V.V.V. Session started by V.V.V., on Friday, 25 March 2016 13:49

I got to Cardiff at straight up 10am on a building tide, and it was looking really good but parking was a real bitch. I did three loops around southboound 101 on the north side before finally finding a spot on the road south of the restaurants and making the short hike back north. I had the 9'4" Steve Seebold that was originally shaped for Stef and I was stoked to try it out at the reef for the first time. 

The set waves were about shoulder high and the shape was excellent. No wind, lots of sunshine, cool water, and a medium sized crowd that included JB and a few other dudes who rip but I recognize only by sight (including that lanky guy who may be Portuguese, what's his name again...? Anyhow he was on a new really sweet looking cotton candy pink longboard). I got hammered REAL good on the first set that came through... got caught inside and took the biggest one right on my head! It ripped the board from my hands, but right as it twisted away from me and tried to bail for shore, I managed to get an arm around it and pull myself back to the surface with the board now floating bottom up in the foam ball. All right then, now we're awake!

The next one got even more interesting as I picked up a smoking right that was destined to freight train straight toward the Chart House. The drop was cake, with a cutback to the left to find the sweet spot, fleeting thoughts of continuing left quickly came and went, so I put the pedal to the metal right and stepped forward for some high speed, high line trimming.

Problems soon arose though as the guy to my right decided to wad it up rather than kick out and leave me some room to work with. Before I know it I'm in the washing machine with his nice shiny noserider and he's safely off on the shoulder watching me get thrashed. Thanks, bud.

His and my boards somehow don't make contact, but instead end up parallel to each other on either side of me as I bob to the surface. Now I have to do the right thing and shove his board toward him as he starts making his way in. His board is in no hurry to get back to him, and later that I realize that he was in fact wearing a kook cord, but it had slipped off his leg because he had it around his lower calf instead of his ankle. 

VINCE'S TIP OF THE DAY:

If you're going to wear a leash, put it just above your ankle bone, and TIGHTLY, douche.

Anyhow... I still got quite a bit of juice out of that first one and I was ready for more. Next up was a chunky left that had a pocket like a catcher's mitt and ran out like Dave Windfield chasing a liner deep into the gap. Drop, cutback, charge down the line, run forward a bit, bail, paddle back out, repeat...

I took one left that started out as a right but got just too tempting as I started what was supposed to be a bottom turn. I flew along the wall for a while, took a few steps forward as it started to steepen, then BLAM! Got blasted right off the board dead center in front of the bridge. Brief thoughts of swimming for it before the next wave came were quickly dashed, thanks to the next one being much larger than the one that had just booted me. Time for the loooooooong swim!

I wrapped up about a 90 minute session with a few more on the inside, and then made the long walk back to the car fully satisfied. The Seebold loooooooves Cardiff!