Every stretch of coastline has a guy like Sam; the person who's always at the best spot for the conditions at the right time, the surfer who has the place dialled. Bottom line is that if you pull up in a car park or get to the end of a bumpy unpaved farm track to check a secret spot and see Sam's car parked up with no surfboard in the back then you know that you're in the right place and you'll be getting the best waves on offer that day.
We all thought that kid number one would crimp Sam's water time and he seemed to be surfing as much as he could before Daddy day-care duties kicked in, but even with a second lighty to bounce on his knee he's still getting in the sea a whole heap whenever it's good.
A couple of weeks ago we went to check a little nook just up the coast, looking for a corner that wouldn't be affected by the big, bumpy, blustery conditions on all of the main beaches. We pulled into the little gravel car park next to Sam's car: No need to walk down and check it, if he's here then we won't be getting better waves anywhere else nearby. There were a couple of other cars with empty boardbags and rolled up piles of clothes on the front seats there too and when we got down to the lookout on the cliff there was a lone figure surfing the next cove along, away from the little pack of local surfers on the main peak, catching wedgy little rights in towards the rocky point separating the two bays all by himself and tearing them to bits before kicking out right on the rocks. Right place, right tide.
If your beach has a Sam then learn to keep an eye out for their car. It might just save you a load of fruitless walks to check the waves when there's a sign right there in front of your eyes that where you are is as good as you'll get today.
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