I thought there would be more going on at the Jetty this morning, but as I pulled up at the side of the road in the dim pre-dawn light, I was happy to see there were rideable waves. With a short window of surf opportunity before going back to work after the holiday, I didn't have time for a wave hunt.
The beach was peacefully deserted and I paddled out alone, although two and then two more joined me later. They kept their distance but somehow it felt like a crowd, as I've been enjoying the solitude of recent dawn patrols. The waves were waist- to chest-high and mushy. Many would start to break and then dissipate, as if it was too much trouble to push all the way in to the beach. To catch them I had to be at the breaking peak, and even then they would often decline to carry me very far.
Just after I shot this sunrise video*, I rode a nice right for my buddy Luke, who is sadly landlocked for the holidays. No lefts at all for me today, but I caught two bigger rights that had more energy, and worked them through the flat section into another little drop for long rides that ended near shore. Then it was back to work with a stoked smile on my face, where my lead surprised me with a present, a used copy of "Step Into Liquid." That great movie, plus "Blue Crush," got me into surfing in Cocoa Beach way back in '03. I can't wait to watch it again.
*There's a saying, “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning.” Supposedly there's some truth to it, and in fact, since afternoon it's been raining and strong winds are forecast.
Surfline: Fading mid-period WNW (270-310) swell is mixing with some small SW windswell that is dropping out. Better breaks are in the waist-shoulder-head high range on sets while standouts still produce some 1-2' overhead sets. Conditions are clean with light winds but the swell is still a little mixed up and junky overall. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 5.9 ft at 11.4 s NW 97 / WIND WAVE: 1.0 ft at 3.8 s WNW / WVHT: 6.2 ft / APD: 8.2 s / MWD: 304°
Nice little SUP wave.
ReplyDeleteIt would've been good for a SUP, but I did OK on my 7'0" and the two longboarders were getting some too. I felt sorry for the shortboarders though.
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