Misty Morning (HMB Jetty)

A late Daylight Savings Time sunrise and a mid-morning meeting constrained my pre-work surf session. I arrived in the dim light of almost dawn, but was still the third surfer in the water. The waves were bigger than they'd looked from the low bluff, fun-sized at about shoulder-high. They were doubling and sometimes tripling up, making for an energetic paddle out and demanding patience in wave selection. Three was my lucky number as my third wave was the best, a nice left with a lot of playtime and turns on the shoulder. It took me a bit far inside where I landed too close to submerged rocks for comfort and thinking maybe I should've kicked out earlier. But woot! It was a fun ride. There were a lot of fun waves this morning, but that was the most stokeful.
While I was bright-eyed for dawn patrol, my buddies didn't arrive until the sun was well up. I said hello and goodbye to J-Bird in the lineup, and saw Luke's truck in the parking lot but not the man himself. I hope they got some good ones, but you know what they say about the early bird...

Surfline: There is a clean mix of building WNW (290-300) swell and modest SSW (190-210) groundswell in the water this morning. Size for most breaks is in the chest-head high range, as top exposures pull in sets in the overhead to 2-3' overhead zone, with more size building in through the day. Conditions are nice and clean, although the building tide is keeping most breaks a little slow. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 7.9 ft at 14.8 s WNW 26 / WIND WAVE: 3.9 ft at 6.2 s NW / WVHT: 8.9 ft / APD: 7.8 s / MWD: 291° (Met) WSPD: 14 kts / GST: 16 kts / WVHT: 8.9 ft / DPD: 15.0 s / WDIR: 340° / ATMP: 54.0° F / WTMP: 53.6° F. Tide: 3' rising to 4'.

Snow Day (38th Ave & Cowells)

We've had an almost solid week of rain with pretty steady south winds messing up the surf. My buddies and I have been jonesing for waves, taking whatever we can get in the small weather windows that have popped up. But a side benefit of all that rain is that the storms dumped a substantial amount of powdery snow in the local mountains. I think that's one reason the Santa Cruz breaks were so atypically uncrowded today, because the segment of the surfing community that also likes their water frozen was hitting the slopes instead of the surf. Others may have been deterred by the distinct brownish hue of the not-so-clean waves.

No matter. When Luke and I paddled out at 38th Ave mid-morning, there were just 3 guys on it, increasing to only a dozen by the time I left. Sweet.

The tide was still a bit high for the break, so the longboarders had an advantage getting into the mushy waves over me on my 7'0". I sat inside and closer to the peak, and caught a nice shoulder-high wave with Luke. Following our footedness, I went left and he went right. The left shoulder held up for a little while and I rode through a reform to the inside. When I turned to paddle back out, I saw Luke was still riding, and riding, and riding... He had quite a long paddle back, but the great wave was worth it.

The outside waves were coming too infrequently for me and then mostly being snatched up by the longboarders before I could make a run at them, so when I'd landed inside again, I staked out an empty inner peak that was breaking more often. It was a bit sectiony, but I got a bunch of fun drops into short rides. Woot!

My niece's daughter Kerra sent me a Flat Stanley last week as part of a school project. I decided right away that part of his adventure in the Bay Area would be learning to surf, and I fashioned a little wetsuit for him (out of foam board, which is also part of the support system to hold him standing on a surfboard). Since the best beginner break in the area is Cowells, I took Stanley there for his first lesson, driving in my Surf-Fur over my wet wetsuit. Unfortunately, due to an equipment malfunction (i.e. I got the tape wet), Stanley couldn't surf Cowells this morning, but I went out and caught a handful of waist-high+ waves on my own in distinctly muddy water. Stoke tank is topped off! The fog started to roll in as I left, but it sure was nice to see the sun for a little while.

Surfline: Some fun, clean lines working through this morning with sets running head high and occasionally bigger at the decent spots. Our source of surf stems from a blend of building mid-period NW-WNW (270+305+) groundswell and holding S (180-210) energy. Wind is currently offshore with smooth surface conditions. Things speed up as the tide drops through the morning. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 11.2 ft at 14.8 s WNW 26 / WIND WAVE: 1.6 ft at 4.3 s W 25 / WVHT: 11.5 ft / APD: 9.4 s / MWD: 295° (Met) WSPD: 8 kts / GST: 8 kts / WVHT: 11.5 ft / DPD: 14.0 s / WDIR: 210° / ATMP: 51.8° F / WTMP: 52.7° F Tide: 3' dropping to 0.5'.

The Dawn Between The Storms (Cowells)

A stormy weekend had kept me out of the water, so I was eager to surf as soon as a small window opened up. Winds have been a big issue lately, but they were predicted to be light this morning ahead of the next front blowing in this afternoon. I arrived in westside Santa Cruz in semi-darkness, but there were already 3 surfers in the water at Cowells. The crowd grew steadily with the daylight, but for a while it was delightfully light, and I was happily surprised when Tracey and Chris joined me in the lineup. The mellow waves were sectiony and only around waist-high, but I caught some nice long rides to the inside and put some stoke in my tank. The onshore wind cranked up as I was leaving, so I'm glad I got on it early. No better way to start the day!

Surfline: Lightly textured, small scale lines working through this morning offering some workable corners for the small wave gear. Fading mid period WNW swell with peaking long period WNW swell and fading short period southerly windswell. Surf is in the chest-head high range at good spots with 2-3'+ overhead set at NW standouts. Small SSW groundswell mixes in the background with 2-3' sets. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 8.2 ft at 17.4 s NW 24 / WIND WAVE: 1.0 ft at 3.4 s WSW / WVHT: 8.2 ft / APD: 10.0 s / MWD: 310° (Met) WSPD: 8 kts / GST: 12 kts / WVHT: 8.2 ft / DPD: 17.0 s / WDIR: 150° / ATMP: 51.3° F / WTMP: 52.2° F. Tide: -0.6' rising slightly.

Sacred Craft Surfboard Expo

A heavy storm with rain, thunder, and strong onshore wind made the surf an unrideable mess this weekend. But at least there was an indoor event for surfers. After a tasty lunch at Pacific Thai in Santa Cruz, Scott and I parted ways and I walked a few doors down to the Sacred Craft Consumer Surfboard Expo. Here's the show in pictures.

If you have to SUP, these look pretty cool.

Funky shapes

Interesting idea

 

Jeff Clark (left)

Hard to believe they used to ride these actual logs.

 

This doesn't make me want to buy Future Fins.

 

You could never wax this.

 

I was lucky to catch Ward Coffey, who made my excellent 7'0", finishing up his entry for the Shape-Off, where half a dozen shapers were put in a glass box and given 2 hours to replicate a classic Doug Haut “Bump” design.

There's another video here.

The judges confer over the original.

I left before the Shape-Off decision for a walk with Scott at Steamer Lane, and silently cursed when I saw it was cleaning up after the bad weather, since I hadn't brought my board. More storms are stacked up with more south wind on the way, so it's anyone's guess when I'll get to surf again. I just hope it's soon.

Update: Ward Coffey won the Tribute to the Masters Shape-off!

Big, Bad Waves and Noisy Jet-Skis

There was no big-wave contest at Maverick's this winter season, but that doesn't mean surfers weren't out there whenever it was breaking and rideable. Sadly, Sion Milosky caught his last ride and drowned at Maverick's on Wednesday following a two-wave holddown, while I was in the water with my friends a little more than 50 miles south.

Rest In Paradise Sion from IFM on Vimeo.

On another big swell in January that didn't rise to contest standards, Jacob Trette was saved from a similar fate by the quick action of a photographer on an unlawful jet-ski. Maverick's is located within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, "home to one of the most diverse marine ecosystems in the world, including 33 species of marine mammals, 94 species of seabirds, 345 species of fishes, and numerous invertebrates and plants." The regulations governing the MBNMS prohibit:

Operating motorized personal watercraft within the Sanctuary except within the five designated zones and access routes within the Sanctuary.... Zone Five (at Pillar Point) exists only when a High Surf Warning has been issued by the National Weather Service and is in effect for San Mateo County, and only during December, January, and February.

This 3-year-old ban is flaunted, sometimes unknowingly as in the case of Jacob's rescuer. Tragically, the several illegal MPWCs in the water on Wednesday couldn't find Sion in time to save him, perhaps because their operators were focused on taking photos. Yet no doubt this will renew the call for a loosening of the restriction in favor of human safety over impacts to wildlife. While admittedly I am not an expert on those impacts, it would seem that permitting lifeguards to patrol on jet-skis while actually enforcing the law against others would be a prudent balance of interests.

Just One (38th Ave)

Even though I'd bagged an amazing parking space in Capitola, right in front of Margaritaville, my buddies wanted to surf at 38th Ave so that's where I went. This afternoon it was not a mushy and mellow longboard break. The waves were bigger than I've ever seen there, overhead on the sets, and I saw a guy get tubed. It was too effing crowded and I was getting frustrated after a while, having caught only a broken wave while watching other surfers take the good ones. I left Darren in the pack and moved inside, where I found Luke on an egg, one of the boards that were just given to him by a couple moving to Utah. It was less crowded on the inside, probably because it was often closing out. I got a few drops but little joy. Then I caught a near head-high right with a fun drop and a shoulder that held up for a bit, giving me a ride all the way to the beach. Woot! That one was all I needed.

Surfline: Overlapping WNW (275-305) groundswells (new one building in this afternoon) hold up plenty of head high+ surf today with 2-3'+ overhead sets at top exposed spots. Winds remain light out of the West this afternoon with mostly clean conditions. Tide is also dropping out with many breaks looking pretty fun right now. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 13.5 ft at 17.4 s WNW 23 / WIND WAVE: 2.6 ft at 4.2 s WNW  / WVHT: 13.5 ft / APD: 10.8 s / MWD: 290° (Met) WSPD: 12 kts / GST: 16 kts / WVHT: 13.5 ft / DPD: 17.0 s / WDIR: 330° / ATMP: 52.9° F / WTMP: 52.9° F. Tide: 1' rising to 2.5'