It was 1:36 at night and I could'nt sleep so I loaded up my Honda Element with my usual three boards 9'0" longboard, 7'10" noserider and my 6'10" mini log. I pack a lunch with extra water and snacks and got the coffee machine ready for I'd need it in another three and a half hours. I checked the surf forecast again and nothing had changed. It looked like a small south swell mixed with a smaller northwest. Malibu was probably going to be 1-3' and super crowded like any given saturday and it looked like O'fre was going to be a little bigger but not my much. I figured I'd roll the dice and head down to San Clemente and surf the point (off to the the right of Old Mans). At 5:00 am my alarm went off, I turn on the coffee machine and got dressed and triple checked that I had a few extra bucks in my wallet for parking at the lot before I left the house around 5:30 am.
I made my way to the 405 freeway and headed south. Traffic was light and there weren't that many knuckle heads out trying to cause accidents. The 405 changed into the 5 freeway and still it was easy going until the "Work Ahead" signs started to appear, then the "Lane Closed Ahead" signs. Suddenly the traffic merged from six lanes down to two and we all crawled at 10 miles an hour. Everyone was locked onto the car in front of them leaving no more than just a foot or two of space to insure no one else could possibly cut them off. I almost grabbed my phone to take a picture, but playing with your phone while driving is against the law and I didn't want to risk it because there were cops out on the other side of the orange cones watching no and then. A few miles down the road it opened back up and everyone was going eighty or faster again to make up for lost time.
I took the exit off the freeway that leads to the San On O'fre state beach and the big dirt parking lot that hasn't really changed since I was a kid. I felt lucky that there wasn't a line when I got to the toll booth where you either show an annual parking pass or pay to get in. I handed the old guy $20 bucks and he hand me a little ticket with tape for my window and $5. I headed down the road and easily found a spot between Old Mans and First Point. Low tide was around 5:30 am and it was just turning 6:30 am when I parked. It was small and only a few people were in the water so far.
I watched the small waves peak up and roll in to shore while others parked next to me for a few minutes and left, then someone would pull in, look and leave. I watched the sets and waited for tide to fill in a little before suiting up. Of course I grabbed my 7'10" noserider because it is heavy and has soft rails that work best in smaller rollie conditions like these.
I made the best of it and caught a bunch of waves. It never got that crowded for a saturday and a few hours later I was getting hot and thirsty so I went in to rest up and rehydrate. The tide was starting to kill it but every non and then a pretty big set would roll up and the guys in the water would scramble around and try and catch it. After watching for a bout an hour I was almost sold on leaving but I really wanted to get my $15 bucks worth of surf in so I figured I'd better paddle out one more time. I looked through my suits in my surf bin and pulled out my spring (short legs with long sleeves). Then I slapped on some more sun screen just in case and put on my hat and paddled out again.
It was small out but the there were only a hand full of people surfing the out front of my car. I'd catch the wave early run the nose and add a few cutbacks when needed. It was fun, small but fun. I lucked out and grabbed one of the larger sets and flew down the line hitting the lip and floating each section that popped up down the line before it finally closed out. That pretty much made the session worth it. I caught a few more small ones and got out, loaded up my car and headed north. The first hour was stop and go at about thirty miles an hour, all six freeway lanes where packed with people and every few miles on the right shoulder were a few cars with concerned people looking at their car bumpers while arguing with the owner of the car next to them. Eventually I made it home and I was still happy I went and with my car still in its original condition, well minus some gas.
I made my way to the 405 freeway and headed south. Traffic was light and there weren't that many knuckle heads out trying to cause accidents. The 405 changed into the 5 freeway and still it was easy going until the "Work Ahead" signs started to appear, then the "Lane Closed Ahead" signs. Suddenly the traffic merged from six lanes down to two and we all crawled at 10 miles an hour. Everyone was locked onto the car in front of them leaving no more than just a foot or two of space to insure no one else could possibly cut them off. I almost grabbed my phone to take a picture, but playing with your phone while driving is against the law and I didn't want to risk it because there were cops out on the other side of the orange cones watching no and then. A few miles down the road it opened back up and everyone was going eighty or faster again to make up for lost time.
I took the exit off the freeway that leads to the San On O'fre state beach and the big dirt parking lot that hasn't really changed since I was a kid. I felt lucky that there wasn't a line when I got to the toll booth where you either show an annual parking pass or pay to get in. I handed the old guy $20 bucks and he hand me a little ticket with tape for my window and $5. I headed down the road and easily found a spot between Old Mans and First Point. Low tide was around 5:30 am and it was just turning 6:30 am when I parked. It was small and only a few people were in the water so far.
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| Photo by Eric Cedeno O'fre 7-21-12 |
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| Photo by Eric Cedeno O'fre 7-21-12 |
It was small out but the there were only a hand full of people surfing the out front of my car. I'd catch the wave early run the nose and add a few cutbacks when needed. It was fun, small but fun. I lucked out and grabbed one of the larger sets and flew down the line hitting the lip and floating each section that popped up down the line before it finally closed out. That pretty much made the session worth it. I caught a few more small ones and got out, loaded up my car and headed north. The first hour was stop and go at about thirty miles an hour, all six freeway lanes where packed with people and every few miles on the right shoulder were a few cars with concerned people looking at their car bumpers while arguing with the owner of the car next to them. Eventually I made it home and I was still happy I went and with my car still in its original condition, well minus some gas.
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