glassy at herradura

i woke up this morning by chance, checked the clock, and it was 4:21 am. i then pulled up the surf forecast on my phone and couldn't believe my eyes: 7.5 foot waves, low tide at 6:23 am, little wind and a swell direction that had shifted much more westerly after a long bout of south-souths. the swell was arriving a day earlier than expected. i headed out to herradura and was the first of two guys in the water. a third joined later and in the third hour another two. lots of waves. two big ones, one so long and powerful that i rode it nearly all the way to the shore. the paddle back is so far that i got out and walked several hundred yards back to the point. big open faces early in the session, though later ones were faster and tougher to ride. i suffered lots of wipeouts and got swept onto the rocks when i was getting back in the water for the second time, having misjudged the current. i think the sets grew while i was out there and i mostly paddled to the outside to avoid them. the last two guys in the water were getting barreled repeatedly, which is something i've never seen up close at herradura. all they would say was "el mar esta buenazooo huevon." despite all the tumbles, the two good waves of the day, along with a few other ones, were well worth it. the big one i caught was so large and open faced that you could carve all over the place and it wouldn't run out of steam... (stock phontos above)