K9

I narrowly escaped underneath the lip of a clean-up set wave that had swung wide as i heard an assortment of loud growls and high pitched barking from the shoreline . Gazing down the line into gleaming aqua tubes hurling over the shallow reef, i duck-dove the south pacific gem and kept my eyes open. Below me danced blurred schools of neon tropical fish, darting over the bright yellow and purple coral heads. As i broke the surface the crashing of the lip behind me echoed in unison with the barking. I swiveled around to see Steve inching his way back down the bluff face and a group of three or four dogs awaiting his eventual ascent. I laughed aloud as i ducked under the next steep deep blue wall and resurfaced with a calm sea in front of me. Following the lush coastline my eyes traced the contours back to Steve and his debacle. The pack had more than doubled in an instant, and there he stood; rock and board in hand, facing ten or so wild dogs. I eagerly watched his futile attempts to deceive the pack as the next set rolled in. My arms were burning and the dropping tide was morphing the double-up slabs into grinding triple stacks. I couldn't scramble down the face quick enough and took a hefty airdrop into the pit and bottom turned to face the shoulder, while thinking to myself that I'd better call it a day. I kicked out at the channel and eyed the rock and reef i had to maneuver through on the inside in order to get ashore. Ohh yeah, ha, the dogs too.