Irony came in the form of a surf trip today.
My surf family Frank Paine and Boris Vishenvsky surf the South Side of the Hermosa Beach Pier at least three times a week. Â Frank has had his water wings since he was a kid, and started giving newly stoked Boris his guru guidance a little over a year ago. Â The routine is always 7:30 at the Hermosa Pier (and every so often down the street at Sapphire in Redondo), and they’ve got that spot — a mediocre beach break that every so often has it’s epic moments — totally dialed in. Â I’ve only been on one trip with them elsewhere where they met me in Malibu a few weeks ago, and it feels a bit strange for the three of us to be in a different city let alone different waters together.
In the black of morning I quickly scooped some of the sand out of my dirty car and swooped up Boris, then Frank, and we sailed South to Newport in search of a fun change of scenery for Boris at a popular and forgiving beachbreak. Â Boris has a way of making everyone burst into fits of laughter even at 6:30 in the morning, and much of that ensued for a straight hour down the coast route on PCH. Â More laughter ensued when we breezed into beachfront parking, and the crew that never leaves the Hermosa Pier arrived at the Newport Pier and feasted defeated eyes on small, blown out, nearly un-surfable conditions.
The only plausible option for us? Â Make our surf adventure into a breakfast adventure, then drive all the way back home and do some sliding at the Hermosa Pier!
Mutt Lynch’s in Newport provided entertainment, grub, and a canvas for a little art, and we we met the second most interesting man in the world. Â He had the pleasure of meeting number one – Frank. Â The fruitless surf navigated us back up the coast to our rightful place South Side of the pier where we hit the water – and feeling the comforts of home, Boris did some his best surfing that he has in a very long time in blown out, waist high, Hermosa waves.
