Insane Wind Posse II - Oxnard 9m 128 board

[ChrisPSherwin]

OK so my board is a 128, not a 135. The waves were still big enough to surf on it, but they were mushier than yesterday, which was actually welcome for me. Today was a 9.5 on the gnarly-meter for me, yesterday was off the charts.

Wind in the 30s gusting to 42 today. Crazy sand drifts in between beach houses.

Some interesting ettiquette that I learned today ( being day 4 in big waves ) nobody was being a dick, but I have been told that the surfers here, and some of the kiters (many former surfers) can be super aggro - to the point of destroying cars and beating the hell out of people. It IS close to LA and all...

At any rate, when I was heading out of the break I had my kite high as opposed to low, and this pissed off a few people. I had my kite up because I was jumping over the whitewater/break. The person who brought it up to me figured that I COULDN'T keep my kite low through the break because I was over powered. Didn't know what to think at the time, I dodn't feel over powered, and I hadn't figured out my kite position until just now - but I DO see his point. When you're riding a wave, you want the kite overhead, depowered and ready to pull you away from the breaking wave if need be. And if I'm going out, even though I'm downwind, I need to stay out of the way. OK, cool.

What was weird though, was that a lot of these guys were strap less and crushing it, especially on the way in. Their trajectory and timing was waaaay better than mine, and a good amount didn't have to jump over any white water. Sometimes I would catch a wave and these guys would get soooooooo close on their way out, that there was no margin for error. And on other occasions, on MY way out throught the break, I would see a big ass wall and bail - in front of someone on a wave, but at least six seconds in front of them, and well out of their way.

I think that was considered, breaking up the pattern, even though I was nowhere near impeding anyone.

Highlights included waves that would flatten everything in their path and leave butter behind for about 15 seconds. I caught 3 of these (monsters for me) and it was a friggin rush. At the end of the day, after the one guy had expressed his opinions, another guy said, "Dude, you were doing just fine." I'll take just fine. Still learning though.