Whitecaps

There's a fine line for decent surf conditions between enough tide and not too much wind. An early morning low tide pushes up against the onshore breeze that develops sometime during the day, often by late morning but sometimes holding off until early afternoon. When I pedaled up to the overlook on the north side of Crystal Pier, I felt the first breath of wind. A dripping young surfer dude who was getting ready to ride away on his bicycle gave me the familiar, "you should've been here earlier" line before telling me it had been really fun right next to the pier.

I'd thought to paddle out a bit farther north, but figured I'd give it a go and surf where he suggested if I could make it out there. Although the rip current helped, when I attained the lineup, I was breathing hard and my eyes were stinging from the saltwater.

After a couple of false starts, I caught a shoulder-high right and rode it to completion. Yay! As I paddled back out, I was starting to think - to hope - this would be one of my best sessions in a while. Then, in the distance, a flash of white on the ocean. And over there - another. And another. Uh-oh. A few minutes later, the whitecaps reached the surf zone as the building breeze chopped the waves to pieces, sloshing us surfers up and down like rubber duckies in a toddler's bathtub. I tried to find a shoulder for a while longer before riding a reform in. Perhaps tomorrow I can find a better tide/wind balance.