fly high

so a south swell hit late yesterday and it's carrying through tomorrow. i went out after work...and dude, it was pretty. forecasted to be 6ft. plus (news said 10ft.) but it was barely that...only on the freak sets that were like, a half hour apart. prolly the biggest surf i've ever paddled out into, and i think definitely the biggest waves i've ever ridden. and also, one of the most amazing experiences i've ever had...

one thing i like about diamond head is that i'm a goofy footer...which may seem weird since diamond's predominant break is a right (a goofy's frontside is riding left)...so the lefts are open a lot of the time. 'open' being a relative term since there's a reason not a whole lotta people catch the lefts. when you catch the left, it closes out on you, meaning the wave breaks from two points and you're riding right into the middle of it...being chased by one from behind and playing chicken with the one coming straight at you. you have two choices, try and get over and behind the wave before the last middle section breaks and eats you, or turn straight and let the wave break with you safely in front of it and then let it calm down a little to jump off and try and not get dragged too much towards shore ('cause you ahve to get back out).

so...i'm on this MONSTER of a fuckin' wave, definitely over head high...and this bitch is closing out on me. the sun is setting and i can see the light through the churning water of the breaking lip, and i decide to charge the lip to see if i can make it over. so i bottom turn and turn right back into the wave aiming for that LAST few feet of wave that hasn't broken, and i make it....andi LAUNCH off this thing with more force than i've ever felt outside of rollercoasters and raimi. i don't even know how high i flew, but i just felt like i hung there forever...and of course when the wave breaks, the water behind it drops down...so then i'm even HIGHER out of the water...and i have no idea where it is as i'm falling. i have no idea where my board is...and that would be a bitch to fall on...and i'm just falling, and falling....and my momentum carried my feet up so i'm starting to rotate backwards, looking up at the sky. i flail my arms trying to get some sort of control...don't...and fall like a rock backflopping in the water who knows how far below me. i come up laughing my head off and this dude next to me was like "holy shit that was fuckin' awesome!" i was psyched. that was an amazing feeling...the power of these waves always amazes me...and scares me shitless. but that's what i love about it :)

great rides today. i'm back out tomorrow i think...i might play ultimate and then go night surfing under the full moon. i'll have to fix my board, though. i did quite possibly the STUPIDEST thing you can do with a surfboard....i forgot to strap it to my roof racks when i drove off on sunday night. *shakes head* i'm driving and i hear this thud as it slides off my trunk and i know immediately what it is. luckily it fell onto the side of the road and NOT in front of the taxi behind me. busted the tail pretty good, but i can fix it. *shakes head*. i was using my old POS board, which i might'a done anyway 'cause it's bigger...and helps a lot with bigger waves (6'4" vs. 6'1"). debating whether to fix my board after work before i go out and surf the full moon or bring the POS out again and use the daylight....

okay now that you've read all that shit you're probably not interested in, didn't get, or just hate me for....um...i have nothing more :)

alohas