Editor’s Note: The following piece is a journal entry from the author’s 3,000 Waves marathon surf trip, navigating from San Francisco to San Diego with the goal of surfing 3,000 waves in 30 days to raise money for Stupid Cancer.
If every day offered up 100 of these nobody would blame you for doing nothing else. Photo: Shutterstock
If you’re part surfer, part math geek counting waves can be orgasmic. For those who like to label themselves as ‘artsy’ folk, well, it can be looked down upon as a soulless endeavor. The trick, and it’s not easy, is to keep the flame alive between your soul and the sea while you feverishly glide your way to a seductive wave count goal. I consider it a ménage a trois of sorts, sans cigarette. So for all intents and purposes here I’ll be referring to my wave count as my ‘selfish lover’.
I awoke on Sunday, October 11th in San Simeon with her whispering in my ear, “I know it’s early but…” 635 waves into the trip and it’s not enough. It’s never enough. I put my game face on, paddled out in overhead, dumping Pico Creek and after 2 hours of being put through the ringer I exited the water wearing one of those oh-so-good mischievous smiles. Later in the day I pushed south to San Luis Obispo where, with a complete lack of surf drive, I made myself suit up and surf wonky Shell Beach to satisfy her yet again. 676.
The next morning I was able to sneak out before light undetected. I bodysurfed whomping 2-4’ glassy closeout barrels in Avila Beach, torpedoing my way into another 25. When I got back to the RV she was thrilled, hairs standing on end with the news of breaking the 700 mark. This kept her at bay for a few days which allowed me to get some quality waves at Pismo Pier, Sewers, The Finger and Rincon. I finished the SLO and Santa Barbara stretch with 836 total waves and capped it off with a night on the town with the crew at Rincon Brewery. It got late and I felt the tugging at my shirt yet again, “time to go.”
Ventura served up plenty of swell and I scored some great rides, breaking both the 900 and 1,000 wave counts since October 1st. We got busy at C Street most days with some mild flirting at a few other standouts. This all-too-consuming fling was getting wilder and PDA was more apparent than ever. Some onlookers stared in disbelief while others covered the eyes of their young ones. It was definitely out of control.
You see, counting waves makes you pre-engineer your surf sessions so you’re primed for each swell in the water, the dreamy coastline curves and the perfect angle that awakens each pulse, the heavy breathing of the afternoon winds and most importantly pushing the right plank to achieve the ultimate pleasure. And let’s all be honest here, even the most lacking of sessions is better than, well, almost anything. Yes these are pro’s of committing yourself to a wave count. But this kind of fixation isn’t always the healthiest of addictions to have either. Attaching yourself to a number makes you paddle out in fat conditions because you need to get it up. It demands excessive use of vaseline so chaffing is minimized. And quite honestly doing it over and over and over can kind of take the fun out of it.
The bottom line: Surfing is always better than not surfing. So next time you “don’t feel like it,” or have the “wrong board,” or time’s not on your side just remember it only takes one good one to bring out that devilish smile.
