Bunny Slope (38th Ave)

Two of my buddies bailed on me for dawn patrol, but I finally managed to coax my coworker David into the water. He'd told me it had been a while since he last surfed, but I didn't learn until this morning that it's been two years, during which time he said his wetsuit apparently shrunk a little (ha!).

Although they weren't filming until noon, the 41st lot was blocked off for the "Of Men and Mavericks" crew so we had to park on the street. The Hook looked fun if lully but was already packed before sunrise, so we paddled out at 38th where conditions were more suited to my rusty friend.

David's sole wetsuit is only a 3/2, but the water and air were so warm this morning that he was fine. I was toasty in my new Xcel Infiniti 4/3, but not uncomfortably so, although I did have to put my hood down after a while.

Sets were inconsistent and when I found myself inside of a bigger breaking wave, I decided to hop on and ride it hopefully into a reform. It didn't, but I got a long whitewater ride nonetheless, and then had a long paddle back out. The rest of my waves were all green, many missed by the longboarders sitting outside. The skill level of the competition was decidedly down from recent sessions at the Hook. I caught a bunch of looong rights, with lots of time to turn on the face. The waves were slow, mushy, and only about chest-high. It took David a few to get the rhythm again, but then he was up and riding.

It was a fun session on a beautiful warm summery morning, but I found myself looking longingly at the bigger waves at the Point, and if I'd had more time would've relocated to the Hook after David left to make a meeting. I think I need to be a little bit scared anymore in order to get a big burst of stoke. The size of my desired waves keeps getting bigger, and I'm curious to see how high it will eventually climb.

Tomorrow, I'm an extra in the Mavs movie, along with 1000 other surfers who will re-create the paddle-out for Jay Moriarty at Pleasure Point. Should be an interesting day.

Surfline: Knee- to shoulder-high. Clean, lined up surf working through. Inconsistent, but still a few okay corners to be had. Healthy WNW (290-310+) groundswell steadily backs down. Better exposures are good for more chest-shoulder-head high waves, as standout NW breaks offer up lingering sets running 2-3' overhead. Look for shape to stay pretty good through the morning with the incoming tide push, before eventually slowing down approaching a 5'+ high late this morning. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 8.5 ft at 12.9 s WNW 83 / WIND WAVE: 2.6 ft at 5.3 s NW / WVHT: 8.9 ft / APD: 8.6 s / MWD: 303° (Met) WSPD: 12 kts / GST: 14 kts / WVHT: 8.9 ft / DPD: 11.0 s / WDIR: 320° / ATMP: 57.9° F / WTMP: 57.4° F. Tide: Just under 3' rising to almost 4'.