Letting our 12-year-old selves out for a bit, the gang and I charged out at 7:30 this morning, only to be followed by sneaky king of the pier Frank Paine, who brought along a little surprise in the lineup. I turned around only to have water shot in my face, and it was war. We traded off or stole the heavy artillery, shooting each other as we took off on waves or punishing those that cut us off with a blast of saltwater. The silliness and near tears of laughter continued until fellow longboarder Kris Hall accidentally broke the super soaker, and with a pained look on his face paddled back out to share the bad news.
After a few hours of fun, we left the fun waves, and my surf coach Mike Siordia unexpectedly strolled up to the beach, ready for some wave action himself. Shoulders tired, I was apprehensive, but suited up again anyways and paddled back out with the South Bay legend, rejoining Kris Hall and few other great surfers.
The waves were small, but some of the best I’ve ever surfed in Hermosa, and all of the sudden the shapely little waves caused some of the best in the South Bay came out of the woodworks. Dave Schaefer, fellow team rider for Aloha HR and Becker Surfboards, well known shaper Dan Cobley, and longboard dance master Tyler Critelli all joined us in the lineup, and we proceeded to put on a spectacular show, drawing the attention of many onlookers at the pier. I had never seen that much longboard talent in the water since the Hotdogger surf contest in October, and after five hours straight of surfing with only a five minute break, I decided it was time for me to get out and watch the masters take over. Dave was doing 360s on his James Wheatley performance longboard, Dan was hitting the lip with power, Mike was standing on the nose like it was his home, and TCrit was cross stepping with his nimble grace. All of the different styles were so fun to watch, each perfect in their own way.
