It Looked Smaller from the Cliff (Rachel's Point)

Luke left work before me and scouted the breaks, reporting that a lonely spot I call "Rachel's Point" was clean, breaking nicely, and chest- to occasionally head-high, with only one guy out. Sounded great, especially since it's a left. It's not a spot that feels comfortable to surf alone though; lots of shark food swimming about (we saw a couple of seals), opaque water with UFOs (unidentified floating objects) that give one a bit of a start when touched while paddling (OK, probably just seaweed, but still), and on this late afternoon, gloomy skies for added creepiness.

 

When we'd reached the deserted beach via a steepish dirt track, Luke remarked that the now-empty waves had looked smaller from above (as they always do). Up close, they were in fact several feet over his head, and he's more than six feet tall. The scary factor was somewhat diminished by high-tide mushiness, but the takeoff zone was narrow, shifty and steep. At that size, the waves packed a lot of power, and the few times I braved being close to the meandering takeoff spot, I got royally tumbled. Away from it, the waves were too moundy for me to get into them. Luke pulled off some rides on his longboard and I saw him make an impossible drop on a wave he said may be his biggest yet. But I managed only one fast left on Magic, a whitewater reform into a short shoulder ride. It's good to push my comfort zone from time to time, but we'll have to try the spot again on a smaller day at a mid-tide.

Surfline: Easing NW windswell mixed with peaking SSW groundswell today. Good breaks saw chest-head high waves, standout exposed spots were a bit overhead on sets. Buoy 46012: 3.6 ft @ 16.7 sec.