Hey, Coach (Drainpipes/Sharks)

This morning I met up with my new surf coach, Barry from Making the Drop. There was a sweet south swell firing all the eastside Santa Cruz breaks, but a dismal lot of surfers already in the water at 6 am. We paddled out toward 38th but ended up just east at a peak I learned is called Drainpipes. Miraculously we had it to ourselves for a bit before a light crowd joined us.

Last night I thought about tweeting "Who wants to bet I kook up my first wave in front of the surf coach?" but decided against it, trying to think positive and not jinx myself. As I dug the nose and wiped out, I remembered that silent tweet. Ha ha! But I redeemed myself on the second one which was my wave of the day, a long right about head-high that reformed for another drop and took me in close to the beach. Woot! I caught another nice one at that peak before Barry said the incoming tide was beginning to swamp it and suggested we stroll down the beach past the pack at the Hook and over to Sharks.

Sharks was more heavily populated but I rode a few there as well, none as sweet as wave #2. I also got creamed by a big set that came through when I was on the inside after a ride, and went through the spin cycle a couple of times. With all the traffic I had a long wait for my last wave, and then it was time for us dawn patrollers to hand the swell over to the second shift.

Barry's going to work up a coaching plan based on his assessment of my surfing today, but he already offered me a few pointers. Start going for waves sooner, moving to the right position, especially in a crowd because it will show commitment and (supposedly) the pack will be more likely to back off. Don't kick to get into a wave; it rocks the board and disturbs its glide, and is useful mainly for much shorter boards where the surfer's lower legs are off the board. Instead, to get a boost when paddling into a wave, try having my body a bit farther forward. That gives me a few things to work on during our SoCal surfari this weekend, but I'm excited to start speeding up my transition into (eventually) a good shortboarder.

Surfline: 3-5 ft. Clean, inconsistent surf working through with some okay corners. SW-SSW (215-190) groundswell holds, mixing with small scale NW windswell wrap this morning. Good breaks through town are in the waist-chest-head high range with some overhead sets for standout exposures. Winds are out of the NW so most spots through town remain clean. Buoy 46012:  (Wave) SWELL: 3.3 ft at 16.0 s SSW 55 / WIND WAVE: 3.9 ft at 6.2 s NW / WVHT: 5.2 ft / APD: 5.8 s / MWD: 194° (Met) WSPD: 14 kts / GST: 17 kts / WVHT: 5.2 ft / DPD: 16.0 s / WDIR: 300° / ATMP: 54.5° F / WTMP: 53.6° F Tide: 1'- to 2'+.