Streaming Surfing Thoughts

With the new land development and zoning regulations emerging in California this year there has been public concern and some controversy. California Stat Bill 9 is at the center of these conversations. The SB 9, as it is known, allows qualified single family zoned lots to be split and developed with two duplexes for a total of four units. There is great concern that there will be a destruction of single family neighborhoods and their unique characteristics.

In San Diego, some of that concern is found in our beach communities. I have written previously about increased density in the coastal communities. I spoke about their wondrous beauty, connection to nature, and thought provoking views.

I have always felt a deep connection to the San Diego coast. As a child, I remember our annual summer beach trips to the Silver Strand. I looked forward to the days. I remember passing the horse statues new Palm Avenue and Imperial Beach filled with excitement knowing that we were almost there. My connection to the Beach cities is viewed from the lens of an outsider; far enough where my toes can’t get sandy, but close enough to have access and understanding.

Getting to the beach from my neighborhood meant an adventure of roughly twenty miles. That meant that going to the ocean was something very special and must be savored. As a neighborhood kid I had to relish every moment I could. I built a thousand sand castles and watched the waves crush their grainy walls. I spent many hours on my body board or jumping over waves with other kids. Maybe we pay our higher taxes so we can see the sun touch the liquid horizon and eventually give way to a shimmering night.

During the summers when I was a pre-teen, (and before things started getting tougher in my neighborhood) my good friend Kweli and I would take the city bus to the beach. Imagine a tall black kid and a skinny brown kid sporting shorts and body boarding equipment making a unsupervised journey to the beach. We made our way to downtown and changed buses to get to our destination. We had some great times at the ocean.

In high school I picked up surfing with my great ol friend Mike. We got rides to the beach from a twenty something Mexican rocker-surfer guy that lived in our neighborhood. We were just starting out and he showed us the ropes and taught us about catching waves. His girlfriend tagging along once in a while and I remember how beautiful she was standing there barefoot on the sandy shore watching us in the ocean.

High school got pretty rough for me personally and I lost interest in surfing. Part of it was the bus journey which was long and somewhat dangerous for a teenager crossing neighborhood to neighborhood.

After high school Kweli went on to play college basketball and Mike joined the U.S. Navy. I sort of hung around in the wind, a lost soul in a tumultuous sea. I picked up surfing again and made countless solo trips to the beach. I recall having a lot of problems at the construction job I was at and I ended up getting fired. That was just before the El Niño winter of 1998. This may have been one of the best times of my life which is strange to say. My life was going no where, I had no friends, no girlfriend, no job, no money; only a beat up car and a surfboard. I got into a pretty bad car crash on the highway a couple months later. With the insurance money, I bought a replacement car and two new surfboards. I charged that winter as hard as I could and rode some of the biggest surf San Diego has to offer.

This experience changed my perspective on people as well, especially characters in my neighborhood. I am not saying this in a disrespectful way, but my view on what toughness and resiliency had shifted. Being in the ocean, where your feet cannot touch the bottom, and a huge set wave is steaming toward you is intimidating. All those things and the knowledge that you are not going to make it over that wave is frightening. The power of the ocean is undeniable. The ocean does not care who you are, where you come from, or your experience. The ocean does not think you are tough, the ocean doesn’t think anything. It doesn’t judge, it doesn’t feel; it just is. The ocean exists - simple as that. The ocean is pure power. The ocean can crack a steel ship in half. The ocean can turn the hottest volcanic lava into solid rock. The ocean can crumble rock and devour a hillside. The ocean is relentless and unforgiving. Yet, somehow, humans found the means to harness that tremendous power and flow with it. Humans found a way to move in concert with the motion where two fluids converge; water and air.

For over a year, I woke up before the sun came up and drove out to the beach. I drove home, did some odd jobs and then drive back to the beach for the evening session. The ocean was a place for therapy, rebirth, and revitalization. I believe that the very point where air meets water is where the question of what is beyond resides. Beyond the horizon resides another land with different people and different places. Beyond that is space and time and all the unknown. Surfing taught me that the question of why doesn’t need an answer. Just as the ecosystem of nature requires balance, there are some questions that do not need to be answered. The answers would flow through us without comprehension as our tiny human brains are not strong enough to grasp or understand the vastness of that minute point where air meets water.

I remember an experience surfing on a huge day in La Jolla. A giant set was on the way and I was in a good position. I turned to get going and paddled furiously. I felt the power of the ocean nudge you board and body. I was in, it was time to go. I pressed my arms down and stood up. All the energy of my mind and body flowed down to my feet where I was streaming down a steep watery face. I gritted my teeth and stretched my arms out front. At the trough (waves bottom) I made My turn back up toward the waves crest. I looked up to see the wave barreling down over my head. I made an attempt to quickly adjust higher up the face with a sweeping motion of my hips and legs but it was too late. The crest of the wave hit me square in the back, ripped open the back of my wetsuit allowing the cold winter water to enter and pushed my body down deep underwater. The water shocked my system. Somehow I was able to remain calm and ride out the thrashing. I found the upward bearings and arrived at the surface. I grabbed my board and looked west to see the next monster about to break right in front of me. I threw my board and dove as deep as I could. A huge wave is interesting. The visual impact of laying horizontal in large surf can be scary. What is worse is the sound of these large waves when you’re underwater. It is very difficult to describe and a microphone cannot replicate the throbbing of the impact on your eardrums. Through this you must remain centered in your mind and at ease. You don’t fight the ocean, you move with it; You dance in step with it. That wave passed and I came up for a deep gasp of the most beautiful and wonderful crisp clean ocean air. I paddled back to deep waters with such determination. I sat in my board and pulled the wetsuit zipper back up and let out a holler. “Holy Fucking Shit!” I thought. I looked at the guy sitting next to me and he raised a smiling eyebrow with that knowing though that the ocean always kicks ass.

Not me, but similar situation.

I continued surfing until I left San Diego for architecture school. Upon returning, I now viewed the built environment from a new vantage point. When the conversations about housing and density reach the beach communities I look from a more neutral position. I understand urbanity and our precious coast. I see the beach neighborhoods like an extension of the ocean. There is an intensity there that is enveloped in a very calm and fluid flow. Like surfing, I see the dynamism and activity of coastal commerce.

I hear the conversations so I am indirectly involved through my profession and industry. I am an outsider but interested in what will evolve.

I guess this stream of thought was supposed to be about beach communities, my personal yet indirect connection to them, urban density, and community evolution. It seems to have turned out to be more about the beach and surfing experiences.

I guess I wish that people in my community could have more exposure to the ocean. I believe it would soften things where it needs to be. It would humble many and provide a deeper connection to the world and our surroundings. Getting crushed by a giant wave changes one’s mindset in such a positive way. Turning around and paddling back to the deep waters strengthens the mind more. Catching that wave and harnessing that raw power is a spiritual nirvana like gods hand propelling you through the world. You can make all the twist and turns you like but the wave will make the ultimate determinations. These experiences are one of the many blessings in my life.