I’m sitting in a tiny rental
I’m once again on my way to challenge Mother Nature. It’s early, but
The spot is just 120 km away but the distance just doesn’t shrink. The red elastics just keep on haunting me. Maybe I should have invested the money into the highway fee ...
I finally reach 'Irago' the peninsular at the south coast. The road becomes smaller and the red elastics turn into zebras from here onwards. It’s still early. So only some grand mothers are out for the morning walk. I’m driving straight to ‘Irago Akabane Loco’ the spot with my favorit wave … I arrive around 5.45 it’s packed????!!! I can’t belive it where are ALL these people coming from? I barely find a parking spot.
The waves where rolling in as I’ve never seen it before around here … so clean, crystal & chest high. Whhooo how beautiful!
But what are all these people doing here? And only ‘long boarder’ in the water. Even though it would be the perfect ‘short board’ day … and all these tents & flags.
It was the one and only Long Board competition that takes place once a year at Locos. I couldn’t believe it today of all days when the condition where just PERFECT and I was early enough, prepared and ready to get smashed by the incoming swell, they had there ‘Long Board Classics’!?!
Anyways I talked to some locals, improving my Japanese, to find out that this event will take all day long and the ocean would be blocked the entire day.
°°°°
Ok plan B.
I knew that just of that spot there is a slightly less protected brake with a similar wave direction.
And there it was …
Solid sets where rolling in. Not too many closed out waves and lots of people waiting & observing from the cliff. For what I didn’t figure out … I surfed my first session around 6.20 am.
SORRY NO PIX only surf. But I took some in the afternoon for you when the swell dropped and I tried to escape from the blazing sun …
