Rain

The first of two storms has dribbled into California, bringing drizzle and south winds. The second is supposed to dump the most rain in three years, swirling lots of contamination down the storm drains and into the ocean. This morning the rainfall total was only a hundredth of an inch and winds weren't bad, so I squeezed in one more surf before the big storm.

Pacific Beach was messy from the southerlies. Ashley confirmed what the Surfline cam showed: Scripps looked decent. The tide was falling fast by the time I arrived so I opted for the smaller side on the south end of La Jolla Shores, San Diego's Linda Mar, the place to go when south winds blow.

There was an empty left straight out from the parking lot and a large pack of surfers to the north, and I soon learned why. While I got my best two rides off of that left, waist-high waves in shallow water, the sideshore current perpetually sucked me into a rip. When I grew tired of constant paddling, I took my chances with the crowd of almost 30 surfers on the next peak, but it was dominated by longboarders and wavehogs who weren't leaving any scraps as they dropped into head-high set waves. With the chop rising and the waves getting too steep for my fish, I paddled back south again and caught a quick closeout to the beach. Hopefully I put enough stoke in my tank to last until sometime next week.