The Water Will Be Warmer Tomorrow (Linda Mar)

I didn't need to stop the car to realize that the surf would be poor at the Jetty; there were whitecaps offshore and the flags were pointing almost straight inland. Sure enough, I had to drive on to Linda Mar. The wind had been light all morning but house chores delayed my Santa Cruz surf trip so much that I had to detour closer to home and join the breezy lunch rush. At Linda Mar, the gusty wind was more offshore and the south end had occasional shoulders although it was often breaking shallow.

Some shoulders on the south, maybe.

I paddled out just north of Boatdocks and tried to fight my way into some waist- to chest-high rights against the wind that often succeeded in pushing me off. After I'd moved to the right side of the pack to gain a bit of space, a janitor asked nicely if he could give me some advice. I always say yes whenever someone asks that; it may be stupid sometimes, but occasionally proves useful. He suggested where I should line up to be in better position away from the channel, and even offered to give me waves if he could. I wish all janitors were that nice! As I paddled to the spot he indicated, I swung into a nice left for probably my best ride of the session (although that's not saying much). Back in the lineup, I told him thanks. I hadn't wanted to sit there, inside of the middle of the crowd, but it turned out to be a good spot since most of the outliers were too far out and missed a lot of waves that then came to me. A bunch more rides later, most offering micro-shoulders, I was shivering in the wind in my old Rip Curl wetsuit despite the sunshine and air temperature in the low 60s.

About to close out the entire mid beach. Not going there.

Surfing Linda Mar is usually like eating a bag of potato chips; not very filling, but enough to keep you going for a little while. Tomorrow I'm off to San Diego for an interview, hopeful for the job and some warmer water waves.

Surfline: 4-7 ft, poor to fair conditions. Mostly clean, long and consistent lines with some random sections to pick off. Pretty walled/closed out overall. Mix of sun and clouds with SW winds around 5-10kts. Solid WNW(290-315) swell eases through the day as small SSW (195-215) swell blends in.  Waves run well overhead to double overhead for many areas. Standout exposures see larger sets to double overhead+ at times. Buoy 46026: (Wave) SWELL: 5.3 ft at 12.9 s WNW 104 / WIND WAVE: 3.9 ft at 5.9 s SW / WVHT: 6.6 ft / APD: 6.2 s / MWD: 294° (Met) WSPD: 16 kn / GST: 19 kn / WVHT: 6.9 ft / DPD: 13.0 s / ATMP: 57° F / WTMP: 55° F. Tide: Less than 4' rising to under 5'.