Surfless with Sea Lions

After a frenetic day at work, S and I trekked down to westside Santa Cruz to pick up my repaired shortboard at the only local authorized Surftech repair shop, Advanced Surfboard Repair (a.k.a. Pat's Ding Repair). This was my second "professional" repair, and I'm beginning to despair of finding anyone who can do the work to my perfectionist cosmetic standards. The color is off - a lighter shade of gray - and there are speckles of overspray around the patch, which is slightly rough and doesn't match the gloss finish. Sigh. Given the damage I did to my mouth when I bit the board, I was really hoping not to see a reminder everytime I surf.

Swell and schedule did not mesh this week, and both my surfing windows passed unused. It was too big and gnarly yesterday morning in San Mateo County, so I wanted to hit the Westside after picking up the shortboard. Alas, the swell had dropped, packing the pros onto the main peak at the Lane with nothing spilling over toward Indicators. If I'd had a longboard, I could have joined the throngs catching long rides at Cowells, but the ankle- to knee-high waves were far to small for the Xanadu. And with darkness falling in an hour, there was no time to drive elsewhere. Damn the short days!

Instead, S and I took a walk from the Lighthouse to the end of the Wharf and watched another pretty sun set. There were a lot of sea lions about, in the water with flippers in the air, and hauled out on the pier supports. Even though I didn't get to surf, I still feel lucky to live in such a beautiful area.

But I still want to surf. Soon.