Saltwater for Breakfast

The water was so blue -- several blues that I don't have names for exactly, but might be in the range of teal, azure, turquoise, sapphire, and amethyst in the deep distance. Sunshine sparkling off the water; clouds in the distance by the mountains. We surfed at a break called Pops, which was at least a 25-minute paddle out. It felt like we were miles out to sea. I didn't surf well that day, the waves were too high and there were 20 knot winds. The previous day, though, we sur

Big south swell from storms traveling across the wide Pacific arrived at the shores of SoCal in mid June bringing huge waves to all of our surf breaks. Famously, the Wedge in Newport Beach absorbs these swells with 18-20 foot neck-breaking waves that crash near shore in very shallow water. It is a popular boogie boarding break for the most part, but there are also surfers out there -- highly skilled surfers who take on these ridiculously big swells. Even the beach is incredib

The alarm rang at 4:30 am, but I was already awake. Meeting Surf Sisters Sherri and Haley at 5:15 for the hour drive up to El Porto in Manhattan Beach for the Queen of the South Bay all-women's surf competition (that is not really a competition), I didn't want to be late. Haley's 8-foot longboard fit neatly inside my upside down 9 on her roof rack. She had purchased new straps for the trip to hold our boards atop Rustica, her dark orange Subaru. Her shortboards were inside th