Rip It, Roll It and Punch It* (Linda Mar)

After cresting the hill on the road to Pacifica, the road sweeps along the edge of the ridge, affording expansive views of the ocean below. Today there were no corduroy swell lines marching in from the horizon. Clearly it was a little-wave longboard day, which in accordance with my surfcation goal meant it was time to play with my fish.

Overlooking Pacifica and the pier

I had low expectations for myself given last week's performance, but as soon as I reached the lineup near the south end, my brain yelled "Incoming!" and I turned to catch a waist-high right. Much to my surprise, I not only caught it but rode it out. Yeah! 

In quick succession, I logged several solid rides on my 5'4" Nemo, including a left that let me get in a turn on the face before closing out (inevitably, since this is Linda Mar). Stoked!

Although the rest of my waves weren't so great and I need to put in some more time on the fish, I really thought reaching my surfcation goal would be more challenging. I don't know if it was waxing farther toward the nose of the board that did the trick, but something just clicked this morning and I am riding a board that's one inch longer than I am tall! It's just as well though, because there may not be a lot of fishable tiny surf days left. An early northwest groundswell is forecast for this weekend. Winter is coming.

*Title is from Finding Nemo. Of course.

Surfline: 1-2 ft occasionally 3 ft [with 4' closeout sets]. Clean, but small, weak, and inconsistent. Best for a longboard. Small mix of NW windswell and trace S-SSW groundwell continues to provide weak but rideable waves in the 2-3' range at better spots. Top breaks still offer a few rare waist+ peaks. There is a very light surface texture for the more openly exposed breaks, but it really isn't affecting conditions. Buoy 46026: (Wave) SWELL: 3.6 ft at 9.1 s NW 73 / WIND WAVE: 0.7 ft at 3.4 s WNW / WVHT: 3.9 ft / APD: 7.7 s / MWD: 314° (Met) WSPD: 8 kn / GST: 10 kn / WVHT: 3.9 ft / DPD: 9.0 s / ATMP: 55° F / WTMP: 57° F. Tide: Around 3' falling slightly.