Midnight Ride - A True Surf Story

"Generally speaking, surfing at night is dangerous."
- Harrison Roach -

A true story from my bodyboarding days.

It happened about twenty years ago...

Bodyboarding — True Adventure
Photo courtesy of Julie Macey and http://unsplash.com

"Hello, Cal?"

"I think this is it. This is the night."

"What are you talking about?" Cal sounds a little unsure on the phone.

"Are you up for our first Moonlight Boogie?"

"Hey, yeah, OK! Let's go!" I think I've hooked him.

It is about 10:00 PM.

I drive to Cal's. We load his body board, fins, wetsuit, and other gear into my van, and head for Grand View.

It is a beautiful, warm summer night. The moon is almost full.

We chose Grand View because it has good street parking and adequate lighting. Even better, there are no signs posted against nighttime parking. Besides, we're familiar enough with the break to work it blindfolded.

Our spirits are high with the excitement of a new adventure. Certain that riding waves by moonlight is possible, we are about to prove it. Earlier today, I had picked up a couple of chemical light sticks, and attached them to necklaces of strong cord for us to wear tonight.

I park the van under a streetlight.

We suit up and secure the van. Breaking and shaking our light sticks, we head down the long Grand View staircase to the ocean.

The Pacific is magnificent! Firefly flickers of millions of wavelets reflect the full moon, glittering in our eyes. At the bottom of the stairs, we don our fins and frog-walk into the surf.

We head down the long staircase.
Photo courtesy of Miguel A. Amutio and http://unsplash.com

Without sunlight and blue sky,

the water feels colder than usual, but in our anticipation we scarcely notice. I paddle out with some trepidation.

It is really hard to see incoming waves, so I duck-dive by sheer instinct. Cal is visible a short ways over, a shadowy figure with the bright green glow of his light-stick nearby in the water.

Finally we are past the strike zone. I set about trying to catch a wave, but fail several attempts. Finally, a dark swell approaches, and I go for it.

More by faith than sight,

I am suddenly lifted up, then swooping down and to the right. The moonlight is not bright enough to illuminate the finely detailed surface of the water only inches from my eyes, but years of experience take over. I ride by sheer intuition.

A dark swell approaches.
Photo courtesy of Miguel A. Amutio and http://unsplash.com

I am surprised by the feeling;

there is no sensation of speed. Rather, I find myself suspended, hovering between the depths and the sky, fine-tuning my trim and balance by instinct. Exhilarating!

Laughing with glee,

I start to paddle back out. In front of me, I see Cal kick into a wave and watch his glow-stick streak across the face in front of me.

Moonlight fills my dreams.
Photo courtesy of Eduardo Martins and http://unsplash.com

After many more rides,

exhausted but happy, we drive home with plenty to discuss. How different and special this evening has been. Definitely worth repeating.

Moonlight on the water fills my dreams tonight.

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~FIN~

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