Thirty-one guys were here at the Nelson B&B, Recreation, and Event Center this past Thursday night. Church men’s group. We’re having BBQ’s once a month during summer break. During sharing time one of the newer guys mentions he is the surfing instructor at a local high school (only in Cali!) and that he’d like to organize a dawn surfing session some Sunday morning. A dozen hands flew up and suddenly I’ve signed up for my first surfing lesson.
Let me add that on Thursday night I mentioned that I was an eighty degree minimum water temperature kind guy. 79.9 degrees means I don’t go in. 80.0 degrees minimum. Period. End of discussion. I was told the Pacific Ocean will never be that warm here, but since it’s nearly August, I could expect low 70’s.
The excursion was also sold as a sunny dawn surfing class followed by breakfast and then we’d all go to church as a group with mostly dry swim trunks.
At 5:30am this morning I woke to a light rain. Rain! We haven’t had any of that in months. Why today? But not being a quitter, I was there on time.
The boards are stored under the lifeguard office at a Newport Beach. First items out were the boards. Next item out was a wetsuit that almost fit. They said I’d need it. Heck, I needed it just standing there shivering on land!
After some words of advice and pop-up practice on the sand we headed to the water.
OUCH! OH! THIS WATER IS COOOOOLD! @#$%^&*!!! “Oh yeah, it’s cooled off in the last couple of days” because of some storm, yada yaadda, yaaaddda.
Wet sand. Light rain. Yup, this looks promising....
Cool fish stand next to the pier
Is this for the fish stand or a sign to welcome me out of the surf?
Where's the sunrise that was promised?
Official city time
Look at all of the other people out here at this time on a Sunday morning!
Men. Here are your weapons.
By the time we were frozen the donut shop had a line out the door
Ready or not surfers, swimmers, and other marine life... here I come!
Although I’m not sure this sport is for me, I greatly appreciate the experience. In fact, I hope we do it one more time this summer on exactly the warmest water temperature day of the year! But, I’ve decided the sales pitch was not 100% correct!
So how cold was the water? Low 60’s!
J
Our View From The Road 