At 5 AM on Sunday morning, Nef and Bob coasted to a stop in Bob's truck. They purposely blocked three primo spaces in the parking lot of their favorite surf break. In addition to the usual surf gear in and on top of the truck, they brought gear for a special feast.

It was after 6 AM before the next surfer arrived: the DogMan and two special dogs. By this time Nef and Bob had unloaded two tall saw horses, panels of corrugated sheet metal, a 12-foot length of pipe with a 2-foot offset handle on one end, and various tools for putting together the roasting pit. That's right, the plan called for a day of surf, and a spit-roasted pig.

All three surfers kept one eye on the modest waves while talking and constructing. A new and significant swell was due to arrive, and indeed the intervals on the Monterey Buoy had already jumped from 9 seconds to 19 seconds. This is a harbinger of things to come... soon!

Of a sudden, Nef stood tall from his screwdriving crouch, faced the ocean, and proclaimed in a loud voice "The wave enlarger is here!" Bob and DogMan turned to watch as a solid overhead wave with walls extending for many meters combed the reef. It peeled both left into the channel, and right onto the reef proper. In a heartbeat the right closed out with a solid boom, while the left continued to break beauty.

The priority on the construction project took second place to the waves at this point. Nef hitched a ride with the next surfer to arrive back to his shop in the village to get his own gear. Bob was first in the water, paddling his longboard from shore to a left peak slightly inside and far over in the channel. DogMan followed Bob, and paddled to the peak of the reef to catch the big lefts.

Soon there were four in the water, with Nef calling the shots and getting the steepest drops. A fin was broken on one board, putting a temporary stop to the action for one surfer. The parking lot was filling with more vehicles and more surfers. Soon a steady stream of board riders were coming across the beach and into the lineup.

The swell continued to rise as the tide pushed higher. Josh has been the designated the bringer of the firewood, but had yet to arrive. So for the morning, the waves got all the attention. There was time enough to roast a pig later in the day, but spring waves with this amount of juice could not be ignored. Great way to spend a Sunday in March in Santa Cruz.

CU Out There,

DogMan