Endless Session, Day 132: Monday? :=)
Morgan and the Brothers Burritos crew. Photo by Oscar Angeles.
A huge plus to surfing every day is not worrying about putting much effort into my morning attire. When I wake up and head straight to the beach, I’m definitely not thinking about matching a certain pair of sweatpants to my collection of oversized hoodies. Since I don’t start work until the afternoon and do other work from home, for a good part of the am I’m running around with tangled post-surf hair and my comfy sweats are damp with salty ocean water. I exude California “beach bum” and don’t mind it one bit.
I hadn’t surfed the Hermosa pier in nearly a week, and I felt like my soul needed a re-charge and a taste of home after a mentally draining weekend. I rolled out of bed and in my sleepwear met my coach and fellow beach bum Mike Siordia bright and early. We checked the closed out Hermosa crests, paddling out soon after to catch a few difficult, short waves. I managed to take a very disgraceful tumble in front of Mike, and laughed about how much of a kook I managed to look like in front of my new surf coach. Mike was shredding on every inch of the walled waves, and I was overheating in my stiff seven year old 4/3 mm wetsuit and getting sucked out to sea by the two foot backwash caused by the high tide. It wasn’t really my morning as far as performance, but I woke up feeling happy, healthy, and strong, and the stresses of my weekend had melted away into the past, a little ocean therapy having me grinning ear to ear.
Tired arms and a hang sesh and breakfast with some of the Brothers Burritos locals got me contemplating that I was long overdue for a new fullsuit. After breaking a literal sweat trying on what seemed like countless suit after suit at a local surf shop, I found myself miles away in the colorful lab of Shane Jones, owner of JoneSea Wetsuits.
Shane Jones, owner of JoneSea Wetsuits, in his lair. Photo
Everything about Shane says not just craftsman, but artist. Even having only spent 30 minutes with him, I felt his passion and charisma for every gorgeous hand-cut and hand-sewn custom wetsuit. I don’t particularly like the restrictiveness of wetsuits (I’m sure there’s not a human being in existence that does), but as soon as I tried one of JoneSea’s on, the extra stretchy neoprene had me bouncing around all over his workshop. Exited is an understatement – I can’t wait to rock my new custom fitted and colored suit (and to paddle out with Shane, who surfs just as incredibly as he makes wetsuits). If Jones’ adorable doggie Barnacle came with the sale, I think I’d die happy.
Another day down, another cool experience, and another thing to look forward to. Is it really a Monday today? Because it doesn’t feel like it.
Morgan Sliff, Day 122. Photo by BumpSetSurf.com