Warm water will wake you up. Not in the traditional sense; eyes wide open, oxygen in and out, attentive. No, not like that. Warm water stirs the soul. A big brown wooden spoon, turning you round and round. Mixing. Like a Kitchen Aid with all those extra attachments. What a wonderful thing - just ask your wife. This was my first time surfing sans wetsuit in three or maybe four years. Not since an October excursion to Honolulu. This time, though, the trip took us somewhere south. Across a border and into another country. Maybe Mexico.
We flew out of Seattle around 6am. Tuesday, a fine day to fly. A quick connection, LAX, then south for another four hours. We’d brought a board - Karissa’s 9'0"
Stewart Hyrdoglide - which was waiting for us on the other end. Wrapped up right.
After exiting the aircraft and clearing customs, we were greeted with a white sheet of paper which read: “Carissa Coffey.” Forty-five minutes in the back of a Jeep Grand Cherokee, Stewart strapped securley to the roof rack, and we were watching waves break from left to right, across what is, as far as I am concerned, one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever been to.
We weren’t up early on Wednesday. Exhausted from an early flight, a few cervezas and two or three tacos? Indeed. After I ate - half of an energy bar and a banana - I picked up my borrowed board, a 9’8”
Bing BN Lightweight, and paddled out for what would be the first of many morning sessions.
Up a little earlier Thursday morning. Two cups of coffee at a local "cafe," a half a plate of Huevos Mexicana, and we were in the water, paddling out to the point some 100 yards (?) from our front stoop. Northwest wind, rain, cold closeouts, sideways shit, short intervals? None of that nonsense!
What awaited us were perfectly peeling, waist high waves. Five or six to a set. Seperated by twenty or thirty seconds. One after another. Goddamn it was glorious. I can’t even count. Slid so many!
The BN Lightweight, - which is a lot like Karissa’s
Silver Spoon only with less rocker, a big flat nose, a considerable amount of concave, thin rails and an excellent kick tail - surfed so well. Fast down the face, rotates right when you want, encouraging you to take a few steps forward, to find that sweet spot - double monkey rail grab, flying pelvic tip jib, all of that, etc.
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