05 December 2010

Never Trust the Meteorologist (Linda Mar)

Earlier in the week, I'd planned to surf in Half Moon Bay around mid-day to catch the dropping tide, since there was a 7' high tide around 9 am. However, in the intervening days, the wind forecast changed from light to blowing from the south all day, with an advisory starting at 2 pm for predicted southeast winds of 20-30 mph, gusting to 45 mph. Expecting HMB to be blown out, I decided I'd better get on it early and at Linda Mar, where a south wind blows offshore.

When I arrived at first light, the parking lot was already filling up as usual, with small clots of surfers on the three main peaks. Head-high closeout sets were marching through periodically, also typical, but there were smaller shoulders to be found and the breeze was offshore. Luke and I joined the crowd at the middle peak. As the wind increased and the tide rose higher, I had trouble getting over the lip on sometimes mushy waves with the offshore push-back. But I found my way into a nice right and a couple of sweet lefts, with a handful of whitewater rides in the mix, and was glad to have them as the crowd grew a bit ridiculous.
Sadly, after the best ride, I found myself at the edge of a trench near the cobblestone-studded beach. Collecting my new surfboard, I was tumbled nearer to the shore and knocked down in shallow water by the next wave. As soon as I stood up and started pulling my board toward me by the leash, another wave thrashed me, throwing Emm onto the cobblestones where she incurred her first dings, a couple of pressure dents on the business side near the nose. Damn. I don't like Linda Mar, and Linda Mar doesn't like me.
On his way home, Luke stopped for a second session at a beach break in Half Moon Bay and found that instead of being blown out, it was offshore with good head-high+ waves, although there was a hard shorepound entry on the very high tide. While I got a few nice waves at Linda Mar, I guess I should've made my own observations instead of trusting the weather forecast and reports.

C'est la vie; you rolls the dice and you takes your chances. But I'm itching to ride Emm in some well-formed bigger waves. Maybe later this week.

Surfline: 3-4 ft+, fair conditions. Clean, peaky lines staying a bit inconsistent this morning. Light ESE wind now. Big 7'+ high tide swamps it out later on. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 4.9 ft at 13.8 s NW / WIND WAVE: 3.6 ft at 6.2 s SSW / WVHT: 5.9 ft / APD: 6.2 s / MWD: 312°

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