On the Slow Mend (Hook)

It's been a difficult Spring, but I'm starting to feel like my injuries are on the mend at last. Wednesday morning the stitches were removed from my right elbow, and Ward had Emm ready after turning around the repairs in only 4 days. (I ♡ my shaper! A couple of weeks ago, his 14-year-old son won the Bum Rush pop-up surf contest at Steamer Lane and he's competing in more organized contests despite a broken scaphoid bone in his wrist, so I feel rather like a wimp with my mere sprain.) I'd hoped to surf the Westside when I picked up my 7'0", but had forgotten that it's not easy access, especially on a mid-rising tide. Looking longingly at the small glassy waves, I accepted that my right arm wasn't in good enough shape yet to safely make the scramble on wave-splashed boulders or worn slippery steps.

It was a hard choice but probably a wise one. This morning, after several more days of recovery, it hurt my elbows just wearing a wetsuit, rather surprising as it's been 2 weeks since I fell. But of course that wasn't going to stop me from surfing after 8 days out of the water.

There were a few other surfer girls in the lineup this morning

Although my sprained wrist isn't 100% better, I can pop up almost normally now; I just have to splay my fingers and keep my palm raised slightly off the deck to avoid a 90° bend. Which is good, since I bashed up my hand pretty badly popping up with it in a fist, and it took a while for the bruising and swelling to dissipate. I still have to move carefully in and out of the water, not tweaking the wrist nor bumping the elbows.

A fading southwest swell has been sending waist- to chest-high waves into Santa Cruz all week. An hour past dawn, the crowd was still reasonable, and I saw a few familiar faces in the water, including Lauren. There were long lulls between sets, and I got chilly too soon in my old Rip Curl Insulator wetsuit, chosen over my usual Xcel Infiniti for its easier chest zipper, a poor pick in hindsight. When the sets came I got a decent share, sitting on the inside and taking waves the longboarders let past. One right in particular was pretty sweet, as was a short left. Woot!

Hopefully it won't be long now till I'm injury-free and can get back to learning to shortboard.

Surfline: Glassy conditions prevail this morning as a fun-sized SSW groundswell holds, mixing with slowly easing NW windswell. Inconsistent but peaky knee-waist high waves show at decent exposures. Top spots see occasional sets to chest high. Light wind early. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 4.6 ft at 8.3 s NW 36 / WIND WAVE: 5.9 ft at 6.7 s NW / WVHT: 7.6 ft / APD: 5.9 s / MWD: 310° (Met) WSPD: 16 kn / GST: 19 kn / WVHT: 7.6 ft / DPD: 7.0 s / WDIR: 320° / ATMP: 51° F / WTMP: 51° F. Tide: 1' rising near 2'.