"I don't get people being vibey."

Name: Bob Thomas

Age: 57

Occupation: English as a second language, San Diego Community College District

Lives in: Ocean Beach

Surfing: O.B. Pier

“This is my favorite spot. I live down the street. My buddies beat up on me about surfing here. They tell me it’s a B-grade wave.”

Thomas’s 7´4˝ surfboard was shaped by Tim Bessell of La Jolla. “It is rapidly becoming my favorite board. I just got it this winter for El Niño. I probably have 20 surfboards in my quiver.”

Favorite memory: “Six years ago, I got on a left south of the pier. I was lined up outside of the pier, dead even, way on the outside, way south of the pier. I tagged into a wave and that thing kept going. I got in the bowl and I saw the pier coming at me. Finally I bailed on it....

“On a day like today, a beautiful day, really great waves, there were only two of us out there. Somebody comes and paddles out right next to me. He doesn’t say a single word, nothing. He just sat there and acted all vibey. I don’t get people being vibey, especially when we have the whole ocean to ourselves.”