Kelly Ave, 5 September 2009

With just a little lingering NW swell, I expected the waves to be small this morning and drove to Half Moon Bay with 8' Big Blue strapped to the roof. There was no one in the water at Kelly but one peak was working, offering up some waist-high rights and lefts. T was late so I headed out alone. It was cool to be the only human in the water, with pelicans splashing down around me and sea lions cruising by as they breakfasted. One curious sea lion surfaced about 15 feet away and checked me out a couple times before getting back to her meal. Wish I could have gotten her on video, but since I forgot to charge my camera battery, today was all about the surfing.

The only thing better than surfing a break alone is surfing it with just a friend. When T paddled out to join me, she told me Linda Mar was already looking crowded, with nothing much happening wave-wise. Yet here we were, alone on our own peak. I'll take an empty break with lower-quality waves over a crowded epic one any day. And the waves weren't bad. With patience, there were shoulders to be had, and I needed to rely entirely on myself to be in the right spot to catch them. No looking at where other surfers were lining up, as is often my lazy habit; just drawing on my many hours (days? weeks?) of water time to get it right. After a few pearls on the slightly steep waves, I got plugged into the longboard again for some nice rides both front- and back-side. The best was a sweeet left: nice bottom turn, right in the pocket, and up and out the back at the end of the ride. Stoked!