You know her moods. You know what she likes. You know exactly what gets her going. Swell size and direction. Wind and tide. You know what will happen as the tide shifts and the swell fills. She’s been good to you and you respect her. You don’t brag to everyone how good she gets because you prefer not to share. She is your homebreak.
The spot you can trust to have a couple fun waves under most conditions. The spot with easiest access from home. The spot you gather with your buddies at 5:30am on a chilly winter morning for an exhilarating, pre-work swim. The spot you run to when the sun is setting, you had a bad day at work and you can’t check anywhere else. Old faithful.
You know the parking situation. You know every loose nail in the stairs. You know the squirrels and cats that frequent the area. You know the rip currents and the fun double-ups that warp off of them. You know the cobblestones and the keyhole in the reef. From the water, you know the contours of the entire coastline. You have lineups and landmarks for every possible peak. You know it will be offshore at dawn and glassoff before sunset. From your homebreak, you’ve seen stunning sunrises and sunsets and you’ve been scorched by the mid-day sun. Maybe you’ve even been barreled in the Moonlight.
Your homebreak is the spot you spend the most time and feel most comfortable in the water. You nod at familiar faces and talk swell Science with the people you see there day after day. The local, ripping surfers have watched you pull into enough heavy barrels that they give you a hoot. They know you’ll be out of the way as you spectate their rides. There is a mutual respect.
It might not be the best spot in the county. But your homebreak has epic days and you are certainly there…in the heart of it. Enjoying it to the maximum, knowing that all those days going straight on weak waves or just floating in the flat Ocean for the sake of being in the Ocean payout glorious, cylindrical dividends.
Word got out…its head high and fun right now. All of a sudden there are dozens of heads in the water. Where was everybody last week when it was knee high? You may even start to develop a local complex. But have confidence that your homebreak will take care of you. Trust your local knowledge. You know which peak offers the most value. You know her moods better than most everyone else in the water.
Cheers to your homebreak! Wherever it is…from Lake Erie to Encinitas…from the North Shore to South Africa. All waveriders have a homebreak that means the world to them. Respect other’s homebreaks as you would hope they respect yours.
-KS
Swell Lines 
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