Anyway, I found a good rip current, waded out, let a set go through, and paddled right out back--easy. I sit on my board safely out back and just as I start scanning the horizon I see a big clean up set coming through. These waves immediately take me out of any comfort zone I had hoped to find out there. I wonder to myself whether I should just let them break in front of me or should I start paddling for the outside to make sure I get over them. I repeat the whole what-would-Jeff Clark-do routine and end up paddling to get over them. These waves are beautiful and glassy, but muscular. I feared them. My 7'4" board felt tiny and insubstantial as I paddled over the first one. I could see the second one was bigger and was going to break on me if I didn't get my paddling in high gear. I paddle hard and make it up the face of the second wave. I had to punch through the lip at the top of the wave. I thought I might get sucked over the falls, but no problem I made it. I see the third wave. It's bigger and it's going break on top of me. I paddle to get over it, but that's not going to happen this time. I bail my board and swim underneath it. (I thought I read somewhere that the first wave of a set is usually biggest.). My leash gets yanked and the wave pulls me closer in to shore. I see the fourth wave coming and decide it's time for me to go in. Screw Jeff Clark! I let the fourth wave ragdoll me into the inside.
I take some whitewater in and get to the shore. I turn around to curse Jeff Clark one last time and, what do you know, there are a couple of new surfers paddling out to my peak. Suddenly, I'm ready to charge and head back out. I'm in a foot of water watching these other guys paddle out when I suddenly realize my board has gotten in front of me and a two foot shorebreak wave is about to slam it into my knees. I reach down and grab my board by the rail just as the shorebreak catches it and rams my board between my thumb and index finger. My thumb gets yanked back and now it hurts just trying to touch my index finger to my thumb (I can still type though
