20 December 2012

One More Cold One for the Road (Linda Mar)

As an unemployed surf bum, I've been avoiding dawn patrol, especially now that the weather has turned wintry. But last night I saw there might be a small window of decent surf ahead of the next blustery storm - Limited time offer! Act fast! - so I booked an early session with a buddy for added motivation. After all, I couldn't move south without at least one more cold one for the road.
Marcia was already in the water at Boatdocks when I arrived, taking her inaugural surf on her Christmas present, a new longboard with lollipop swirls of red and orange on the bottom. Right off the bat we rode a party wave together, and I knew it was going to be a good session. It wasn't too crowded (maybe one advantage of the cold) and there were lots of fun lefts with shoulders. I got a bunch of good rides, enough that I decided to go bold and try leading with my arms to initiate turns. Why am I not doing this already, you might ask? Well, sometimes it takes watching surf videos - in this case A Girl's Surf Addiction (boring surf porn) and The Surfer's Journal: Biographies: Greats of Women's Surfing (pretty good history of the pioneers) - to remind me of stuff my coach told me long ago. Anyway, it definitely speeds up turning but will take some practice to maintain control and not oversteer.

By the time I rode one in, my toes were froze and my fingers were so numb I had trouble turning the key in the car door lock. The offshore breeze was brisk and I shivered out of my wetsuit. But it was so worth it. Stoked!

Surfline: 3-4 ft + occ. 5 ft, fair conditions. Looking a little walled out on some of the bigger sets, but there are some decent corners to pick off. Clear skies with light offshore wind. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 8.2 ft at 12.1 s WNW 113 / WIND WAVE: 5.3 ft at 7.1 s W / WVHT: 9.5 ft / APD: 7.1 s / MWD: 297° (Met) WSPD: 21 kn / GST: 25 kn / WVHT: 9.5 ft / DPD: 12.0 s / WDIR: 170° / ATMP: 54° F / WTMP: 56° F. Tide: Above 3' falling to about 2'.

4 comments:

  1. I saw you on the Linda Mar Surfline cam while I was eating breakfast. There were only a few brave souls out that early, so I knew it was you and a friend or two.

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  2. I'm for sure missing my cold water winter surfing! But the numbness after you get out of the water? I guess taking a season off isn't that bad ;) Good luck on your move south!

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    1. Thanks! If you ever get down to San Diego, look me up.

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