Score at SSS

After almost three weeks out of the water, I can still surf! Today, for the first time, I actually surfed my adopted southern surf break. (Since my home break is known colloquially among insiders as NSSS---Not So Secret Spot---I will call this one SSS, for Secret Southern Spot.) I've been in the water there with a board three or four times, but never got any rides, so this counts as the first time. The baptism of this spot, as it were. And I got a number of rides, and they were longer than the ones at home.

I also got worked pretty hard. This beach is the only one where I've ever experienced, though in its mildest form, what can be described as a holddown. It didn't last long, just long enough for me to think Why am I not up yet breathing air? The paddle out here today was also harder than I'm used to, even though the waves were small.

Crowds? Vibe? Nonexistent on this strange Saturday afternoon when the sun was shining in the town but it was foggy at the beach.

Another first for me was the surfer's standard bottled water shower afterwards, since unfortunately there are no showers at SSS post-season. It worked just fine.

Meanwhile, apparently the swell back at home has generated into a bitch-n-moan fest about how crowded it is, with the wave hogs telling everyone else what to do to stay out of their way. I don't miss them all that much.

A local says there will be waves again tomorrow. That's as good of a surf forecast as I can get around here. I'll take it.