Some of my new favorite things since my feet hit the sea after a long hiatus — pelicans and sunrises.
Although graceful seagulls were abound instead of their dinosaur-like cousins today, I was lucky enough to see a more than magical sunrise. The sky was on fire and the mountains were black with the faint dark green of trees poking through, but nothing could hold a candle to the radiance of the water….. the ocean was a sparkly shade of deep blue that I had never seen before. As the sun rose higher, the waves followed suit, and by 6:45 I was salty, offshore wind starting to howl viciously, cutting through my wetsuit.
After an hour of wind in the face and eyes and a few slides down breeze-blown righthanders, I got out and got to my car only to receive a phone call, and upon answering heard the shout “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!” Mike Siordia, my friend and surf coach, just happened to be on his way to Malibu. How convenient. No work for me till 3, it was only 8:30, so a coffee run and back to the parking lot to paddle out and wait for Mikey was inevitable.
So I surfed. And waited. And surfed. And waited…. sadly thinking he was not going to show and feeling a slight burn in my tired overused shoulders, I slowly paddled back into shore, thinking my day was over. Calling my silly coach, who ended up having been caught in traffic, he answered creepily with “I SEE YOU THERE…”. Finally finding him sauntering about and parked ib PCH, I joined him in his friend Tim’s RV, and we all sat and chatted before making our way to the sea. Carl, the “King of Malibu” was sitting in a beach chair throne under a blue umbrella outside the RV, tall can of Budweiser in hand and cracked smile showing his pearly white teeth shining brightly against his dark skin. Amidst conversation in the trailer, our eyes were pulled to the breakers by Ben Thompson, local surf instructor and in my opinion the guru of First Point, who would wait patiently before selecting an immaculate wave, always in the perfect spot; poised, calm, and focused. He paints a picture with his surfboard — it is an honor to just sit and watch him ride a wave; his radical connection with the deep blue sea is undeniable. “If you want to watch someone not just surf, but actually ride with a wave, watch Ben. He never burns anyone, catches quite a few all the while being patient, and is always moving, but incognito — you never really see him until he’s up,” said Tim, founder of Malibu Under Dogs, a nonprofit and solely volunteer-based “ocean and surf therapy” class for children in need. Him and his surf angels in the video below might just make you cry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdKjtX8ZRzo
Having traded enough words and watching the surf get better by the minute, the three of us grabbed our logs and got our feet wet, it being my third time in the ocean and it wasn’t even 11. We traded off and shared waves, giggling and smiling, my eyes always searching for Ben and his magic dancing on the forgiving, long lines of First Point, Malibu
