i get to the north shore at first light. the waves were small? what’s going on? i paddle out anyway to backdoor. i wait, i wait, and i wait. the waves started coming up and i lucked out and got 2 barrels on my first 2 waves. then the third one comes. it was looking really good. i take off, i pull in, i pump my board in the barrel to get speed, i’m traveling for a while, i pump again as i see the exit, then all of a sudden, the wave sucks me back and i explode on the reef. i come up with my board in 2 pieces. and my toe is throbbing with pain! shit happens.
breaking magic boards comes with surfing the north shore. it happens all the time and the first thing i do is to run back to my car, grab another one, and paddle back out. i keep on surfing until the waves get junk, or gets too crowded. nothing sinks in until i drive back home and see my poor surfboard in 2 pieces. it actually sucks!
getting hurt comes with surfing the north shore. after getting exploded in the barrel, my toe sweeps by the reef and my nail catches it. my nail rips off and the blood starts to flow. i push the nail back on and squeeze it. i keep on surfing and as soon as i get out of the water, it started hurting so bad. the bad thing about it is it’s going to take a long time to heal. but the good thing about it is only my nail ripped out, nothing else. backdoor is very shallow now and you better know what to expect before you decide to pull into the barrel of your life!
last, it was good to see rikiya kitada paddle out there early morning. i love to see japanese pro surfers out there early before the sun comes out. why? because it shows that they are not doing it for the photos, they are doing it for themselves. before sunlight, there are no photographers on the beach or nobody even watching. if you get a good barrel, nobody will see it. so hey rikiya, good to see you again and hope you got a good one! nobody’s on the beach watching, but i’m in the water watching your waves from the back. keep on soul surfing!
tomorrow morning? dawn patrol again! see you out there!
