By Morgan Sliff
I put my backseat down and am laying here staring at the wax on the roof of my car, typing away, cuddling with my shortboard and surrounded by clumps of sand, a drenched wetsuit, books, a yoga mat, and a few random super soakers, occasionally gazing out of the car at the stormy sea and palm trees swaying in the unforgiving wind.
Waking up this morning and looking like a scene out of the walking dead, I zombied down to sapphire in Redondo beach. At 6:45 it was glassy and I knew from avidly watching the wind forecasts (using sites like Surfline) that it was going to start pitching soon enough. Â The sea was calling and looked inviting at that point, but a recharging therapeutic solo drive was itching at my skin. Â Even knowing that I would be venturing into a wind and rainstorm, I headed South with only music and Starbucks to keep me company.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3eWJ-NrFm6w
Getting down to the Newport pier, I opened the door and it was nearly blown closed. Â The conditions soured as I knew they would, and the birds were struggling to cut through the turbulence. Â It was so cold and rainy, that I decided to try and put my wetsuit on in my car, and that ended up being quite the spectacle (thank goodness I was wearing a bikini). Â After that struggle, I raced down to the beach, being blown about with my longboard, and plunged into the ocean with it’s wind-propelled waves, barely being able to see, water blasting into my eyes from the onshore flow and falling rain.
The waves thank goodness were small, and I caught a few all by myself in my lonely lineup, thought I saw a big shark (might have been psyching myself out, but I’m pretty sure I did!), and darted back to the beach, ready for dry clothes and the last few drops of Starbucks.
