swimming in the morning sea

I had a sleepless night. between changing diapers and too much coffee late in the day I finally closed my eyes involuntarily around 4AM. the alarm went off at 5:20. the buoys looked good for a specific place I wanted to check. I knew it would be dead high tide but figured it'd be something. loaded the car and drove through squalls and complete darkness. parked and jumped in the back seat. changed into winter gear. sprinted down the trail in darkness. first light just a few minutes away. it was flat. the full moon high tide made it too deep for anything to show. I was devastated. really. north east winds whipped across the open beach making for scarce chance of shorepound. all night tossing and turning, all I thought about was surfing. making turns on the new green machine. I sprinted back to the car. checked a few other places and no luck. finally I settled for a messy peak off in the distance. it was less than stellar. would be morning surfers walked out and surveyed the victory at sea conditions. no one joined me. I got a couple of shoulders which quickly turned to mush. an hour in I managed to get the one wall that swung wide and stood tall. I carved down the face like in a dream, not expecting it to wall up. three years surfing this spot and I'd never seen one wrap into the point like that and drop me so far in. east swell I reckon. I got out after that one. changed out of my suit in the driving rain. drove home in morning rush hour traffic. changed a diaper and then rode in to work on the bike in a heavy rain.

it would seem that it wasn't my day, my morning. but after some thought I remembered that I went for a swim in the sea at sunrise on a Tuesday before work. and that's something.

secret barrel
photo from MSW