Despite the session-ending ride onto the rocks yesterday, I was back in the water at Leo today. Just hadn't felt like I'd gotten my fill of good swells there this summer. Last day, last hours of summer today, last chance to maybe put a good endnote onto an otherwise mediocre summer.

Took the backup (actually brand new this season, but more on that some other time) 6'6" out of the car and realized I didn't bring along one of those little nylon cords to attach my railsaver to the leash plug. Crap! Found some cotton rope down by the spare tire and threw it in there and made a mental note not to rely on the leash too much.

With the preliminaries and uncertainties out of the way, it was time to surf. The delay pushed me back to 3rd or 4th in the water. Started off with a few good waves over the rock, but within 15 minutes the sets began to roll in over the reefs. Solid size and turning inside out as they rumbled through the body rock sections. One set wave, then another, and then a deep 10-yard barrel through that inside-out section. I don't get truly barrelled very often. This one was the biggest I've ever gotten and it even had the best sunrise view of the entire summer season, from inside!

Didn't get another one like that but still lots of very long walling rides to the stairs from the first reef. Occasional 2nd/3rd reef waves would rumble in but they were all closeouts. Had one hairy flashback to yesterday's ding with another backdoor entry that went sour; made the drop but it closed out viciously as I came around the hook and I barely negotiated the closing gap between whitewater and rock. Paddled back out after that feeling pretty sketched, but a few more juicy set waves cured me of that. The new board was super fast and carved hard, but, like I said, more on that later. Most importantly, it stayed ding-free, and I got my all-time best Secos session ever, if not one of the best sessions I've ever had.

Here's to sunrises viewed from the green room...