Strange Swell
Nancy Jean Travis
was tubing triple overhead in January at the Billabong contest, and it
killed me to watch it. sometimes when the friendly spots are small
and crowded, i've watched all day, exposing endless rolls of film on
that one humpback glass rollercoaster and the Lane insane. When its
on it looks riveting, but i always hear a voice saying you aint good
enuff. one time i climbed down but gave up 6 foot above the
waterline. impossible. the sound of it booming at my feet stopped
me. i remember Richard Schmidt said the first time he went out it
with a friend, it was "i'll do it if you do it" and i wished i had a friend
like that, i even thought of paying Richie's $70 instructor fee to
paddle out with me, haha. so i always look and think i'll surf it
someday then go someplace else to surf. just a dream wave. but the
new board was chosen with it in mind.
the midweek surf i got caught in traffic, bad accidents, bad luck, sour
mood, late & the usual break was very crowded. In a worsening
mood, i drove over to see the dream wave before bailing to the other
side of town. It was pumping, oh shit! I couldnt stand to watch. Now
im hearing the little voice tell me something new: clean defined
swell. big glass clean defined swell, ya pussy! Only one guy on the
spot i wanted. I would truly hate myself for driving away once again
and my heart was really thrashing badly.
I tried to think of some good excuses, the best being that the entry is
tricky and treacherous. so i asked a guy who had just come in and he
told me the easiest way, don't follow the dry rocks all the way down,
look for the green rocks on the right, more slippery but the descent
is decent. and some other pump advice about how good it was and
there was hardly anybody out there. Yeah, i think its small enuff for
me to give it a first shot today, i said. Shit!, he said, did you see that
last set? I had. Filth.
Down the cliff, things got very weird at the green rocks. I started
seeing things. No drugs. Fear is a potent potion that dissolved into
intense details. The rocks were glowing brilliant neon lime, soft and
firm under my toes, every little crevice and plant was vivid. the
entry was gentle, glassed in by a seaweed jungle. My board
disappeared in a mass of shining green weed and there were
hundreds of little green flecks in my hair floating all around me in
the still water. Thousands of little details were entertaining me,
including the size and shape of the sets, yea the view was much
better. i'd been looking at the break from the wrong angle all these
months. and the swell felt even better than it looked, thick muscled
steamrollers.
Bitchin. I only got a few waves, but i learned, i learned. I stayed out
until the tide was so high the swell stopped breaking, the last one to
paddle in. Then i paddled all the way around the cliffs to the statue
and came up the stairs in safety. Much to my surprise my wetsuit
was ripped. Then i noticed the fog had burned off and the sun was
out. when did that happen? i was out almost 4 hours. i knew it would
be a magic spot, the others are never going to be the same. A friend
laughed when i explained all the detail i was seeing while losing
track of time. "Oh you finally opened your eyes when you went out."
At noon I drove over to Pleasure Point. It was huge and beautiful
with a light onshore, a small crew was tearing it apart on an even
mix of longboards and shortboards. I just watched. And ATE.
Fang