Summer in January

The weather continues warm, sunny and dry; it feels more like July than January. Unfortunately California's had so little rain this winter that the governor just declared a drought emergency and is asking everyone to try to cut back water use by 20%. Here's last year's snowpack compared to now:

It's a good excuse to not wash the car. And perhaps means more surfing, fewer showers?

There isn't much going on swell-wise right now, though bigger surf is forecast next week. I waited until the tide started to fall from its morning high before heading to my local beach. The peak against the pier wasn't working at all, though sets broke occasionally up the beach. Dolphins cruised by on the outside.

A better sandbar was working just south of the building with the Surfline cam. A small pack of longboarders were dominating but I snagged some waves that were out of their reach. They were a friendly bunch, and one of the three dudes pointed out that there were five women in the lineup. "Yeah, that's why there's such a nice, mellow vibe," said a woman on a floaty Firewire, "There's none of that aggro stuff you get with a bunch of guys."

I scored a few fun rides, including one where I forced Nemo down a couple feet of roiling closeout to get to the bottom, and another that held up for a swish. I'm liking the original fin setup on the fish better than the Pro Tecks; it's got two bigger outside fins and a small center one. Hard to describe exactly why it's different, but it's just better somehow.