Early Surfer Gets the Waves (Linda Mar)

I'd planned to surf the over-hyped south swell at the Jetty, but when I arrived early in the morning it wasn't looking too rideable and the wind was already light onshore, so I kept driving north. Montara was bigger and looked doable, but there wasn't a soul out at that spot either, and I'm chicken to go it alone there. That left Linda Mar.

Lindy was looking fun on the south end, with a light crowd on lefts going up to shoulder-high and light offshores, so I paddled out. The slowly increasing crowd was clumped on the outside, waiting patiently for the infrequent big ones, so I sat almost alone on the inside and picked off the smaller waves that came more often. And they were good fun! Especially the ones that reformed farther inside for a second little drop and even longer ride. Stoked!

When I left, the parking lot was overfilled and the wind was starting to rise, though still offshore. In my rush to vacate my parking spot for a waiting surfboard-loaded car, I think I left my cheapo watch behind. Guess that means no more time limits on surf session, eh?

Surfline: Mostly walled lines with inside shoulders that are open and workable. Glassy surface conditions. Mainly SSW groundswell topping out today with small NW windswell mixing in. Many of the better southern hemi exposed locations offer waist-head high surf with the standout spots producing overhead sets. Buoy 46012: NW 7.9 ft @ 10 sec, S 6.6 ft @ 17.4 sec.