Welcome Back, Rocket (Indicators/Middle Peak)

Ward repaired the fin cuts on my 6'2", and of course I had to put Rocket in the water right away to rinse off the sanding dust. The waves at Steamer Lane were obliging, breaking overhead at the Point and smaller down the coast as they wrapped in toward Cowells. Much as I'd love to ride some of those bigger waves, I'm not ready to fight the talented pack at the Point, so I paddled out at less-crowded Indicators.

I'm a serial monogamist when it comes to surfboards; I don't like to switch among several in my quiver like a few of my buddies. The main reason is that there always seems to be a few-wave re-adjustment when I change to a different board, and that was evident today on my first couple waves. On a nice one that was shoulder-high, I failed to negotiate a mogul in the face, getting tossed off as I made the drop. But soon I was dialed in to Rocket once again.

The tide was low, but the kelp failed to ensnare me. I caught a just-broken wave and rode it nearly to outer Cowells. I'd only been out for 15 minutes but my nose was starting to tingle, and I realized I'd forgotten sunscreen. D'oh! Since I was near the Indicators stairs, I diverted back to the car to put some on. I'd parked near the Lane stairs, so I went down them to shorten the paddle. The stairs disappear quickly into a jumble of boulders, but I followed another surfer to the shore and then took his line to paddle out to Middle Peak.

I caught another shoulder-high right with a mogul in the face, but this time I made it over - woot! - and rode to outer Cowells again. I picked up a few smaller and gutless waves there, but knew I needed to make the long paddle back against the current to better surf. I decided to try some bolder moves on my next ride. After the drop, I turned off the bottom, rode to the top, tried to turn down again, and stalled, the wave continuing on without me. I'm not sure what happened (too high? too slow? too timid?), but boo.

After a few more rides, and a couple failed duck-dives that got me pushed back down the coast, I was getting tired of so much paddling. I worked back to Middles once more to get a ride in. It took me two waves, but the last reminded me of Hawaii, skimming on clear water above the seagrass-covered reef.

Surfline: 4-6', fair to good conditions. Still some fun WNW groundswell in the water with minor SSW swell mixing in. Conditions also remain clean with sets to head high at good spots and 1-3' overhead at standouts. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 9.5 ft at 10.0 s NW 103 / WIND WAVE: 1.3 ft at 3.8 s WNW / WVHT: 9.5 ft / APD: 8.8 s / MWD: 316° (Met) WSPD: 4 kts / GST: 8 kts / WVHT: 9.5 ft / DPD: 10.0 s / WDIR: 300° / ATMP: 51.4° F / WTMP: 54.5° F. Tide: Bottoming out around 0".