Why do you doubt your senses?

     That same question, uttered in a ghostly howl to Ebenezer Scrooge on the he was visited by three (3) spirits and found the true meaning of Christmas, runs through my mind now as I think back to today's surf session. As I stood on the Wooden Jetty in Holgate, waves crashing below me, I could see the rocks in the water and I knew it would be a hard jump. As I studied it more, the more I thought it was a bad idea. But then, something just kept telling me to go for it, man, your good sense tells you to go somewhere else, but what do your senses know, anyway?. So I doubted my senses and now I assess the damage: A) Dinged SF 002. Doesn't look too bad, as it's only in the built up hard edge on the side, so there's no foam damage or anything, but still sucks. B) Some cuts in my new wetsuit (nothing major, they don't go all the way through and they can be easily fixed with glue, but it's still a bummer), and, worst of all, C) The Future FAM1 fin set I had borrowed via the Fin Tree at Faria's is now short one center fin, meaning that I have bought the set of fins, for the excellent deal of 2 for the price of 3. Neat. So that was one pricey way to save a few paddle strokes and some time, on a day when time meant pretty much nothing, and a few extra paddle strokes never hurt anyone.
     On the plus side, the waves this morning were amazing. We were the first ones there, around 8 AM, and looked out over the snow to beautiful peeling lefts with huge tubes. And no one was out. We trudged through the snow and paddled out at the First Street jetty, drifted down a little, caught a few short ones. Then the moment came, south of the Wooden Jetty, when I caught what may have been my longest ride ever. Maybe. It was a long, long left that started south of the jetty, went past the rock-pile, and just kept going, and going, and going, with a nice, easy face that let me just take it easy, carve and glide along. Man.
     The next wave I had from that point ended up being even better, bigger and fast and longer. The waves breaking between First and Wooden Jetty were huge with gigantic, hollow barrels, and fast, but they didn't last as long as the waves south of Wooden Jetty. Plus, after two hours of having the waves to ourselves, about 10 guys came out almost all at once, but they were intent on fighting the current and hanging on to that first street wave. I found it more fun to drift down, catch one if it came to me, but then wind up at Wooden with it all to myself, and then get another long, superfun left.
     After the jetty-jumping incident, I went in and grabbed my fish. It was only now that I began to get cold, as I stood in the ice and snow and all the water in my wetsuit cooled down, up until then everything was fine. But anyway, so I grabbed my fish, drifted down, and caught two more beautiful lefts before we called it quits. Out for three hours, with the waves to ourselves for two, that's what I call an early Christmas gift, and even with the extra expenses and damage, it was still well worth it. Now, if the swell predictions are right, we're in store for a post-Christmas surf as well....