Out in the lineup, the Lunchroom Lady was cooking.
She was probably in her 50s, a bit on the heavy side and, well — she looked like the lady who plopped Tater Tots on your tray in junior high school. But man, if you were going for the same wave as the Lunchroom Lady, your best bet was to pull up and watch. Because, chances were, the Lunchroom Lady was gonna be all over that wave, and you were going to be sucking in the spray she left behind.
That’s the thing about surfing in San Onofre: People who surf there are good. And I don’t mean good as in they catch a lot of waves; I mean these people are freaks.
During my week of surfing San-O, I was outclassed by Lunchroom Lady, an 8-year-old kid who probably still sleeps with teddy bears and a few guys who could easily have been my grandfather, except that my grandfather’s most physical feat typically entailed mowing the lawn, not cross stepping on a longboard.
Sure, every now and then I’ll see someone in Morro Bay get a nice nose ride. But in San-O, every other wave offers a nose ride, a spinner or a coffin pose. The place is nuts. I guess it shouldn’t be surprising — the place is historic. I’m told the word “kook” — surfer-speak for a talentless surfer — was coined at Old Man’s, the beach where we surfed the most. Trying to catch a wave among 40 Joel Tudor clones, I felt fairly kook-like myself.
Still, during my week down south, I surfed my guts out. The water was warm, the sun was out and the beaches were classic. (Today it still looks much like it did in the above LeRoy Grannis photo from 1963, except, you know, the cars are more modern.) And, simply by virtue of being there all week, I rode hundreds of waves.
Huntington Beach and Santa Cruz can fight forever about which one gets to be called Surf City. But I cast my vote for San Onofre, the place by the power plant. But, you know, it’s nice to be home. Even though the water is cold, and for some reason the wind is still insane (Can’t you do something about that, Rob Carlmark?), how cool is it to find a place to surf without a crowd?
Without the Lunchroom Lady, I’m already feeling less like a kook and more like, well … a guy who isn’t quite a kook. In fact, by this time next year that 8-year-old better watch out, because I’ve got his number.
****
Speaking of surf trips, South County natives Chris Burkard and Eric Soderquist traveled the entire coast of California last fall for a project they are putting together for Chronicle Books. We published a story about them a few weeks ago. Since then, Surfline has featured the final installment of their journey.The Surfline feature, which has helped promote the book, has included many Burkard photos with audio clips and text written by Soderquist. This installment features the southern California portion of their trip. — Pat P.
Posted on July 24th, 2007 by Pat
Filed under: Surf stuff
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