In the Good Company of Strangers (HMB Jetty)

Posted on October 17th, 2011 in California, Half Moon Bay, Surf Reports, Surf Sessions. 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...

Rain Squalls

Posted on October 17th, 2011 in Manly.

POST DAWN: Southerly smacked in at day break and blew the surf out. Almost had promise for a second.

PREDAWN: It’s 1-2ft of south swell lumps that look a little weak.  Offshore and cleanish conditions.  Almost went out for the Monday hell of it then a big rain squall hit and decided to crawl back into bed.  After a stint it Bali it’s just taking too much motivation to surf or even report on surf.  Supposed to pick up briefly today from the south but probably along with the wind.  Good luck if you go surf hunting.

Surfboards Direct

A Good Start, In Byron Bay Today.

Posted on October 17th, 2011 in Byron.

Would ya look at that, we actually had some pretty nice little waves, in Byron Bay today. Sure it could have been bigger, but you know guys it is spring, so it could have been a whole lot smaller too. The weather was as fabulous as it gets for this time of year and there were plenty of folks getting around with smiles from ear to ear. The whales were going off; the Groms were frothing the froth. While as the sliders tucked, the rugby sevens rucked. Meanwhile in down the bay thousands said ‘No Fracking Way’ to Coal Seam Gas in Byron Bay. So all in all, we’d have to say it was really good start to the week, In Byron Bay Today.   

Sunny Sunday but looking wave-free

Posted on October 16th, 2011 in Dee Why.

Happenings Next Weekend, In Byron Bay Today’s Weekend Review.

Posted on October 16th, 2011 in Byron, Good causes, Local Colour, Surf culture, surf photography.

Yes folks its true there was not a lot happening over the last week in Byron Bay. But there are some events that are well worth taking note of for next Saturday the 22^nd in the bay. For those into photography and music, there will be an exhibition up at The Top Shop. Some featured shutter bugs will be George Greenough, Matty Yates & Justin Crawford, with live music by Josh Hamilton from 11am till1pm. Also on the same day at the Byron Bay Community centre. Andrew Wells from Grown surfboards will be teaching his handicraft in a wooden surfboard workshop. This will happen between 4-5pm you don’t want t miss that. Last but certainly no least, Saturday the 22^nd is the Byron Breast Cancer Day running at Railway Park in town from 10am till 2pm. There will be some entertainment, music, talks Yoga etc. This is an important charity fundraising event. To be honest it’s probably going to need some extra support, so if you can get on over to it as well, while all the other exciting stuff is going on, that would be way cool, In Byron Bay Today.   

Good morning for a sleep in

Posted on October 15th, 2011 in Dee Why.

Of Men and Mavericks (Pleasure Point/Hook)

Posted on October 15th, 2011 in California, Half Moon Bay, Surf Sessions.

That’ll Do, In Byron Bay Today.

Posted on October 15th, 2011 in Byron.

Well yeah, it wasn’t big, it wasn’t even that good. But after a weeklong flat spell, many of the crew were simply saying yes indeed thank you Huey that’ll do, in Byron Bay today. So yes folks, it did get crowded at times. In fact considerably more crowded than the quality of the waves could easily justify. But you know when there have been so few waves around in the bay. One really can’t blame some who got just a tad hungry and maybe a might bit intense at times. After all, that was the best it’s been all week, In Byron Bay Today.   

Take another turn in the holding pattern

Posted on October 14th, 2011 in Dee Why.

Bunny Slope (38th Ave)

Posted on October 14th, 2011 in California, Half Moon Bay, Surf Reports, Surf Sessions. 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'.