A Beaut in the Park

Four weeks off, and a beauty of a day to break the fast!  One photo by Hugh tells a lot:

I will post a second entry soon with more from Hugh and Paul.  Meanwhile, a quick recap of the morning yesterday.  On arrival shortly after 7:00 - yeah, and EARLY start for a promising day! - I found Paul Tordella, Mark Ghattas and Matt Hughes already suiting up.  The air was chill, with a soft offshore combing the waves and putting a little texture on the water, but there was swell, it was peaky and not at all crowded.

Despite the pier report of 65/66 degree water and the clear skies, we all elected full suits due to the chill.  Getting in, it seemed a good idea, but by mid-session, spring suits seemed to have been the call.

Brent Crawford showed up before we left the lot and quickly joined us in the water with his cam in tow.  Can't wait to see the video!  For over two hours, we had regular, shoulder to head high, peaky surf.  Mostly glassy through the morning, the longer-period south in the swell, combined with the offshore, kept it pitching with large, open barrels. 

Soon, Steve Harkins joined us, and Hugh showed up, shooting from ashore.  

The top photo was from my wave of the day - others said it was THE wave of the day.  I found myself lined up perfectly on the corner of a head-high left that had a beautiful, long, soft shoulder trailing a long way off.  The initial face drop gave me the speed to shoot out onto the shoulder for a long slide before the face steepened and pitched a thick lip over me.  The tube stayed wide open as I continued, fully covered up.  Then, the wave exploded as several feet of backwash jacked it - and me - up to double-size.  The photo catches me dropping back into the tube before rolling out the back on a ride to remember.

Breakfast afterward at Adele's - decorated for Halloween.  As we were departing, I noticed the guy who'd been looking over my shoulder through the meal: A Crawdaddy Mini-Me, matching the wounds that the original was sporting from a too-close encounter with his tailgate followed by an eyebrow clip from Paul's fin.

So, I am sitting an airport as I write this, anxious that I've not done the day justice at all.  Warm water, low crowds, a good pod of stoked bodysurfers controlling the main peak, glassy surface, a great swell and plenty of sun.  Hopefully, some of this will come through in the photos to follow in next post!  Now to board....