Ocean Beach

I had some trepidation about trying to surf Ocean Beach, given what I'd read about it. And last time I was in San Francisco it was a grey, rainy, windy day with blown out slop and no one out on a Sunday afternoon.

But today the stars (sun/wind/tides) all aligned. I got up early, checked the cams, rented a board, and went. The waves were two to three feet, there was no wind, the sun was out and so were the surfers. All I could get was a softtop board a foot shorter than I like, but that would be OK, I thought.

I later found out that that is the only place in the area that rents boards, because, the other shop told me, the surf is usually big and rough and they have had to do too many rescues.

The waves were a lot more powerful and harder to catch than they looked, the board was not familiar, and it took me a lot of tries/wipeouts before I caught any, and a lot more before I got to my feet. But then I did. Then I wiped out again. I was alternating between: I'm just like a beginner, I might as well never have surfed before, I can't get anything---and: Catching a wave, getting up (though not often popping, my arms are so exhausted from the last few days) and actually riding a San Francisco wave. Five times.

Today it was the Aqua Board guy. He was the one catching all the waves and having all the fun. He actually smiled and said to me after one ride, "That was one of the best waves I've ever had." I said I hadn't had any yet, and he said what I had just been thinking: "It's hard to know where to sit today. You are either too far out or too far in." And that simple acknowledgment that it wasn't just me seemed to make all the difference---that and watching him and going where and when he went.

Though the paddle outs were short and easy and I only had to turtle once, there was a lot of strong current. I wiped out pearling quite a few times, other times wiped out right after standing up. It took strength to hang on to the board through all the wipeouts. What I am saying is, though I cannot say quite why, I don't think I have ever, ever been as exhausted after a surf session as I was after two hours at Ocean Beach this morning. I was ready for a nap at two p.m. All I could do was lie in the sun for an hour or so. And I'm not sure I want to wake up and do it all over again tomorrow.

And like yesterday, the surf session was only part of the adventure. The rest of the fun entailed me having been left---dripping wet, without so much as a towel, a bottle of water, sunscreen, even one cent of cash to buy lunch, my phone, my clothes, my shoes, etc.---at the beach in the hot sun by my companion, who evidently didn't see me looking for him and just took off. I might have been sitting in that wetsuit for hours without any way to get off that beach or any idea if he would come back. What a pissy lowdown thing to do to somebody. I'll be generous and say we had a misunderstanding, but even so that doesn't make it OK to dump somebody at a strange beach. Yes, by using my wits I was eventually able to resolve the situation before wetsuit rash, sunstroke or dehydration set in.