.  Hard to hang around shooting pictures while waves like this (below) are going unridden!

Through an ensuing 2-1/2 hour session in 69 degree water, we shared the area from the Rocks to the northside Main Peak with no more than four or five sticks.  Especially for the first hour, pretty consistent sets running head high, and sometimes over, were coming in.  There were some walls, but plenty of peaks and some fun tubes.  The shot below shows the way that the Park can "bowl" when the swell and tide are right.

Early on, I had maybe my best - definitely one of my two best - rides of the year so far.  A head-high right that came on like a wall but - despite the predominantly south swell today - at about a 30 degree angle to the shore.  Like a slow freight train, the wall just peeled from outside to shore as I slipped along the face. 

Mark (Sailfish) Ghattas joined us about a half hour in, with his handboard.  Meanwhile, peaks like the one above (yes, that's a leg sticking out) went unridden.  A couple of other handboarders eventually joined us, and set up with Mark to the north while I hung out, outside the Rocks, waiting for one of the overhead lefts that occasionally rolled through.

Kahuna put in a good hour.  Don't want to tell any tales, but the guy, well, he's well past double-nickles, and Route 66 is also in the rear view mirror.  If you follow that progression to the next number, you'll get the idea.  Yeah, that's right - check the photo above - that's what a lifetime of bodysurfing can do for you!  And he still rips, for sure.

Crawdaddy put in 90 good minutes, focusing on his fetish for lefts.  Having faced death by heart attack on the beach during a bodysurfing competition five years ago, Crawdaddy is enjoying his second life.

I pushin' 60 and Crawdaddy is well into that decade...guess the three of us made it old timers day in the Park!

These two guys are an inspiration ... and it was great to ride with them again!