So it was on one of those gray, foggy days on the Pacific NW coast. Morning dawned semi-cloudy, then on and off the fog rolled in, reminding us  of the proverbial NE “pea soup,” but thicker. The ocean seemed to be taking a Fall reprieve, resting calmly, with glassy rolling waves, but no swell to speak of. With the air temp in the low 60’s and the water about 7 degrees cooler it seemed a good day to hike the dune at Cape Kiwanda and call it good.

But when you’re 67 and you live 4 hours from a coast and winter is breathing hard down your neck – well, you put on the wetsuit and hit the water.

It’s like almost everything else in life, half the win is simply showing up. So, while shivering on the beach I pulled on my 4/3 Rip Curl wetsuit (love its color and style, softness and ZIPPER) and put on my leash. Swell or no swell, I was going out to whatever the break at Pacific City had to give.

I could not even see the HUGE haystack rock that sits like a crown jewel off the beach because the fog had gobbled it up. Because of that, it was difficult for me to determine my favorite spot to wait for a swell to roll in.

Over time I drifted further and further south. I don’t usually head in that direction but the fog had left me without the usual bearings.

So cool! Swells were rolling in over there. They were chest to head high and glassy beyond all hope.

While the wait between swells was seemingly long, the reward was worth it – also the chat among all of us (prone and SUP). There were dozens of prone longboard riders out in the lineup.

Usually I hunker over to a shoulder of the swell to keep my standup out of the way of the prone surfers, but on this day the stoke was warm – and that was cool! Very cool.We all bantered about the weird weather and the length between sets. There seemed to be room for all on the waves that came through. Share and respect made the day! 

As we close every day at Pacific City we wandered down to the beach for a beer and sunset. The  afternoon drizzle didn’t deliver a sunset, but the view was magical just the same. The magic at our favorite beach, our top ten break – all in the eye of the beholder.

Enjoy YOUR stoke!