Day 173 of consecutive days of surf started with remembrance. Frank Paine, the humble elite of the Hermosa surf community, organized a beautiful memorial paddle out to celebrate the life of Doug Ball, aka “DangerBoy” at Sapphire Street in Redondo. Although I didn’t know Doug well, he was very loved by many, and while thirty of us sat circled on their surfboards, in between speeches of shared memories, the dolphins came to wave goodbye as well.
The lot of us headed back to Hermosa, and I walked down to the pier with my surfboard, not expecting there to be much swell in the water. I saw the first wave come in, which put a pep in my step, and I nearly ran down to the shore and jumped up, stoked to see the head high sets rolling in with power. I caught a few waves that had me feeling like the nearby flying pelicans, then paddled to the north side to chat and bob with Tamra Lentz, who was styling on her Spyder Surf longboard. Tamra frequents the north side of the pier and absolutely charges on a stand up paddleboard, paddling into nearly double over head waves without even flinching.
After a few more waves with Tamra and a couple more on the South Side, I headed in for Doug’s reception, hosted in the Brother’s Burritos parking lot by the owner Ron. Community is such a beautiful thing. Everyone was smiling with their bowls of homemade pozole, fresh tamales, coronas, and conversation. You could certainly feel the love — for each other, and for Doug.
