wave journal of a norcal surfer girl

And Now for Something Completely Different (Nicaragua)

2012-01-25T20:45:00.000-08:00

Scott and I spent a week at Suave Dulce Surf and Yoga Retreat in northwestern Nicaragua.

Margie on the right, waiting for waves

Cheering Scott on, and trying to keep my board going (photo from video by Holly's guy)

Our cabana at El Coco Loco

Cows and cowboy on their daily beach walk to pasture

Surf instructor Jackie paddling for a mushy wave

Horse with a beach view

A shelly beach on the 15-minute walk to the break

One of their four dogs chilling by El Coco Loco's bar

Me popping up on a little right (photo by Cydney)

Bikini test over, time to put on a rashguard (photo by Cydney)

Party wave! (photo from video by Holly's guy)

My fun left, captured in pixels (photo by Cydney)

Post-surf, post-happy hour low tide

Holly by the truck packed with boards

Awesome sunset swim in the Pacific

Gone Surfing

2012-01-13T03:00:00.000-08:00

A Cold Splash Before the Heat (Dunes)

2012-01-08T17:24:00.000-08:00

Just after noon, I joined J-Bird, Jacob, Luke and Caro in the water at Dunes for one more cold-water surf before we head south to warmer waters. It was a fine summer day in winter, sunny and in the 60s, with a growing offshore wind.

Jacob and Luke sharing a wave

Luke, still riding

The channel gave me a dry-hair paddle out. I had three goals today: don't get hurt, don't get my board dinged, and ride a few waves, with the first two being most important ahead of our imminent surf trip. Since head-high closeouts were rolling through at times, my wave selection was cautious. The longboarders were getting some nice rides but I found it hard to get into the waves, or perhaps I was being too timid. I moved inside and caught a couple of fun left reforms, playing with turns on responsive Rocket, riding in close to the beach. Since my buddies had been quite early and I joined them a little late, I ended up catching a meh ride in after only an hour to join them on the beach. I'm still hungry, but I'll be eating my fill of tropical waves soon enough.

Luke, Caro and J-Bird show off their moves

Caro and J-Bird high-kicking

Caro, Luke, me, Jacob and J-bird

Girls playing in the waves

J-Bird and Caro getting splashed

I was glad I hadn't stayed out longer, since when I got home there was barely enough sun left to melt the wax off of my 6'2" before it dropped below the hill. Now I'll pack up Rocket for the journey to the Pacific coast of Nicaragua on Friday. Scott and I will spend a week at Holly Beck's surf camp, Suave Dulce, and then explore on our own for a few days. I'll be unplugged and offline until we're back home.

If Surfline can be believed, we're in for some fun tropical surf. I can't wait!

Surfline: Old WNW (260-300) energy fades this morning, blending with local NW windswell and some small, building long-period NW swell. Expect less size as the decent breaks see shoulder-head high waves. Standouts go slightly bigger on those top sets. Offshore wind. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 6.2 ft at 12.1 s WNW 02 / WIND WAVE: 1.3 ft at 3.1 s NW / WVHT: 6.2 ft / APD: 7.9 s / MWD: 292° (Met) WSPD: 4 kts / GST: 8 kts / WVHT: 6.2 ft / DPD: 12.0 s / WDIR: 30° / ATMP: 55.9° F / WTMP: 53.4° F. Tide: 2' falling to 1.5'.

The Maverick's Contest: (Almost) Everything Changes

2012-01-06T03:56:00.000-08:00

Watching a surf contest on TV is a far cry from seeing it in person, and the Nor Cal community deserves the opportunity to see with our own eyes the feats of the best male big wave riders in the world. I want to take in the big picture, watch the massive waves approaching, the surfers turning their guns and paddling into them, then the drop and ride, or brutal wipeout. I don't want to listen to nattering commentators and miss details because the webcast has cut away from live action to a commercial, an interview, or a replay of the money shot. I want to see the contest, unfiltered, unfold before my eyes, experiencing the immensity of the monster waves rising from the expansive sea and the skill and fearlessness of the surfers who ride them. But I can't, not this year.

A giant wave at Mavericks during the 2010 contest

The last time the Maverick's big wave surf contest was held, in January '10, the organizers were careless with public safety. People got hurt when waves predictably rolled over the breakwall at high tide and inundated an area where tents had been set up amidst mud puddles left by the previous high tide. And in '06, a woman was hit on the head by a rock falling from the bluff above.

The aftermath of the '10 flood

This time will be different. No one, not even the media, will be allowed to see the contest from the bluff or beach. Instead, tickets may be purchased for $25-40, plus a $10 parking fee, to watch the contest webcast on a big TV at a nearby hotel. Only those with a boat, or willing to pay around $200 to secure a spot on a re-purposed fishing vessel, will be able to watch in person. And the harbormaster is trying to discourage viewing from private boats, which will be kept at a distance.

The little girl wanted to see some dogs, so her parents took her to the dog park and let her wander around unattended. As she stood in the middle of the field, an exuberant Great Dane raced past and knocked her down in the dirt. When she fell, she twisted her ankle and tore her dress. Aghast, her parents decreed that the little girl, and also her teenage sister, must never watch dogs at the dog park again, not even from the sidewalk outside the fence. Instead, they must content themselves with seeing dogs on TV from the safety of the sofa.

The response to previous carelessness at Maverick's is overcaution now. Jeff Clark, back in charge of the re-christened Mavericks Invitational contest, had this to say about the '10 incident: It wasn't a rogue wave. It was one of those things that needed to be planned for and they didn't have anybody to plan for it. That will never happen again.

The view through a telephoto lens in '10 (by Luke Kilpatrick)

So why not just hire someone to plan for it? There are ways to ensure public safety that fall far short of blocking all access to the shoreline. For starters, no scaffolding on the beach, no tents or people within the high tide line, and no walking out on the breakwall for a better view. A stay-out zone could be established at the edge of the bluff and on the beach below. A ticket system for shore access could be implemented to prevent overcrowding and ensure spectator awareness of the rules. Public access need not be entirely forbidden.

It's hard to conceive of any public safety rationale to justify barring the media from viewing the contest from shore. The press group would be small, willing to abide by reasonable restrictions and easy to to patrol. At the '10 contest, a media area was established at the top of the bluff, with access limited to credentialed members of the press. A similar scheme should have been implemented this time around. Instead, all contest-goers are offered only a sanitized TV show, so near Maverick's and yet so far.

While the contest has changed radically for spectators, one thing sadly remains the same as in prior years: no women have been invited to compete.

She can surf Mavericks, but not in the contest

This post was published on The Inertia.

Surfing In the New Year (HMB Jetty)

2012-01-01T12:05:00.000-08:00

There's no better way to start the day - or the year - than in the ocean. Although fireworks briefly woke me, I skipped the New Year's Eve midnight celebration to be fresh for a morning surf on the first day of 2012. I must be getting old because I'd much rather surf than party and sleep in, hungover or not.

There were only two guys out when I arrived at the Jetty, a longboarder and a shortboarder, but a handful of others of both flavors joined us later.

The waves were jumbled and mostly closed out away from the main peak, and many rides were pretty much just drops.

My best wave was a left stolen from inside of the pack on the main peak, when I found myself lined up at just the right spot and a little voice in my head shouted, "turn and go - now!" A few strokes and I had it, swooping into an almost head-high frontside drop. The wave didn't close out immediately, giving me a quick shoulder before it sectioned and I turned right, riding whitewater away from the exposed rocks and in close to the beach. Woot!

That nice left was soon followed by a right nearly as big that did close out immediately. I made the drop and almost rode it out but my new 6'2" Rocket requires a precision of more subtle movement and finer control that I haven't mastered yet. Fortunately, in less than two weeks, Scott and I - and Rocket, despite the exorbitant airline fees - will be at Holly Beck's surf retreat on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua, where I'll have plenty of time to practice in 82°F (28°C) water. Yeah!

Coastside winter flowers

Happy New Year! Wishing you all good waves in 2012.

Surfline: Solid WNW (280-300) swell slowly eases as small SW (190-210) trickles in at exposed areas. Decent-sized head high+ to overhead+ surf continues, while top breaks still hit that double overhead mark on occasion. Smooth, clean conditions thanks to offshore ENE wind. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 6.9 ft at 12.9 s WNW 01 / WIND WAVE: 1.6 ft at 3.6 s ENE / WVHT: 7.2 ft / APD: 7.8 s / MWD: 292° (Met) WSPD: 4 kts / GST: 6 kts / WVHT: 7.2 ft / DPD: 13.0 s / WDIR: 140° / ATMP: 54.5° F / WTMP: 53.2° F. Tide: Less than 3' falling to 2'.

Lower (HMB Jetty)

2011-12-27T20:47:00.000-08:00

Swell, sun and tide were all lower than last time at the Jetty.

The waves were mostly closed out, but I rode several before the sun set on my final surf session of 2011. Here's to getting a full barrel in the new year!

Surfline: This afternoon there's a slowly easing but still solid WNW (280-300) groundswell, with head high+ to double overhead zone surf (6-10') at exposed spots and some larger sets at the better breaks. Winds are light onshore for mainly semi-clean conditions. The tide will steadily back out through the rest of the day. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 7.5 ft at 12.9 s WNW 105 / WIND WAVE: 2.3 ft at 5.3 s WNW / WVHT: 7.9 ft / APD: 8.2 s / MWD: 302° (Met) WSPD: 12 kts / GST: 14 kts / WVHT: 7.9 ft / DPD: 13.0 s / WDIR: 340° / ATMP: 52.2° F / WTMP: 54.1° F. Tide: 1' falling to 0'.

Demi-Barrel (HMB Jetty)

2011-12-24T12:00:00.000-08:00

Although the tide was almost 7' high this morning, Luke predicted the surf at the Jetty would be good on the current swell, offering photos of similar conditions in January as proof. Most who'd said they would join us bailed, and Luke and Carolina arrived early. At the appointed hour, Caro was already done, having been spit up onto the beach by the consistently overhead surf, but Luke said he'd paddle out with me to catch one more wave. He reached the lineup slightly ahead of me and caught that one before I'd caught my breath, leaving me alone in the company of shortboarding strangers.

The waves were some of the biggest I've ever tried to surf, so this session was as much about conquering a little fear as anything. Or so I told myself as I failed to get any rides. The waves were mushy on the shoulders but pitching and steep as they broke, and many were closing out. Backwash made them unpredictable. The sweet spot for takeoff at the peak - not too deep nor too far on the shoulder - was shifting around, and I couldn't seem to find it. Although I saw better surfers make a few nice rides, and I was picky enough to let most of the closeouts go, all I was getting were rough tumbles on takeoff and light beating on the inside.

Heading out with Luke. Photo by Caro.

Still, while I didn't get any legitimate rides, on one left, for the briefest fraction of a second before I was knocked off my feet, I perceived a roof over my head. SO COOL! My stated goal for 2011 was to get barreled, and while that wasn't fully what I had in mind, my feet were solidly on my board - I wasn't free-falling this time - so I think I'll count it. And the stoke is making me very merry! Thank you, Santa!

Surfline: Excellent conditions on tap this morning as a healthy dose of long-period WNW (285-300) swell blends with fun-sized S (170-190) Southern Hemi energy. Solid surf prevails as exposed areas see overhead to double overhead (8-10') waves. Standout focal points see larger sets to 3x overhead on occasion. Light offshore conditions early. A big 7' high tide tops out just after 9am. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 12.5 ft at 16.0 s WNW 104 / WIND WAVE: 1.6 ft at 3.6 s NE / WVHT: 12.8 ft / APD: 12.5 s / MWD: 294° (Met) WSPD: 10 kts / GST: 14 kts / WVHT: 12.8 ft / DPD: 16.0 s / WDIR: 40° / ATMP: 52.7° F / WTMP: 53.8° F. Tide: 7' falling slightly.

Happy Holidays!

Gear Review: Xcel Infiniti Wetsuit and Panasonic Lumix TS3 Waterproof Camera

2011-12-21T19:35:00.000-08:00

OK, so once again, I've gotten behind on my gear reviews. But better late than never - and of course I had to give a fair trial period anyway.

I bought a size 4 women's Xcel Infiniti 4/3 back in October, but didn't start wearing it regularly until last month when the weather and water turned colder. It's been keeping me toasty, but I have a few complaints, and design-wise, it just doesn't measure up against my Rip Curl Insulator. The legs are too long, so the suit bunches around my knees. (Wish I'd noticed this in the store.) Unlike the Rip Curl, the key pocket is located under the chest-zip flap. It has a long elastic string loop which is convenient, but I prefer the leg placement. The chest zip goes awkwardly from right to left and is quite difficult to fasten with gloved hands. I have to start it before I put on a glove, then lock the car and attach the key, stuffing it with some difficulty into the pocket, before zipping up all the way. Or else ask a friend for help. But the biggest failure compared to the Rip Curl Insulator is the lack of an integrated hood. At a comparable cost, it's a glaring omission. A cap leaves my neck exposed and chilly, while my extended hood tends to get pulled out of the suit in the course of a surf session. By contrast, Rip Curl's design zips in the hood and secures it firmly under the suit, keeping my hair mostly dry. I'm rather dreading the near-freezing dawn patrols to come in my Xcel. In sum, while some of my friends have said their Xcel suits lasted more than one season, I can't see this being a repeat purchase for me. Looking ahead, I've heard very good things about local Montara-based Isurus and they are planning to start a women's line next year. If Isurus makes a winter wetsuit in my size, I'll be first in line.

After my Pentax Optio W90 died in October (never again, Pentax!), I picked up a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS3. It's a step up from the Pentax cameras, with extra features like GPS tagging (which gets my location right most of the time). I like that there is a dedicated record button, so I don't have to dig around through menus to switch from taking photos to taking video. With the camera strapped into the latest version of the Wrist Pod, I've been getting good on-the-water and at-the-beach shots while keeping it secure between times. I have noticed some occasional random blurriness in photos that doesn't seem to correlate with any moisture on the lens (one of a series of shots may be affected), but on the whole, it's working well. My only issue, which is a factor with all of the waterproof cameras I've tried, is that it's quite difficult to press small buttons while wearing gloves any thicker than 1.5 mm. I've missed some shots, or in desperation had to ask a gloveless friend to turn the camera on for me. Guess maybe I'll have to let one hand be cold in a thin glove, or design some sort of stylus to press the button. You'd think the waterproof camera manufacturers might make "buttons useable with gloves" a design parameter though, wouldn't you?!

Photos/video below taken with the Panasonic Lumix TS3.

Dawn patrol at the Jetty

Free dolphins off Oahu

Welcome Back, Rocket (Indicators/Middle Peak)

2011-12-19T23:30:00.000-08:00

Ward repaired the fin cuts on my 6'2", and of course I had to put Rocket in the water right away to rinse off the sanding dust. The waves at Steamer Lane were obliging, breaking overhead at the Point and smaller down the coast as they wrapped in toward Cowells. Much as I'd love to ride some of those bigger waves, I'm not ready to fight the talented pack at the Point, so I paddled out at less-crowded Indicators.

I'm a serial monogamist when it comes to surfboards; I don't like to switch among several in my quiver like a few of my buddies. The main reason is that there always seems to be a few-wave re-adjustment when I change to a different board, and that was evident today on my first couple waves. On a nice one that was shoulder-high, I failed to negotiate a mogul in the face, getting tossed off as I made the drop. But soon I was dialed in to Rocket once again.

The tide was low, but the kelp failed to ensnare me. I caught a just-broken wave and rode it nearly to outer Cowells. I'd only been out for 15 minutes but my nose was starting to tingle, and I realized I'd forgotten sunscreen. D'oh! Since I was near the Indicators stairs, I diverted back to the car to put some on. I'd parked near the Lane stairs, so I went down them to shorten the paddle. The stairs disappear quickly into a jumble of boulders, but I followed another surfer to the shore and then took his line to paddle out to Middle Peak.

I caught another shoulder-high right with a mogul in the face, but this time I made it over - woot! - and rode to outer Cowells again. I picked up a few smaller and gutless waves there, but knew I needed to make the long paddle back against the current to better surf. I decided to try some bolder moves on my next ride. After the drop, I turned off the bottom, rode to the top, tried to turn down again, and stalled, the wave continuing on without me. I'm not sure what happened (too high? too slow? too timid?), but boo.

After a few more rides, and a couple failed duck-dives that got me pushed back down the coast, I was getting tired of so much paddling. I worked back to Middles once more to get a ride in. It took me two waves, but the last reminded me of Hawaii, skimming on clear water above the seagrass-covered reef.

Surfline: 4-6', fair to good conditions. Still some fun WNW groundswell in the water with minor SSW swell mixing in. Conditions also remain clean with sets to head high at good spots and 1-3' overhead at standouts. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 9.5 ft at 10.0 s NW 103 / WIND WAVE: 1.3 ft at 3.8 s WNW / WVHT: 9.5 ft / APD: 8.8 s / MWD: 316° (Met) WSPD: 4 kts / GST: 8 kts / WVHT: 9.5 ft / DPD: 10.0 s / WDIR: 300° / ATMP: 51.4° F / WTMP: 54.5° F. Tide: Bottoming out around 0".

Finally Some Size (HMB Jetty)

2011-12-18T14:14:00.000-08:00

I've been riding waves that were shoulder-high and below for weeks and weeks, and itching for something bigger. Small waves can be fun but just don't get me as stoked as those at least as tall as me. I need a hint of danger, a dash of fear. Finally, today was the day for some more size. Waves at the Jetty were shoulder- to head-high+, though a little disorganized and crowded with a free-surfing high school team.

Luke took photos and scoped out where to sit before I arrived, suggesting we split the somewhat-empty second peak which had a nice left working for me. The paddle-out wasn't too bad, a matter of timing and luck to avoid the big closeouts. I rode a couple of head-high lefts in quick succession, and oo-la-la, they were fun! My 7'0" sure doesn't turn like my new 6'2" though, and I'm looking forward to picking up repaired Rocket in a couple of days. While I endured a long wait for more waves, Luke took off on a right and disappeared. I thought he'd eaten it, but he said he'd gotten a great ride way down the beach. On his next wave, a clueless deer-in-the-headlights surfer smacked her fin into his Harbour surfboard, dinging it badly. He left, saying he was going to get his fish. (I though he had it in his car, but apparently he drove home for a spare board. Wish I lived that close to the beach.)

Look out kooks, Luke's got his gun

The surf seemed to be getting a bit messier. I rode a few more waves, none as fun as the first two, before the chill drove me to look for one more in. (I'm so looking forward to surfing in Nicaragua next month, when cold won't shorten my sessions.) A bouncy left took me to shore, where Luke was just heading back out. "That's not a fish!" I said, looking at his board. "Yeah," he replied, "When a kook hits my board, I get my gun!"

Heading home, I had sand in my ears, seawater in my sinuses, and a big smile on my face. Stoked!

Surfline: Solid WNW groundswell filled in overnight and peaks today, setting up lots of overhead to double overhead+ surf. Standouts see larger waves running in the triple overhead range. Winds are light and conditions clean but you will have to find a spot that can handle the size as many breaks are maxing out and a little out of control. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 10.8 ft at 16.0 s NW 102 / WIND WAVE: 1.0 ft at 4.0 s WNW / WVHT: 10.8 ft / APD: 12.5 s / MWD: 306° (Met) WSPD: 2 kts / GST: 4 kts / WVHT: 10.8 ft / DPD: 16.0 s / WDIR: 180° / ATMP: 50.0° F / WTMP: 53.6° F. Tide: Bottoming out at 1.5'.

Smile Turned Upside Down (38th Ave)

2011-12-11T17:52:00.001-08:00

Luke and Dave heading down the stairs

A good crew came together for an afternoon surf today: J-Bird and Jacob; their friends Morgan and Tara, visiting from Washington; Luke; and one of my coworkers, also named Dave. It was Dave's first time surfing with someone from work, and with a girl. First time for everything!

The Mavericks movie was filming again at the Hook, taking over most of the parking lot. My friends had arrived earlier and said the break was closed. I didn't believe they could do that, but a look from the cliff showed it wasn't worth testing since there was too much water on it for the wave to break. My friends wanted to surf 38th (longboarders!) so I paddled out there with them, figuring to move toward Pleasure Point if the wave was too mushy for me.

38th turned out to have some fun waves on offer, even for my 6'2". I rode a couple of almost shoulder-high rights all the way to the beach, playing on the face, and finding that Rocket seems to turn with a thought, light and responsive. I'm loving my new board! I need to get it on some bigger waves though.

Luke, Tara, Morgan, Jacob and J-Bird

Luke, J-Bird and I all paddled for a wave, but it had a loose longboard along for the ride, rolling in the curl. Luke caught the wave from whitewater behind the tumbling board and J-Bird got out of its way, but I couldn't. I tried to dive under the wave and came up with the wayward board on my head. I bit my tongue a little but Rocket and I seemed otherwise unscathed. I held on to the longboard until its owner came to claim it, then, biting my tongue figuratively, suggested nicely that he should wear a leash. He just laughed and paddled off. Grrr. Surfboards are like dogs; if you can't keep yours under control, use a leash.

As another wave peaked up behind me, I saw a surfer catch it, but it sectioned wide between us and I thought I was good to go. I didn't think he'd make it past the long section, and he had a open shoulder to the left, so I figured he'd take it. I didn't realize that he'd zipped far down the whitewater toward me until it was too late to back off. Still, all would probably have been copacetic if (a) I hadn't fallen or (b) he'd straightened out. Sadly neither happened. After we both surfaced, I apologized, and he suggested I check my board since he thought he'd hit it. It looked fine in the water and we went our separate ways. (I'm not entirely certain about the proper surf etiquette in that situation: Does a surfer riding behind in the whitewater have right-of-way over another dropping in on the face? It seems a bit of a gray area. Tell me what you think in the comments.)

While the rest of my buddies were grouped in the middle of the break, long-time surfer Dave had moved way outside on his quad after I saw him ride a nice wave farther in. He's a goofyfoot too, and was going for the less-crowded left. I hung out with him for a while, but the set waves didn't come through often and, tired of waiting for one, I went back to the rest of my group. Everyone was getting rides despite the growing crowd. I picked off several more, but none as fun and long as the first two. It was a good session though, and I'm really stoked about the waves I got on my new board :) It's so fun!

Passing the Hook on the way back, I saw that there was a security guard posted between orange cones mostly blocking the stairs to the beach. I asked him if they were really keeping people from surfing the Hook, which had turned on with the falling tide. He said no, but they were "politely asking" surfers not to take the main peak at First Bowl. I hope they're soon done filming at my breaks. The movie-making was fun at first but now it feels like they've overstayed their welcome.

Back at the car, when I dried off Rocket, I saw a gash on the rail near the tail, then another which also cut across the traction pad, and a third on the tail. I showed them to Luke:

Me: Well, it could have been worse.
Luke: Yeah, it could've been you.
Me: Nah, I've already done that.

I can't say for certain it wasn't the loose longboard that caused it, but I suspect the fin cuts happened when that guy said he thought he hit my board. Which means it's my fault. Even if I had a right to go on that wave, I shouldn't have - I should've looked at the last and backed off - and I'm totally beating myself up about it. So sorry Rocket :(

Surfline: Things remain fairly inconsistent overall this afternoon as a blend of WNW groundswell and SSW swell continues. Decent breaks see shouler-head high+ surf with some occasional larger sets. Standouts still get a couple feet overhead. Light westerly wind now for semi-smooth surface conditions. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 6.6 ft at 16.0 s WNW 101 / WIND WAVE: 0.7 ft at 3.6 s WNW / WVHT: 6.6 ft / APD: 11.8 s / MWD: 287° (Met) WSPD: 4 kts / GST: 6 kts / WVHT: 6.6 ft / DPD: 16.0 s / WDIR: 300° / ATMP: 50.0° F / WTMP: 54.0° F. Tide: 3' falling below 1'.

5 More Weeks

2011-12-07T20:05:00.001-08:00

Holly Beck InnerView on Korduroy.tv:

In just over 5 weeks, we'll be at her surf retreat in Nica. Can't wait!

Iced Coffey (HMB Jetty)

2011-12-06T12:23:00.000-08:00

The tide is high at dawn all this week, but with limited daylight a fortnight before winter solstice, that’s the only time I can get out to surf on a workday. I couldn’t round up any of my buddies for moral support getting back into the cold NorCal water after our Oahu vacation, so I dug deep for the self-motivation. Still, I wasn’t expecting that the air temperature would be hovering just over freezing at the beach, half the temperature of my last session at Diamond Head. A cold welcome home indeed!

No one was out as the sky lightened enough for a surf check. At first I thought I might have to look elsewhere in Half Moon Bay because only small waves were breaking shallow at the Jetty, but then there were some larger outside sets rolling through that looked promising. By the time I suited up (after first ducking back into my car for a few minutes of re-warming), one guy had paddled out on the main peak. The second peak looked better to me, especially since it was breaking left as well as right, so I gave him wide berth.

I watched the sun rise in pinks and oranges over a glassy sea. There were long shivery lulls between rideable waves. On my new Coffey shortboard again for only the third time, I bagged a couple of nice chest-high lefts with short shoulders amidst a handful of lesser rides. My breath steamed in the chilly air, and within a hour my feet were clods of ice while my fingers ached with cold. Time to switch to my thicker booties and gloves. I rode another left in to the beach, crossed the road on unfeeling feet, worked my car key from its wetsuit pocket with stiff fingers, retrieved my water jug and dumped hot water down my suit – aaah!

I miss Hawaii.

Frost on the grass

Surfline: Modest, holding SW groundswell and small/leftover WNW swell are on offer this morning. Most areas are a little sluggish with the deep morning high tide, and generally offering up 2-3'+ surf. Top exposures pull in some occasional chest/shoulder high+ sets, becoming a bit more frequent as the tide backs out(for areas that like the lower tide). Conditions are nice and clean thanks to light East-ENE winds, which look to continue through the morning. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 4.9 ft at 12.1 s NW 100 / WIND WAVE: 0.7 ft at 3.8 s WNW / WVHT: 4.9 ft / APD: 8.4 s / MWD: 313° (Met) WSPD: 4 kts / GST: 6 kts / WVHT: 4.9 ft / DPD: 12.0 s / WDIR: 90° / ATMP: 52.0° F / WTMP: 54.0° F. Tide: 5.5’ high.

Rain Brings Rainbows (Diamond Head Cliffs)

2011-12-01T11:38:00.001-08:00

Today was our last day of vacation, and we met Denis at Diamond Head for dawn patrol so I could enjoy tropical surfing once more before returning to wetsuits and the cold water of NorCal.

In the Hawaiian tradition of leaving shoes at the door, we added ours to a line of flip-flops at the base of the cliffside trail. With scattered rain and sunshine, a rainbow arched over the path behind us as we reached the beach.

Wearing a thin neoprene rashie against the morning chill, my ribs felt fine but the knee bruises ouched a little on the paddle out, though quickly forgotten in the lineup. The sea was glassy and Denis said more crowded than usual after days of wind. Early on, a longboarding surfer girl dropped in on my left and another did the same on the next one, a bit annoying since they weren't even goofyfoot. A dude in a black helmet, perhaps used to driving mules, called me off his wave with a "Hee-yah!"

When it started to rain, a bunch of surfers left the water. I don't understand why; we were wet anyway, and the shower was brief. No matter, more waves for us! They were slopey and mushy but the waves in Hawaii have more power. I rode many, mostly lefts, mostly long. I'm comfortable now on the yellow board, ready to take on the north shore, but alas, it's time to leave.

Denis waiting for waves on his shortboard, rain in the distance

It's been a great trip and I've loved every minute of the warm-water time, especially the last two sessions where the waves were pretty good fun and I was dialed in to the yellow 6'9." So stoked!

Surfline: 2-3 ft knee to waist high occ. 4 ft, fair conditions. Combo of declining trade swell and background SSW swell providing surfable but choppy waves for the Diamond Head area today. The Cliffs and Lighthouse locations have chest/shoulder high wedges laced with multiple chops. Steady trade winds will produce a bumpy ocean surface for south east exposures. Partly sunny in the morning then clearing. Isolated showers. Highs 78 to 83. Northeast winds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent. Buoy 51101: (Wave) SWELL: 9.8 ft at 14.8 s NNW 99 / WIND WAVE: 8.9 ft at 5.9 s NE / WVHT: 13.1 ft / APD: 8.0 s / MWD: 333° (Met) WSPD: 19 kts / GST: 23 kts / WVHT: 13.1 ft / DPD: 15.0 s / WDIR: 20° / ATMP: 72.3° F / WTMP: 76.3° F. Tide: 1.5' rising slightly.

Fade (Tongs)

2011-11-30T16:56:00.001-08:00

Fade: a surfer's movement back into the most powerful section of the wave... a (usually) subtle angling back toward the whitewater so to position oneself deeper in the barrel or to wait for the wave to stand up more vertically as it moves over shallower reef/sand.

Since we've been staying on the 13th floor overlooking Tongs, I've had time to mind-surf, studying the wave from a broad vantage, trying to predict where the surfers should be to catch it and what they should do to stay on it. I could see a clear need to fade often else lose the wave on the mushy shoulder. With that in mind, I made the 5-minute paddle out. A couple of surfers soon rode in, leaving just me and a dude in boardshorts. I'm still not sure how folks surf with such minimal clothing, since my ribs have gotten lightly bruised despite due care, and there's good reason surf shirts are called rash guards. Still, in the even warmer waters of Nicaragua next month, I'm going to try surfing in only my allegedly wipe-out proof bikinis by Calavera and Ola Chica. We'll see if they live up to the claims.

One thing I like about Tongs, aside from it being walking distance from our condo, is that it's primarily a left, at least in the current conditions. Although there was much less wind than last time, it was still offshore and required more forward and downward push to get into and stay on the waves. I worked it for a bunch of fun rides, once scraping my foot on the reef at the end of one. I've lost the wobbles on the yellow board now and it's pretty fun.

The swell bumped up briefly to punchy shoulder-high, and I caught a very long ride to the inside, fading to stay with the power and make it through the flat sections. Woot! The bigger set was followed by a lull. Denis told me later that Diamond Head is notorious for such sneaker sets.

The other surfer left and I had the break to myself. Sweet. I rode a few more waves but the breeze was chilling me so I caught a series of three waves to get closer to shore before paddling in over the shallow reef. Stoked!

Surfline: Small South swell provides knee-waist occasional belly-chest high sets for the better spots in Town, inconsistent. Light ENE wind early, gradually increasing and veering NE through the day, becoming moderate. Partly to mostly cloudy skies. Buoy 51101: (Wave) SWELL: 6.6 ft at 13.8 s NNW 98 / WIND WAVE: 3.0 ft at 5.0 s N / WVHT: 7.2 ft / APD: 8.2 s / MWD: 342° (Met) WSPD: 16 kts / GST: 19 kts / WVHT: 7.2 ft / DPD: 14.0 s / WDIR: 10° / ATMP: 74.8° F / WTMP: 76.3° F. Tide: Falling from 0.5'.

Snorkeling with free dolphins yesterday. So cool.

Ketchup and Mustard (Haleiwa)

2011-11-28T20:49:00.001-08:00

Amanda on her red fish

My buddy Amanda was on the north shore of Oahu with her boyfriend when Scott and I were on the south, and we wanted to meet up for a surf. I'd hoped to time our trip up to coincide with Carissa Moore's wildcard heat in the Van's World Cup of Surfing, but the contest website was abysmal and provided zero information on when that might be. We drove up today to see what we would see, taking the long route meandering the windward coast and stopping at Turtle Bay for lunch at Ola, our feet in the warm sand, looking at the ocean.

Just after we'd ordered, Amanda returned my voicemail. She had a short window to surf and we agreed to meet at protected Haleiwa since I didn't feel comfortable in overhead waves on the still slightly-tippy yellow board. (If I'd had my own surfboard, Emm or Rocket, I would totally have been down for her suggestion of catching inside waves at Chuns. Damn airline board fees!) So I could find her in the water, Amanda told me she'd be on a red fish. I said "we'll be like ketchup and mustard," looking at those condiments on the table.

Amanda's directions were good and I joined her on the inside, soon launching into my first ride. On the next wave, I was just about to pop up when I saw two large rocks exposed in my path. My brain screamed "Abort! Abort!" as I quickly pulled out of the wave. We moved away and outside of the exposed reef, and had to paddle frequently to stay clear of that danger zone.

It was good to surf with Amanda but she had to leave after I'd been there only about half an hour. Funny that we hadn't been able to meet up to surf for probably the last three years in NorCal but managed it, however briefly, several thousand miles away. I got many rides on waves up to chest high, weaving through surf schools and over one none-to-bright swimmer. The waves were mushy and I had to catch them near the peak or just broken. My best was a left with a shoulder. When it started to slow, I turned back to the peak for speed, then left again. Woot!

Sadly, I learned later that Carissa's World Cup heat had started shortly after my session ended a few miles to the south. Had I known, we would've dashed back up to Sunset Beach so I could cheer her in person. (Grrr, Vans! I'm never ever buying your shoes.)

Surfline: 4-7 ft shoulder high to 2 ft. overhead, fair to good conditions. Haleiwa looking much more manageable than yesterday as the winds and surf has dropped down. There are some fun waves rolling through but it is already looking pretty crowded....remember to share waves and show aloha. Sunny, highs 74 to 81. East winds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent. Buoy 51101: (Wave) SWELL: 6.6 ft at 9.1 s E 97 / WIND WAVE: 4.9 ft at 5.0 s E / WVHT: 8.2 ft / APD: 6.6 s / MWD: 82° (Met) WSPD: 16 kts / GST: 19 kts / WVHT: 8.2 ft / DPD: 9.0 s / WDIR: 110° / ATMP: 74.8° F / WTMP: 76.8° F. Tide: Less than 0.5' and rising.

Offshore (Tongs)

2011-11-27T14:59:00.001-08:00

Following an afternoon storm, the wind howled strong all last night. From our penthouse condo (it seems they didn't want to call it the 13th floor), I could see a surf break called Tongs (or Tonggs). There was no one out, but at least it was blowing offshore.

Later a few surfers had appeared and it seemed like it was it was only getting windier, so I succumbed to the pull of the ocean. Blocked by the high-rises for most of the long paddle out, the wind hit full force as I reached the lineup. Without wetsuit padding, I've often gotten bruised ribs surfing in warm water, but they felt OK. I think that's because I'm on a smaller board - a big longboard gets knocked into me harder than a shorter board - and because I now arch my back more when I paddle, like a real shortboarder. My bare knobby knees, however, continue to attract bruises.

Shallow water

Some kayakers were catching waves in the inside shallows and for a while I was the only surfer. Then a dude paddled out teaching a lesson, pointing out that my shortboard had more rocker than the beginner longboard his charge was trying to stay atop. The yellow board felt less tippy than yesterday; I'm getting more used to its narrowness.

I rode four or five gutless waves, fighting blinding spray and the offshore wind to get down the face for a brief ride before they petered out. I triangulated with a rock and a pink condo and paddled constantly to maintain position on the shifty peak as I was blown about, but got pushed to close too the rock and found my feet touching the reef while I sat on my board. Tongs breaks shallow, and Denis told me later than this gets especially hairy when it's big. That wasn't a concern today. It was good to get wet, and after a while every else went in, leaving me alone under the sun in the warm shallow sea.

Surfline: Small SSW swell continues. Look for mainly knee-waist high sets through the day, with occasional plus peaks at best breaks. Strong ENE wind 15-20kts. Buoy 51101: (Wave) SWELL: 7.9 ft at 12.9 s NNW 96 / WIND WAVE: 5.2 ft at 5.3 s E / WVHT: 9.5 ft / APD: 7.0 s / MWD: 344° (Met) WSPD: 19 kts / GST: 25 kts / WVHT: 9.5 ft / DPD: 13.0 s / WDIR: 90° / ATMP: 75.0° F / WTMP: 76.3° F. Tide: Falling from 0.5'.

Sexism in Margaritaville

2011-11-25T23:00:00.000-08:00

When we had dinner at Jimmy Buffett's in Waikiki, I wasn't sure which restroom to use:

I am a surf rider...

...but I'm also a girl, though I don't hula.

Good thing they added the international symbols. But the sexism, grrr!

Canary in the Tropics (Diamond Head Cliffs)

2011-11-25T18:47:00.001-08:00

We arrived on Oahu on Thanksgiving, and the day after I was first in the door at the surf shop to which Luke had consigned his 6'9" surfboard. He'd kindly offered to let me use it during our week on the island, since the airlines extort $200 to fly a board there and back.

After waxing it up, and getting a little lost when a lighthouse proved curiously hard to find, I met Denis at Diamond Head for my first warm-water surf. Mahalo to him for passing on his local knowledge of the entry point, the current, the nearby break names, etc. We surfed at Cliffs, in between the Lighthouse and Mansions.

The yellow board is narrower than any of mine and noticeably tippier side-to-side. Fortunately the waves were small and forgiving. I caught a few and fell before making a nice right. Denis was riding his wife's wide 8'6" while his 7'0" is in for ding repair, and offered to switch boards with me. But her board was a huge tanker and I quickly swapped back. The board was lacking a leash so I'd bought one, and sorely missed my XM Tangle-Free leash as the standard one kept catching between my toes and wrapping around my leg.

Still wobbly but slowly getting the hang of the yellow board, I rode a long whitewater right and then a left. The water was so clear and warm - ahh, nice! I love to feel the surfboard under my bare feet.

Surfline: 2-3 ft knee to waist high. Fair conditions. Small SSW swell trying to provide ride-able surf on southern shores today. The Cliffs and Lighthouse locations have semi-smooth open rights rolling in. Lighter trade winds will produce less choppy conditions for south east exposures. Partly sunny with a 50 percent chance of light showers. Highs 69 to 83. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Buoy 51101: (Wave) SWELL: 4.6 ft at 12.1 s NW 95 / WIND WAVE: 2.0 ft at 5.3 s ENE / WVHT: 5.2 ft / APD: 6.4 s / MWD: 319°(Met) WSPD: 14 kts / GST: 17 kts / WVHT: 5.2 ft / DPD: 12.0 s / WDIR: 10° / ATMP: 75.4° F / WTMP: 77.0° F. Tide: around 0.25'.

Skunked

2011-11-20T10:11:00.001-08:00

I can't remember the last time I got skunked by conditions, but Church of Surf was cancelled this morning. After plans to surf "Rachel's Point" fell through, Luke and I checked the Jetty (slight breeze on messy short-period swell kicked up by strong southerly winds overnight) and Linda Mar (onshore wind driving pouring rain onto a few dozen intrepid surfers hunting closeouts). Rachel's may have been surfable, but I rather doubt it. With a passing storm front, conditions were variable and the predicted offshores did not appear. Sadly, Rocket stayed bagged after riding around in the car with me for and hour and a half.

It looks like I won't have another opportunity to surf NorCal before we leave for Oahu on Thanksgiving. I'll be unplugged for a week while we're on vacation, but tropical surf reports will follow on my return. Until then, Aloha!

Canoes, May '10

November Spring (Kelly Ave)

2011-11-17T11:57:00.001-08:00

It's November, but you can't tell it from the surf. Santa Cruz has been flat, and while a steep-angled NW swell is bringing under head-high waves to exposed beaches, wind has been junking up those exposures. The fall swell train hasn't left the station yet. And I'm just jonesing to use my new shortboard!

I took a chance this morning that Half Moon Bay would have some waves yet be protected from the north wind. Manabu's report on yesterday's conditions led me to drive directly to Kelly, which had the best chance in the Bay for something more than anklebiters.

The wind was calm, and from the bluff the waves looked about waist-high with a few slightly bigger. Darren turned up a couple minutes after me, but dithered about going out. Manabu showed no hesitation, arriving with his wetsuit half on. I paddled out alone into an empty sea, but they both soon joined me, followed a little while later by J-Bird, Denise and finally Jacob.

Manabu, Denise and Darren

The surf wasn't as small as it seemed from the bluff. I'd forgotten to add on for the elevated perspective, but no matter. At our level, no one would complain about an undercall, although my buddies would've been a bit disappointed if I'd exaggerated. Most waves were closing out but tempting shoulders popped up from time to time on short sections. I blew the drop on my first one, then got caught inside with Manabu as whitewater kept exploding on the sandbar in front of us. I tried to duck-dive with limited success, until my arms got too tired to sink the board, then paddled sideways to get out of the impact zone and into the rip current for an easier path to the outside. I rode a few small waves that petered out, then found myself in the path of whitewater once again. I decided not to fight the white, and caught a couple fast ones from there, working one to an inside reform.

My best ride was a shoulder-high left, making a fast drop into a swooping turn on the shoulder. Woot! Then I caught a slightly smaller right, pumping it through a flat section until it reformed as a left on the inside. Stoked!

Surfline: NW swell-mix continues this morning, easing through the day. Size for better exposures is generally running in the waist-chest-shoulder high zone, with a few larger sets for top NW exposures. Light onshore flow continues, though, so expect some bump/texture across the region, keeping conditions less than ideal, but still rideable in most areas. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 4.9 ft at 12.1 s NW 94 / WIND WAVE: 1.3 ft at 3.7 s NW / WVHT: 4.9 ft / APD: 6.5 s / MWD: 305° (Met) WSPD: 6 kts / GST: 8 kts / WVHT: 4.9 ft / DPD: 12.0 s / WDIR: 300° / ATMP: 53.2° F / WTMP: 52.7° F. Tide: Around 3.5' falling slightly.

Downsizing (HMB Jetty)

2011-11-13T11:00:00.000-08:00

Finishing touches at Ward Coffey Shapes: Pro Teck fins and a leash string

7'0" behind 6'2"

Like last year, my birthday present to myself was a custom surfboard shaped in Santa Cruz by Ward Coffey. It was delayed due to issues with the glasser, but I brought the new board home yesterday and added a traction pad, nose and tail guards, and an XM Tangle-free leash.

At 6'2" long, 20.5" wide and 2.5" thick, it's a step down from the 7'0" Ward shaped for me a year ago to help me transition to a shortboard.

Eager to try it out, I woke early and was at the Jetty half an hour past dawn. There were already a few surfers scattered on several peaks, waiting for mostly clean, but a little mixed up, thigh- to chest-high waves. I headed out farther south this time, near the traffic light, where an empty left was rolling through sometimes. All doubt that the transition would be smooth was erased when I caught and rode the first wave I paddled for, although it closed out quickly and left me bouncing atop whitewater. Woot!

As I paddled back out, a wave started to break in front of me, and I thought, might as well see if I can sink this board. It's been quite a while since I've been on a board small enough to duck-dive, but I had partial success. I pushed the nose down and under, but have a feeling my ass was hanging out in the air when the wave hit, as my old buddy Dwayne said it did when he made a small attempt to teach me the maneuver several years ago. Something to work on with my surf coach, but it may be that the board is too buoyant for me to submerge both of us all the way.

J-Bird and Jacob had said they'd meet me, but were running late and didn't turn up until I was almost done. Their friend Denise joined us too.

J-Bird paddles into a nice wave

I bogged the nose paddling for a few waves, and missed some because I wasn't forward enough on my board or at the critical place on the wave. But I'll get all that sorted out soon enough. And I didn't miss many that I would've gotten on my longer board. I caught and rode a bunch of waves, maybe upwards of ten. A couple had shoulders that let me feel the speed and responsiveness of the new board, hereinafter called Rocket.

I rode one in and left the water with a perma-grin stuck to my face; so stoked! Rocket and I are going to be very good friends. I can't wait to see where it's going to take me.

Surfline: Old, fading W (250-290+) swell is reduced to leftovers as small S (170-190) Southern Hemi energy blends in. Expect inconsistent waist-chest high+ waves at average exposures, while the better breaks occasionally hit shoulder high. A nearly 6' high tide tops out around 11am, so expect things to slow down as we move through the morning. Westerly wind adds some texture and crumble to the openly exposed areas now. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 6.6 ft at 8.3 s NW 93 / WIND WAVE: 5.2 ft at 5.0 s NW / WVHT: 8.2 ft / APD: 6.6 s / MWD: 311° (Met) WSPD: 16 kts / GST: 19 kts / WVHT: 8.2 ft / DPD: 8.0 s / WDIR: 310° / ATMP: 54.5° F / WTMP: 53.2° F. Tide: 4' rising to 5'.

Birthday Party Wave (Linda Mar)

2011-11-10T16:43:00.001-08:00

Emily and Max, ready to paddle out

The weather forecast was wrong, oh so wrong. And that's a good thing. My birthday dawned sunny and nearly windless, instead of south windy, overcast and maybe raining. The cams also showed flat surf, but my faith in predictions that swell was on the way was not as misplaced as my belief in the weather forecast. Lake Linda Mar had roused by noon, offering up to chest-high waves in the middle of the beach where Emily and Max paddled out with me.

I regretted that Scott had talked me into a birthday mimosa at lunch, because my timing was off and kooked up the first few waves I caught. Soon enough it wore off, and I got a few nice rides, including a right that flattened out and reformed into a left as I navigated around a guy paddling out. Fun! I took it nearly to the beach, where J-Bird was waving from dry sand. She'd just come from a meeting and didn't have her surf gear, but offered to use my camera to take photos from the beach. Here they are:

Birthday party wave! Max, Emily and me.

Emily and Max left when I rode a wave in to retrieve my camera from J-Bird, the lens sadly fogged from the temperatures changes and residual moisture inside. I wanted to get one or two more waves and Deepak joined me in the lineup, but the wave quality was dropping with the fast-falling tide and rising south wind and swell. It was hard to find a shoulder among the hard closeouts. At last I snagged a right that didn't slam shut immediately and came in smiling. I must've been a good girl this year, to get such a nice day and fun surf with my friends on my birthday. Stoked!

Surfline: Starting to build and still very clean. Shape is on the walled up side with some corners and will likely worsen through the afternoon as the tide drops and the swell builds. We're seeing a definite increase in new West swell (270-290) already. Conditions are still clean with light SE/ESE wind and surf is in the 4-5'+ range at the better breaks, with standouts up to a couple feet++ overhead. Look for a building trend through the afternoon, with many breaks getting better with the dropping tide. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 6.9 ft at 11.4 s WNW 92 / WIND WAVE: 3.0 ft at 4.8 s SSW / WVHT: 7.5 ft / APD: 7.2 s / MWD: 285° (Met) WSPD: 12 kts / GST: 14 kts / WVHT: 7.5 ft / DPD: 11.0 s / WDIR: 140° / ATMP: 54.5° F / WTMP: 54.1° F. Tide: 3' falling below 1.'

Early Birthday Surf (HMB Jetty)

2011-11-08T12:39:00.000-08:00

I'm taking Thursday off of work because it's my birthday, and had hoped for a nice, uncrowded and leisurely surf that day. But the forecast is for strong southerly winds tearing up leftover dribbles of swell, so I decided to get in my birthday surf early. If it turns out the predictions are wrong, then I'll just do it again on the right day, like Kelly Slater re-winning his 11th world title.

It was c-c-c-old this morning, only 41F/5C when I pulled into the dirt lot. Darren joined me for dawn patrol but after seeing my texted report, "Glassy WH+", Luke apparently decided to stay in his warm bed. The swell is on the fade and was inconsistent, shifty and backwashy, but there were some fun waves to be plucked from the closeouts.

Darren, first in the water

Two guys paddled out to nearby peaks partway through the session but we had the break otherwise to ourselves. A sea otter floated in the distance, the first I've seen this far north. Our breath steamed in the chilly sunlight as we waited through the lulls. Darren lauded every wave he saw me ride, making me feel a little kookish, but I'll chalk that up to it being more of a challenge for me to get into the small waves on my 7'0" than for him on his longboard. Missing the slow and fat ones, I realized I needed more critical placement, closer to the peak, but misjudged the sweet spot a few times and got rolled in water slightly warmer than the air. I rode a nice left, and a long right with a second drop that took me far along the shore, plus a few others less memorable.

I'm glad Daylight Savings Time has ended so weekday dawn patrols are again possible. There's no better way to start the day!

Surfline: WNW swell-mix backs down through the day today, as small SW swell mixes in. The tide keeps most breaks sluggish early, but expect most to improve quickly as the tide turns around. Winds are light offshore and looking to stay down/offshore through the day. Size is in the shoulder-head high+ range for good exposures, with a few lingering 2-3' overhead sets for standouts. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 5.9 ft at 12.1 s NW 92 / WIND WAVE: 2.3 ft at 4.8 s NW / WVHT: 6.2 ft / APD: 7.3 s / MWD: 316° (Met) WSPD: 12 kts / GST: 14 kts / WVHT: 6.2 ft / DPD: 12.0 s / WDIR: 330° / ATMP: 51.8° F / WTMP: 53.1° F. Tide: under 5' rising to 5.5'.

"You've Gotten Better" (HMB Jetty)

2011-11-06T16:05:00.000-08:00

While Kelly Slater was winning his 11th world title (really this time) in the Rip Curl Pro at Ocean Beach, I was in the water 20 miles to the south surfing with my friends. I'm not sorry to have missed it as we caught lots of fun chest- to head-high waves at the Jetty. The last time I surfed with J-Bird and Jacob was in mid-September, so it was good to finally meet up with them again. The forecast was wrong about rain today but it's turned cool, so I put the leaky Rip Curl 4/3 Insulator away and wore my new Xcel 4/3 Infiniti with all the trimmings (booties, gloves, hood).

J-Bird and Jacob getting ready to paddle out

J-Bird reported it was blown out to the north, which probably explains why the protected Jetty was so crowded. We paddled out near the main peak, which wasn't too packed. There was definitely some power in the water, strong broken waves shoving me back to toward the beach, but I pushed through to the outside.

The waves were a bit jumbled with a mix of swells in the water, so it paid to be picky. When I paddled up next to him after riding a few, Jacob remarked "You've gotten better!" He said he'd seen me catch more waves than not, greater than my typical share from his recollection of earlier in the year. I feel like my surfing has improved with coaching, but it was good to hear someone make that objective observation.

J-Bird and Nikki

Nikki joined us in the water partway through the session, and J-Bird and Jacob traded off boards a couple times between J-Bird's 7'8" Coffey and a borrowed thick 7'3". It was interesting to watch die-hard longboarder Jacob wobbling on a shorter board, but they both got rides on it.

Nikki, J-Bird paddling, Jacob

When I noted that we'd drifted south into closeout land and started paddling back toward the Jetty, Jacob drew along side and challenged me to a race. It was pretty neck-and-neck until he asked "How far are we going to go?" and I said laughingly, "To here - because now I'm ahead!"

I rode a bunch of fun waves, mostly lefts (yay!) and a few with shoulders, under sunny skies with friends. Stoked!

Surfline: NW wind/groundswell fades as a new, reinforcing NW'erly (295-320) wind/groundswell blend picks up through the day and mixes with holding SW (200-215) energy. Head high to overhead+ (5-7') surf is common at the decent exposures, while top breaks see sets to several feet overhead. Peaky for beachbreaks exposed to the combo. Cleanest conditions early, but with a fat early morning high tide. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 9.5 ft at 11.4 s NW 91 / WIND WAVE: 1.6 ft at 4.0 s WNW / WVHT: 9.5 ft / APD: 8.3 s / MWD: 311° (Met) WSPD: 8 kts / GST: 10 kts / WVHT: 10.2 ft / DPD: 11.0 s / WDIR: 320° / ATMP: 53.4° F / WTMP: 53.1° F. Tide: 4.5' falling to 3'.

Post-surf walk: harbor seals at Fizgerald Marine Reserve (Google Nexus One)

Surf Stronger: Core Training Review

2011-11-05T12:00:00.000-07:00

Several months ago, I downloaded Surf Stronger Volume 2 - Core Training with Serena Brooke. While I like Volume 1, the second incarnation is even better, doing away with the unnecessary downtime of the original.

The main workout is forty minutes, with about the first ten devoted to a pre-surf warmup you can do on the beach. The remainder is the core training, which requires a fitness ball and mat. Many of the exercises are analogues to those prescribed by my physical therapist after I compressed a disk in my lumbar spine on a bad wipeout at Linda Mar five years ago. They are designed to strengthen the core, which has as one benefit a protective effect on the back. As in the first Surf Stronger, there are explanations of how each exercise is designed to improve surfing performance, with illustrative on-the-water clips occasionally interspersed. If you need motivation to keep going, there it is. While none of the exercises seem too easy, only the last one before the stretching portion poses a serious challenge for me: plank on the ball for 60 seconds. I can do it, but barely.

An added bonus is the separate Quick Core segment which takes only 10 minutes and does away with the excuse of not having enough time.

Surf Stronger Volume 2 is my new favorite home training workout.

Into the Sun (HMB Jetty)

2011-11-02T23:00:00.000-07:00

Daylight savings time ends next week, which means the return of dawn patrols but also forecloses workday sunset sessions until next spring. With winds forecast light all day, I decided to get in one last sunset surf and enjoy what may be summer's last breath before a cold storm fills in later this week. The weather did not disappoint; it was nearly 70 degrees and sunny when I arrived at the Jetty. Still I wore gloves and attached my hood, which I was glad to put on as the sun dropped to the horizon and a light breeze arose.

There were more surfers than I expected already in the water and just making the post-work dash across the road. The main peak looked best, so I paddled out to join the little pack. Unfortunately, before I'd even ridden a wave, I surfaced in froth and took in an accidental swallow of seawater. Uh-oh. I tried by shear force of will not to let it get to me, but grew increasingly nauseated as the session went on.

The downside of all the sunshine was that I was looking into the sun for waves, the brightness intensified by the long reflected trail of light on the near-glassy surface of the water. For the first time in a while, I wished I'd worn my Sea Specs sunglasses. The glare made it difficult to see, and I misjudged my placement on a few waves. I still have to remind myself to keep looking back at the wave until the last, but am getting better at making the final go/no-go decision.

I snagged a couple rights from the edge of the group on the main break before moving a little south to a shiftier and less consistent but empty peak. I was rewarded with a handful of nice lefts and another right. My surf coach has observed that a surfer's hand positioning helps the upper body connect with and control the lower body and the surfboard. I've been web-watching the Rip Curl Pro at Ocean Beach this week, and there is something to that. I tried to mimic it today, and while it feels a bit awkward, it does seem to work.

The sun fell to the sea in an orange blaze and I shivered as the temperature fell below 60 degrees. The last wave is always a while in coming, but I found a right that took me partway to the beach before being subsumed in another. Ah, sweet sunset session! Until next year.

Taken with Google Nexus One; all other media recorded with Panasonic Lumix TS3

Surfline: It's a beautiful fall afternoon with sunny skies and light offshore flow continues. Our NW swell mix is fading, but still providing good waves in the head high range at the exposed spots, with some overhead sets at best breaks. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 6.2 ft at 12.9 s NW 90 / WIND WAVE: 1.0 ft at 3.8 s SSW / WVHT: 6.6 ft / APD: 8.5 s / MWD: 304° (Met) WSPD: 2 kts / GST: 4 kts / WVHT: 6.6 ft / DPD: 13.0 s / WDIR: 40° / ATMP: 59.9° F / WTMP: 57.7° F. Tide: 4.5' falling to 4."

Into the Fog (Linda Mar)

2011-10-30T13:37:00.000-07:00

All photos/video taken with my new Panasonic Lumix TS3, except as noted.

Before I left this morning, I checked the Linda Mar cam on Surfline and saw nothing but fog. Steamer Lane, which is slightly predictive of the cam-less Jetty, was tiny to flat. I had little hope that the Jetty would have waves for me, but I did have a little hope. Alas, the indicators were right; double-overhead to a mouse on the sunny edge of the low cloud bank. Not wanting to surf alone, I drove north into the fog. I didn't stop at Montara, where a great white shark was seen last week, but it looked unruly in glimpses from the road.

Tiny waves on the edge of fog at the Jetty (Google Nexus One)

At Linda Mar, the fog was pushed back from the beach so I could see the lineup. The south end was packed, and the parking lot was filling up.

Busy on the south end at Linda Mar

I spied with my little eye a left popping up near the pumphouse with just a few guys on it.

With some underlying short-period windswell in the water, it was a bit of effort to paddle out, but I drew on my swim-sprint strength to get to the outside, breathing hard when I reached it.

Wave selection was key since so many of the waves were closing out, and I do think I'm getting better at making those judgments. I caught an almost head-high left that was surprisingly fast, turning on the shoulder, going with the flow. Woot! The shoulder held up for a bit but I dropped off when the wave broke to avoid repeating the paddle out through an excess of whitewater. I rode a few more fun lefts, shoulder-high or better. It's so much easier to see what the wave's doing and respond when the face is in front of me instead of behind my back. I love lefts!

After a brief appearance the sun retreated into the fog, which then grew even heavier. There was a strong southward current which many in the water seemed not to notice. Maybe that's why there were so many people at the south end; they were getting pushed down there and piling up. I was keeping an eye on the pumphouse, my shore reference point, and constantly paddling back against the current to my spot, which was staying pretty empty despite the growing crowd. But I've been fighting a virus since last week, and too soon my energy faded and I started to make mistakes. I caught one last fun left, this time riding it all the way to the shallows. A short but oh-so-sweet session!

Surfline: NW (300-320) wind/groundswell mix blends with small-scale S-SW Southern Hemi energy this morning. Waist-chest-shoulder high surf continues at the decent exposures, while top breaks hit head high on the best sets. Fairly light wind now under foggy skies. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 4.9 ft at 11.4 s NW 90 / WIND WAVE: 3.3 ft at 5.6 s NW / WVHT: 5.9 ft / APD: 6.1 s / MWD: 309° (Met) WSPD: 12 kts / GST: 16 kts / WVHT: 5.9 ft / DPD: 11.0 s / WDIR: 330° / ATMP: 54.9° F / WTMP: 58.8° F. Tide: Rising through 3.5'.

Coaching: Benefits of Training (Sharks)

2011-10-25T23:00:00.000-07:00

Surfline got everyone's hopes up for a northwest swell bump today, but then downgraded the forecast just before it arrived. The swell had shifted more northerly and wasn't making it in much to the town breaks. I was to meet my surf coach Barry for a sunset session on the the tail of his afternoon lesson. I parked next to his Vanagon and reached the beach a couple minutes past the appointed hour. Someone who looked like him was waving persistently from the lineup, and while I wasn't certain the gesture was directed at me, I paddled out to the large crowd waiting for chest-high waves. Turned out it wasn't Barry, and I didn't see him anywhere in the water.

The crowd at the Hook was ridiculous (don't these people check the surf cams?!), and I worked my way right toward the fringes. Twenty minutes later, I was no closer to finding Barry or a wave to myself, so I thought I'd catch one in and see if I couldn't find him on land. Moving to the outer edge of the pack and inside, I snatched a little wave no one else made and picked my way carefully over sea-grass-covered reef to the pocket of sand by the stairs. I located Barry in the parking lot with the woman from the afternoon lesson, and we headed back to the shore to paddle out at less-crowded Sharks.

The waves were smaller at Sharks with shorter shoulders, almost like the Jetty with a lot more kelp. I rode a bunch, working one over a flatish section to an inside reform. Although the breeze made me chilly as the sun set, it was nice to surf again sans hood and gloves. Barry said he can see that I've gotten stronger; the swim sprints and inverted Bosu training are paying off. My wave judgment is improving, and I'm moving more confidently to be at the critical point for takeoff, then getting quicker to my feet and turning. When I've recovered from last week's wrist tweak of unknown origin, I'll add in push-ups and pull-ups ot failure. Still, I need to work on going for waves sooner with less initial hesitation, and look more down the wave once I'm on it to work in some up and down turns. I was trying to do that tonight, but most of the waves didn't offer a lot of space to maneuver before breaking.

I've only just started to use my new skateboard, which will help me get the feel of tighter turns. Since I live on a hill I've been riding it on the flats around work, inspiring surprised and bemused comments from my coworkers. Ah, well, eventually they got used to seeing my surfboard in my cubicle, so I expect they'll get inured to my skateboard too. One of them remarked that I always seem to be having so much fun and enjoying life - and yeah, I guess I am!

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.” -Helen Keller

Surfline: Mid-period WNW (290-310) swell mix builds in through the day and peaks, as small NW windswell mixes in, with waist-chest-shoulder high surf at the better exposed breaks. Standouts see some larger waves up to head high on the best tides. New south swell starts to very slowly creep up. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 9.5 ft at 10.0 s NW 89 / WIND WAVE: 1.3 ft at 4.0 s WNW / WVHT: 9.5 ft / APD: 8.7 s / MWD: 318° (Met) WSPD: 10 kts / GST: 12 kts / WVHT: 9.5 ft / DPD: 10.0 s / WDIR: 320° / ATMP: 55.4° F / WTMP: 58.5° F. Tide: Zero rising to 1.5'.

Smashing Pumpkins (HMB Jetty)

2011-10-23T16:29:00.000-07:00

Today's semi-monthly mass surf meetup was to be followed by skating. At the suggestion of my surf coach, I just bought a skateboard, a Sector 9 Orange Crush. I've never had a desire to ride a skateboard, since falling on pavement is significantly more unkind than falling in water. But Barry rightly pointed out that not much of a surf session is actually spent riding waves, so a good way to get more time on my feet practicing turns would be to do that on a skateboard. So OK, I'm in. I was surprised to learn how many of my surf buddies also skate; in fact, it's most of them. And a couple offered to show me the ropes this morning.

Unfortunately today's surf 'n' skate plans kind of fell apart, so it's a good thing I bugged my coworker David into giving me some skating tips in a parking lot near work Friday. Still, several of us met up at the Jetty to surf. By the time I finally arrived, Luke, John, Heather and her husband Eric had already suited up, and I was badly in need of surf, determined pumpkin seekers having turned my normally half-hour drive to the Jetty into a trek of more than an hour and fifteen minutes. I checked the traffic to the beach on 511.org before I left, and it falsely showed yellow, just a little slowing. In real life, the line of cars started backing up on Highway 92 before I'd crested the mountain, and it was stop-and-go black almost to the coast road.

When at last the pumpkins came into view, I fantasized about driving my car through the field, smashing the lot of them. What insanity drives people to sit in such ridiculous traffic, just to pluck a pumpkin from a slightly muddy field, when they could buy one with their groceries at the supermarket for a lot less hassle? It defies comprehension. Needless to say, I was ready to scream by the time I pulled into the dirt lot at the Jetty. I knew the waves would be small there (and in fact had suggested relocating to a venue more open to the NW swell), but I needed to get wet ASAP and enjoy the company of my friends.

The traffic frustration started to wash off as soon as whitewater splashed my face on the paddle out, and disappeared with my first ride. We had fun party-waving the (at best) waist-high peelers. "Low Tide" John called me into waves with "Go, Flea!" The waves were tiny but offered shoulders, and I rode a bunch, almost all rights, despite being on my 7'0" when my friends were all on longboards. After Luke and then Heather and Eric left, Andy joined us, followed by Erin on her brand new surfboard when John switched off babysitting duties. The little girls rode my old 5'8" Xanadu Rocky in the whitewater. It was a gorgeous summer day in October, warm air and not-too-cold-water for a hoodless and gloveless experience, and I enjoyed the sensation of cold water flowing through my fingers once I got used to the shock of the chill. Waves, sun, friends - who could ask for anything more? (Well, some bigger waves, but that's what I get for hanging with longboarders!)

My old 5'8" Xanadu Rocky, resting on the beach in the left foreground

Surfline: Short-period NW (295-315) swell continues as small SSW (190-210) groundswell begins to ease. Things looks fairly soft/inconsistent initially as the tide approaches a 5'+ high. Decent breaks see knee-waist high waves, while top spots get inconsistent larger sets (especially as the tide begins to drop). Conditions are nice with light wind. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 5.2 ft at 7.7 s NW 88 / WIND WAVE: 1.3 ft at 4.0 s NW / WVHT: 5.6 ft / APD: 6.6 s / MWD: 325° (Met) WSPD: 2 kts / GST: 2 kts / WVHT: 5.6 ft / DPD: 8.0 s / WDIR: 110° / ATMP: 61.7° F / WTMP: 57.7° F. Tide: 3.5' falling below 2'.

An Absence of Dolphins (Kelly Ave)

2011-10-19T12:50:00.000-07:00

There are some movie images so disturbing that they lodge in my mind indelibly. (This is why I don't watch horror movies.) One is from a murder mystery I saw years ago called Gorky Park: a multitude of writhing maggots eating the flesh off of a skull to prepare it for facial reconstruction. I fear another may be of the shark in Soul Surfer taking Bethany Hamilton's arm, rising without warning from the sun-sparkling sea, its huge sharp-toothed mouth agape; one bite and gone, leaving behind a spreading red stain. I couldn't stop seeing it as I bobbed all alone in the ocean under gloomy skies just after dawn. Plans to meet up with surf buddies fell through at the last minute and because dawn comes so late this time of year (no thanks to Daylight Savings Time), I didn't have time to drive anywhere else before work. Yet I wasn't going to skunk myself since there were decent waist- to shoulder-high waves within reach. I hoped for a stranger to paddle out and join me, but no one did. A guy walked his dog on the beach and another stood staring out to sea, but I was almost out of sight of the campground.

Last week a great white twice buzzed surfers at Mavericks just over 3 miles away. And two nights ago, while filming a surfing scene at Steamer Lane for Of Men and Mavericks, Holly Beck saw a shark pass under her surfboard. We like to tell ourselves that sharks don't come into the Santa Cruz town breaks because of the kelp, but it seems that's not the case (or perhaps the rules change at night). We also tell ourselves that sharks don't stay around dolphins (maybe another little fiction), but although there have been dolphin sightings at surf breaks up and down the coast recently, none of those benign sea mammals were currently at Kelly. All these unfortunate thoughts were sloshing about in my head this morning.

I timed my entry well and had a dry-hair paddle but didn't stop far enough out. Caught inside by a set, I took a right from the whitewater and then turned back for more. I rode a nice chest-high left as far as it would go, suddenly seeing the beach rushing up toward me. I bailed off the back in the shallows and grabbed my board, running onto dry sand to get out of the shorepound impact zone. Rinse, and repeat; another fun left, another shore dance. Two waves in a row, the ocean had spit me onto the sand. Perhaps it was telling me to get out of the water? A seal - shark food! - swam by just outside the shorebreak, pausing to look at me with big doe-eyes. Another warning? My rational mind dismissed the thought that the ocean had any benevolent sentience that was trying to protect me from unseen lurking predators, and I paddled out again. Still, I couldn't calm the persistent uneasiness, the feeling of being watched by a malevolence, so I decided to catch one more and go in. Of course a lull ensued. Looking into the murky green water, barely able to see down to my bootie-clad feet, I waited, finally grabbing some whitewater to shore.

Later Heather told me that many shark attack victims claim to have sensed something before they were struck. Was I lucky? Or just a victim of an overactive imagination? I'm glad I'll never know.

Surfline: Soft, crumbly, broken up little lines working through this morning at most breaks off a small mix of NW and SSW swell. Most of the region is good for surf in the 2-3' range, with some occasional larger sets in the chest/shoulder high range at top exposures. Onshore flow and bumpy, jumbled surf keep the surf pretty unappealing across the region. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 3.9 ft at 10.0 s WNW 87 / WIND WAVE: 1.0 ft at 4.2 s W / WVHT: 3.9 ft / APD: 7.4 s / MWD: 300° (Met) WSPD: 8 kts / GST: 12 kts / WVHT: 3.9 ft / DPD: 10.0 s / WDIR: 310° / ATMP: 59.5° F / WTMP: 58.6° F. Tide: 4'.

In the Good Company of Strangers (HMB Jetty)

2011-10-16T17:18:00.000-07:00

Last night I watched Soul Surfer, fast-forwarding through the religious parts. While the shark was on camera for probably less than a second, the image of it surfacing to bite off young surfer Bethany Hamilton's arm stuck with me. I'd heard Montara was good yesterday but with all of my buddies unavailable, I wanted to surf somewhere with less of a sharky feel. The Landlord was seen twice at Mavericks last week, but the Jetty seemed safe enough and I expected it to be picking up the south swell. I was happy with my choice, since when I drove by Montara later it looked as crowded as Linda Mar but with better waves.

I got a bit of a late start for almost-dawn patrol and was surprised to find there was already traffic at 7 am on Highway 92 for the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival. Still, no one was out at the Jetty. The ocean was glassy and there were some fun-sized waves to play on.

Friday in Santa Cruz I was fine without my hood and gloves, so I left them in the car. As soon as I started paddling I realized I'd made a mistake on the gloves. The water was decidedly colder than in Monterey Bay. Forcing myself to put bare hands in the chilly sea, I caught a small right and rode it to shore, setting my board above the tide line and crossing the street to my car. I passed a couple of guys suiting up, and I think they may have been snickering when I said I was going back for my gloves. When they joined me in the lineup a few minutes later, cursing the cold water, they told me I was right. Soon after, their buddy paddled up. All three were friendly and cheery, nice company in the lineup.

A pod of dolphins cruised by just outside of us. It's always a treat to see them, but unfortunately I didn't have a camera since my Pentax Optio W90 decided to malfunction after Friday's session. I'm giving it a good dry out to see if it will come back to full life, but may be shopping for a new waterproof point-and-shoot soon. For sure, it will not be a Pentax.

I rode a few lefts and a couple rights, happy that a fair number of waves were holding up shoulders. I was already going for a shoulder-high right when one of the shortboarders called me into it. It was my best wave of the day, peeling almost to shore. Back in the lineup, the same guy said "Nice wave!"

A long lull followed, so I asked the next surfer to paddle out if he'd put a quarter in the wave machine. I guess he must have because it picked up after that, and I rode a couple more, chatting with the also-friendly new guy in between. With a set wave incoming, he said "This one's all yours if you want it," and then "It's coming right at you," such that I felt I should paddle for it, although I thought I was too deep. Should've listened to my own judgment, because I was, and the wave broke on me, flipping me over, my core muscles tightening to protect my back which nevertheless cracked lightly. (I read about a surfer who had his back tweaked wiping out, and later another wipeout put it right again. But no such luck; the chronic pain lingers on.) I then learned that the guy was on his second surf after being out of the water for five years. He complained about choosing closeouts this morning and was on a fish too, a poor board choice for the steeper waves on offer. And I listened to him why? While my wave judgment isn't great, it's decent and getting better, and I need to trust myself more.

I waited through a shorter lull until another wave came for me. Paddling right to get into position, I popped up for a nice chest-high drop and kept on the face until the section closed, then took a foamy white-water ride to the beach. Stoked!

Surfline: It's a mix of old NW swell and fun-sized S-SSW (180-200) energy that's good for knee-waist high+ waves at decent exposures. Top breaks hit chest-shoulder high on the better sets. We're dealing with generally light wind early for smooth surface conditions now. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 3.9 ft at 14.8 s SSW 86 / WIND WAVE: 1.0 ft at 3.7 s SSE / WVHT: 4.3 ft / APD: 7.6 s / MWD: 208° (Met) WSPD: 8 kts / GST: 12 kts / WVHT: 4.3 ft / DPD: 15.0 s / WDIR: 160° / ATMP: 58.8° F / WTMP: 57.7° F. Tide: Just under to just over 3.5'.

Pomponio State Beach looked fun in the afternoon and these guys were ripping. Someday...

Food

2011-10-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

Last year for Blog Action Day, I wrote about water. While the connection between surfing and water is obvious, when I read that this year's topic is food, at first I didn't think I'd have anything to write about on my surfing blog. But on second thought, there are quite a few links.

Fish made of plastic beach trash

Our beaches are littered with the discarded containers of our convenience-food society. At the Jetty last Sunday, covering a short section of high-tide beach on my way from the surf to the road, I picked up an empty plastic Pepsi bottle, a large plastic 7-Eleven drink cup, and a plastic lid from a jar of pretzels, and deposited them in the roadside trash can 30 feet away. A growing number of cities have banned plastic grocery bags, but until more do, they'll continue to litter our shores and seas. I recently visited the Washed Ashore Exhibit at the Marine Mammal Center and learned of a whale who had been found dead with over 300 lb (136 kg) of trash in her belly. When coastal visitors choose the convenience of free plastic bags at the grocery store instead of bringing their own, beverages in plastic bottles instead of re-usable ones, or sandwiches in zip-lock bags instead of tupperware, and then don't have enough respect for the planet and other beach-goers to haul out what they hauled in, the result is non-biodegradable trash on our beaches that washes into the ocean to be mistaken for food by the animals who call it home. And that's a crying shame.

Ouflow from an abalone farm

Our food choices also affect water quality. Runoff into the ocean from agricultural operations can introduce pathogens that make surfers sick Fertilizer flowing from coastal farms triggers algae blooms that are toxic to some marine wildlife. While generally harmless to humans, some surfers, like my buddy Manabu, experience an allergic reaction to these "red tides." Large animal factory farms are a major contributor to water quality issues, especially on the east coast, and are responsible for growing ocean "dead zones." (For these environmental reasons but primarily ethical ones, I've been vegan for many years. It's easier than you think.)

Recently California banned shark-finning, an Asian food choice that has had devastating affects on the shark population. A variety of superstitions are spooned up with expensive shark fin soup, but the reality is that fishers cut the fins from slow-reproducing sharks and throw them back into the ocean to die, leading to a significant decline in the population. As a surfer with a niggling fear of being chomped by one of the Men in Gray Suits, perhaps attracted to the lineup by fishers casting bait into the lineup in search of smaller swimmers to fill their bellies, I admit to being a bit conflicted on this issue. After all, fewer sharks in the ocean means less risk of being mistaken for a seal in my mostly-black wetsuit. But I'm only a tiny bit conflicted; shark-finning is wrong, plain and simple, and I applaud my state for outlawing it.

Litter, runoff, finning and fishing: all ways that what we choose to eat affects the ocean in which we play.

Of Men and Mavericks (Pleasure Point/Hook)

2011-10-14T20:23:00.000-07:00

I took today off from work to be a surfer extra - in Hollywood-speak, a "background artist" - in a movie filming locally about Jay Moriarty, lamely entitled Of Men and Mavericks.

Heather and I met up at Starbucks and caravanned to street parking a few blocks from the meetup location at a park on 38th Ave. They wanted us there at 6 am, still dark and far too early. After a disorganized check-in, we waited hours to be called. Totally could've gone surfing in the interim, if only we'd known.

Gathering in the park to receive sparse information

Probably the safest place for a board

Finally we suited up - no gloves or hood today! - and headed to the slimy stairs at 38th Ave. It was near high tide, and they were overcautious in helping the extras into the water. The line was long and slow.

The line to leave the park

The line for the 38th Ave stairs

Nemo resting, Heather waiting

The Santa Cruz Patch caught me waiting in line for the stairs:

Where's Cynthia?

Movie star Gerard Butler, who plays Jay's coach Frosty, was escorted through the crowd to the overlook.

Star Gerry Butler surveys the scene

When at last we reached the cool water, Heather left me in the dust, paddling quickly out on her longboard to the camera and support boats while I took a little longer on my 5'4" fish Nemo. Still, I blew past a family that clearly had never surfed and was floundering around like the star of Blue Crush 2 (limp-wristed paddling). We'd been instructed to form just a half-circle on the beach side, and I found Heather on the left end at the back.

When they said the left was bloated and we needed to move right, I abandoned her in search of better viewing.

Heather, waiting

On the right side, I somehow wormed my way closer to the front, until I was in the first row. I'm pushy that way, and it helped that I was on little Nemo.

Eventually the director explained the scene. After a woman in the canoe played the end of a Hawaiian song, Gerry would yell "To Jay" while throwing water into the air. A few seconds later, we extras were to do the same. They needed to shoot this from several camera angles from both the boats and the water, so we repeated it five or six times. People kept jumping the gun, to the director's exasperation.

After about the fourth try, Gerry gave a little speech through the bullhorn, trying to set the mood. On the next two takes, his voice broke badly. I'm curious to see what ends up in the movie. And, of course, if I'm in it!

Holly Beck is in the middle distance

I saw Holly Beck sitting on a longboard between the camera boats, and wanted to paddle over to say hi. I thought I might get stopped, but I tend to follow the adage that it's better to ask forgiveness than permission, so what the hell. And in fact no one said a word. I introduced myself and chatted with Holly for a little while. She's gotten hair extensions and highlights in order to surf-double for the woman who plays Jay's girlfriend. Holly is just as nice as everyone's told me and I'm looking forward to spending a week at her surf retreat in Nicaragua in January.

The real Frosty (left) with Gerry who plays him (right)

I watched the next-to-last take with Holly, getting a vantage similar to what we'll eventually see in theaters. Then I paddled back around to the group, looking for Heather. One more take and they called lunch, and I couldn't find her in the crowd. I started to paddle toward the less crowded stairs at 36th Ave, but the waves at Pleasure Point were beaconing. My arc curved toward them and I made the long paddle, stopping on the inside. I didn't have high hopes jumping down from my 7'0" to a 5'4" fish, but I surprised myself by catching a decent number of waves. It was quite bumpy, and I once got thrown by an upjolt as I tried to pop up; it was like fighting double gravity. But the main trouble was that the board was squirrelly under my feet, and I couldn't stay on it. The only time I got my feet planted and stable in the right spot, ready to ride, the wave petered out. Boo. Still, it gives me confidence that I'll be able to transition smoothly down to my new 6'2", the 7'0" made smaller.

Pleasure Point

Riding/tumbling in one last time, I paddled over to the 36th Ave stairs and headed back to the park, passing Heather on the way. She was just leaving in time to make her stint at the Marine Mammal Center, skipping the second full-circle paddle-out to be filmed by helicopter. I'd already been there over 8 hours and there was no telling when they'd get it together for the next shoot. Hungry and disappointed in the lack of vegan options for lunch, I decided to bail as well and head to Whole Foods for something more filling than an orange and chips (vegan pizza, yeah!). The Hook was on my way back to the car so I went out for another quick session. Similar results, although I wish I could've stayed on the left at the last.

The Hook

Paddling muscles very tired, I hit the road for home. Such a better way to spend a warm sunny day than in my cubicle!

Surfline: Steadily fading NW groundswell combines with a slow building SSW swell through the afternoon. Size has really come down and things are looking pretty slow at the moment with the tide just topping out. Waist high and under waves are the norm while standout exposures are up to chest-shoulder high on inconsistent sets. Winds are light and the surf should speed up a bit through the remainder of the day as the tide drops back out. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 4.9 ft at 11.4 s WNW 85 / WIND WAVE: 1.3 ft at 3.8 s NW 84 / WVHT: 4.9 ft / APD: 7.7 s / MWD: 296° (Met) WSPD: 4 kts / GST: 4 kts / WVHT: 4.9 ft / DPD: 11.0 s / WDIR: 350° / ATMP: 60.4° F / WTMP: 59.0° F. Tide: Around 4' falling.

Bunny Slope (38th Ave)

2011-10-13T17:26:00.000-07:00

Two of my buddies bailed on me for dawn patrol, but I finally managed to coax my coworker David into the water. He'd told me it had been a while since he last surfed, but I didn't learn until this morning that it's been two years, during which time he said his wetsuit apparently shrunk a little (ha!).

Although they weren't filming until noon, the 41st lot was blocked off for the "Of Men and Mavericks" crew so we had to park on the street. The Hook looked fun if lully but was already packed before sunrise, so we paddled out at 38th where conditions were more suited to my rusty friend.

David's sole wetsuit is only a 3/2, but the water and air were so warm this morning that he was fine. I was toasty in my new Xcel Infiniti 4/3, but not uncomfortably so, although I did have to put my hood down after a while.

Sets were inconsistent and when I found myself inside of a bigger breaking wave, I decided to hop on and ride it hopefully into a reform. It didn't, but I got a long whitewater ride nonetheless, and then had a long paddle back out. The rest of my waves were all green, many missed by the longboarders sitting outside. The skill level of the competition was decidedly down from recent sessions at the Hook. I caught a bunch of looong rights, with lots of time to turn on the face. The waves were slow, mushy, and only about chest-high. It took David a few to get the rhythm again, but then he was up and riding.

It was a fun session on a beautiful warm summery morning, but I found myself looking longingly at the bigger waves at the Point, and if I'd had more time would've relocated to the Hook after David left to make a meeting. I think I need to be a little bit scared anymore in order to get a big burst of stoke. The size of my desired waves keeps getting bigger, and I'm curious to see how high it will eventually climb.

Tomorrow, I'm an extra in the Mavs movie, along with 1000 other surfers who will re-create the paddle-out for Jay Moriarty at Pleasure Point. Should be an interesting day.

Surfline: Knee- to shoulder-high. Clean, lined up surf working through. Inconsistent, but still a few okay corners to be had. Healthy WNW (290-310+) groundswell steadily backs down. Better exposures are good for more chest-shoulder-head high waves, as standout NW breaks offer up lingering sets running 2-3' overhead. Look for shape to stay pretty good through the morning with the incoming tide push, before eventually slowing down approaching a 5'+ high late this morning. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 8.5 ft at 12.9 s WNW 83 / WIND WAVE: 2.6 ft at 5.3 s NW / WVHT: 8.9 ft / APD: 8.6 s / MWD: 303° (Met) WSPD: 12 kts / GST: 14 kts / WVHT: 8.9 ft / DPD: 11.0 s / WDIR: 320° / ATMP: 57.9° F / WTMP: 57.4° F. Tide: Just under 3' rising to almost 4'.

Bouncy (HMB Jetty)

2011-10-09T15:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Scott and I drove to Half Moon Bay for lunch and a beach walk via Pacifica to avoid the horrible traffic from pumpkin-seekers on Highway 92. As we approached NorCal Surf Shop, I thought, might as well stop in on the outside chance they have an Xcel Infiniti 4/3 in women's size 4. In the wetsuit section, I gravitated toward the few with a bit of color in a sea of black, and the smallest of those was just what I was looking for. I tried it on and the fit seemed pretty good, so I plunked down my credit card and walked out with it, after hearing that they'd just put the suit out on the rack. Serendipity!

New wetsuit in my Trunq gear box, I got to the Jetty just past dawn to beat a 5'+ high tide midmorning and pumpkin traffic. It didn't look like there was a lot going on and three surf-checkers decided to keep driving. They missed out, because outside of those lulls, chest- to head-high sets were rolling through.

The incoming tide kept things bouncy. I paddled for a left only to get lifted out the back by a reflected wave returning from the riprap wall protecting the highway. Unlike Friday, I did wipeout today, and silently reprimanded myself for not concentrating enough on wave judgment. On one wave I crashed when I tried to turn too soon, before I was planted on the board. Timing. I got a handful of short rides but none memorable. The two guys who'd just beat me into the water were joined by a few more and then another few, making a small crowd of ten on just two working peaks. I triangulated at a good postion away from the pack and was amused (and a bit annoyed) when they all ended up surrounding me. A shortboarder was getting a lot of rides, some of them of the turn-and-stroke-twice-into-it variety. Not there yet.

The lulls grew longer and I remarked to a guy nearby that the tide was starting to shut it down. He asked, "Are you Surfergrrrl?" I confessed it, and he introduced himself as Mark. He was on his first surf with his new shortboard, and I hope got some good waves after I left. I was responding to his questions about my camera when I saw an incoming right walling up behind him, so as I finished my sentence, I paddled into position and caught it. It was my wave of the day. Not taking the nearly head-high drop all the way down, I turned as soon as I was solidly to my feet and rode the face. The wave started to break but then reformed and I got another little drop, riding on almost to the wall. Woot!

I paddled back out to Mark grinning and thinking that I couldn't possible top that ride, but a few minutes later got another almost as sweet. As Emily says, stokey stoke!

Surfline: NW swell continues to fade today, mixing with easing SW-SSW (195-210) energy. Decent exposures see waist-chest-shoulder high waves early, while top breaks hit head high on occasion. Light wind prevails for generally clean surface conditions. A mid-morning 5'+ high tide slows things down later. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 4.9 ft at 7.7 s NW 82 / WIND WAVE: 3.6 ft at 5.3 s NW / WVHT: 6.2 ft / APD: 5.9 s / MWD: 311° (Met) WSPD: 12 kts / GST: 16 kts / WVHT: 6.2 ft / DPD: 8.0 s / WDIR: 330° / ATMP: 55.2° F / WTMP: 57.2° F. Tide: 3.5' rising to 4.5'.

Coaching: Putting it All Together (The Hook)

2011-10-07T12:16:00.000-07:00

We've had an early and unpleasant taste of winter this week, with a couple of rainstorms sweeping through ahead of a cold high pressure system. That brought sunshine for dawn patrol but also air temperatures only in the upper 40s F (less than 10C). I paddled out with Barry at the Hook just after a beautiful sunrise. The set waves were overhead, clean with a light offshore. It wasn't too crowded, but most of the surfers in the crowd were pretty good.

I caught an overhead right and as I took the drop, I saw someone on the wave behind me, so I bailed, ungracefully. Turned out I could've stayed on; it was only Barry, who said he was blocking for me. The next wave was all mine, a 6-footer in Barry's estimate; I made the exciting drop into an immediate backside turn on the mid-face and rode the green until it closed out ahead. Stoked!

There were long lulls between sets and the high tide was slowing things down. I rode another right, then waited, shivering, for the next one. (I returned my Insulator wetsuit to Rip Curl for repairs, but unfortunately they didn't deign to fix all of the busted seams.) While I missed a few waves I paddled for, spray from the offshore sometimes blinding me, I didn't wipeout during the session.

Finally I saw a wave peaking to my right and moved toward it, turning at the last and checking one more time over my shoulder - good to go - before paddling into it with commitment, popping up, turning fast - woot! I'm getting closer to having the entry steps down, and then it will be time to concentrate more on what comes next.

Surfline: Looking a little shifty/warbly, but offering some good, lined up corners at times. Sets are running 1-2' overhead. SW (205-220) groundswell tops out today as old NW (290-310+) mid-period swell fades. Better exposures are still in the waist-chest-head high range, with sets running 1-2' overhead for top exposures. Conditions are mostly clean with light Northerly winds. The tide peaks around 8:30am, so expect a lot of spots to be a little sluggish early. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 8.2 ft at 10.8 s NW 81 / WIND WAVE: 2.0 ft at 3.8 s NW / WVHT: 8.5 ft / APD: 7.6 s / MWD: 315° (Met) WSPD: 10 kts / GST: 12 kts / WVHT: 8.5 ft / DPD: 11.0 s / WDIR: 330° / ATMP: 56.8° F / WTMP: 57.7° F. Tide: Rising slightly to 4.5' high.

Blue Crush 2 Review

2011-10-03T07:10:00.000-07:00

In 2002, Blue Crush came out in theaters, just before we moved to Cocoa Beach, Florida. That movie, plus Step Into Liquid, enticed me into my first surf lesson on a water-logged 10' foamie. Pushed by the instructor onto a tiny warm wave, I stood up for the first time, and was instantly, irrevocably hooked on surfing.

Blue Crush 2 was released this summer directly to video. Several of my surfer girl friends share a similar history with and affection for the original, so last night I joined J-Bird, Nikki, Heather, Amanda, and Samantha for a screening party at Nikki's house in San Francisco. In honor of the movie, we mixed up Blue Whale drinks (1 part vodka, 2 parts sour mix, 1 part blue curacao, and ice), then mocked it from the couch.

As one would expect from a Hollywood surf flick, there was little attention paid to accuracy with respect to surfing. The studios bank on the average landlubber not noticing disconnects like waves morphing from waist-high as a star paddles to overhead as a real surfer-double rides them. Or one ride going on for the better part of a minute, combining footage of multiple waves so the surfer can improbably string together barrels and airs. The writing is bad, with improbable rivalries and friendships springing up instantaneously and just as quickly reversing. Sweet waves are not on camera as often as one would like, although South African Rosy Hodge does some awesome surfing in the star's place. The gratuitous use of a monkey as a prop is disturbing. But we laughed at the way star Sasha Jackson "Dana" paddled, limp-wristed with only her hands lightly dipping into the water. And we now have a running joke about the best line in the movie, "Dana" to wanna-be love interest "Joel," who's naked but for a towel and has just asked her to stay longer in his surf camper-bus: "You let me know about that swell, OK?" Good times.

A movie about Mavericks surfer and Santa Cruz local Jay Moriarty is about to start filming in NorCal, and I hope that they try harder to get the surfing right. I'm excited to be an extra in the paddle-out scene at Pleasure Point next week!

Lure of the Dolphins (Teslas)

2011-10-02T15:26:00.000-07:00

Mailbox at Teslas

Ever the optimist, I put on sunscreen before I left the house this morning - and was rewarded with sunshine burning off the fog by the time I reached the beach. I checked Kelly first, but the closeouts looking whomping and the shoulders few. The closeouts at Dunes were smaller and more manageable, but I had a feeling the two guys out might soon depart, leaving me uncomfortably alone at a deserted spot in the state park. Too bad none of my buddies could join me at the Church of Surf this morning. The Jetty was smaller still and breaking close to shore. As I pulled my surfboard out of the car I reconsidered; if I don't push my limits, I'll never push past them. The Jetty felt safe and familiar, but I wouldn't find much of a challenge in those tiny waves. And I didn't want to fight the pack at Linda Mar for scraps again. Linda Mar isn't crowded because the waves are better. I turned the car around and headed back towards Dunes, checking a couple spots along the way. The dolphins at 'Teslas" lured me into the water there, though I didn't see them again.

Although no one was surfing at Teslas, it's in a residential area so there were frequently people walking and biking past, enough to make me feel comfortable paddling out alone. Since I'd parked in front of Kyle's house, I texted him in case he wanted to come out and play in the waves.

The waist- to chest-high waves were mostly closing out, as everywhere in Half Moon Bay, with a few short-lived shoulders popping up here and there. It was a good opportunity to practice wave judgment and positioning. And I couldn't cheat off of other surfers because there were none. I started slow but got better as the session went on, riding a bunch of those quick shoulders toward the end, both lefts and rights.

It was a glorious warm sunny morning and I could think of no better place to be than in the glassy ocean catching waves. Stoked!

Surfline: Mid-period NW-WNW (280-300+) swell on tap this morning along with small-scale SSW energy for 3-4'+ surf. Top breaks get sets around shoulder-head high. Light wind. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 4.9 ft at 9.1 s NW 80 / WIND WAVE: 1.0 ft at 3.8 s W / WVHT: 4.9 ft / APD: 7.0 s / MWD: 308° (Met) WSPD: 2 kts / GST: 4 kts / WVHT: 4.9 ft / DPD: 9.0 s / WDIR: 130° / ATMP: 58.3° F / WTMP: 58.3° F. Tide: 3' rising slightly.

Mixed-Up Mutants (HMB Jetty)

2011-09-29T12:47:00.000-07:00

Another pop-up NW swell filled in the night before last and is on the fade today, plus there's a small SW swell in the water. The combo produced some mixed-up, sloppy and shifty peaks at the socked-in Jetty. While Jenn worked on the basics in the whitewater, Luke joined me in the lineup with a few other guys. We both aborted paddling for one wave that Luke said "just went all mutant on us," contorting into an unrideable shape.

I caught and rode a lesser mutant, taking off right, turning left as the wave re-directed and not making it down the stair-step. Fun! Amidst a handful of other rides, I got a nice left and then a chest-high right in to the beach, both with shoulders that held up for a bit.

Any day that begins in the ocean is a good day!

Surfline: We have a mix of mainly easing NW-WNW (280-310+) swell and some small SSW groundswell running this morning. Better exposures are good for waist-shoulder-head high surf, with sets up to 2-3' overhead for standouts early in the morning. It's hard to get a look at most breaks with patchy dense fog settled in along the coast. Winds are light/variable from the South, so conditions are likely pretty clean. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 6.6 ft at 12.1 s NW 79 / WIND WAVE: 2.0 ft at 4.5 s WNW / WVHT: 6.6 ft / APD: 7.6 s / MWD: 305° (Met) WSPD: 12 kts / GST: 16 kts / WVHT: 6.6 ft / DPD: 13.0 s / WDIR: 150° / ATMP: 57.7° F / WTMP: 56.7° F. Tide: Less than 2' rising to 2.5'.

Salad with Loggers (Linda Mar)

2011-09-25T16:27:00.000-07:00

Sunday services at the Church of Surf were scheduled to start at 8 a.m. Scott and I arrived a bit late at the south parking lot, where he detached his bike from the MINI's roof rack and peddled off on the bike path. This being Linda Mar, many congregants were already gathered in the water, but my buddies were nowhere to be found. I suited up but was not looking forward to paddling out alone on the south end; the bigger, emptier waves to the north looked more enticing.

As I texted Luke for his ETA, he pulled into the lot in his shiny new blue Subaru WRX, and said that Emily and Max had followed him but turned into the north lot. Finally, I would get to meet a couple of Twitter friends I've been conversing with online for over a year. Sure enough, as I walked to the beach with my board under my arm, Emily appeared on the sidewalk. Odd that, meeting someone in real life for the first time, you'd hug like old friends, but that's how it is in the internet age.

Emily, Max, and Luke, who's wearing seaweed

I paddled out alone at the extreme south end by Boat Docks. The seaweed was heavy just off the beach, but for strength training purposes I paddled halfway out towing a pile of it on my leash. It's amazing how much drag a small hunk of kelp can create. I soon found my place well inside and closer to the peak than the few longboarders who'd taken up station there. The rest of the beach, except for the north, was clotted with surfers and closeouts, but happily Boat Docks was less populated, and I was the only one not on a log. I was perfectly positioned to pick off the waves the longboarders let slip by, especially as most didn't seem to notice the current kept pushing them too far outside. I was ever on the move, staying lined up with the deck of the last house on the hill and the sloping wooden boat ramp extending from a beach house. Goofyfoot joy, it was all lefts, and I caught a bunch. I rode the first too far inside, falling off flat into what seemed a watery salad of chest-deep loose seaweed. I towed my heavy leash outside of the vegetated zone before clearing it from my board and body. After that I tried to turn out before reaching the salad bar.

Emily and Max

Luke, and then Emily and Max, paddled out some time later. Max's board is a 10-footer and weighs 60 pounds! (That's 3 meters and 27 kgs for my friends outside the USA.) The waves were more suited to longboarders, waist-high+, mushy and slow, and the offshore was working to push me off them before I could get over the lip, but I challenged myself to be in the right place to ride on my 7'0". For sure coaching has increased my wave count; I'm getting better at predicting the peak and moving to that place, and I'm turning up my speed to get into waves. As I paddled for one next to Emily, I was closer to the peak, looking over my shoulder to see how the wave was forming up. I said, "I don't think I'm going to get this one - it's too mushy," assuming she would take it on her longboard, "but I'm going to try!" I kicked it into high gear, catching the wave, pushing the nose down against the wind, and popping up with my weight forward - surprising myself that I was riding. Later, as light rain began to fall, Luke repeated something our buddy John had told him, that when you get to a certain skill level, you can ride anything with anything, i.e. any wave with any board. (My surf coach disagrees, saying that while you can more quickly adapt once you reach a high level of wave judgment and body/board awareness, you'll still kook it up for a while on a new wave-riding device.) I've a long way to go, but I feel that I'm moving toward that place.

It was a fun morning, all the better for the presence of friends and for low expectations that were more than fulfilled.

Lining up on a boat ramp

Afterwards, Scott and I stopped by J-Bird's booth at Fog Fest in Pacifica. I'd forgotten to bring a t-shirt to put on after surfing, and she hooked me up with a nice one from her Birdswell line.

Surfline: NW-WNW (280-310+) swell on tap along with small SW groundswell. Decent exposures see shoulder-head high waves, while standout areas get overhead+ sets. SW-WSW wind early for some very minor surface texture (S wind protected areas offer up some cleaner waves). Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 7.5 ft at 10.0 s WNW 78 / WIND WAVE: 0.7 ft at 3.7 s W / WVHT: 7.5 ft / APD: 9.1 s / MWD: 296° (Met) WSPD: 8 kts / GST: 10 kts / WVHT: 7.5 ft / DPD: 10.0 s / WDIR: 160° / ATMP: 57.4° F / WTMP: 56.3° F. Tide: 4' rising to 5'.

Shortboard on Order!

2011-09-24T17:30:00.000-07:00

Colors

This morning I met with shaper Ward Coffey in Santa Cruz to order my new shortboard. Barry joined us to offer his observations. I mentioned that I'd like to be able to duck-dive the new board, but judging by the look that passed between shaper and coach, I think it'll be a while before I can ride a board I can completely duck-dive. I'm just such a lightweight.

The discussion produced a scaled-down version of my 7'0" Emm, which Ward shaped last year. The 7'0" is itself a smaller incarnation of my 8'3" Magic. After the latest shrinkage, here are the numbers:

6'2" long
13.5" x 20.5" x 14.5" wide
2.5" thick

The new board will be a squashtail thruster in epoxy with a matte finish, "Albert Blue" on the deck and "Lady Fern" on the rails/bottom. It'll have Future fins, Pro Tecks again, but this time the stiffer Performance fins. Like Emm, the new board is designed to work in a variety of wave conditions. And it will fit in the travel bag I already have, so I'm set to take it to Nicaragua in January.

After settling on the parameters, Ward took us back to his shaping room, where he drew the outline of my new board on a blank. Then he placed it in his to-do stack, and told me the board will be ready in 3-4 weeks. An early birthday present, to myself. Ward said that "on a shorter board, you're more intimate with the wave." Not just gliding along the surface, but really feeling what the wave is doing and responding to it. I can't wait!

Coaching: Poaching (The Hook)

2011-09-22T14:53:00.000-07:00

Our first WNW groundswell of the fall season filled in overnight. With the buoy showing 12' @ 16s, I thought the waves would be much bigger than they were, and so did a lot of people. The Hook still had nice size, shoulder to overhead, but the crowd had turned out for more. Barry led me around from the second peak to Sharks and back again, looking to poach some of the smaller waves from the pack.

On a spacecraft, there's a mechanism that's used to position the reflectors. It has two components, one coarse to get the reflector in the vicinity of the desired location, and another for fine-tuning to the exact spot. Barry helped me to be in the right general area, and his break knowledge and experience were invaluable in the crowded conditions. But then it was up to me to be in just the right place at the right time, when traffic would allow me to get a wave.

For a while I wasn't having much luck, but ended up with four solid rides. On one, I was following Barry right to correct our drift, when he said, "Are you going to go for this one?" The wave was almost upon me and I sat up quickly, slid back, spun around and paddled right into it for a nice drop and ride. Woot!

Barry noticed that I'm paddling stronger back to the lineup, so all those swim sprints must be doing some good. My wave judgment, timing and positioning are also getting (incrementally) better; today my ratio of waves paddled for to waves ridden was high with no takeoff crashes like the last coaching session. There were a few I missed because I wasn't deep enough, but I didn't go for any that were clearly too steep/deep.

There was a bold sea otter in the lineup, putting on a show between sets just a dozen feet away. When he bent forward to scratch his upper back, he curled into a spinning otter-ball, rolling head over heals, 'round and 'round in the water. I don't bring my waterproof camera out on coaching sessions because I want to focus on surfing, but I wished I had it then.

When it was time for just one more, I stroked into a nice head-high right and turned quickly on the shoulder for a little face time before it sectioned. I kept riding, all the way to the beach. Stoked!

Surfline: New NW groundswell peaks with chest high to 1-2' overhead waves at good spots. Standouts go 2-3'+ overhead on sets. Small S-SW swell blend mixes in with 2-3' sets. Light winds early. Patchy, dense fog possible. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 14.4 ft at 13.8 s WNW 77 / WIND WAVE: 2.3 ft at 4.8 s NW / WVHT: 14.4 ft / APD: 11.3 s / MWD: 302° (Met) WSPD: 12 kts / GST: 16 kts / WVHT: 14.4 ft / DPD: 14.0 s / WDIR: 300° / ATMP: 54.1° F / WTMP: 56.8° F. Tide: Peaking high at 4'.

Sunshine and Smiles (HMB Jetty)

2011-09-18T16:35:00.000-07:00

My extended surf posse met up this morning at the Jetty: Luke, J-Bird, Jacob, Nikki, Darren, Heather, John, Adrian, Noah, and Denise.

The posse owns the peak

The waves were small, only knee- to waist-high, but we were out for fun and friendship.

Talking story in the lineup: John, Darren, J-Bird, Nikki and Denise

And I finally got a surfer nickname: Water Flea!

J-Bird, leaving the dirt parking lot with her longboard under her arm: OK, longboarders, let's go get some waves.
Me: I brought my 7'0". Can I come too? ;)
John: "You're such a little water flea, for you that 7'0" is a longboard!"

Jacob on an epic wave

It should be noted that John's nickname is Low Tide, for the way his wetsuit allegedly smells. I didn't get close enough to verify.

We hooted each other into knee-highs and there were many party waves. Just after I took this video, J-Bird claimed the wipeout of the day, shooting Luke's new tanker high in the sky. I was definitely runner-up, but no one saw mine so it doesn't count.

John demonstrates the look on J-Bird's face as she went over the falls

Abstract Luke

Lots of fun with friends on a summery sunny day!

Surfline: NW windswell eases as reinforcing SSW (195-205) Southern Hemi energy mixes in. Average areas run knee-waist high, while top breaks see occasional 3-4' sets. Light southerly wind early for generally clean conditions, although openly exposed areas see some light surface crumble (S wind protected breaks stay cleanest). Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 3.0 ft at 10.8 s WNW 76 / WIND WAVE: 4.3 ft at 5.9 s NW / WVHT: 5.2 ft / APD: 5.1 s / MWD: 311° (Met) WSPD: 16 kts / GST: 17 kts / WVHT: 5.2 ft / DPD: 6.0 s / WDIR: 320° / ATMP: 55.6° F / WTMP: 55.2° F Tide: 3.5' rising to 4'.

Fall is coming. Pumpkins in a field near Half Moon Bay.

Extra Spin Cycle (Rachel's Point)

2011-09-17T13:17:00.000-07:00

I wasn't expecting to surf today, but when the opportunity arose, I pounced on it. The Jetty was tiny so I met up with Luke and J-Bird at "Rachel's Point." The waves were shoulder- to head-high+ with just one or two other surfers in the water.

At this spot, there's a fine line between being (a) in the right position, (b) too far on the shoulder to get into the wave, and (c) too deep and getting rolled. The wave was also folding back on itself as it broke, adding to the difficulty level. Sadly, I couldn't find the sweet spot (a), although both of my buddies rode a couple nice long lefts on their longboards. To my credit and unlike prior sessions here, I wasn't erring on the side of caution (b), which meant I went through the spin cycle quite a few times (c). There was just one wave I felt that I caught at the right place, but I wasn't quick enough to my feet.

Luke and J-Bird heading out to the point

Tumbled to the inside again and feeling a bit frustrated, I caught outside whitewater which reformed into a fun little left with moguls, successfully navigated. I rode a few more like that, enjoying a sunny bonus surf with just my friends.

Surfline: Small NW swell and SSW swell mix is good for mainly 2-3'+ surf with occasional chest high+ sets at top spots. 5-11kt SW to WSW wind through the day. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 6.2 ft at 7.7 s NW 75 / WIND WAVE: 2.0 ft at 4.2 s WNW / WVHT: 6.2 ft / APD: 6.3 s / MWD: 324° (Met) WSPD: 10 kts / GST: 12 kts / WVHT: 6.2 ft / DPD: 8.0 s / WDIR: 330° / ATMP: 54.7° F / WTMP: 55.4° F. Tide: 3.5' rising to 4.5'.

Damn You, Dirty Kelp! (Indicators/Middle Peak)

2011-09-14T22:00:00.000-07:00

This is my 500th blog post. Wow.

As I paddled for the wave, I saw he was almost right in front of me. I thought about aborting but was lined up and wanted it. Besides, he should know enough to get out of the way. I popped up and made the drop, angling away from him, and he duck-dived (seal-dived?) into the wave just several feet from my board. I thought, how lucky am I, to live in a place like this?

J-Bird and I met up at the Rip Curl Outlet in Westside Santa Cruz after work to look for new wetsuits. My 4/3 Rip Curl Insulator was nice while it lasted, but after a year is giving me the shivers even in summery-warm (55F/13C) water. Alas, they had only half a dozen size 4 women's wetsuits in the store, none of them chest-zips. The sales guy tried to steer me toward a guys' XS, but I didn't bother trying it on. As J-Bird noted, it would have had "an extra-low crotch." When I asked the Twitterverse for wetsuit recommendations, many surfers were raving about Xcel, so I'll see if their size 4 fits me.

J-Bird did score a new 5/4 wetsuit, and was hot at first when we paddled out at Indicators. The tide was low and there was exposed kelp everywhere. On the plus side, it was surprisingly uncrowded, with only a few other surfers in our vicinity. By contrast the main peak was pretty packed, but then the waves over there looked really sweet, slightly overhead on the bigger sets, with the usual show of hot surfing.

J-Bird waiting for her last wave

Waves were fun-sized and more inconsistent where we were, and then there was the kelp. We were both getting flung off our boards on pretty much every wave at various points of the ride, when the kelp didn't hold us back from catching them in the first place. Starting from a clear zone to get enough free paddling space, I got halted at the top, midway through the drop, while making a turn onto the face, and partially down the line. Kelp fingers would ensnare my fins, stopping my board and flinging me over the handlebars. Superman! I did manage to escape its clutches for a few decently-long rides, and J-Bird got some nice ones too on Tweety P. My best wave came near the end of the session as the sun was setting, with one of the guys on the inside hooting my drop. Stoked!

Surfline: SW groundswell, although slowly easing today, continues to provide plenty of waves throughout the region this afternoon. The better spots are mainly in the 3-4' zone, while standout breaks produce occasional sets around head high. Conditions are staying rather clean for most spots, especially the spots with kelp and right points protected by a bluff. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 7.9 ft at 12.1 s WNW 74 / WIND WAVE: 2.0 ft at 3.8 s NW / WVHT: 8.2 ft / APD: 6.9 s / MWD: 287° (Met) WSPD: 8 kts / GST: 10 kts / WVHT: 8.2 ft / DPD: 12.0 s / WDIR: 300° / ATMP: 56.8° F / WTMP: 55.8° F. Tide: Bottoming out just below 1'.

An Infestation of SUPs (Linda Mar)

2011-09-11T13:53:00.000-07:00

If a bunch of fish is a school, and a group of dolphins is a pod, what's a collection of SUPs? There were more janitors at Linda Mar than I've ever seen in one place outside of Hawaii. As I paddled for a wave I was in position for, a pair of them swooped in on either side of me from farther out, and I had to back off, a Mini Cooper about to be crushed between two trucks.

Manabu and I had waited for the tide to come up from closed-out low, but the trade-off was that there were already a lot of boarders out when we arrived at 8 am. North of the pumphouse was less populated and I spied a nice left rolling through sometimes, so we paddled out there. My helmet stayed in the car. Last Tuesday was the second time this year I've gotten whiplash on a wipeout, and I'm convinced the helmet made it worse. So I'm going to reserve it for only the riskiest times and go back to wearing a hood.

Linda Mar was doing its usual closeouty thing with a few corners in the mix. The waves were shoulder high, give and take. As part of my ongoing coaching homework (and not a bad assignment), the other day I was watching a video of a pro-surfer girl, I don't remember who. Barry to told me to pay attention to the pros' hands, and I noticed that she wasn't exactly pointing in the direction she wanted to turn, but her hand was aimed that way and her arm/shoulder/upper body followed the motion. So this morning I tried to mimic that, to some success.

Manabu commented that I was getting a lot of waves, meaning, I suppose, more than he's used to seeing me take, and more than when we last surfed together over a month ago. I've no doubt that's due to the improvements I've made since I started working with a coach. My best wave was a left that I worked through two reforms all the way to the beach, staying mostly just in front of the peak, right where I wanted to be. It's so smooth and quiet on the face. Woot!

Sweeping the sea

I'm coming to realize that I need to make some mindset changes for surfing Santa Cruz with my coach, because the waves are different from those I typically surf. In San Mateo County, rides are generally short, and shoulders are fleeting or nonexistent. I've gotten used to taking the drop all the way to the bottom and then turning onto whatever brief shoulder might exist, or just bracing for whitewater impact to ride it out. When the drop is all there is, why not enjoy the thrill of dropping the full height of it? And often I've been too hungry to let any maybe makeable wave go by, even when I know there won't be much of a ride. But Santa Cruz has better waves, with long shoulders, and I need to switch my thinking to take advantage of them while being more selective. A sunset session later this week will be a good opportunity to try that out.

Surfline: NW-WNW (295-310+) swell drops as background southerly swell continues. Waist-shoulder high surf is common at decent exposures and combo breaks, while standout spots still hit head high on occasion. Southerly flow early leaves all but the S wind protected areas semi-bumpy this morning. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 5.6 ft at 10.0 s NW 73 / WIND WAVE: 1.6 ft at 5.6 s WNW / WVHT: 5.9 ft / APD: 8.0 s / MWD: 324 (Met) WSPD: 10 kts / GST: 12 kts / WVHT: 5.2 ft / DPD: 9.0 s / WDIR: 140° / ATMP: 57.9° F / WTMP: 56.1° F. Tide: less than 3' rising to 4'.

Women Who Surf Mountains II

2011-09-07T06:47:00.000-07:00

"I try never to be stopped by my fears." -Maya Gabeira

Women are continuing to charge big waves alongside the boys. Keala Kennelly was freesurfing Teahupo'o on the weekend it was too big for the men's contest, and later paid her dues to the reef. Unfortunately the only video I can find is of a wipeout, though not the one on which she badly cut her face.

And check out this article on the inspiring Maya Gabeira, who was also tow-surfing Teahupo'o last week and had a couple close calls. She gets knocked down, but gets back up again and goes right back out.

Gabeira still remembers that day at Waimea, the first time she rode a truly big wave, one with a 25-foot face. "I was high for about 10 days afterward," she recalls. "I found my passion out there." But passion is a hungry thing; it has a way of making us crave, well, more passion.

So true. I find mine on much smaller waves, but greatly admire the skill and courage of these women.

Coaching: Need for Speed (Hook/Sharks)

2011-09-06T12:42:00.000-07:00

This morning I felt like I was doing more than my typical share of wiping out, and I collected a ridiculous amount of the Pacific Ocean in my sinuses to show for it. Sniffle. Plus a touch of whiplash and a bruise on my upper thigh from landing on my rail. I was a bit off my game. The south swell hasn't faded out completely, and was sending occasionally head-high waves through at the Hook. Barry and I started there and I caught one of those but stuck the nose at the bottom of the drop. It wasn't crowded yet but one guy was spewing anti-aloha, so we paddled over to Sharks for a more positive vibe.

Today's tips:

Take a last look at the wave before going. It's good to commit, but be ready to un-commit at the final moment, for example if I'm too deep. Then back off without coming off of the board, to be ready sooner for the next wave.
Generate more paddling speed into the wave and and be quicker on the pop-up, cutting a third- to half-second. This will help in catching the smaller waves instead of stalling.
After popping up, make a fast mid-face turn for down-the-line speed, then turn up and down on the wave.

I caught a few other middling waves but pulled off one good ride where I felt the speed, dropping in, making a fast backside turn before the bottom and rocketing along the face, though I didn't get in much in the way of up-and-down before the lip grabbed and flipped me. Fun! I can see the potential. Now for the practice.

Barry also noted that I was slightly left on my takeoff which I need to correct. I hadn't realized I was doing it and it's good to have a coach to point out stuff like that.

Surfline: SSW groundswell continues to slowly ease while mixing with a small amount of NW-WNW swell wrap. Average breaks top out around waist high while the better southern hemi exposures still see fun size sets in the waist-chest occ. shoulder-head high range. Expect some long lulls with the larger waves on the inconsistent side. Light winds early with patchy, dense fog. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 4.3 ft at 14.8 s SW 72 / WIND WAVE: 1.3 ft at 3.7 s NW / WVHT: 4.6 ft / APD: 7.0 s / MWD: 227° (Met) WSPD: 10 kts / GST: 12 kts / WVHT: 4.6 ft / DPD: 15.0 s / WDIR: 330° / ATMP: 52.0° F / WTMP: 55.8° F. Tide: 3.5' rising to 4'.

Current (Bolinas)

2011-09-04T16:49:00.000-07:00

I want to like Bolinas. It offers a left, goofy-foot nirvana in the NorCal land of rights. And the scenery is pretty, I'm sure beautiful if the clouds would lift.

Bolinas Lagoon

But I can't. As far as satisfying surf session go, Bolinas is 0-3 for me. It must be good sometimes, but I've never caught it on one of those days. And if I'm going to spend 3+ hours roundtrip driving to a spot that I'll share with shark food (there were two seals in the lineup this morning), it has to be worth it.

Current rushing seaward

Although Emily's a regular foot, she's from the East Coast and used to surfing backside, and Bolinas is one of her favorite spots. She enticed me north with the promise of long lefts and we met up at Coast Cafe before parking at the end of the road, noting that the current was rushing fast out of Bolinas Lagoon. We paddled out at the groin, and kept paddling. All. The. Time. After the current reached the ocean it turned sideshore, pushing away from the peak. If we stopped paddling, we quickly drifted too far onto the shoulder to have a prayer of catching anything, although Emily stood a better chance on her longboard. So we had to keep paddling. And I don't mean sit on the board and hand-paddle, I mean prone paddling at a slow and steady pace so as not to lose ground. If I wanted to get anywhere, say to the peak where I needed to be to catch the mushy waist- to chest-high waves, I had to paddle faster.

Finally I made it close enough to an inside peak to get a nice ride, pumping it through a flat section, after some roll-and-tumble while I was figuring out the wave. As Emily commented post-session and I'd already worked out through error and observation, it was necessary to take off pretty straight instead of angled, and then turn. The wave bent back on itself as it broke, kind of like a small and mushy Rachel's Point (which J-Bird said was awesome yesterday).

When Emily went in with noodle-arms, I was getting tired and frustrated, looking for my last wave. I made one last push toward the main peak and drew on reserves I didn't know I had to catch another decent left in. It sectioned and dumped me near shore yet not shallow enough to fight the current, which immediately started to push me out and down the beach, but I managed to jump onto whitewater from the next wave for an assist father in.

Colorful seawall graffiti

Clearly I need to work more on my conditioning and stamina, although I have asked a lot of myself this weekend. After yesterday's surf, Scott and I went on a long bike ride, and I'm not used to surfing two days in a row. At least I have over 4 months to get ready for Holly Beck's Suave Dulce surf retreat in Nicaragua. (Who knew just a week after writing this that Scott and I would have booked a week in January? So stoked!)

Surfline: A holding/slowly easing SSW groundswell continued to provide nice size southern hemi sets in the chest high to slightly overhead range at top south facing breaks on Sunday. Some small NW swell mix was in the background with 2-3'+ waves at exposures. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 5.2 ft at 16.0 s SSW 71 / WIND WAVE: 0.7 ft at 4.0 s WNW / WVHT: 5.2 ft / APD: 9.3 s / MWD: 208° (Met) WSPD: 4 kts / GST: 6 kts / WVHT: 5.2 ft / DPD: 16.0 s / WDIR: 190° / ATMP: 55.6° F / WTMP: 56.8° F. Tide: 2.5' falling to 2' (not the right tide, obviously).

View from the Coast trail: Accessing this surf spot north of Bolinas requires a steep descent down a high cliff

My Cheeks Hurt (HMB Jetty)

2011-09-03T19:54:00.000-07:00

...from smiling so much. I rode an awesome overhead left and am majorly stoked!

The south groundswell continues to pump out big waves, and I only had time for a local session this morning. Since Luke told me the sets were DOmyH (double-over-my-head) yesterday at the Jetty, I was feeling both anticipation and trepidation ahead of not-quite dawn patrol. I've never surfed waves that size.

There was a time when I was afraid to paddle out if the waves were head-high. Then I rode an overhead wave, rather by accident since I didn't realize it would be so big, and punched through that ceiling. Still, DOH is intimidating. But if you don't push your limits, you'll never push past them, so I was game to try. I wanted a buddy along for moral support and Luke was happy to oblige. Nikki joined us too. I was expecting to get worked, or stoked out of my gourd.

Luke and Nikki

My tiny butterflies calmed a bit after other friends reported the Jetty was only OH yesterday. The swell height and period had also dropped a little by this morning, and in fact the Jetty was just OH. As I watched Luke ride a couple big waves, fear battled with desire: I wanted those. The main peak had only one other guy on it, besides me and my two buddies, so I paddled into position when an opportunity arose. I'm not sure what happened on the first wave I caught, but I was ass-over-teakettle underwater to the inside. While the paddle out via a rip current had been pretty easy, my return to the lineup was not. To get out of Luke's way as he caught a wave, I had to paddle into the just-broken whitewater, going for another tumble and losing ground. Then I had to eat whitewater again for the other guy's ride, and got rolled far to the inside. I shifted over to the rip between the peaks and was almost out when a large closeout crashed in front of me. I ditched my board and dove down, but the wave caught and spun me every which way, holding me down long enough for the Relax! mantra to start playing in my head until I surfaced, gasping. I got worked.

I reacquired the lineup and launched into a big right, making a drop that was, I'm guessing, about 7 feet. Unfortunately I didn't make the turn fast enough and Luke was right in front of me. Trying to turn sharply, I tensed up and fell, launching my board at my buddy. Aah! No harm, thankfully. And at least I got a nice video of him on a wave.

I decided to try the second peak, which was sometimes spinning off lefts with shoulders. I saw one coming, paddled into position and caught it, and it was awesome! This time I turned mid-face, and then the stair-steps appeared: another drop - Woo! - and another - Woo HOO! I was perfectly trimmed and in the zone. I kicked out near the beach as the wave closed and paddled back to the lineup with such a big grin on my face that both Luke and the other guy were smiling and sharing in my stoke.

Conditions started to deteriorate, so Luke and I caught our last waves in. I rode a nice right, maybe only head-high, which oddly enough I don't remember well since the great left is still replaying in my mind. I got stoked out of my gourd!

Surfline: Decent long-period SSW (200-210) Southern Hemi energy on tap this morning along with a mix of NW wind/groundswell. Expect inconsistent shoulder-overhead+ sets, with some decent peaks at the better combo breaks. Spots without a view of the SSW go smaller. Light WSW wind early adds some minor texture to the open areas. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 5.9 ft at 16.0 s SSW 70 / WIND WAVE: 1.0 ft at 4.0 s WNW / WVHT: 5.9 ft / APD: 8.2 s / MWD: 207° (Met) WSPD: 8 kts / GST: 10 kts / WVHT: 5.9 ft / DPD: 16.0 s / WDIR: 170° / ATMP: 54.3° F / WTMP: 55.8° F. Tide: Around 2.5'.

Voices (Capitola)

2011-09-01T12:25:00.000-07:00

"Put your wetsuit on! Hurry up!"

-Small boy, running back to his dad after checking the surf

"The waves looked bigger in the dark."

-Early dawn patroller in the water

"Surfergrrrl!"

-New surf buddy Forest, paddling to meet me in the lineup

"Got a perfect stand up barrel for like two seconds."

-Old surf buddy Dwayne, by email from SoCal

Apparently Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry hears God talking to him. The voice in my head this morning wasn't God; it was my surf coach. "Put it in high gear," when I was paddling to catch a wave. "See where the wave is going to break. Sometimes you have to head out toward it to be in the right position." And on my way back to the lineup, "paddle fast, to build strength."

There were only two guys out when I attached my leash on the beach just after dawn, but half a dozen arrived at the lineup on my heels, and the crowd continued to grow with the daylight. Still, it was less than I heard packed other Town spots. A south groundswell has just filled in, the same one that brought tow-sized waves to Teahupo'o and the largest waves in 10 years to Oahu's Ala Moana Bowls. It's being hyped as the swell of the summer, and so far it's living up to that.

Amidst some whitewatery rides where I couldn't get around a section, I nailed 3 or 4 solid shoulder-high rights with faces that held up to the inside, and almost made the drop on a 6-footer. I kept wanting to try the left off of the main peak which had a hotshort shortboarder on it (that'll be me one day), but every time I thought about paddling over there, I'd catch another right. Twice I'd just made it back to the lineup, with barely enough time to rid myself of the kelp trailing from my leash, before moving into position for the next wave. Forest got some nice rides on his longboard too. Stoked smiles all around!

Surfline: 3-5 ft, waist to head high occ. 6 ft, good conditions. Long period SSW (200-210) groundswell continues to fill in this morning as some small NW swell-wrap mixes in. Most of the better exposed breaks through the region are seeing surf in the chest-shoulder-head high+ range this morning, with sets up to a few feet overhead at top summer breaks. Winds are light for clean conditions as the tide bottoms out. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 10.2 ft at 21.1 s S 69 / WIND WAVE: 1.6 ft at 3.6 s WNW / WVHT: 10.2 ft / APD: 8.3 s / MWD: 190° (Met) WSPD: 2 kts / GST: 4 kts / WVHT: 10.2 ft / DPD: 21.0 s / WDIR: 210° / ATMP: 53.4° F / WTMP: 54.5° F / 06:50a PDT. Tide: Bottoming out around 1'.

Coaching: Active Wave Reading (Linda Mar)

2011-08-24T13:11:00.000-07:00

Bunnies!

With Santa Cruz next to flat, Barry came north to San Mateo County for our coaching session this morning. I planned to surf check Half Moon Bay first, and if necessary drive north to Linda Mar, bypassing Montara where there was another sighting of a large great white shark just yesterday morning.

Glassy shorepound under fog in Half Moon Bay

Alas, all I found in Half Moon Bay was bunnies, fog, glassy shorepound, and yellow wildflowers.

Linda Mar was pumping out surprisingly fun waves with actual shoulders. Barry initially pointed to a less-populated peak near the pumphouse, but we passed it by and kept walking to the bigger shortboard section at the north end. He was riding a leashless Soft-top, backwards, and I was on my 7'0" Emm as usual.

Today was about active wave assessment, building on the last session's paddle-to-the-peak lesson. He said to imagine myself at the center of a compass, with waves breaking at various points around it, and work on knowing where on the compass an incoming wave would peak so I could move to that spot. Also, when paddling for a wave, I should keep looking over my shoulder to assess how it's forming up so I can make any necessary adjustments, adding a final glance at the last second, just in case.

I got a bunch of nice chest- to head-high waves, mostly lefts. It's so sweet to swoop into a bottom turn on a glassy green wave and actually get to see the face in front of me.

Barry noticed as I paddled for one wave that my board's nose dipped underwater as the swell reached me, but I arched my back to pull it up and continued on to pop up and ride. I hadn't thought about doing that; I just did it. Progress. He encouraged me to get stronger by paddling back out to the lineup at a fast clip, saying I should "feel the burn." That's tough, since paddling through whitewater often makes me tired anyway, though I'm giving it a go. And I sure am feeling it in my shoulders now. But so totally worth it. Stoked!

Surfline: Fog continues to linger along the coast this morning, making it very difficult to see the surf. In the water we have a bit more NW swell-mix showing than the past few days, and that is mixing with some trace SW Southern Hemisphere energy. Expect most openly exposed ares to offer up knee-waist-chest high waves, with some larger set to shoulder high for top exposures. Winds are light onshore, likely continuing to keep conditions jumbled and pretty poor overall. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 4.3 ft at 9.1 s WNW 68 / WIND WAVE: 1.0 ft at 3.7 s WNW / WVHT: 4.3 ft / APD: 7.0 s / MWD: 294° (Met) WSPD: 0 kts / GST: 0 kts / WVHT: 4.3 ft / DPD: 10.0 s / ATMP: 55.0° F / WTMP: 56.3° F. Tide: Around 4'.

Holly Beck: Goofy Power and Flow

2011-08-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

My surf coach suggested I also watch videos of Holly Beck, "a goofyfoot who surfs with a lot of power and flow, yet has a pretty thin, petite frame."

I'd love to attend her Suave Dulce surf camp in Nicaragua some day.

Tears Into the Sea (HMB Jetty)

2011-08-20T23:00:00.000-07:00

Today friends and family of Beth came together to remember her at the Jetty in Half Moon Bay, the first and last place she ever surfed.

The Jetty is also where she caught her best wave ever, a happy memory Jacob recounted with me and J-Bird when we were all gathered in front of her purple Petty surfboard. After sharing stories of Beth on the beach with those who wished to remain dry, twenty of us paddled out past the small waves to honor her in traditional surfer style.

It was difficult to maintain our circle as rollers swept through the chop, unbalancing several who had minimal or no previous experience at sitting on a sufboard. A few more memories were shared, and John read a Hawaiian farewell. We all splashed the ocean and tossed our leis and loose flowers into the center, calling "Aloha, Beth!"

Invoking her favorite word, Luke exhorted us to go catch an epic wave for Beth. That seemed a tall order given the marginal conditions, with a light onshore breeze and small choppy waves, but surf coaching is continuing to pay off. I noticed for the first time that while many of the others were largely stationary, I was actively moving around as I tried to predict the best entry point on incoming shifty waves at the beach break. My judgment wasn't always correct and sometimes I couldn't get to where I wanted to be, but it paid off with a few nice rides, including a good left I called in honor of Beth. And Dugen claimed an epic pearl!

Aloha nui loa, Beth.

Surfline: Continued onshore flow out of the WSW keeps most spots textured this afternoon, although select protected areas stay cleaner. Waves run knee-chest high thanks to S and SW Southern Hemi energy and some holding NW windswell. A 5'+ high tide tops out just before 4pm. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 3.9 ft at 7.7 s NW 67 / WIND WAVE: 1.0 ft at 3.6 s WNW / WVHT: 4.3 ft / APD: 6.4 s / MWD: 326° (Met) WSPD: 4 kts / GST: 4 kts / WVHT: 4.3 ft / DPD: 8.0 s / WDIR: 180° / ATMP: 56.5° F / WTMP: 55.8° F. Tide: 4.5' falling to 4'.

First In (The Hook/Sharks)

2011-08-18T11:43:00.000-07:00

This morning was one of those times when I made the long drive to the beach in the dark, hoping that dawn would reveal some rideable waves. It was too dark to see anything when I arrived but I could hear waves, so hope continued as I suited up and paddled out in still-dim light. There was no one else in the water for at least 10 minutes - oh, delicious solitude! - and the sea blessed me with a pair of nice waves, the second one just as another surfer reached the lineup. Then we waited. And waited. After 15 minutes I asked if he'd forgotten to put another quarter in the wave machine before he came out. A couple other guys joined us, including a Softtop-riding greybeard I see almost every time at the Hook. (He actually surfs well, despite the equipment.) Finally a set came, and the most recent entrant caught it. Then flatness returned. Looking to the horizon, Greybeard declaimed, "What?! Only one? But we need four!"

I could see waves breaking at Sharks, so I moved over there after half an hour at the Hook. Before I could sort out where to be when the rare sets came through, I was caught inside and pulled off one ride but not a second from the whitewater. After more waiting, this time out far enough, I was paddling for a nice set wave and just about to pop up when the kelp reached out and grabbed my board. Darn seaweed. Sad when the wave passed by, for they were few and far between. Many more minutes later another came; I was ready and got a good little ride.

Shivering now after an hour of little activity in 50-something water and drizzly air, I thought that might be my last wave, but I'd head back to the Hook via the ocean instead of the beach to see if anything else might come my way before I got out at the Hook stairs. As I stroked over, a harbor seal and I surprised each other, only four feet apart. The crowd on the peak had grown to about 10, scrabbling for scarce scraps. It was nice to see Darren, who shaka'd and smiled from his longboard as he reached the lineup. Finally I caught a tiny wave to the beach, thankful that I'm a morning person. So worth it for those first two waves, all by myself in the glassy sea.

Surfline: Weak, dribbly little lines working through. Long lulls. Small, steep angled South (170-180) swell holds this morning, mixing with minimal NW windswell wrap. Most of the region remains either flat or close to it, as top exposures pull in a few 2-3' occ. plus Southern Hemi sets. Conditions are mostly clean, there just isn't much of any swell to go along. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 3.0 ft at 14.8 s S 66 / WIND WAVE: 3.3 ft at 6.7 s NW / WVHT: 4.3 ft / APD: 5.3 s / MWD: 184° (Met) WSPD: 16 kts / GST: 19 kts / WVHT: 4.9 ft / DPD: 15.0 s / WDIR: 320° / ATMP: 56.1° F / WTMP: 56.5° F. Tide: 2' dropping slightly.

Sunshine and Dramamine (Linda Mar)

2011-08-14T17:22:00.000-07:00

I discarded three different surf plans for today (Jetty mid-morning with Luke, who bailed; Santa Cruz mid-morning with a pack of strangers; Santa Cruz mid-afternoon with a bigger pack of strangers but also sunshine) before ending up somewhere I didn't expect: Linda Mar in the afternoon. I went with at-least-it's-sunny low expectations, and it was funner than that.

None of the SSW groundswell was making it in, so the waves were all short-period NW windswell. It wasn't too hard to get out, with the help of a weak rip current and a brief lull. On a sunny Sunday afternoon, the lineup was naturally crowded. Before paddling out, I decided to try a left that was sometimes showing just north of the pumphouse. At the edge of the pack, I wasn't getting much, except for a few where I thought, what the hell, might as well catch this whitewater, so I moved a little north to a more irregular but less popular peak. I tried to emulate what I've been watching the pros do, using my upper body led by my arms/shoulders to flow into turns, a bigger movement than I've been doing. It felt a bit wobbly, but faster. Paddling back out, I was pummeled by a steady onslaught of broken waves, till the color and opacity of the water suggested to me to see if I could touch the bottom. Sure enough, I'd been pushed that far back toward the beach. Ugh, I hate windswell. When Ward Coffey shapes a shortboard for me for my next birthday, a main criteria will be that I'll be able to duck-dive it.

I returned to the rip current for an assist to the lineup, but unfortunately all the ineffectual turtle-rolling, waves to the face, and sloshing around had brought on a case of the queasies. It's been a while since I've gotten seasick while surfing, so long that I've thought to stop taking Dramamine before every session. In fact, I successfully skipped it in Hawaii and on some calm point-break days at home, but I'm sure to pop one whenever the water might be choppy. Today was no exception, but perhaps it had been too long since lunch and too much seawater had found its way in through my sinuses. In any event, I was getting miserable fast, though I pushed on to the outside. My perseverance was rewarded with a good wave. It started to crumble outside, and I paddled toward the peak to get on it riding left. As the wave slowed and reformed, I turned right to recapture the energy as it peaked again. Woot!

That should have been my last wave, but as always, when I get a good one, I want another. I rested on the beach for a few minutes until my stomach calmed enough to give it another go. Partway out, having drifted from the rip to be smashed relentlessly by whitewater and dry heaving over my board, I thought to give up, but look - a lull! I stroked quickly the rest of the way to the lineup. Soon a nice little left was mine so I called it day.

And it was sunny!

Surfline: Real soft and crumbly now on the full tide. Westerly wind add some bump and texture to the surface, while NW wind/groundswell and small SSW Southern Hemi energy keep things running knee-waist high with some larger sets scattered around. Pretty weak and funky overall. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 3.9 ft at 6.7 s NW 65 / WIND WAVE: 2.6 ft at 4.5 s NW / WVHT: 4.9 ft / APD: 5.4 s / MWD: 312° (Met) WSPD: 10 kts / GST: 14 kts / WVHT: 4.9 ft / DPD: 7.0 s / WDIR: 310° / ATMP: 56.7° F / WTMP: 56.3° F. Tide: 4' dropping to 3'.

Homework: Goofies Going Right

2011-08-12T20:09:00.000-07:00

My surf coach gave me some homework yesterday: to watch goofyfooters surfing backside, paying attention to how they use their upper bodies on turns. He mentioned Adrian Buchan in particular:

I also asked the Internets for suggestions. From Geer on Google+: check the recent Billabong Pro Jefferies Bay, some of the heat videos like this one

From @minigoose on Twitter: @surfergrrrl off the top of my head, check out Occy surfing Jeffrey's Bay

And from one of my local buddies on Twitter @thesurfbot, I have the offer of a Pipeline Masters DVD featuring Gerry Lopez and Rob Machado, both goofy, if I can pry it away from Luke.

But it's one thing to see, and another to do...

Coaching: Intensity and Rhythm (Drainpipes/Hook/Sharks)

2011-08-11T19:25:00.000-07:00

From some of the things my surf coach is telling me, I'm starting to get the idea that I've been a fairly lazy surfer. Mostly I sit in one spot and let the waves come to me, turning when they're almost there and paddling with some but not a lot of effort, often conservatively onto the shoulder. That has to change. I need to dial up the intensity, and get into rhythm with the waves, both in paddling and in riding. Especially at shifty beach breaks and in crowds, I should move myself to wherever the peak is going to crest, not hope that King Neptune will just send it to me. And once I'm there, I must work for it, digging deep and fast as the wave reaches me. It's going to take some time, and more dedicated wave-study, to know where I need to place myself without an experienced coach's direction, but I'm committed to working it out.

The Hook, post-session

Barry and I started off at Drainpipes right after a nice set came through. Alas, the wait time between sets was overly long. I caught a couple waves before we decided to try the Hook instead, hanging out at our usual spot for a few more waves before paddling farther east to Sharks. The waves were up to shoulder high and sectiony. A sea otter floated on her back in the kelp bed, and a seagull perched atop the floating body of a seal mercifully out of smelling range.

Seeing that I was missing waves and noting that my board was still not planing flat enough as I paddled, Barry suggested I move forward a bit more and concentrate harder on upper body positioning for adjustments. On Sunday I was sticking the nose in that configuration, but it worked out better today, in similarly moundy waves that jacked up as they broke. When the sets morphed briefly from inconsistent to steady, Barry had me paddling all over the place such that I was getting a bit tired. First he was directing me to move into position to catch a wave at its peak, then motioning me to hurry up and get back out to the lineup to ride another; rinse and repeat. No laziness allowed.

Sharks, after the throng descended

Barry encouraged me to turn onto the face as soon as I got to my feet. On the first attempt I dug a rail, but on the next I made a smooth backside turn halfway down and zipped along for a short distance until a section closed out ahead. For sure I'm getting more waves and becoming a better surfer under Barry's tutelage.

We had our own peak throughout until the last few minutes of the session when seven surfers surrounded us at once, totally changing the vibe, with one guy dropping in on me. Time for the last wave, which I rode in memory of Beth.

Beth Kilpatrick, this wave's for you

I surfed this morning with a heavy heart. Beth, my buddy Luke's wife, died yesterday from a brain aneurysm. She was a beginner who surfed with us infrequently so I didn't know her well, but I'll never forget this day at the Jetty when she caught her "best wave ever!" and spread her stoke and wide smile throughout the lineup. My 8'3" Magic is a clone of her Petty surfboard, and I'll think of her when I ride it. The Saturday after next, we'll paddle out at the Jetty with Luke to say goodbye. All who were touched by her are welcome.

Surfline: Inconsistent waves/peaks getting up to the chest-shoulder high zone. Workable lines to pick off with clean surface conditions. Surf is very modest and weak overall with a blend of NW windswell, WNW groundswell and SSW groundswell. Most breaks are in the knee-waist-chest zone while standouts are up to shoulder high on sets. Winds are onshore out of the SW-West in the morning around 5-8kts+ with clouds and some patchy fog possible. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 4.3 ft at 7.7 s NW 64 / WIND WAVE: 3.3 ft at 5.9 s NW / WVHT: 5.6 ft / APD: 5.7 s / MWD: 320° (Met) WSPD: 12 kts / GST: 16 kts / WVHT: 5.6 ft / DPD: 8.0 s / WDIR: 310° / ATMP: 54.0° F / WTMP: 56.5° F. Tide: 1' rising to 2'.

Slim Pickings (HMB Jetty)

2011-08-07T14:19:00.000-07:00

Last night while wandering around on the web (I don't understand why they call it surfing), I found this:

On August 3, 2011 Jeff Clark, professional surfer and surf shop owner, had been surfing at the South end of Montara State Beach. It was 9:45 AM and he had been in the water for about 90 minutes. Air and water temperatures were estimated at 57 degrees Fahrenheit. The water was 10 feet deep over a sandy bottom with about 4 feet of visibility. The ocean floor at this location drops off to a depth of 100 feet within ¼ of a mile from shore. The sky was clear with a SW wind at 8 – 10 knots. The ocean swell was 5 feet at 7 – 10 seconds. Marine mammals were observed at Montara, Pescadero and Mavericks outside of the rocks. Clark reported; “I had been surfing for 1 1/2 hours when my leash came off my ankle and I swam in. I decided not to go back out even after I had re-attached my leg rope. Got to the parking lot and was watching the surf when I saw the shark. I saw about 10 feet of the shark's back exposed, out of water. It was very distinctive.”

Kelly

Like most surfers, I try to forget about sharks. That's not too hard most of the time; I've never seen one in the water in all my years surfing (and hope I never do), and only know a couple of people who have. It's also not hard to dismiss many of the local sightings logged on Pacific Coast Shark News because they're vague or perhaps the reporter was mistaken (it was really a dolphin, yeah?). But this sighting was by legendary waterman Jeff Clark, and if he says he saw a 10-foot+ shark, I believe it's true. Still, since Montara was a potential surf spot for this morning's session, I really wished I hadn't stumbled on to that news. Not that I think the shark's still hanging around there, waiting for a seal-like black-wetsuit-clad surfer to stray too close, or that I don't think it could've moved south 5 miles, but because the thought of the lurking Landlord would be creeping me out the whole time. Montara was off the list.

As it turned out, Montara probably wouldn't have been a good choice anyway. With a steady WNW breeze, the exposed beaches were all on their way to being blown out, except for the semi-protected Jetty. After surf-checking other spots in Half Moon Bay, that's where Manabu and I met up. Steve joined us later in the water.

Steve and Manabu

The waves at the Jetty weren't good, just cleaner than elsewhere. small and breaking near the beach. Low expectations. It was cool and drizzling, more April than August. Steve started to talk about the sighting and Manabu shrugged it off but I cut him off; it's a rule that you can't speak about the Man in the Gray Suit while in the lineup.

I was blowing waves at first, but realized that the inch forward on my board had crept into more, and pulled my paddling position back. I ended up with three solid rides before the shivers drove me out of the water. The backside ride in came with a mogul for a second little drop. Low expectations + friends = fun surf!

Surfline: A blend of NW windswell, small SW-SSW Southern Hemi energy and some SSE-S tropical swell has exposures seeing knee-waist high+ surf. Top breaks get occasional sets around chest-shoulder high. Conditions are a bit funky with onshore wind and a full tide, but generall rideable nevertheless. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 3.9 ft at 7.7 s NW 63 / WIND WAVE: 5.2 ft at 4.8 s NW / WVHT: 6.6 ft / APD: 5.9 s / MWD: 320° (Met) WSPD: 16 kts / GST: 19 kts / WVHT: 6.6 ft / DPD: 8.0 s / WDIR: 310° / ATMP: 55.8° F / WTMP: 56.5° F. Tide: +/-3'.

Dolphins! (Hook/38th)

2011-08-04T12:29:00.000-07:00

There were already half a dozen surfers out at the Hook in the dim light of pre-dawn and only a few at 38th. After I suited up, I watched a sweet set roll through the Hook. I paddled out there and took up station near where I surfed with Barry last week, away from the tight pack on the main peak. Returning to the lineup after a short ride, a pair of dolphins crossed my path, surfacing sinuously to exhale before sliding underneath the glassy sea, travelling east. It's been quite a long time since I've been in the water near free dolphins and it made my day. If you look closely just left of center at 5 seconds into this video, you'll see one moving away:

I think it's true that I have more fun surfing when my expectations are low. Then I'm not disappointed if conditions aren't good, and can be pleasantly surprised if the waves turn out to be fun. This morning unfortunately I had in mind another really good Santa Cruz session like last Thursday's, but the reality didn't measure up. Objectively, I have nothing to complain about; I got a few nice rides and some other middling ones. It was a decent surf, but felt disappointing because I went in anticipating more. Conversely, I was expecting Sunday's Half Moon Bay session to be kind of crappy like a week earlier, but had fun because it wasn't as bad. I need to do a better job of managing my expectations.

I was also disappointed in my performance this morning. Early on I blew the drops on a couple of nice shoulder-high waves. I redeemed myself on another, but those missed waves were gone forever and the break was clotting up with even more surfers, making for scarce new opportunities.

After more than half an hour, I paddled away from the growing crowd and over toward 38th, where a woman on a cheap Costco WaveStorm was surfing in only a bikini. Crazy. Under overcast skies, with air and water temperatures both below 60F (15C) and a hint of breeze, I was a bit chilly in my 4/3 wetsuit with 1.5mm gloves and 3mm booties, but she had more, shall we say, natural insulation than me.

The lulls were interminable, and I had trouble finding a good place to be when the waves did come through. Too far inside, I snagged a couple from the whitewater, including a left, but couldn't make it over to the shoulder. A few minutes before I needed to start looking for my last wave, I started from the proper place and rode a nice long right, though a section closed out in front of me and left me riding whitewater. It turned out that was my last wave. After waiting 15 more minutes for something, anything, to ride in, I had to paddle to shore so I wouldn't be too late for work.

More south swells are coming. I'll hope for good waves but won't expect them, and just have fun!

Surfline: Inconsistent SW (200-220) groundswell builds further and peaks today as minimal NW windswell mixes in. Most breaks remain fairly small scale this morning as top Southern Hemi exposures pull in some waist-chest high+ waves. The tide bottoms out just after 8am, so expect a lot of spots to be a little drained through the first half of the morning. Light winds keep conditions nice and clean early on. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 3.3 ft at 14.8 s S 62 / WIND WAVE: 4.3 ft at 6.7 s NW / WVHT: 5.6 ft / APD: 5.5 s / MWD: 317° (Met) WSPD: 12 kts / GST: 14 kts / WVHT: 5.6 ft / DPD: 7.0 s / WDIR: 310° / ATMP: 56.8° F / WTMP: 57.6° F. Tide: 2' falling to 1.'

Catch and Release (Kelly)

2011-07-31T14:09:00.000-07:00

I held out hope for good waves at Teslas this morning on a mid rising tide with a SSW groundswell in the water. Alas, J-Bird reported it wasn't looking much better than last week. She and Jacob surf-checked from Pacifica through Half Moon Bay. There were good waves at Montara but it was crowded, so they told me to come to Kelly (Francis Beach), which was the best of the rest. We had it to ourselves for a while before a few other guys paddled out.

The bane of our meager serving of south swells this summer has been concurrent south winds. They were light this morning, but still textured the sea with chop. Many of the waves were closing out, and I caught quite a few but declined to commit to the smashing drop, engaging in a sort of wave catch-and-release. You gotta know when not to go. I tried to practice some of Friday's surf coaching lesson, following the wave's cues and paddling left or right for better placement before going in, but the waves made this tricky by being disorganized and shifty. Easier to practice was body positioning; an inch forward on my board is starting to feel more natural, and my knees only bent up once or twice. Finally I found a shoulder on a left for a nice ride. On another left, as I took the head-high drop, a backwash mogul appeared in the face, bouncing me up and then tipping my board nose-down faster than I could react. Crash! It was fun nonetheless. Getting back out through the shorepound after that tumble was challenging and involved a holddown that found me glad when my feet hit the sand so I could push up for air. It wasn't small out there today.

As always, there was a wait for my last wave to come in. It was a right with a short shoulder, and took me close to shore. Then Jacob rode the wave of the day, and I caught it on video:

Surfline: Our NW swell mix continues this morning as small, fading SSW (190-200) Southern Hemi swell mixes in. Knee-waist high+ surf is fairly common now, although the better exposures can see a few larger sets at times. Light SW-WSW wind now for generally smooth surface conditions. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 5.6 ft at 8.3 s NW 61 / WIND WAVE: 1.0 ft at 3.6 s W / WVHT: 5.6 ft / APD: 7.8 s / MWD: 305° (Met) WSPD: 6 kts / GST: 8 kts / WVHT: 5.6 ft / DPD: 8.0 s / WDIR: 190° / ATMP: 56.3° F / WTMP: 58.3° F. Tide: 3' rising to 4.5'.

Coaching: Positions (The Hook)

2011-07-29T19:18:00.000-07:00

After an initial assessment two weeks ago, this morning's dawn patrol was my first session with my new surf coach, Barry Green of Making The Drop. He's focusing his instruction toward my goal of becoming a decent shortboarder, one day.

Yep, that's me. Photo by Chris.

I brought my 5'4" 9:Fish Clownfish "Nemo" for Barry to check out. He took it for a test drive while I rode my 7'0" Ward Coffey "Emm". At least initially, the Hook was surprisingly uncrowded given the recent dearth of decent waves. Santa Cruz has been not-quite flat, with mostly junky windswell waves father north, but today southwest groundswell was serving quality waves to shoulder high. We found a spot to the right of the main peak, just past a section that often didn't connect, and had it mostly to ourselves for the duration. I got a slew of good drops into waves with fleeting shoulders. Woot!

Between the inconsistent sets, there was plenty of time for coaching. Barry gave me a lot of good advice, and documenting it will help me to remember, but he'll probably have to repeat some things before they sink in. He's trying to get me to think and act more like a shortboarder, positioning myself for a deeper takeoff on the steeper part of the wave. Positioning is key on a shortboard, since it lacks the glide of a longer board. My wave sense also needs to improve, so that I'm considering not just whether a wave is catchable from where I'm sitting, but also if I should paddle left or right before turning for it to get into a better spot for a longer ride. For instance, the section forming on the face of one wave should've alerted me to paddle quickly 5 yards to the right to get past it, instead of going directly for the wave and being caught behind the section. Makes perfect sense.

On paddling, Barry said to start sooner when I'm going for a wave, looking over my shoulder to see what the wave is doing and adjusting what I'm doing if necessary. I also should have "more than one gear." I've been paddling a lot like I swim: slow and steady. Sure, I go faster when I'm trying to catch a wave, but still at a constant speed. Instead, I need to paddle appropriately to get to the takeoff zone, which may be just a few strokes if I've positioned myself correctly, and then dig deep and fast as the wave reaches me. In the pool, Barry's got me doing swim sprints to build strength for those bursts.

Barry thinks my stance is good, natural. But my paddling position is conservative, a bit too far back on the board. He had me shift forward an inch (which lines up my nose with the green bubble under the dolphin in J-Bird's design) and lower my feet. When I paddle, I've been keeping my knees bent up to shift my CG forward, but instead should use my upper body for that, arching my back and head upwards while paddling and then dropping them toward the board to get into the wave. It's going to take conscious thought to break the habit and keep my feet down, but I caught some good rides with my new paddling position.

Until the next coaching session in two weeks, I'll try to put these ideas into practice, and out of the water I'll also be doing exercises on an upside-down Bosu balance trainer. Barry thinks the fish will be a good board for me eventually, but I'm not there...yet.

When I arrived at work, my coworker said he could tell I'd been surfing not because my hair was wet but by the big smile on my face and the spring in my step. Stoked!

Surfline: Clean, lined up peaks working through with some fun looking corners on offer. Inconsistent at times. New small to fun size SSW (190-200) groundswell provides mainly knee-waist high sets at good exposures. Top southern hemi spots produce chest-shoulder high and occasional larger sets. Minor NW-WNW swell wrap mixes in. Light winds early with patchy fog possible. Conditions are mostly clean through town as the tide builds in from a predawn negative low. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 5.2 ft at 11.4 s WNW 60 / WIND WAVE: 0.7 ft at 2.9 s SE / WVHT: 5.2 ft / APD: 8.4 s / MWD: 293° (Met) WSPD: 8 kts / GST: 12 kts / WVHT: 5.2 ft / DPD: 11.0 s / WDIR: 190° / ATMP: 55.2° F / WTMP: 58.5° F. Tide: 0-1'.

Drop, Trip, Flip (Teslas)

2011-07-24T13:50:00.000-07:00

Back to booties (boo-ties!) today, and to poor waves, as compared to the awesome warm-water SanO session last Monday. But sharing a break with just a group of friends made it a good morning surf.

I met up with J-Bird and Jacob near Kyle's sweet four-houses-from-the-beach place in Half Moon Bay, a spot I'll call "Teslas". (I give it a pseudonym not because of the waves today, but because of the way Kyle said they get on a certain tide and swell direction. Hope for good sessions to come.) The Js had brought surf-starved shortboarder Chris and newbie Jay plus his wife Rachel (who couldn't surf), and Kyle joined us for a bit. Manabu reported that Montara had small waves though crowded already, but I opted for what was on offer in Half Moon Bay at an empty break with just my crew.

The waves were sloppy under a south breeze and often closing out, but sometimes shoulder-high on Jacob. With the reports and forecast calling for small surf, I'd brought my 8'3" Magic, but I regretted that choice almost immediately. Mushy waves pitched when they broke, and I kept tripping over my board's nose with an extra 15" in front of me. Drop, trip, flip, and do it again; arrgh. Chris said I should count 3 of those as one wave, so by that count, I think I got three waves. On the ones that didn't close out, my error, I believe, was not making the bottom turn fast enough; it had to be quick to avoid the pitch and trip. With that in mind, and thinking "Turn! Turn! Turn!" as I paddled for a wave, I managed to drop and sharp turn on one wave before it smashed over and threw me. On another wipeout, I felt a pointy edge of my surfboard hit near my eye, and was glad that I have nose- and tail-guards on my board to prevent serious injury from such impacts.

Jay, Jacob and J-Bird

Chris offered up his "boggie-board," a 6'4" Walden CD4, to anyone who wanted to try it, so I swapped with him. I felt more comfortable on the shorter board, although it was oddly wide and round-nosed. I caught one wave on his board and made the drop, into another closeout tumble. Since my surf coach wants me to bring my 5'4" fish to our next session on Tuesday, I may just end up riding four different surfboards this week.

It was good to get wet with friends, but I'm tired of this short-period NW windswell. Where are the south groundswells of summer?!

Surfline: Weak NW windswell and trace/leftover SW and South swells keep the surf pretty marginal across the region this morning. Most areas see 2-3' surf, with some larger chest/shoulder high peaks for top NW exposures. Light SW winds make for pretty sloppy conditions at exposed spots. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 3.9 ft at 12.9 s S 59 / 4.3 ft at 8.3 s NW / WIND WAVE: 0.7 ft at 3.8 s WNW / WVHT: 4.3 ft / APD: 7.6 s / MWD: 175° (Met) WSPD: 2 kts / GST: 4 kts / WVHT: 4.6 ft / DPD: 8.0 s / WDIR: 170° / ATMP: 56.5° F / WTMP: 55.6° F. Tide: 3'ish.

Near Trestles (Old Man's)

2011-07-18T11:00:00.000-07:00

San O' is there to remind us that in this crowded world,
there's still a spot where we can all ride together with smiles on our faces. -Surfline

For me, the highlight of the SoCal surfari was to be surfing at Trestles. Originally we’d wanted to camp nearby but no spots were available, and the rest of the posse thought we should stay in San Diego, 50 miles to the south. We had most of the day Monday, and I thought we’d hit Windansea early and then surf Trestles on our way back up the coast, missing the weekend crowds, before Luke drove home to the Bay Area with our surfboards in the back of his truck. But after Luke planned lunch with a friend in LA, the window narrowed to just the morning. To meet schedule, the crew rallied to get on the road northward around 7 am. On the plus side, Windansea wasn’t looking too surfable, so another spot was the call anyway.

J-Bird looks like she knows how good it's going to be

Nikki

There was some confusion about the precise location of Trestles and the difficulty of access. I’ve never been there, and it turned out the others hadn’t either, although they’d surfed nearby breaks. When Luke paid the $15 day-use fee to enter San Onofre State Beach with all of our surfboards, the die was cast to surf elsewhere. We followed, parking in front of Old Man’s, which looked pretty sweet and not too crowded.

The bottom is cobblestone with ubiquitous sea grass, and I had to take care walking out on soft naked feet. Although the vibe was friendly, the main peak had too many surfers on it for my liking so I hung on an emptier inside section. The rides were amazing and I lost track of my wave count. Even from the inside, many rides were quite long with lots of shoulder time for turns and for feeling the board and the wave’s energy through my bare feet. I was grinning from ear to ear. Sooo good! I would’ve surfed for hours more if I could’ve.

But in less than an hour and a half and far too soon, the clock spun around toward Luke’s planned departure time with our surfboards. I saw Nikki on the beach and came in but the rest weren’t back yet, so I handed her my camera and went out again to mess around close to shore on tiny waves for a few more minutes. When the posse emerged onto the beach, it was time to pack Emm into her boardbag for the ride home, and then while away the rest of the day before our evening flight.

I still want to surf Trestles. So there will have to be another SoCal surfari soon.

Surfline: Glassy, inconsistent low tide peaks working through with a few okay little corners at times. Small scale surf from a mix of very modest Southern Hemi swells and a little local windswell. Most breaks are waist high and below. Buoy 46231: (Wave) SWELL: 1.3 ft at 14.3 s SW 58 / WIND WAVE: 3.3 ft at 7.1 s WNW / WVHT: 3.6 ft / APD: 6.1 s / MWD: 286° (Met) WVHT: 3.6 ft / DPD: 7.0 s / WTMP: 70.0° F. Tide: 1.5' rising to 3'.

Weird Waves (Windansea)

2011-07-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

This morning brought not hoped-for glass but an onshore breeze under a cloudy sky. Still, Windansea was cleaner than last night’s sunset session, and it was great to be able to walk to the break from our rental house in only two minutes.

Luke, first into the water

A pair of dawn patrollers had departed, leaving the waves empty when Luke and I paddled out. After a bit we were joined by a local woman, then J-Bird, and lastly Jacob and Nikki. Fortunately I'd completely forgotten (or intentionally blocked out) news of a great white shark sighting just north near La Jolla cove.

Again the waves were shifty and hard to read, coming in from one direction and then veering off in another with no pattern that I could discern. The friendly local said the break is usually more predictable, peaking left and right from a small takeoff zone. No matter; we took what we were served, and at least it wasn’t crowded.

Jacob, Nikki and J-Bird waiting for waves

I did better than yesterday, riding a couple of nice rights and a left, along with some shorter ones, and taking some breath-sucking tumbles when I ended up inside during a set. The reef is shaggy with sea grass interspersed with kelp, which frequently entangled our leashes and even somehow caught in my helmet. The feeling of my bare feet on the board was delicious. But by the end of the session I was shivering in my old 3/2 wetsuit.

We hoped for a second session later in the day, but the onshore wind rose and held steady, blowing out the surf. Instead we toured Mission Bay on a pirate ship that sadly lacked hot buttered rum but had cannons that loudly belched mist at landlubbers watching from shore.

Nikki, Jacob, J-Bird, Captain, me

Tomorrow, Trestles!

Surfline: Drained out dribble peaks. Old, inconsistent SSW swell (190-200) leftovers and trace NW windswell with 1-2-3' surf at well exposed breaks. Light/variable winds early. Wind gradually increases into the afternoon, turning WSW-West around 7-11kts. Buoy 46231: (Wave) SWELL: 1.3 ft at 13.3 s SSW 57 / WIND WAVE: 3.0 ft at 6.7 s WNW / WVHT: 3.3 ft / APD: 5.6 s / MWD: 282° (Met) WVHT: 3.3 ft / DPD: 7.0 s / WTMP: 69.6° F. Tide: Near 0' rising to 1.5'.

Waited All Day for That Wave (Windansea)

2011-07-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

Bare feet, so sweet

Surfari! Luke and Nikki drove down to SoCal in Luke’s truck with all of our surfboards, 10 boards for 5 surfers, including my 7’0”. J-Bird and Jacob flew to Orange County last night and Scott and I followed this morning. The plan was to meet up at 3pm at The Grand Kahuna, our rented triplex less than a block from the Windansea break in La Jolla. I’d hoped to surf someplace on the way down, but Luke wanted to hit Topanga in north LA County, so Scott and I meandered down the coast toward San Diego. In Laguna Beach, we enjoyed a leisurely lunch at one of the original BJ’s (which still retains some uncorporatized charm), and then walked on the sand, dipping our toes in the warm ocean.

With traffic we didn’t reach La Jolla until 4 pm, but learned the rest of the posse had surfed late at Topanga and wouldn’t arrive until around 6. We strolled into town, which was much farther than I realized, and got some Thai food for dinner before our long walk back to Windansea. The crew had landed and was just heading out to surf. I hastily waxed my naked board, applying basecoat and warm-water wax, pulled on my 3/2, and darted to the beach as the day started to fade.

It was so nice to surf barefoot. But the waves were mushy, disorganized and shifty under a light onshore breeze. I had trouble being in the right spot and getting into them. When I caught a left, my foot slipped off the front of the board; I hadn’t waxed far enough forward. Doh! Finally an energetic right came directly to me, and I popped up and made the drop for a long ride. Woot! I waited all day for that wave.

The sun set into the warm ocean in a blaze of color, a nice start to our long weekend surfari.

Surfline: Just a weak mix of small NW windswell and leftover SSW (190-200) energy for mainly waist high and below surf this afternoon. Top breaks occasionally see an inconsistent waist high+ set. Building westerly wind now for some minor surface bump and texture @ most spots. Buoy 46231: (Wave) SWELL: 1.6 ft at 13.3 s SSW 56 / WIND WAVE: 2.6 ft at 5.9 s WNW / WVHT: 3.3 ft / APD: 5.5 s / MWD: 193° (Met) WVHT: 3.3 ft / DPD: 13.0 s / WTMP: 67.6° F. Tide: 3’ rising to 4’+.

Hey, Coach (Drainpipes/Sharks)

2011-07-12T12:05:00.000-07:00

This morning I met up with my new surf coach, Barry from Making the Drop. There was a sweet south swell firing all the eastside Santa Cruz breaks, but a dismal lot of surfers already in the water at 6 am. We paddled out toward 38th but ended up just east at a peak I learned is called Drainpipes. Miraculously we had it to ourselves for a bit before a light crowd joined us.

Last night I thought about tweeting "Who wants to bet I kook up my first wave in front of the surf coach?" but decided against it, trying to think positive and not jinx myself. As I dug the nose and wiped out, I remembered that silent tweet. Ha ha! But I redeemed myself on the second one which was my wave of the day, a long right about head-high that reformed for another drop and took me in close to the beach. Woot! I caught another nice one at that peak before Barry said the incoming tide was beginning to swamp it and suggested we stroll down the beach past the pack at the Hook and over to Sharks.

Sharks was more heavily populated but I rode a few there as well, none as sweet as wave #2. I also got creamed by a big set that came through when I was on the inside after a ride, and went through the spin cycle a couple of times. With all the traffic I had a long wait for my last wave, and then it was time for us dawn patrollers to hand the swell over to the second shift.

Barry's going to work up a coaching plan based on his assessment of my surfing today, but he already offered me a few pointers. Start going for waves sooner, moving to the right position, especially in a crowd because it will show commitment and (supposedly) the pack will be more likely to back off. Don't kick to get into a wave; it rocks the board and disturbs its glide, and is useful mainly for much shorter boards where the surfer's lower legs are off the board. Instead, to get a boost when paddling into a wave, try having my body a bit farther forward. That gives me a few things to work on during our SoCal surfari this weekend, but I'm excited to start speeding up my transition into (eventually) a good shortboarder.

Surfline: 3-5 ft. Clean, inconsistent surf working through with some okay corners. SW-SSW (215-190) groundswell holds, mixing with small scale NW windswell wrap this morning. Good breaks through town are in the waist-chest-head high range with some overhead sets for standout exposures. Winds are out of the NW so most spots through town remain clean. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 3.3 ft at 16.0 s SSW 55 / WIND WAVE: 3.9 ft at 6.2 s NW / WVHT: 5.2 ft / APD: 5.8 s / MWD: 194° (Met) WSPD: 14 kts / GST: 17 kts / WVHT: 5.2 ft / DPD: 16.0 s / WDIR: 300° / ATMP: 54.5° F / WTMP: 53.6° F Tide: 1'- to 2'+.

Staying Fit for Surf: Video Reviews

2011-07-11T04:52:00.000-07:00

I previously reviewed the Yoga for Surfers DVD series, and YSF:V2 continues to get a lot of use in my house. Since then, I added another regular, Surf Stronger: The Surfer's Workout, Vol. 1. I've also tried two more exercise DVDs that are now gathering dust.

I got the Surf Stronger Vol. 1 video as a digital download rather than a DVD, and play it on an old iBook tied to the TV. The workout has three segments: a pre-surf warm up, a main workout, and a cool-down stretch. The pre-surf warm up is designed to be done on the beach, and starts off with a light jog down the sand followed by exercises to warm up surfing muscles and get them ready to move. I've incorporated a few of these into my regular pre-surf stretching. For the main segment, creator Scott Adams is joined by another guy and a couple of girls who go through the exercises with two levels of difficulty. A fitness ball, dumbbells and a yoga mat are required. With the sea in the background, Scott first performs each exercise and explains how it will improve your surfing, before having his crew start the set. My only complaint is that his demonstration, and the introduction of his crew, can't be skipped, so repeat users either have to do extra repetitions or wait through some downtime until he says "let's begin." It's also unfortunate that the crew doesn't include a guy half as attractive as the girls. Those minor complaints aside, the exercises themselves are quite useful and relevant, and I often find my muscles are a bit sore later, but in a good way. The final segment incorporates a number of yoga poses, plus some stretches involving a fitness ball that I've found are great to do after a long surf to relieve tension in paddling muscles. Surf Stronger: The Surfer's Workout, Vol. 1, is strongly recommended.

I tried Taylor Knox Surf Exercises just once. These exercises are advanced and I was not prepared for the high level of difficultly.some involve. Taylor launches right into the tough ones without warmup, and unlike Surf Stronger, there is no option offered for a lower level of intensity. I shied away from a few of the exercises because of my lower back problems, and a friend told me his physical therapist cautioned him to avoid some due to their potential to cause back injury. Unless you're already in great condition and have worked your way up to a high level of strength and flexibility, I'd stay away from SE.

My hopes were high for Surf into Yoga with Rochelle Ballard, as I greatly admire her surfing. Unfortunately I just didn't click with this DVD. While the filming took place at or even in the ocean (on a barely-submerged reef), it's missing the connection to surfing inherent in Surf Stronger and Yoga for Surfers. There is no explanation of how the exercises are useful for a surfer. This is a pure yoga DVD, complete with the mystical mumbo-jumbo that doesn't interest me and some rather irritating gong music. Rochelle has been shelved next to Taylor Knox.

Surf-specific exercises can help you to surf better and surf stronger. Fortunately there are a growing number of videos available to guide you at home. Find a program that's right for you, and stick with it. See you in the water!

Pre-Surfari (HMB Jetty)

2011-07-10T14:29:00.000-07:00

This morning my little posse gathered for a surf at the Jetty followed by lunch at the High Tide Cafe to refuel and firm up details of our SoCal surf safari next weekend. When you're chilling (literally) in 53-degree water, 70-degree water is a welcome thought.

Luke working for it, Nikki and J-Bird book-ending

Luke and Nikki

The waves were decent on the south swell but the crowd was ridiculous most of the time. I rode a couple of waves and made a few more drops on closeouts but was otherwise frustrated by oncoming traffic and especially one particular snake. Finally I moved down the beach to get some space for myself, and caught a fun wave in.

For this session, I tried out one of Clark Little's tips for aquatic photos, and coated my camera lens with dried dish soap. The results were obviously less than stellar so I'll go back to RainX. I'd rather have a clear lens with an occasional droplet than areas of distortion.

There's much to look forward to this week: an initial assessment with a surf coach on Tuesday, and surfing a south swell with my buddies in warm San Diego and Orange County next weekend. Pre-stoked!

Surfline: SW (200-220) groundswell and NW windswell mix continues with 3-4'+ surf at the decent exposures and combo spots. A new SW-SSW (190-210) swell picks up through the day. Conditions are a bit funky/crumbly for most areas thanks to SW wind early (S wind protected spots are cleanest). Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 5.6 ft at 9.1 s NW 54 / WIND WAVE: 6.6 ft at 7.7 s NW / WVHT: 8.5 ft / APD: 6.3 s / MWD: 317° (Met) WSPD: 16 kts / GST: 21 kts / WVHT: 8.5 ft / DPD: 9.0 s / WDIR: 310° / ATMP: 53.8° F / WTMP: 53.6° F. Tide: 3.5' falling to 3.'

Coach of the Waves

2011-07-05T17:38:00.000-07:00

In the latest print issue of Surfer magazine, Steve Hawk (who - small world - surfs in Half Moon Bay) writes about a trip to one of Billabong's Surf with a Pro camps. From the coaching of Dave Rastovich and Shane Dorian, he derives these lessons:

Widen your stance.
Surf lower to the board.
When you move to catch a throaty wave, paddle like you mean it.
Surf higher on the wave.

Good tips, all, and I figured out just last week than I need to work on #4 in particular. But it takes me a while to sort out my surfing deficiencies on my own, which is why intermittently I have been looking for a surf coach. I've been surfing for eight years now, although consistently for only about the last four since I moved to NorCal and recovered (enough) from a back injury inflicted by Linda Mar. I got a late start as a surfer, growing up inland with only twice-a-year trips to the Jersey shore in summer. (My mother hated sand.) Then I wasted a decade living near and even on the beach in SoCal but overly worried about polluted water and ignorant of the bliss of riding waves until I stood up on a waterlogged 10' foamie in Florida. I'd like to recover those lost years with a power assist from a surf coach. I want to be a good surfer before I'm too old to be a good surfer.

Last week, cruising the web in the wee hours when I couldn't sleep, I stumbled upon Santa Cruz's Making the Drop and sent a query to Barry about surf coaching. We'd scheduled an initial assessment for today, but scratched it (wisely) due to a poor surf forecast. The new date is for dawn patrol next Tuesday, on a south groundswell arriving later this week.

I don't often get to see photos or video of myself surfing, but when a buddy happens to capture me, I'm never very happy with the image. Looking at this pic taken by Ephraim at the Jetty last weekend, all I can think is: Why haven't I turned yet for a run down the line? Why do I seem to be Iooking at my feet? And: Does my butt really need to be sticking out that far? I hope a surf coach can help me to identify areas like this where I need to improve, and push me to get better from here in less time than it would take to work it out alone.

Steve Hawk, author of Waves, having just been called into the wave of his life by Shane Dorian, concludes the Surfer article on this note:

...all of this nonsense about widening your stance and sticking post-its on your board and practicing tricks as if on a skate ramp... it's all bullshit. What matters is the miraculous gift of the waves themselves. What matters is hunting down the best ones you can find, until you die, and making sure you stay fit enough to ride them.

I'll never forget what matters, but I'll be a more fulfilled surfer with a little help from my coach.

Queen of the Whitewater (Linda Mar)

2011-07-05T16:13:00.000-07:00

That's what I had in mind to call myself for much of today's session: Queen of the Whitewater. For a while it seemed I couldn't catch a greenwater wave for the life of me. I'd paddle for ones that looked promising, but the walls would mush into uncatchable mounds, sometimes even for the longboarders near me in the water. Then a head-high outside closeout set would sweep through, so what the heck, I'd catch the fast whitewater and rise to my feet from the turbulent froth. Eventually I got a right with a short shoulder, and my last wave was the sweetest, holding up for a little while and reforming before breaking into white that took me to the shallows.

No complaints here; a random day off from work to celebrate the day after Independence Day, sunny skies, a mellow crowd and some fun waves.

Surfline: 2-3' occasionally 4'. Mostly clean, crumbly, sectiony lines working through. NW windswell and trace Southern hemi swell mix continues this afternoon with better exposures in waist-chest-shoulder high range, with some larger sets for top windswell spots. Winds are light onshore for some surface bump/texture, though most breaks still offer a few rideable corners. (Wave) SWELL: 7.5 ft at 10.0 s NW 53 / WIND WAVE: 1.0 ft at 4.0 s WNW / WVHT: 7.5 ft / APD: 7.5 s / MWD: 306° (Met) WSPD: 8 kts / GST: 12 kts / WVHT: 7.5 ft / DPD: 10.0 s / WDIR: 170° / ATMP: 52.3° F / WTMP: 53.1° F. Tide: 2.5' rising to 3.5'.

State of Mind (HMB Jetty)

2011-07-03T15:53:00.000-07:00

With a negative low tide after dawn, I had to wait until late morning for the tide to come up enough for a chance of decent surf. Unfortunately, that meant the traffic to the coast on a hot holiday weekend was bad. So bad that Jeni decided to turn back rather than face it. But bailing was not an option for me; I wanted to surf, and I knew there would be rideable waves somewhere in Half Moon Bay. So instead of getting stressed as we stop-and-go-ed our way down Highway 92, I accepted it, shrugged, and chilled.

I held low expectations for surf quality, with only short-period NW swell in the water. I tried Dunes first, but it wasn't enticing and seemed as if it would blow out soon. In my few minutes there, checking the surf and offloading Scott's bike, I enjoyed the wildflowers that were blooming in profusion. Then on to the Jetty.

Dunes

The beach was packed with folks escaping the inland heat and there were a lot of surfers in the water. As I walked to the main peak, I passed a guy operating a tow-surf motor, with a line stretched from the sand to an apparently too-weak-to-paddle shortboarder in the lineup (cue jeers). Frowning, I told him "at a crowded break, not cool." I was happy to see them pack up their rig soon after, before they decapitated someone.

The waves were often weak and chest-high at best, but I scored some nice rides. The NW breeze kicked up a notch, and I knew Dunes was blown, making me happy in my break selection. Paddling north against the current, spray flew in my face and made it hard to see. The crowd thinned, but I kept getting waves, trying for a frontside left. Finally my left came. Knowing the wind might blow me back if I went for it directly, I paddled and made the drop to the right, then turned sharply and rode left. Woot! Once again, low expectations paid off in a fun session.

Thanks to Ephraim for taking a few pix of me.

In the parking lot, a couple of graybeard surfer dudes chatted close behind my car. "I'm old now, but I'm still surfing," one said. "Yeah, but you're only as old as you feel, right?" I intejected. The other guy drives a camper with an Endless Summer poster just inside the door. He told me, "I started surfing when I was twelve. Now I'm collecting Social Security, but I still go out every chance I get and have fun!!"
It's all in the state of mind.

Surfline: Semi-bumpy/funky now with westerly flow on the rise, adding some surface texture to the exposed areas. Waves continue to run waist-chest-shoulder+ high as our NW wind/groundswell mix and small SSW swell combine. Top breaks occasionally hit head high on the better sets. It's rideable, just not super good. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 7.2 ft at 9.1 s NW 52 / WIND WAVE: 6.2 ft at 6.2 s NW / WVHT: 9.5 ft / APD: 7.1 s / MWD: 318° (Met) WSPD: 17 kts / GST: 21 kts / WVHT: 9.5 ft / DPD: 9.0 s / WDIR: 320° / ATMP: 54.5° F / WTMP: 53.8° F. Tide: 2' rising to 3.5'.

Low Tide South Slide (The Hook)

2011-06-29T20:07:00.000-07:00

Although I woke up just before my 4 a.m. alarm, I had to dig for the motivation to leave the house in the dark for the hour-long drive to Santa Cruz. What got me out the door was the thought of the south groundswell fading out today, with nothing to replace it but some junky short-period WNW windswell for the upcoming holiday weekend.

En route this time, the lightening sky was obscured by low grey clouds, remnants of the rare dry season rainstorm that passed through yesterday. I planned to surf at Pleasure Point, but when I arrived before 6, there was already a crowd on it. I checked breaks along the way as I slowly drove east on the cliff road until I reached the Hook, which surprising had only two surfers out on inconsistent but glassy chest- to head-high waves. I was on it as soon as I'd wriggled into my wetsuit. By then another surfer dude and his sponger girl had joined, but it was just the five of us for a sweet half an hour. It was too early in the morning for the aggro boys who usually dominate the peak; instead our little group shared aloha in the water. Nice. The biggest waves were closing out, the smallest were unrideable, and the medium ones were often sectiony or closed, but I got a few fun rides before the peak crowded up.

An inquisitive but wary harbor seal popped her head up to look at us, diving underwater as soon as I raised my camera, but I caught her later on video. A great mornng!

Surfline: Clean, peaks with some workable corners on offer. A bit drained, so look for improving shape as the tide builds in. A fun mix of fading SSW (190-200) groundswell and with minor NW wndswell prevails this morning. Better Southerly exposures see surf in the knee-waist-chest high range, with a larger sets for top exposures in the shoulder-head high zone. The rest of the region stays pretty small scale. Conditions are clean with light/variable WNW-NW winds. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 3.3 ft at 14.8 s S 51 / WIND WAVE: 1.0 ft at 3.7 s W / WVHT: 3.3 ft / APD: 6.9 s / MWD: 170° (Met) WSPD: 6 kts / GST: 8 kts / WVHT: 3.3 ft / DPD: 15.0 s / WDIR: 270° / ATMP: 54.3° F / WTMP: 54.0° F Tide: 0' rising to 1'.

A Good Day (HMB Jetty)

2011-06-26T12:53:00.000-07:00

This morning I rode a super fun head-high wave, met a new surf buddy, and sold my 5'8" Surftech Xanadu Rocky shortboard to an eight-year-old local girl.

It was great start to the day. Stoked!

Surfline: Short-period NW windswell fades as fun SSW (195-220) energy mixes in. Look for waist-chest-shoulder high+ waves, while standout areas hit head high on the better sets. Conditions are on the funky side thanks to breezy SW wind early (southerly wind protected spots can offer some cleaner waves). Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 4.6 ft at 7.7 s NW 50 / WIND WAVE: 4.3 ft at 6.7 s NW / WVHT: 6.2 ft / APD: 6.3 s / MWD: 313° (Met) WSPD: 16 kts / GST: 19 kts / WVHT: 6.2 ft / DPD: 8.0 s / WDIR: 320° / ATMP: 53.2° F / WTMP: 54.0° F. Tide: 3' rising slightly.

On the Other Side of Solstice (Hook/Sharks)

2011-06-23T19:11:00.000-07:00

Summer solstice has just passed; it all gets darker from here. But for a while, we can enjoy early dawn patrols and late sunset sessions. This morning, a half-moon hung in the pale pre-dawn sky as I sped south on an empty freeway to meet the south swell in Santa Cruz. As I crested the summit on Highway 17, more distant peaks appeared as islands in the ground-hugging clouds which shrouded the coast.

The waves were emptier than on Sunday and still looking fun at the Hook. But by the time I'd changed, the main peak had a pack of surfers on it, so I took up residence on the next one, near where we'd surfed Sunday. I had it to myself for a while and rode some fun rights, but then a shortboarder paddled over from the crowd. The break was inconsistent and there weren't enough waves for the both of us. So I headed east a bit to Sharks, joining two surfers and a pair of janitors, and found a bunch more nice rides there, getting in a couple of turns on a few shoulders. On one very late takeoff, I made a chest-high drop on my belly, riding completely blind in a frothing foam ball before I popped to my feet and rode out the fast whitewater. Not the most elegant ride but I was stoked to pull it off!

It was so nice, as always, to surf the clean, kelp-groomed, single-swell waves of Santa Cruz.

Surfline: More SW (205-220) groundswell moves in through the day as some trace NW windswell wrap mixes in. The better breaks are in the knee-waist-chest high range, with some larger sets for top exposures. Less exposed breaks stay down under knee high for the most part. Light/variable winds and clean conditions are on offer through town. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 7.9 ft at 10.0 s NW 49 / WIND WAVE: 5.6 ft at 6.2 s NW / WVHT: 9.5 ft / APD: 7.1 s / MWD: 309° (Met) WSPD: 16 kts / GST: 19 kts / WVHT: 10.2 ft / DPD: 9.0 s / WDIR: 310° / ATMP: 53.2° F / WTMP: 52.9° F. Tide: 3' dropping to 2.5'.