After about 30 years of surfing I never saw one however in my first year on a SUP I've seen dozens so far. The ones last Saturday stand out for me and definitely rose my heart rate.
I was out alone on a bluebird day about a mile off Pensacola Beach when out of the corner of my eye I see a huge splash. Cool I thought, probably some dolphins playing so I start heading over to where I saw the splash when I see another one jump and splash about 100 feet off starboard. The thing that caught my eye was this was no ordinary jump like a dolphin which tends to jump in arcs but a straight shot out of the water jumping at least ten feet where the fish did a 360 before splashing back down in the water.
I've never saw anything jump like that before so I'm thinking this is probably just an amberjack or some other game fish. So after about 5 mins of cruising around where I saw the last jump I figured they moved on, however I turn and look behind me and see three tiger sharks slowly following me and then when I look forward I see another one about the size of my 12' board swim right underneath me as smooth as silk.
Fak that was big I thought and slowly started paddling to shore.
Pyro, great pic of the wooden pier! I grew up in a small town called Cayucos with a pier like that. In the winter of 82/83 it lost 18+ wooden pilings and two sections of the pier. I remember watching waves break OVER the end of the sagging pier! And the whole middle section by the fish cleaners was missing.
It was dangerous to even walk on the beach that winter. My mom had a bakery across the street from the beach, and I remember piling up sandbags to keep the ocean out of our shop.
The whole beach was sucked away, causing the beach wall and part of the frontage road to cave in. Driftwood from the high tide went a block inland to main street. The swing set on the beach was sucked away, and the merry-go-round had a 6 feet tall concrete foundation exposed, so as a kid I couldn't reach the bottom side of the merry-go-round.
My bro and I spent a lot of time on the beach on our breaks from working at the shop, and over time I saw some of the craziest formations from tidal changes. Sort of like a miniature badlands with 6 feet tall sand cliffs that changed daily based on tide and storm conditions.
Some days I wake up here in Tucson and go outside to have my coffee. Something about the lighting, the calmness in the air, and I just know.
But I can't grab my damp wetsuit from the patio railing and suit up at home. I can't run down to the garage and apply a nice fresh layer of purple lable or some tri flow to the rusted chain.
Mesquites don't show wind like palms and there is no smell of salty air.
I won't be riding up to the bluff this morning.
But my spidey senses still tingle, and I know the boyz are there, on it.
I used to be on it.
It's okay.
I will console myself by removing the last flakey scab from the back of my hand, remembering that jam and the beauty of the place.
I'll console myself with my growing hit list. I see my foot twisting into a crack on Jah Man. I feel the exposed glory climbing atop the Rockefellows. I am watching my dog bounce up the approach to Magnolia.
I am topping out on the last first ascent of the season.
I will remind myself that I will surf and climb til the day I die.
And that is a fortunate life.
The past week has been the best surfing that I can remember.
For day and days it has been glassy and double overhead in the sets.
I have been surfing Noriega's which is right in my back yard every day except yesterday when it got too big to hold up.
I drove down to Kanaha and surfed 4 delightful hours at glassy head and a half with one of my all time favorite surf partners Debbie Brown. She just killed it!
It seem to be closed out all the way down the North Shore so I think I will go out to Peahi and sit on the cliff above Jaws and watch the show.
Here's a video of Shane Dorian at Jaws yesterday.
Let us know!