Saturday, January 4, 2003, 5AM, predawn, moonless darkness in DogLand. Cruisin' for waves from south to north to south and back north again. Ultimately frustrating; donned wetsuit, toes in the water, but didn't surf. In town the swell was too small, tide too high. Not challenging, no fun, too crowded. North of town the swell was too big, out of control, hero conditions, beyond DogMan's commitment level.

So DogMan became photographer. Saw a solo surfer at the Playground in double overhead plus conditions. An idea hatched: superman surfing solo in supreme conditions. Before the camera came out of the backpack this superman ate it big time in a close out set and broke his leash. DogMan rushed to shore to help retrieve the board. Solo surfer was OK after swimming in, but ruined the future PWR column!

No worries. Drove further in DogLand and discovered a solo knee boarder in superhero conditions at an unnamed break with close to triple overhead waves. Trust the DogMan on this; the pix in this column do not come close to communicating the danger of the waves in the lineup on this morning.

Got to the break to find car after car with boards unsheathed; no one was out except Super Knee Boarder! Everyone was watching, including DogMan, while the lonely knee boarder surfed the hero waves. Faster than a speeding bullet, able to drop on waves as tall as a skyscraper, the unnamed surfer rode wave after wave in the dangerous lineup. His only competition was his skill, his fear, and his luck.

Watching the action was scary enough; DogMan's gotten wiser with age. In winters past I've paddled out to this break more than once in similar conditions. In the lineup, seeing the behemoths up close and personal, all thoughts of actually catching and riding them vanish. Only two thoughts remain: What was I thinking to even come out here? And more importantly, how in the world am I going to get back to shore without getting killed?

My hat's off to Super Knee Boarder. He masterfully coped with the macking waves, rode the heck out of them, and paddled back for more. The rest of us sat on shore and watched.

Sunday, January 5. 2003: 7AM. Back at the same break, only this time there was no one in the lineup, not even superman. Swell had increased overnight; wave faces were easily over 20 feet. Set waves were closing out from the tip of the reef, across the deep water paddle channel, and into the beach break. It was an impressive display of the power and fury of the ocean. Even super heroes were overmatched this time.

CU Out There,

DogMan