The Hanged Man

Forecast was calling for groundswell and offshore winds yesterday, so I thought I'd give it a look. It was bitterly cold and thought about bagging it a few times, but the combo was too good to pass up without checking things out. I knew daylight would be an issue, so I figured, I wouldn't be out long enough to get cold.

Rolling up to the south end, I was greeted with a beautiful sight despite the cold. The view from 57th is a wide angle: swell lines stretching from the pier all the way down to 55th coming in clear and strong with the wind keeping things lined up perfectly. Although the picture was a pretty one, the winds were strong enough to make me question just how fun thing would actually be. Had the weather been a bit warmer or a bit earlier in the day and it would have been crawling with boards and bros, but thanks to the cold, it was just me and a duck sitting in the line up.

Adjustments and positioning aside, it was pretty fun. I love how easy offshores make waves. Easy take offs, long lines and gentle closeouts to pull into make you feel like you're a better surfer than you actually are. A good mix of clean lines and fun closeouts were to be had for about forty minutes, until the sky gradually went from grayish-blue to a purplish red and the daylight necessary to continue my session quickly disappeared.

It was all downhill from there. Sprint to the car. Peel off my gloves. Try and get my frozen fingers to function well enough to get my board on the car and tighten everything up. Some guy tells me, "Isn't it kind of cold for that sort of thing" and while I'd like to tell him to fuck off, I just respond with "yeah, I guess so". Crank the heat and head home. Peel off the wetsuit. Blast the hot water in the shower and try and thaw out.

Finally, hang the suit up in the garage and hope that it drips dries until the next swell rolls in.