Making Lemonade (Linda Mar)

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. -Dale Carnegie

Little brown waves on the south end

It's been stormy all week with rain and wind, forecast to continue through this weekend. I aimed for the best post-work window in all that weather, with light drizzle and light breeze but some swell, and Linda Mar was the call since it's south-wind protected. Still, the water quality warning at the San Pedro Creek mouth gave me pause; I stayed north of the oceanfront Taco Bell and tried not to swallow any ocean.

Cleaner to the north, but I went in between

I only had an hour, and wasted half of it on a break that was almost but not quite working before moving to a different one. In between two packs of surfers, I found a semi-decent empty spot and sorted out that the weak waves required me to be just inside as they broke to get into them on my 6'2". No sooner had I caught one into a fun reform - yes! - than my success drew a couple other shortboarders over to my peak. Such is Linda Mar.

Several lesser rides later it was time to go, and I avoided the paddle of shame by hopping onto two successive waves to come in to the beach. I'd made a little lemonade, just a Dixie cup full, from those lemons. As @Waves_SF says, "Homemade lemonade is high in vitamin-stoke."

Misty drizzle in front of Taco Bell

Surfline: Small, clean surf on tap this afternoon with occasional waist high+ sets. Weak and gutless overall but there are some rideable corners. Surf is down today and a little less stormy, although quality is still generally low. Fading WNW swell mix and building SSW swell (190-205) has many breaks in the shoulder-head high range, with some overhead sets at best WNW and combo spots. Wind continues out of the south, although lighter than the past couple days. (Wave) SWELL: 5.6 ft at 11.4 s NW 24 / WIND WAVE: 1.3 ft at 3.7 s SSE / WVHT: 5.6 ft / APD: 7.8 s / MWD: 305° (Met) WSPD: 8 kn / GST: 8 kn / WVHT: 5.6 ft / DPD: 11.0 s / WDIR: 190° / ATMP: 52° F / WTMP: 52° F. Tide: 2.5' rising over 3'.