Swell for Zena

And luckily, the waves were there to meet him. Wayne quickly suited up and got out there to begin his salt water cleanse.

You could see the weight of sadness being lifted off his shoulders with every graceful turn of his board. And soon, that legendary Wayne Rich grin reappeared on his face. And that grin is contagious….

If you’ve ever surfed with Wayne, you know everybody knows him. Just the sight of him in the line up brings everyone’s spirits up and very quickly, it felt like the whole lineup became infected with Wayne’s blissful renewal. The hellos and hoots of enthusiasm came often.

After every wave, Wayne paused to soak up the moment and be grateful for the ability to change his outlook in such a naturally beautiful environment. And he proclaimed this day, “A Swell for Zena”. And we all agreed.

Before long, one of Wayne’s good buddies and local style master John Bircham was out there with him, enjoying the mellow waves and mellower crowd.

Gently dissecting the soft swell with well chosen lines, John is always fun to watch.

And he’s smiling all the way.

Watching JB drop gracefully drop into waves, he makes it all look so effortless.

And it wasn’t until editing these photos that we realized what makes Bircham’s style seem so casual….

The dude’s constantly throwing subliminal shakas.

Other local legends were out enjoying the waves and the lighthearted atmosphere, like the “Philosurfer”. Phil’s been surfing these waves for over 50 years and he has tons of local surf stories that I hope to share on this website someday.

And he still has the stoke of a teenager, riding every wave all the way to the beach.

Mariah Moon was out, as she so often is, enjoying the happy lineup.

Mariah had just gotten over the same thing I had, and despite not feeling 100%, she couldn’t resist the waves and the vibe.

She told me all this when she came in for a quick shot of cough syrup…

At any rate, she was stoked to be part of the celebration for Zena, and she was throwing a couple of subliminal shakas of her own.

Then there’s this guy. Saxon Morris was shredding as usual and smiling ear to ear. As you can tell he takes this surfing business seriously…

Morris is living out of town currently, but when he’s home, he’ll always get a surf in with his dad and the rest of the local crew. Looks like he’s been getting plenty of practice where he’s living now…

Saxon was honored to be a part of the celebration of life and he called out to Wayne, “This one’s for Zena”.

And Wayne approved.

Meanwhile, down below, this guy was doing some crazy stuff.

The whole time we were yacking on the beach and watching Wayne and the guys have a blast, this guy was happily riding the smaller inside waves.

I started to watch more carefully and was amazed by this guy’s unique style.

Making the smallest of waves look incredibly fun.

Christian Aguilar was riding a displacement hull that he had shaped himself and he was making a convincing argument for the virtues of the board.

It was like he was becoming at one with the wave, not just standing on top of it, but literally getting down into it. The shape was a perfect compliment to his unique style.

These photos don’t do his style justice. To really capture the essence of what he was doing, it needed to be a video, because it was so fluid and constant.

His display was so convincing that at least one guy on the beach asked him about buying a board…

Meanwhile, back outside Wayne was still catching waves for Zena.

And the celebration of life continued.

And after every wave, Wayne gave thanks. One of the nicest, must humble guys we know, Wayne Rich deserves all the best. And I was glad to be witness to this special session.

Everybody getting along, enjoying the natural beauty, the surf and each other.

And by the end of the session, Wayne was a new man. This was truly a cathartic session, not just for him, but for all of us.

And it was all for Zena.