Tea For Tuesday Surf & Culture Report
Lost Boys & Co...
The Professor!!
There are locations where you don't want to spend too much time in one place. The top (7803') of Brundage Mountain, Idaho (#1) might be one of them! About 17º high on this day and little to no wind, still you can tell that just hours before it was blowing like crazy and if you had been admiring these trees, you might have become one with this frozen arrangement...
But here in sunny southern California, it was a relatively warmer 51º and partly cloudy. Right around 10 miles visibility and increasing winds from the southwest (6 to 18kts) and bumped conditions (#2) at checkout and getting downright white-capped at mid-morning. High tide was late at 11:39am +3.9' and low tide is at 5:51pm +1.1', setting us up for mono-tides at the end of the week. We have a west swell out of 263º at 5.2' and it was a rugged and chilly 5' to 8' and found everyone looking for more organization. To that end we discovered this lad (#3) giving the Horseshoe Pier a go. To his credit he ping-ponged around the pilings and ended up with a couple of credible rides. Not all time, but one to check off on the list...
"Do you remember this shirt? (#4)" You might if you were on this surf trip in 1968 with Buck, Boomfwappa, the Maharishi and the Professor. It was Christmas break (it was 1968, it wasn't Holiday Break yet) and the crew headed for Torrey Pines spending the first night at the home of the Price's in San Marcos. The Price's had this ugly black cur that made it clear that he did not appreciate the attention lavished on the special guests. But that was okay, the crew was sporting their new Christmas swag and waterproof watches. Top on the list was Buck's new better-than-Pendleton, lined and buttoned-down flannel shirt. It was a thing of beauty and everyone was jealous. Of course he reminded us at every turn that it had double buttons at the cuffs. It had an extra long tail, so it wouldn't come untucked when stressed. It was satin lined and made from the wool of virgin Indian goats, found only in the foothills of the Himalayas and stained with special dyes from Madras... Pretty damned special... We actually cooked dinner for the Price's that night and went to bed fat and sassy with the intent of leaving early and catching Torrey Pines at it's finest winter shape. When we got up in the morning, while fighting for the bathroom, Buck picked up his shirt and started to put it on. He stopped, inserted mid-sleeve and said, "There's a hole in my shirt!" And there was! A quarter sized puka that attempted to despoil the splendor of this garment. The dog, on cue, came to the door with Himalayan fibers still stuck in his whiskers and muzzle-smiled at Buck. "The dog ate a hole in my shirt!" he cried. Then Boomfwappa picked up the shirt to look for himself and when he held it up to the light there were a bunch of holes! Buck was devastated. For the next two days all he could do was remind us how splendid it was in it's original condition... But when we got back home, unbeknownst to Buck, his brother took the shirt to a girlfriend who was a Home-Ec major and she did the most fabulous job of Frenching the tail (which was too long, no matter how stressed you were) and using the fabric to patch the holes (#5). It somewhat restored the shirt to it's former glory, but the story and the shirt remain testimonies to that trip of more than 50 years ago...
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"When the surf breaks, we'll fix it"The Professor!!
