Surfing Laguna: Reflecting on 2009 goodness

Wow! have you seen the waves this week? They have been amazing, from Huntington Beach to Trestles, a true smorgasbord of ramps, barrels, wedges and peaks on offer to the fortunate surfing masses.

A motley crew of Laguna surfing brethren, both young and old, and I had the pleasure of sampling the crisp winter conditions together. It was indeed a blatant year-end attempt to fill our internal wave-o-meters to overflowing, partly to insulate us against any future wave shortages in 2010. “Hoarding” is such a harsh term.

After five straight days of solid sessions, the surf crew and I found ourselves down at Trestles for another go-round of fun and frolic.

The waves were plentiful, clean and uncrowded, allowing for what was sure to be another satisfying surf adventure in the making “” but then it happened.

About an hour into the session one of the elders inexplicably went to shore, thus causing mild concern as the recent sessions had lasted several hours longer in duration.

Slowly our entire crew had made its way back to the warm rocks that line the beach. I was the last one in as I had a hard time leaving the uncrowded jewels behind.

As I came ashore I found the crew basking in the glow of the afternoon sun, bodies spent, sharing stories of 2009, laughing and simply soaking up what had become a wonderful year to be a surfer.

The surfing elder later confided with me that he had come to shore partly out of exhaustion, but also to have the opportunity to reflect as a surfing family.

As we watched wave after unridden wave unfurl perfectly to the beach, I was reminded that as wonderful as the actual act of surfing is, sharing the journey together is where the real treasure is found.

Happy New Year and rich blessings to all in 2010!

CHRIS WILLIAMS is a surfing coach and Laguna Beach resident, and father of four surf-crazy sons. He can be reached at chris@soulsurfingschool.com or (949) 497-5918.