Winter Vacation

The week before Christmas saw some big winter swells hit the point. Unfortunately, so did the weather. Nonetheless, there were some windows. Monday was big and brown. Tuesday, the surf was pounding and the lineup was still brown, but there were plenty of water bugs on it. The buoy showed it at 15 feet from 260 at 17 seconds. I wasn't moved to go out in the mess. On the first day of winter, the swell dropped to 10 feet from 265 at 14 seconds. I got a call from KB bragging that while the ocean and storms raged here, he was surfing triple-overhead Topanga in CaliSur sun. The second and third days of winter stayed true to their calling. The weather raged, the water stayed shades of brown, but at times the surf was bearable. I saw Anthony DiDario picking off some waves - he always makes it look fun. Still, I didn't like the water color. Finally, I went out on Christmas Eve. The sun came out and the water cleared. The waves were still overhead and fun. I got some fun ones, but my day was cut short when I came up and found a fin sticking straight up out of the top of my deck. The rest of that story is told below. Christmas was fun, but I spent time fixing my board and hanging with family. The week following Christmas saw another significant swell move in - along with weather. Once again KB phoned and described the scene he was witnessing at the Hermosa Beach Breakwater - a few feet overhead, light wind, sunny, and barrel after barrel. Here, the swell topped at 17 feet from 310 at 17 seconds. At one point, the swell period was 20 seconds. Today, the water and weather cleared and there were some fat rollers to be had. I surfed the Hook, Sharks, and even tried Privates. There were some bombs, but there was a lot of paddling and big drops to flat sections. Next Section- A quick note on getting away with it. The Constitution imparts on the executive the power of commander in-chief. This means the executive must have the power to gather intel on the enemy. The Constitution also protects the citizens from an executive power stance by restricting the gathering of domestic intel - the executive must have a warrant. In this way there is a check by the judiciary on the executive assuring the power stance does not stamp on us without cause. In 1978, noting the need for secrecy and quick action, the Congress set up a law that allows use of a special court to get warrants for spying in-house. In fact, the spying can go, and a warrant can be obtained up to 72 hours after the fact. Apparently this court has refused warrants only 5 or so times out of thousands of requests. Given this backdrop, the fearless leader decided he was above the law - he had to protect us - so he did what he wanted and ignored the process. Could any of us, for any reason, ignore the law and get away with it? Would we have legions of followers convincing others we had the right to break the law? Do we need officials interpreting the Constitution for us? Seems pretty clear to me - if you want to spy on us, you must get a warrant - you must have another branch of government checking your authority. The framers of our country's constitution had great vision. Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power. -John Steinbeck, novelist, Nobel laureate (1902-1968)
The picture above is Indicators on 12.21.05 - Now back to my Christmas Eve surf story.

Was the day before Christmas and all through the Hook
The Crew jockeyed for position, but nobody bothered to look.
The sun was bright silver, a few clouds in the air,
In hopes a big set would soon would be there.

The Crew began to paddle, another set loomed
Up the point waves crashed and 38th boomed.
And out on the horizon, just when you thought it had passed,
A bigger set rose, gathered, and massed.

When out of the fray, a nice bowl appeared
I spun my ride around, an opportunity I peered.
I paddled hard and gathered speed,
Soon my board lifted, from the water it was freed.

Down the line I charged, missing this one and that
Off the top I sprayed, my bottom turn was phat.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a backdoor barrel, everything was clear.

With a little adjustment, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment, it must be thick.
The lip just threw, and out I came,
Someone whistled, and called out my name!

Now in the channel, my ride all done
I decided that I needed more than just one.
I turned back towards the waves, pushed through the whitewater
When all of a sudden, I was hit by someone'’s daughter

As I tried to fend off the kook's LB,
I noticed another ripper bearing down on me.
Up to the nexus of third and second bowl,
Shot his board off the lip, he didn't know the toll.

I saw what was coming, and did what I could
I used my arms over my head, just like a hood.
I tumbled in darkness, I hoped for the best
Soon it was over and I came to rest.

I popped up from below in a tangled mess,
And what did I see, it was Nicky no less.
I pulled on my chord to retrieve my board,
And in the deck was a fin, stuck like a sword.

It didn't take long for Nick to see
It was his fin he left for me.
He said he was sorry and I knew it was true
We walked up the beach together, he thought I was blue.

The waves were still pumping, but I couldn't go,
Nicky still wondered, but I said, "its ok bro!"
He checked his twin fin setup, and looked back outside
I said, "go for it"”, and took the stairs up to my ride.  ¶ 10:37 PM