First dawn patrol in a long time. The next south swell had swept into our area the day before, setting the conditions to prime. Or so it seemed Wednesday night when the planning occurred.

Thursday dawn came extra early; in these parts in late May twilight starts about 5AM. A minus tide and some left over NW wind from the evening before complicated the mission, but not overly much. The dawn surfer has to be resourceful!

Bombed it north on highway one, riding the wave of the midweek early commuters. Drove past the county line to the first surf break in San Mateo county with good exposure to southern hemi's. Hiked through the thick overgrown poison oak down the trail to the overlook. This overlook yields only a long-range view of the action, so the night-piercing binos came out of the pocket and glued themselves to wave-searching eyeballs. Search as they might the eyes saw no peelers, in spite of the presence of a modest swell. Oh well...

Proceeded along the coast toward Santa Cruz, checking each and every surf break toward town. Compared notes with other dawn patrollers, but after checking all the usual spots the consensus was a bit disappointing. Swell was here, but no break offered even middling conditions for the early wave riders.

Finally, an inspiration: minus tide, south swell... time for DogMan Lefts! This spot breaks only occasionally, and no one but DM rides it. Can't pretend it's epic, but what the heck, on a day like this it might be the best place to be.

Dawn had burst as the brand new custom wetsuit enveloped skin and bones. Other surfers ran the trail to the usual break, bypassing DogMan Lefts with nary a thought to paddling out at this secret place. It hides in plain sight, but is virtually invisible. Except to the DogMan!

Paddled out and began the game of chicken with the waves. Where was the lineup spot? Only surfing a spot once in a great while means each go out is time again to get acquainted. After several false starts the wave riding began. And for the next 90 minutes nearly 10 waves were ridden from the tip of the rocky reef to the shallow sandy bottom of the beach.

So what if it wasn't all time? So what if it wasn't picture perfect? So what if others passing by on their way to the "real" break thought "Who is that kook out there and what can he possibly be riding?" On this particular morning it was the best available. On this particular morning the overhead set waves offered long lefts of several hundred yards. On this particular morning the secret spot called DogMan Lefts came through big time.

Back in the parking lot by the highway, a couple friends and DM readers emerged from their sess at the "real" surf break. Commenced comparing lies and swapping stories. Indeed they noticed DM alone in the water. Indeed they wondered at DM's sanity. Indeed they seemed inclined to surf DogMan Lefts the next morning for themselves. And DM swore them to secrecy, even though this break is hiding where everyone and anyone can see it for themselves.

Do you know of such a break? Do you ride waves where no one else dares to surf? Do you want to know the secret of DM's Left? Ha!

Note: No pix this week, and not because the secret is too too dear. No camera made the trek to the shore, and the lighting sucked. Overcast, dim and somewhat cloudy, the lineups on this morning were less than photogenic. Click back next week for the next installment of DogMan Chronicles; there should be pix aplenty to accompany usual the lies, tall tales and exaggerations.

CU Out There,

DogMan