Inspired

Fired up from a little surf movie viewing last night, I took the plunge into rough and choppy conditions that I'd usually pass on. Paddled right out without issue, and to my suprise quickly got a nice long right. Made a few pumps and hit the inside section. As I popped up, it was almost as if the ocean said, "Wait, what the hell was that? This is not a surf day. No more of that, here comes your punishment." I started paddling back out to row after row of white water. Each time I popped up, the next shoulder-head high wave was already breaking 25 feet in front of me. I would literally get two paddles in after popping up before having to duck again. After 30 mins, I said thanks for the one ride, and headed in early. All well worth it.

Priorities

A year ago today I was in Indo on the pinnacle of all surf trips, and this year I'm not. It'd be easy to get all heady about alternative paths one could take to spend more time traveling, surfing, camping, hiking, etc. However, going down that train of thought is a bit of trap. Those activities are the ones that give the most pleasure in the instant, so there's some sort of evolutionary mental response that can lead you to believe that you should try to do those things all the time. At least for me, I know if I spent all of my time doing those things, I wouldn't actually be maximizing my happiness. So this year I'm focused on other things that are important to me in the long term. They don't necessarily yield the sustained euphoric rush of an Indo boat trip, but it's important stuff for me to do right now. That said, homeboy still needs to get in the water. Was in Yosemite for a long weekend which made for a great summer diversion, but I think tomorrow's the day for a paddle. Also, I'm seeing a surf flick tommorrow night which is sure to drive me nuts if I havn't gotten wet in a while, and it'll probably provide some added inspiration regardless: http://www.aquasurfshop.com/. Probably more likely to see you there than in the water these days.

Good Start

Well, I have to admit that despite my commitment to paddle out at R without checking, I did actually drive the beach. Despite bending the rules a bit, I DID end up surfing at R, and as expected, it was well worth it despite the sub-par conditions. I'm going to make a concerted commitment for the summer to paddle out at least one day a week no matter what. Waiting for good or even fair conditions at Ocean Beach in the summer is just not going to results in many surf days. Getting out there in the junk will only help to appreciate San Francisco fall that much more, and I'll lose less paddle fitness to boot.

Standards

I think I'm getting to the point of a "don't check it, just suit up" dawn patrol. Gas is too expensive these days to drive down to the beach just to pass on crappy spring/summer surf. I mean, what am I expecting? But once I get down there, and actually take a look, and maybe even drive the beach, it ends up being hard to throw the suit on and paddle out to borderline unrideable waves. Almost every time I'm in this surf-jones state, and I just get in the water no matter what, it ends up being surprisingly enjoyable, and a great reminder about how much I enjoy surfing, and how beneficial it is to my mental health.

Alright, I've talked myself into it. Tomorrow morning I'm paddling out. I'll do a Google search for the word "slop" and whatever the first letter in the first result's URL is, that'll be the street I'll surf at. Here goes: alright, got some sketchy website called "rustedtusks," so R it is.

See ya there... or probably not!