eight * hot 'n glassy, walled up, bluff cove, full sun
Green Rooms by Patrick Parker
hot ‘n glassy * eight of winds
Conditions are epic, if not perfect, when swell meets hot and dry desert winds. “Dreamy conditions” make for a “surf fantasy” as conditions go “about face,” with winds blowing in opposite direction of the prevailing northwesterlies. The welcome changeup gets us to quickly calculate the best times for the best sessions. Good weather makes for a good day to take off, or for the opportunity to get away. Santa Anas or “santanyas,” can be heaven or hell, and usually stay for a coupla few days. It’s “surfing with the devil,” as the high pressure blocks off the low, and makes for “surf in hell,” and we either “love it” or loathe it.
There is no guarantee that swell and wind will find each other. Conditions can be great, but the surf a whole ‘nother matter. When expectations get to be too much, disappointment is inevitable. We resort to a “counterdependent” facade, acting like things are cool when they’re not. The hot air brings the city to the beach, and “beach Babylon” ensues. It’s not the peace and calm that we wanted. The smog filled skies leave us asking ourselves what to do about the automobile? It’s “tainted love” as we are in denial about the part we play. We blame it all on the inlander Vals and the crowds that come with dry wits, only adding “insult to misery.” It’s hardly believable as the surf is “nada,” and we are at a stalemate with our frustrations and feelings of “recrimination.” We feel “stood up, shined,” and even “shortchanged.” It’s so annoying, we can’t wait for it to turn onshore, as things only serve to “accentuate the flatness.”
Learn to integrate opposites. The offshores may be holding you back. Meditate on the sun drenched shores. See beauty. Regard delays as a “necessary evil.” Wait out flat spell and persevere under high pressure. Be patient. Conditions and swell will join over time. Restrictions will be removed. You can then cut loose. Muddle through ‘til then. Keep your sense of humor. Your fears have been blown way out of proportion, and will soon be blown out to sea. There are new ideas in the air. Opposites attract which in turn triggers the unexpected. If you can’t see the natural ebb and flow of things, get the facts. Find the scientific angle. Why are things so dry? Escape bureaucracy. Travel. Let it be known. We’re all just visiting here. Report the flawless facts. There’s surf in hell, even here, on this “heaven on earth.”
walled up * eight of waves
Ma’alaea is the classic “unbroken wall” of a wave, where rider sets his rail and just straight lines it up. There is no half way about it. It’s all or nothing. Speed and setup are critical to maintaining “trim.” There is a chance you can get “stuffed” beyond belief, and still make it out. The question is, “can you pull it off?” Don’t let swell nor her beautiful appearance fool you. It’s “nip ‘n tuck,” and “touch ‘n go,” all the way. Wave selection is paramount, and calls for split second decision making. We hope for a “double up” and to get “slotted,” and “shacked.” We think this could be the one. It’s a tightrope act, as we sideslip “steep and deep,” into the “death bowl.” We have the choice to “slice through the face for a full body exit,” or to attempt an escape out from under the lip, and “cascading cavalcade.” If successful, we are soon “overcome” and left to revel in an immediate and “most solemn” feeling of “sanctity.”
Illustration Olivier Longuet
Happiness can come at a price. Guilty of excessive ambition and overconfident, we are soon faced with reality. We begin to doubt ourselves and ask, “will I make it?” Victims of an excessive imagination, it’s simply “not to be.” Like “stepping lightly off a speeding train,” danger is nonetheless imminent, and we soon real eyes that we can’t go any further at this time. We feel unsure inside and start to get that “uneasy feeling,” as we touch upon an “emotional uncertainty from within.” With board like molasses, we are surfing in “slow motion.” With lip about to land upon us, we are forced to straighten out. It’s “case closed,” as we are promptly “boomeranged,” and “get worked.” We were counting on her, but she has let us down, again. With empty waves outside symbolic of how emotionally empty we feel at times like this, we cannot get out from under her “impact zone.” We were overly optimistic, and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Everything was “lined up,” but “closed out,” and yet we still insisted on staying the “local yokel,” and kept pulling in and getting pummeled. The swell was off and from the wrong direction, and just “dumping.” It wasn’t happening. “Mixed up swell” was sloppy and difficult to line up. There were no options, left nor right. We had nothing to work with. Emotionally blocked, we had had it, and soon hit rock bottom. After one wall too many, we were rendered the unofficial “humpty dumpty” of surfing. Worn out and emotionally spent, we were tired of unrideable sets and hopeless shorepound. It was a “TKO.” We were knocked down, embarrassed, and “bummed out.” We were the local who wouldn’t “travel,” despite the inevitable “curtain call” with an all too familiar “consequence.” If it was between “perfect harmony or bitter disappointment,” we certainly got the short ending of the “schtick.” With tide dropping, we were left disconcerted and depressed. With sandbars off, we were “idled,” and “flapping.” We literally washed up on shore and then decided it was time to go in. With nothing left in the tank, we didn’t have another paddle out in us. We were defeated and frustrated, and felt an “inner remorse,” for what we hadn’t got done. We felt guilty for every wave we let go by, for every one we had to “prone out” on, and for every time we had to “slingshot” our board to safety. Caught “trying to make something from nothing,” our “emotional deconstruction” was in truth, nothing short of a “reality check”.
illustration Victoria Trujillo
Illustration Hilton Alves
Pull back and try again. Forbade negativity. You know all too well the consequences. Focus on the ones made, not on the ones missed or not made. “Give thanks and praise.” All it takes is one. Have patience, and the one focus. Her walls will fall. Go with the flow and give yourself the freedom to first gain a feel for things. Wait her out. Avoid “entrapment,” and emotional chaos. Dive under and through, and slip out the back. There will be another set wave. Wait for the higher tide. The conditions will “soon come” together again. Make the adjustments and just “charge it.” The “unmakeable” becomes more makeable with the higher tide. Don’t let “wally” faze you. Refuel. Share in his “ono grinds,” and get “stuffed” just for the fun of it. Pop back up, and break on out to the “other side.” Know when it’s time to say good bye, and when your local wave no longer serves you. Take a travel day. You’ve outgrown your “dumpy” little ol’, beach break. It’s time to surf the point. “No entry” allowed, or afraid you can’t keep up in the “fast lane?” Surf the reef first. Do you find things “uninviting?” If in doubt, go for it. Are you “walled off” from others and avoiding just “dropping in?” You’ll never know ‘til ya go. Do you feel that there’s no way out, and that the walls are closing in on you? The wall sustains the nose ride. Keep your toes on the nose, and keep to the high line, and road, in front of you. Surfed out? Maybe your body is telling you it’s time to come in? Retreat to the beach. Need time off? Sleep on the ride home and take refuge. Need to regroup? Come back to life, and to your beach. A change in tide, and fortunes, awaits you.
the Cove by James Parkhurst
bluff cove * eight of rocks
Following the “well traveled path” is oft times of a “simple beauty.” When you have invested time and effort, and committed your heartfelt energies to a place you care about, it claims a place in your heart. With wet rocks under your feet, and salt water on your face, it’s a “homecoming” most every day. As respite from wind and kelp, and personal dramas, bluff cove is safe harbor. With local otters at play in, under and around the kelp canopy and forest, and with summer sharks and other assorted sea animals, it’s a “harmonic convergence” of the elements, with boat wrecks, divers, fishermen, and us as surfers. With everything in balance, the serenity and harmony is breathtaking and truly beautiful. Tucked away up into the coast, “the cove” is safe shelter and “off broadway,” and provides a nurturing environment. Protected and buffeted against prevailing winds, the “fine and delicate surf” makes for a “soft wave with a rocky shore.” The smaller, more rolling “mushburgers,” are generally safer and slower, and without the punch of a point break. With waves passed on from generation to generation, and from old to new, there is a regular “entourage,” some of whom go no further in life, nor anywhere else along the coast, and make our bluff cove their spot. Often one of the “oldest and best known spots,” bluff cove is storied resident “surfholder” for our local ocean mama. The cove is steeped in surf nostalgia, and brings back memories when we visit after a long hiatus. We “remember that feeling” as we “harken back to olden times.” Our bluff cove is accommodating, receptive and worthy of our best efforts at preservation.
Illustrations John Mason
An “uneasy quiet” speaks of a growing impatience among some of us. Not much for “soft rollers,” we need waves with more “girth” and “grit.” Our goodwill begins to fade as we find our shortboard out of place. “Longboards rule” at bluff cove, and riders can become “cantankerous,” as some choose to exploit their “token authority.” With wave quality lacking, reefs fickle and conditions intermittent at best, our heart is no longer into it and we again, begin to lose interest. Already of a long paddle and dealing with the incoming fog bank, the “longboard vs. shortboard” feud is “unappealing” to say the least. There is a “definite clique.” Reason enough for “young and old to clash,” the “local factor” makes many a visitor bristle. With local dialect hard to decode, communication suffers, with “humour” and relationships also strained. We’ve been away for too long, and are “too far gone.” No longer “touched by the health and appearance of our environment,” we have “veered off,” and moved on. Unwilling to “unfold,” we can become stagnant, as fleeting memories do little but to prop up our once unfailing sense of pride.
Shark’s Cove by Tim Ward
Reexamine your “relationships,” with “all our relations.” Change up your routine. Surf somewhere else. Take up in a new “nook and cranny.” Jump off some new rocks. Relive the moment. Feel that “fleeting feeling” once again. Bluff cove “reconsidered” is “impetus for a revival.” Reenergize. Regain your style. Appreciate her beauty from a new vantage point. Marvel at her anew. Rethink “your work.” Where is the “enjoyment” in things? Revisit the thought that, “work is for people who don’t surf.” Just “cruze.”
Golden by Victoria Trujillo
full sun * eight of rays
The “creative confluence” of sun, sand, wind and waves, finds us “basking in our moment of glory,” and “keenly receptive” to the “whole of life.” Everything is shining upon us, as we are out of hiding and in full bloom. No longer “dormant,” our body is full of life and vitality. Ablaze and vibrant, we are radiant and feel the full sun on our face. The “good vibrations” are evident as rhythm fills the air. In harmony with land and life, the earth beats and water pulses. Waves sparkle and shimmer, as their raw beauty makes for an “uncensored” playground. Desire is high and our love strong, as we cannot resist wave nor woman. The intemperate warmth and our “ambient body heat” is our call to adventure. Full of mana, our inspiration is of a most passionate love. We are into it, going full blast, and full of life. It’s a clear day and we can “see” forever. With “everything in unison,” we are “in concert,” in love, and fully “alive!” Feeling festive, everybody’s happy, as moods and spirits soar. Exuberant and joyous, our “heartsong” is strong as we keep the heart beat with our water drums. These are powerful times. Ideas percolate out from our “resplendent creativity,” as our “orchestral symphony” is of a joyful generosity. Sun drenched and of bronzed bodies, we know that, if we’re “not barefoot and without a shirt, we’re overdressed.”
We can barely handle the heat, let alone the truth. It’s like it’s too much of a good thing, as “the excess seemingly destroys the very principle,” and “brings out recreational surfers of every shape and size.” Living too far from the beach, we can’t see our sanctity for the mirage and fear that “life is passing us by.” When it’s “all work and no play,” we start to lack and lose the knack, for finding us “full of joy.” It’s no longer much fun in the sun. “Shadows” are accentuated, as our “all assuming vibrations” can’t look the sun, nor the truth, in the eye. Now bereft of our “Bali High,” we are left dehydrated and “fried,” with body but sunburnt and of a most unappealing “leathery overexposure.” We can’t still our beating hearts nor body, as we are rendered forever restless, taking everything personally and nothing in moderation.
Illustration Odile Schlossberg
“Less is more.” Tune in and intuit your way. Be into it. Expect the unexpected. Make “light” of things. “See” as never before. Partake of the abundance and “balance out” your “accounts.” Watch out for “shady characters” and “false prophets.” Don’t go eye to eye. Follow your hunches. Gaze upon others with “soft eyes.” Be accepting and “chance ‘um.” Nothing ventured, nothing gained. “Be happy.” Nourish and nurture yourself. Moisturize your skin. Give your body the fluids it needs and drink plenty of water. Cool off with a siesta. Take a risk and take a nap. Revive and return to “body alive!” Awaken after your much deserved respite, and delight in your “golden” blossom. Stay fluid. The roundabout way is preferred. Avoid shortcuts in life. Don’t settle for “the usual.” Journey is indicated. Be fully in love, and “in life. ”
Illustration Odile Schlossberg
Throwing by Patrick Parker
