<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"\"&lt;figure id=\\\"attachment_11380\\\" style=\\\"width: 545px\\\" class=\\\"wp-caption alignnone\\\"&gt;&lt;a href=\\\"\\/files\\/2010\\/11\\/_mg_1767_1.jpg\\\"&gt;&lt;img class=\\\"size-medium wp-image-11380\\\" title=\\\"_mg_1767_1\\\" src=\\\"\\/files\\/2010\\/11\\/_mg_1767_1-545x363.jpg\\\" alt=\\\"Shawn &amp;quot;Barney&amp;quot; Barron\\\" width=\\\"545\\\" height=\\\"363\\\" \\/&gt;&lt;\\/a&gt;&lt;figcaption class=\\\"wp-caption-text\\\"&gt;Shawn &amp;quot;Barney&amp;quot; Barron&lt;\\/figcaption&gt;&lt;\\/figure&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Photos by Nate Lawrence&lt;\\/strong&gt;&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;Out of Office Reply is Associate Editor Taylor Paul&amp;#8217;s column on surf travel, big waves, and other manly bits.&lt;\\/p&gt;&lt;\\/blockquote&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Maverick\\u2019s parking lot is packed despite the darkness.&lt;\\/strong&gt; Long, pointy boards stick out of pick-ups and sit atop small cars. People huddle in threes and fours to discuss the Giants&amp;#8217; World Series win and the buoy readings. It\\u2019s big out front, but the northern buoys are giant \\u2014 19 feet at 21 seconds \\u2014 and heading our way. We sip coffee and hold our hands vertically to gauge the wind. A strong northwest breeze has risen overnight, a variable that will play a major role today. When the morning\\u2019s first light makes the tops of the eastern hills glow, we suit up.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;The paddle out is easy thanks to a high tide and a swell that has yet to fill in. Twenty-year-old Maverick\\u2019s local Colin Dwyer and I paddle out together, and we only have to duck under two waves. The few waves that break on the outside are lined up and running past Mushroom Rock. \\u201cLooks like a point break,\\u201d Colin says to me, the only words spoken during our 25-minute paddle.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;figure id=\\\"attachment_11381\\\" style=\\\"width: 545px\\\" class=\\\"wp-caption alignnone\\\"&gt;&lt;a href=\\\"\\/files\\/2010\\/11\\/_mg_1682_1.jpg\\\"&gt;&lt;img class=\\\"size-medium wp-image-11381\\\" title=\\\"_mg_1682_1\\\" src=\\\"\\/files\\/2010\\/11\\/_mg_1682_1-545x363.jpg\\\" alt=\\\"Todd Tissue\\\" width=\\\"545\\\" height=\\\"363\\\" \\/&gt;&lt;\\/a&gt;&lt;figcaption class=\\\"wp-caption-text\\\"&gt;Todd Tissue&lt;\\/figcaption&gt;&lt;\\/figure&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;We reach the channel and I opt to rest and gauge the conditions. Colin paddles straight to the lineup. The sun is rising and the channel is already full of Jet Skis. Photographers. Filmers. Surfers. Would-be towers turned spectators by the paddle crew \\u2014 and part of the crew actually brought their paddles. The first legitimate wave of the morning is tamed by a SUP, a 20-footer he bounces his way down, using his paddle for balance. Nuisance or not, some of these guys are fearless on those things.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Looking around the channel, it&amp;#8217;s apparent that many blew off the Nelscott Reef contest to come here. Greg Long is on a ski with Mike Parsons. Shane Dorian with Ian Walsh and Mark Healey. Reef McIntosh is already in the lineup with Sion Milosky. These guys only show up when it\\u2019s 20-foot plus \\u2014 and they surf every bit as well as their reputations suggest.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;I say hello to Greg Long, who&amp;#8217;s patiently waiting for the \\u201ccheese grater\\u201d wind to die. He\\u2019s so patient. When he finally does go out, he sits further out the back than anyone, just waiting for the one.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;On my way to the lineup I see Nathan Fletcher, whose back bulges from beneath his wetsuit. He\\u2019s wearing a flotation vest. A lot of guys are, actually. I looked around town for one yesterday, but couldn\\u2019t imagine how you\\u2019d paddle with it. \\u201cI took out the foam in the chest,\\u201d Nathan tells me. Oh. That\\u2019s how you paddle with it. We stroke towards the bowl and watch the lip of a 25-footer hurl well past the bottom of the wave. \\u201cLooks gnarly. I\\u2019m scared,\\u201d Nathan says.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;He doesn\\u2019t look scared. Once in the lineup, I see him turn and go on a few of the gnarlier waves of the day. Steep, deep, and on his backhand.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;There are about 30 people in the lineup, riding boards of every color of the rainbow. Color on your board makes you photogenic, but also helps a Jet Ski driver locate it in a sea of white foam if your leash breaks. It helps Parsons find Aussie Ben Wilkinson\\u2019s orange board after Wilko\\u2019s wheels come off at the bottom of a thick set wave. And it helps a ski find New York\\u2019s Cliff Skudin, attached to his yellow board, after he takes a common sense break and goes for a wave the rest of the pack is scratching over. He\\u2019s held down for two waves.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;figure id=\\\"attachment_11382\\\" style=\\\"width: 545px\\\" class=\\\"wp-caption alignnone\\\"&gt;&lt;a href=\\\"\\/files\\/2010\\/11\\/_mg_1725_1.jpg\\\"&gt;&lt;img class=\\\"size-medium wp-image-11382\\\" title=\\\"_mg_1725_1\\\" src=\\\"\\/files\\/2010\\/11\\/_mg_1725_1-545x363.jpg\\\" alt=\\\"Ryan Augenstein \\\" width=\\\"545\\\" height=\\\"363\\\" \\/&gt;&lt;\\/a&gt;&lt;figcaption class=\\\"wp-caption-text\\\"&gt;Ryan Augenstein &lt;\\/figcaption&gt;&lt;\\/figure&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Everyone is skittish. Every lump on the horizon causes the guy on the outside to frantically paddle out, which triggers the rest of the lineup to follow. Everyone knows the swell is filling in fast, and that these 20- to 25-foot waves will soon be 30-foot plus. Nobody wants to get caught inside. It doesn\\u2019t help that Skindog hoots as the set comes in, chasing everyone away while he holds his ground on the bowl and paddles his thick 9\\u20190\\u201d onto countless waves. He\\u2019s collecting.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;Healey is also collecting. After getting beat on his first wave, he gets four or five of the biggest waves of the day. Bucking bronco rides down textured, steep faces. He even sticks an air-drop.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;The underground standouts of the day are Ryan Augenstein and Ryan Seelbach. Augi paddles out around the left on his 8\\u20194\\u201d and doesn\\u2019t stop paddling the entire time. Constant motion. Inside. Outside, Deep. Over. Under. Just stalking the bowl. He takes off under the ledge on some 25-footers and makes it look like he\\u2019s cruising four-foot Pleasure Point. If he doesn\\u2019t make it back in the contest this year, stinks will be made (not by him; he\\u2019s too mellow for that. Skindog would probably take care of it). Seelbach uses his freakishly long arms to battle the current and stay deeper than almost everybody, and ramps his new Jeff Clark gun into some late, great ones.&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;p&gt;There are others, but not as many as everyone had hoped. It\\u2019s inconsistent and when they come there are 20-foot double-ups and cross-ups \\u2014 only the narrowest of entry windows into these things. Add to that the wind chop and the A-team in the mix and it makes for a user-unfriendly day. Although I might just be saying that to justify my one mediocre wave. I paddle in after two sets feather on the outside bowl. Too big for me. I pass Derek Dunfee, who is paddling back out for seconds. Not too big for him. &lt;strong&gt;\\u2014Taylor Paul&lt;\\/strong&gt;&lt;\\/p&gt;\\n&lt;figure id=\\\"attachment_11383\\\" style=\\\"width: 545px\\\" class=\\\"wp-caption alignnone\\\"&gt;&lt;a href=\\\"\\/files\\/2010\\/11\\/_mg_1805_1.jpg\\\"&gt;&lt;img class=\\\"size-medium wp-image-11383\\\" title=\\\"_mg_1805_1\\\" src=\\\"\\/files\\/2010\\/11\\/_mg_1805_1-545x363.jpg\\\" alt=\\\"Unidentified. Maybe Ryan Seelbach. Anyone know?\\\" width=\\\"545\\\" height=\\\"363\\\" \\/&gt;&lt;\\/a&gt;&lt;figcaption class=\\\"wp-caption-text\\\"&gt;Unidentified. Maybe Ryan Seelbach. Anyone know?&lt;\\/figcaption&gt;&lt;\\/figure&gt;\\n\""^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.surfingmagazine.com/originals/opinion/out-of-office-reply-a-day-at-mavericks/>