Emmanuel's Visit Day 5

When Emmanuel and I woke up, we found our car packed full of beach equipment. Surfboards, boogie boards, towels and umbrellas were jammed into the back. Emmanuel and I squeezed into the back, and we set off for Rincon. When we arrived, Emmanuel and I unloaded the beach stuff and carried it down to the beach. Emmanuel put on his wetsuit using his kelp goop technique, and I  showed him how to pop up on a surfboard. His prosthetic leg made things a bit more complicated, but he got it down. We grabbed a longboard and headed out. 

As we sat in the lineup, we chatted about what to do if a wave came. A small bump was making its way towards us on the horizon. A wave suddenly appeared in front of us. "Paddle! paddle!" I shouted as Emmanuel swung his heavy board around and slowly paddled for the wave. The wave picked him up. Emmanuel was in the curl of the wave. "Stand up now!" I cheered. He got up on one knee and then, slowly, on both feet. He was surfing! the whole beach was cheering for Emmanuel. The wave was only knee high, but it was still the coolest wave I had ever seen. As the wave fizzled out, Emmanuel gracefully hopped off the board and paddled back out to me. I high-fived him. He was grinning from ear to ear.

Then my dog, Dakota, jumped into the water and swam out to us. She came over to Emmanuel and splashed around. It was like she was congratulating him! Emmanuel laughed and splashed her back. soon we were all splashing around in the water and laughing hysterically like little kids. Dakota high-tailed it back to shore, but before long she came back out. Emmanuel and I put her on the surfboard and pushed her into a set wave. She looked back at us with a confused face, and then, after riding for about 5 seconds, she jumped off. Emmanuel and I were laughing so hard we almost cried. This all went on and on for a long time, but it seemed so short. When we noticed it was getting darker, we caught a tandem wave in and sat on the beach to watch the sun set. It was the most beautiful sunset I had ever seen.