As i pulled up to the beach there was what seemed to be a dense fog sitting over the shore. Without a breath of wind, the crashing shore break was sending a fine salty mist into the air giving a strange atmosphere to the pre surfing sunrise.
Within no time we were paddling out to the break in between schools of tiny translucent bait fish some instinctively jumping out of the way. Less than a mile away we could see that the huge barrels coming off the point were already being ridden by the eager dawn patrol. It was to be expected when conditions like these all came together. Our choice of waves this morning was probably not as good as the one up the coast but we were alone and could take our pick of the best this morning had to offer.
So many times when I am out on the water windsurfing, kitesurfing, surfing, sailing, snorkeling, boating or any of the other things that I've been lucky enough to take part in, I see images that people would have a hard time believing as real. If I had a camera in my hand at times like this people would judge the image to have been photoshopped. I mean, if I have a hard time believing what I am seeing, you can imagine how someone else sitting behind a computer screen would feel.
Sitting on my board waiting for the next set to roll in there were so many beautiful things to take in. A small wave crashed past me minutes before, leaving tiny little droplets of water floating on the glassy surface. Without any wind at all to move them they floated until the next pink swell rolled through.
Pink swell? Yes, pink lit up from the cloud sitting just over us to the west.
Just then two pelicans appeared flying low from around the point "surfing" inches above a small silky wave. This was another of those images people wouldn't believe. Pelicans gliding effortlessly above the critical section of a breaking wave along the entire bay isn't something you see every day i guess, but it wasn't the first time I had seen these guys do it either. I sat there thinking about the dolphins i had seen surfing waves before. They did it for hours surfing in on the waves and swimming quickly back out to wait for another set.
That's what I was doing today too.
A rainbow now appeared just in front of us as a tiny drizzle was released from the pink cloud. As we watched a second one formed just inside of it creating a double rainbow. Off to the right as I looked out at the surfers up the coast I saw a young hawksbill turtle chilling out on the surface, sticking its head out now and then to take a breath of air. Suddenly a nice wave came in and I took off paddling, gaining speed enough to glide down left on the face. The water was so glassy with the absence of wind that it felt like I was flying just like the pelicans I had just seen. Wow, it felt good. All of the images are still fresh in my mind as I glide down the wave thinking about how very lucky I am to be alive and well.