(dis)Pleasure Point, 1 Sep 2007

A beautiful hot summer day, with warm water (relatively speaking), no wind (sooo glassy!), 3-4' inconsistent waves. Near perfect. Except that there were 16 guys out already at First Peak when I got in the water before 8 am. Those guys can be really aggro, so I sat off on the shoulder hoping for leftovers. When none were forthcoming, I moved east toward the next peak, to the left of a couple dozen of my closest friends. On one wave, I saw six guys trying to take off, so close together they could have held hands. Ironic that no one made it.

Having caught nothing and despairing after a while, I started chasing vacant whitewater, just to get up and get the feel of my shortboard under my feet again. That's what I get for trying to surf PP on Labor Day weekend... But on the bright side, I saw 2 otters, and a seal swam by about 10 feet away. And I had fun on a borrowed bodyboard at Sea Cliff beach later at a family picnic. Amazingly, I was able to go in the water sans wetsuit, it was that warm. Add the pods of dolphins and a few more seals swimming past, and it was a fine seaside afternoon.

I'm in frustrating place in my surfing right now. For personal reasons, I've had to cut back to only one or possibly two sessions a week. Then there's the catch-22 that it seems I can go to either a crowded spot with good conditions, or a more empty spot with poor conditions. Either way, I have trouble catching waves because of competition or crappy surf. So I feel I'm just not progressing. I wish I could get away to a good uncrowded wave like Pavones for a week, spend some quality time on a a quality wave, and bump up my skills to the next level.

And now, another hiatus...

Montara, 20 July 2007

After fighting my way out on the second attempt (I still suck at duck-diving), I ended up on the outside at Montara this morning all alone. No one in sight either in the water or on the beach. Under a dark lowering sky. Sitting half-submerged in murky, opaque water. Nagging, vague remembrances of shark stories about said break. Jaws theme threatening to play in my head.

OK, so I totally creeped myself out, hastened back to the beach without riding anything but a little whitewater on the way in (which doesn't count, since I'm not a beginner). But who knows? Maybe the Man in the Gray Suit was down there, hungry, eying my legs danging down into his world, wondering if the Shark Camo on the bottom of my board really meant I was poisonous, or was just a deception.

But if he was, I'm glad I left him hungry.

Interestingly, the next day and a bit further south, a great white shark attacked a kayaker...

Montara, 14 July 2007

Special guest photographer, D.
I think that's me. Kind of an artsy shot.

Hiatus

Surfergrrrl is on hiatus while she's in rehab for an acute case of surf addiction.

Pleasure Point, 4 May 2007

Swell direction: NW
Tide: Rising, just past -0.5 low
Wind: Light breeze
Air/Water Temp: 50/54 degrees
Wildlife: Dolphins, a seal, an otter, and a mean guy

Like yesterday only worse - cloudier, windier, more disorganized. And when I didn't quite manage to paddle out over a wave before it started to break and tumbled me, smashing my chin and lip into my board (my first pressure ding - sob!), I came up to an angry asshole yelling at me for hitting him. This despite the fact that, as D reported, there were copious amounts of blood flowing from my lip at the time. I don't know where Angry Guy had been since he wasn't in my field of view when I was paddling to the outside; he must have been inside of me trying to catch the wave I got caught up in. At any rate, I apologized and offered to pay for the damage he was screaming about, but he preferred to keep yelling at me, calling me a menace. So D quietly led me away from the jerk and his friends. I actually managed to catch a wave then and ride for a few more milliseconds than I had done. But the peace of the morning was ruined. People like that are the true menaces to the surfing experience. Shit happens, but we're supposed to be out there to have fun. It's not good to lose sight of what's important.

38th Ave, 3 May 2007

Swell direction: NW
Tide: Rising, an hour past -0.5 low
Wind: Calm to very light
Air/Water Temp: 45/54 degrees
Wildlife: A distant seal

No pix today; my camera battery died. It was 4-5', bigger closer to the Point, and surprisingly uncrowded. Unfortunately D decided to waste his time sleeping instead of surfing. I'm getting more used to the shortboard now, actually catching a few waves, although not managing to ride them for very long. I think I need to practice in the whitewater some more just to get the feel of being up on the board. Too bad there's not a loooong barely-sloping beach break like Westport, WA, around here - that would be perfect.

When I parked at the Hook, a couple guys hit me up for wax. (Funny how that never happens when I'm with D, but like every other time when I'm alone.) Before they finished with my wax, a homeless guy, who looked like a former member of ZZ Top, paused his overloaded grocery cart to ask me about my MINI Cooper's gas mileage (28-30). Guess he thought the conversation was unfinished, because after I surfed, he followed me back from the bluff to my car. Said he liked to talk to pretty women, had $50K in the bank his aunt left him, and was an idiot savant. Hmm. Seemed mostly harmless, but I needed to change into my work clothes, and escaping to the bathroom was my only option. Fortunately he didn't follow me in there!