Luau and legends Invitational

I was notified several weeks ago that I was selected to be on the 4-person Cymer team for the Luau and Legends Invitational.  An honor AND a responsibility.  I obviously was honored due to attending the majority of Thursday night surf and pizza port sessions.  The responsibility is Cymer has streak of making it to the final (of 2) rounds for 3 years now.  But my surfing ability would be the weakest of all 4 selected.

Matt and I planned to meet at the surf site on Saturday, the day before the competition.  Our expectations were that conditions would not change by competition day except for the tide.  We found perfect temperature water and air but waves were in the 1-2 foot range and closing out.  Somewhat expected for La Jolla Shores.  Unexpected was the high amount of seaweed on shore and in the water.  I resorted to paddling out with the leash unattached just so I could get through.  Matt discovered how to minimize leash fouling while surfing, by reaching down, grabbing the leash and holding it out of the water.  Our legend would be John Peck.

I arrived about 6:15 for a 7:30 start.  Arriving early gave a chance for street parking as the event parking was a shuttle ride away.  Both James and John showed up at 7:20 so the rest of us were panicking.  Conditions were the same.  However, more teams would be in the water than previous competitions.  Rules were: 30 minute heats, legend surfs the full 30 minutes, 2 team members in the water maximum, and try to stay within the cones marking the contest area.  The Cymer team agreed on 15 minutes each.  I thought if I caught 2 nice waves I would ride the second into shore regardless of the time.

Matt, James, Dan and Me

Matt and I would start with Dan and James finishing strong.  It was a water start so we only had to get through the kelp in the water.  I struggled to find any wave that wasn’t already taken, managing to catch 2 small waves and was frustrated when I got to the beach.

1 of 5 teams in our heat moved on.  Cymer did not.

Surf Team is wearing the Leis

Next up was the buffet and auction.  During the auction, several stories of cancer survivorship were shown on video, with one video ending with the survivor taking the stage.

That put the sucky surfing in perspective.