Pleasure Point, 20 Feb 2007

Swell direction: NW
Tide: Falling, in between 4.7' high and 0.6' low
Wind: Breezy (5-10 kts)
Air/Water Temp: 57/54 degrees
Wildlife: several camera-shy sea otters

D and I bugged out of work early to head down to Santa Cruz, where conditions were reportedly better than in San Mateo County. We checked Capitola first; it was clean but too small, maybe up to 2', although there were a couple determined souls in the water. Next we tried the Hook, which was a bit windier and crowded, but 3-5'. Pleasure Point was less crowded but even windier, so we settled on a break a little east and parked at 35th.

By the time we headed out, it seemed the after-school crowd had invaded, with maybe 40 people in the water. I can't stand being in a crowd; I always feel like I'm in somebody's way. (D said, "Well, you ARE in their way! Everybody is.") If I managed to catch a wave, then I'd be worried about hitting someone. All that makes me anxious and nervous - not what I go surfing for. So I left D sitting in the midst of the pack and went to hang out on the end where I could have some room to myself. Mostly I was too far on the shoulder to catch anything, or someone was already on a wave and I'd have to back off, so lots of waiting around. I tried to sneak up quietly on a sea otter to take her picture, but she was camera-shy and dove down before I could get close enough.

When I finally did catch a wave, I blew the pop-up because it seemed like my front leg was off in a daydream after sitting so long (Me: "pop up! NOW!" Leg: "Whaaaa? You want me to do what? Right noowww?"). But a few minutes later I made up for it by snagging a nice long right, and I caught another short ride before various semi-frozen body parts drove us from the water. We watched the clouds turn pink on the way to sunset as we walked along the cliff top back to the car - beautiful end to the day.