well... here's a brief olo surf report.If you've ever done something that was ridiculous, KNOWING it was ridiculous and perhaps even citing to yourself the reasons it was ridiculous but compelled to do it no less; you'll know where I'm coming from with this.
Last evening about dusk I decided I wanted to go for a surf before dark. Mind you it was about 20 minutes to dark and I still had to suit up and get to the end of the street with the very large plank of wood I'd be taking to the sea.
Never mind that. Never mind that the wind was clearly strong and onshore. Never mind that earlier in the day there'd been F*** All waves. Never mind how bloody cold it had got in the past hour. Never mind the fact my back still hurts and I have a cold.
So off I went... lugging the big board down the 500 meters of street, fighting against the wind's desire to tear it from my grip.
Upon cresting the dunes I again had a very stark realization of how ridiculous this mission was; Howling 15kt onshore wind was unrelenting and straight on. There were no waves save for the two second wind slop that was scarcely breaking into mush just off the beach. The tide was at a superlow and it was cold as. For a moment I considered walking back home. But no, I was resolved to do the ridiculous - now bordering on the stupid and pointless.
So I paddled out. Some random thoughts that occurred to me upon paddling out and sitting out there;
DAMN it is COLD... what's happened the water is positively FRIGID!!
What kind of idiot am I, precisely?
This is a stretch even for me....
Oh, there's one (Paddle like hell almost to the beach).... ahh, right. NOT one.
If I can just catch one wave it'll have been worth the go.
The olo's sleek wet nose looks very cool in the moonlight.
Is that a wave outside... a wee set? Ah, right. No.
Well at least I'm getting some paddling in... and the equivalent to a bucket of ice tossed in my face every 2 seconds whilst I paddle around in wind slop.... moron.
Oh.... HERE's one!!! Oh, look I'm up and actually riding, cool... uh... the wave is gone and now I've fallen off like a total kook. What a moron.
Ah... the leash came off, great. Well since I'm in knee deep water I'll just grab the board.
Upon completing that thought I grabbed the board right as a little wave rolled it and the giant point of a tail spiked me hard right in the shoulder.
I emitted a series of really foul words that ended in something like "you moron" and I headed home. Cold, frustrated, and telling myself "see... TOLD you that was ridiculous".
On the positive side, on the way home a guy had just pulled in his drive and was gathering stuff in his car. Outside the car a little girl maybe three or four years old was excitedly leaping up and down and screaming DADDY DADDY DADDY delightedly while slapping her palms on the window....
I smiled and felt instantly warmer and headed up the street to wait for my girls to arrive home and get out of my wettie - and put the olo back in its bag where I ought to have left it.
