Cold Stoke with a Pro's Brother

Brr! The ocean temperature has dropped into the upper 50s, falling about 6° in only one week. Still, I had one of my best sessions in a long time.

The crowd was light right next to the pier, and as a dude ripped off on a wave, one of the other guys said, "He surfs a lot like his brother, and his brother's a pro."
"Who's his brother?" I asked.
"Benji Weatherly," he replied. I nodded knowingly, although I'd never heard of him. Google turned up this pic:

Benji Weatherly, some other day in some other place

Benji is best friends with Kelly Slater. So I was surfing near a guy who's the brother of a guy who's tight with the best surfer in the world. That's like three degrees of separation, right?

Maybe something rubbed off. The waves were smaller than yesterday, waist- to chest-high, but I got three solid rides - with turns! - and caught a bunch of lesser waves before the cold water and chilly light breeze drove me back to shore. My hands were almost too cold to open the lock on my bike but I was stoked.