Turn On It, Tune Out, Drop In

Headed back down for a look in the afternoon and as I watched the closed out waves thump on the bar listened to tales of "You really missed it", "It was all time 2 hours ago", a missed voice mail of "You're a big fat pussy for not surfing right now" and of Gerry Lopez killing it on his SUP...there were still a few fun ones coming through in the cove so I bolted on the flex fin and gave it a go. Not all time, but I didn't miss it and the inside closeouts I took on the head were definitely not for the faint of heart...or pussies.

Sunday was dawn patrol day...up before light and suited up and in the water with 2 others surfing fun head high peaks on the 10' 6". More good waves in that short 2 hour morning session than I had had in the 2 days previous. Peaks were defined and getting in early allowed a couple back door entries into fun lefts. I took a monster set on the head scrambling to get back out at one point. Needless to say, duckdiving the Eagle is not an option and I rarely turn turtle...it's all about paddling as fast as you can back out and picking that path of least resistance. I had my line and thought I was through when the lip threw and detonated square on my shoulder blades. I experienced what I can only describe as a double concussion...it impacted, released and then exploded again...I felt like I was in a time warp. No pain, mild concern for the board, and I fould myself past the wave none the worse for wear. My final wave was a left into the shallows and I headed in. Mr. Lopez walked past and checked out Skip's handiwork approvingly, he watched the waves for a bit seemingly doubtful about a go out...until a deep south peak unloaded and reeled right and left at which he said "That's it!", spun on his heel and went to get his board. Here's a shot of Gerry killing it...obviously not Surf in Oregon:

A pretty satisfying trip overall...saw some friends, made some new ones, talked with a legend, played on the beach with my family on a sunny October weekend...and surfed, surfed, surfed. As I packed up the car, the wind puffed, and then started to blow hard out of the south...I watched as the glassy waves of the past 3 days grew lumpy and gray, and a massive front enveloped Cascade Head to the south.