Should've Been Here Earlier

San Diego had a decent rain - around 0.2" - from Thursday afternoon into the night. It doesn't make much of a dent in the drought, but every little bit helps. While conventional wisdom says to stay out of the water for the next 72 hours following rain, I've never been one to adhere rigidly to rules.

 "Take a picture. It'll last longer!" said a familiar voice as I snapped a shot of the waves with my phone near the top of the stairs. It was Crystal Pier's regular and only dawn patrol bodyboarder, still dripping from his session. He said the waves had been fun, so I hurried back to the car to move it from the 5-minute zone to a legitimate spot. Indeed, I rode several nice ones in fairly quick succession after paddling out. The funnest was a left that held an open shoulder for bit, then I skated up toward the top of an oncoming section to ramp off it to the right and back down as the wave closed out. Kat does love to turn!

Sadly, the crowd and wind came up as the tide dropped, and conditions soon deteriorated all around. I waited a long time for a wave in before giving up and taking whitewater on my belly to the beach. Kelly had just arrived, after walking from Tourmaline with her shortboard under her arm. She reported the waves were pretty dumpy all along Pacific Beach. We both should've been here earlier.