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. The sea was calling and looked inviting at that point, but a recharging therapeutic solo drive was itching at my skin. 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. The conditions soured as I knew they would, and the birds were struggling to cut through the turbulence. 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). 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.
