These tracks were on the sand hill first thing this morning. Jon is standing by the sign that says no parking and tells how it is a natural area. Nice. Not only would this be really stupid to do to your jeep/car/truck – but seriously. Why drive on the base of a sand dune?

Morning before the surf contest begins. We had rain, mist, wind, sun and heat. Pacific Northwest.

Fun to see the older guys go out. The two divisions were 16 and under or 17 til you’re dead. Pretty cool to see the older guys and think that Jon will be here some day sharing the stoke.

First heat of the day, the big boys go to the rocks and paddle out with the rip. The waves were predicted to be 5-9 with 12 seconds. That makes for a pretty big wave. 12 feet? larger? It was a big stacked day.

They had the groms go out last as the cove filled in with High Tide.

Hard to show proportion – but his board is 9 feet long.

After the heat they were pretty stoked. They had formed new friendships and lasted in the water! One grom hit the sand with his head when he was pushed down, Jon got hit on the head with 3 stacked waves. More than once I was counting and scanning the water waiting for him to pop up and wondering if his leash had broken. Praise the Lord for good leashes.  That’s the look of – yeah, I’m alive.

Where Jon and his friend dig a hole deep enough to completely stand in.

Watching the finals.

How we keep track of Jon.

Always remember – being a book reviewer is hard hard work.

The waves were so big that they were going over this cliff from the other side.

Time for a time out for Jon’s friend.

Retro Board Contest.

And Jon came in first in the 16 and under division. The three kids all did an amazing job paddling out, getting lots of waves and making friends – I think it’s a 3 way tie. But still always happy to come in first.

Shoutout to Moment Surf Shop and Ben and Jeff’s for a fun event – and to the Oregon Surf Shop for sponsoring Jon and for Russo Surfboards –for the Longboard!