I anticipated weak surf and a lot of crowds, judging by my (admittedly limited) past experiences there. In three years of surfing the 'Bu on occasion, I walked away disappointed with the big Crowd and the weak surf.

Today was the day for the epiphany at the 'Bu. Pulled up while it was still dark and was stunned to see what looked like well overhead lines rumbling through 1st Point and only 3 or 4 people out. Rubbed my eyes, watched a lull, and then another one came through. At least 8 waves in that one, and only 1 or 2 were ridden. On it! Shared the lineup with fewer than 10 people for an hour. Took a little while to get the lineups and the rocky section figured out and then it was off to the races, all the way down to the fence near the base of the pier. The trick was to sit deep enough to get some fun speed off the opening section then bleed it out with cutbacks until it picked up again on the inside. It even got hollow in there, with a few barrels, coverups really, that I could hardly fit inside, but there I was. Ice cream headaches not from the water (which was cold) but from the wind coming up the face.

Eventually the lulls set in and the Crowd arrived, the longboards began to outnumber the shortboards and my teeth began gritting. Got the best wave of my session, just overhead and all the way through to the backwashing sand scarp by the pier, and hit the showers.

I think I get it now. I'll be back!