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Thursday, February 4, 2016

Big Winter Swells Mean A Lot Of Looking (And Learning) And Eating

Big winter swells hitting both Northern and Southern California are great news for most surfers, who live for this kind of stuff. For the more mellow-inclined like me, it's good surf-watching weather. You can actually learn a lot by watching surfers do their thing, and so my last few outings at the beach have mostly been about observation. Also, for the longest time I've been wanting to give Topanga a try. Often when you drive PCH and you pass Topanga the surf looks pretty mellow, with waves that don't seem too intimidating rolling around the point. But, as in many things about life, looks can be deceiving. In fact I think I once consulted with my former surf teacher about Topanga and I'm pretty sure he warned me that not all is as it seems, but I have a bad habit of not listening to good solid advice and and just forging ahead, which is something I am always trying to change. Anyway, not too long ago, with big stormy swells making conditions out of my comfort zone at Venice and Santa Monica, I noticed things might be a little quieter by Topanga, so I figured I would check it out. Well, the first couple of surf-checks revealed waves that I wasn't liking the looks of. Then came the day where things did look better. So I suited up, grabbed the Greco and headed for the water. Now, the tide was going out on this particular day, which revealed something I hadn't noticed before about Topanga -- rocks! Lots of them. Rocks everywhere. You have to negotiate these rocks into order to get into the water, and it's a little tricky. This was not entirely new to me -- Little Dume has rock issues too but it also has a rock-free area where you can wade in without worry. So I negotiated the rocks (not easy!) and started a paddle out -- and then, not sure what, but something spooked me. It was probably a combination of things -- the current much stronger than expected, plus how far it was to paddle out, plus another surfer coming close as he rode a wave in. Anyway, it was a total fail and I turned around and headed back to the beach (or...rocks!) as fast as my arms would take me. So chalk that up to some days the surfboard also works as a lunch caddy, like you see in this picture here!


That was, by the way, a very delicious sandwich, a BLT and C, or bacon, lettuce, tomato and cheese sandwich. It sort of was a consolation prize, I guess, for doing so badly. The good news is the big swell backed off, and yesterday I got in some nice water time. For the first time in what feels like forever I caught a couple of waves, got up and got my little ride. So whatever you're doing that frustrates you? Keep doing it. And if you have a bad day, eat a good sandwich. You'll feel better.