I got to the Jetty ahead of L to find only a few cars at the side of the road and no one in the water. Hmm. But L had predicted good waves on the just-post-high high tide, so I crossed the street to have a look. He was right. It was glassy and a bit offshore, with some nice 3-4-footers rolling in, perfect for the fish. And no one out!What a difference it makes to surf alone except for a friend, to be able to sit exactly in the takeoff zone and not have to worry about interferences or collisions. After a while, a couple of beginners on big foamies turned up, but there was still plenty of room. L said he lost track after 10 waves. I wasn't counting but I got a lot of rides, some nice down-the-lines, practicing turns and getting more skilled and confident on the fish. With the third short fin providing extra stability,
I was able to keep riding when the waves broke into turbulent whitewater, and even made the drop on a larger closeout (although then I blew it when I forgot to stay low). Plenty of duck-diving practice too when a bigger outside set would come through, with the advantage that, as L pointed out, these were waves that "won't kill you if you mess up."The air and water were relatively warm, both in the low 50s, but I was moving a lot and with the sun mostly shining, I wasn't cold. After about an hour and a half we were getting tired. My pop-ups were becoming sloppy and my paddling muscles were feeling edges of fatigue, but it was hard to get off the nice wave train. We went back out for "just one more" three times before calling it a day. It was like King Neptune gave me flowers to apologize for smacking me the last time. A totally awesome session!
Pic from my new cell, a Motorola KRZR.
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