Do-Over (Sharks and East)

Posted on April 6th, 2012 in California, Half Moon Bay, Surf Sessions. This morning was a do-over of Monday's miserable session. With winds tearing up the San Mateo County coast, I headed south to sheltered Santa Cruz as I should've done earlier in the week, reaching the beach just before dawn and shivering in 37°F/2.8°C air. I'd debated whether to bring my 7'0" Emm or even 8'3" Magic, but if I don't keep working on 6'2" Rocket, I won't progress as a shortboarder. And from the forecast, it looks like it'll be a longboard weekend anyway.
No matter how early I arrive, I can never beat the surfers who paddle out in the dark, and there was already a tight six-pack of them at the Hook. I had Sharks to myself for a time, but alas, it had been so long since I'd ridden a wave that I was kooking it up. When a couple other shortboarders paddled to my spot, I headed east a bit to knock the rust off out of anyone's way.
The wave on the next peak over was soft and smaller, but I had better luck there. Most of the rides were whitewatery and short as the waves petered out over deeper water, but I got my mojo back. A few weeks ago I bought the 110% Surfing Techniques Volume 1 DVD, and it had a good tip for maintaining speed on a wave: move the back foot forward, then the front foot. I had an "oh, duh!" moment when I heard that because it seems so obvious in hindsight, but that's not what I'd been doing. Today gave me a good chance to practice, and I was pleasantly surprised when it paid off with crossing the flats and riding a wave into a reform. Small victory, but woot!
Paddling back toward the stairs to head for work, I detoured slightly to pass by a sea otter, hoping for a photo of the shy creature. A small bundle of matted fur, like a medium-sized teddy bear, was floating nearby. As I got close, mama otter popped up from foraging on the reef, grabbed the dead baby to her chest, and back-paddled a distance away from me. Sad.
Inside of the little crowd at Sharks, I caught a small green wave to shore. Out of the (relatively) warm water and into the cold air, I smiled and shivered as I walked back on the beach. Well worth getting up at 4:30 for another beautiful morning surf in Santa Cruz!

Surfline: A primary/easing NW groundswell/windswell mix is joined by a secondary/easing SSW swell. Surf continues to hang mainly within the 2-4' zone throughout the region, while the standout spots produce occasional shoulder-head high waves/peaks. Conditions are clean with calm/light wind. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 8.5 ft at 13.8 s NW 29 / WIND WAVE: 6.6 ft at 8.3 s NW / WVHT: 10.8 ft / APD: 7.6 s / MWD: 306° (Met) WSPD: 19 kn / GST: 25 kn / WVHT: 10.8 ft / DPD: 14.0 s / WDIR: 330° / ATMP: 48° F / WTMP: 51° F . Tide: 2' rising to 3.5'.

Finding Stoke (Linda Mar)

Posted on March 12th, 2012 in California, Half Moon Bay, Surf Reports, Surf Sessions.

In the shortboard section on the inside

I got my stoke back today, in the unlikeliest of places. A south wind was chopping up the surf in Half Moon Bay, so I went north to Linda Mar with low expectations. As I drove I reminded myself that it would be crowded, and hoped for just one decent wave. The nice thing about low expectations is that it's easy to exceed them. The session turned out fun, with one good ride plus a handful of others, despite the heavy crowd.

Debating which surfboard to bring, I'd decided to flip a coin: heads for 6'2" Rocket, tails for 7'0" Emm. The Russian coin from my gear box came up tails, so I went best 2 out of 3, but got tails again. I flipped it several more times, getting all tails. Obviously an unbalanced cheater coin! A Nicaraguan coin came up heads, as did a US quarter, so I'd put Rocket in the car.

And was glad I did. Paddling out, I caught a powerful broken outside set wave that reformed as I rode left. A section closed in front of me, and I banked off the whitewater, rounding a tight turn to the right, back onto the face. Woot! Rocket and I were in sync, going with the flow of the wave, moving with fluid unconscious thought. Another turn or two and a smaller reform took me to the nearshore trench where the wave dissolved and my stoked smile blossomed. Yeah, that's more like it! Guess I don't suck at surfing after all.
Surfline: Smooth, semi-walled lines. Old NW energy eases today as a new NW (295-310) swell builds in and mixes with small S (175-185) swell. Decent size continues as exposed breaks see head high to double overhead surf. Light S-SW wind early creates semi-textured surface conditions, and a -0.14' low tide at 7:40am has shape looking drained. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 6.9 ft at 12.1 s WNW 23 / WIND WAVE: 1.3 ft at 4.0 s W / WVHT: 7.2 ft / APD: 8.4 s / MWD: 298° (Met) WSPD: 10 kn / GST: 12 kn / WVHT: 7.2 ft / DPD: 12.0 s / WDIR: 190° / ATMP: 50° F / WTMP: 50° F. Tide: 2.5' rising to 4'.

Stepping Back (Dunes)

Posted on March 4th, 2012 in California, Half Moon Bay, Surf Sessions. Sometimes I get discouraged that I'm not making progress as a surfer (or lately, that I'm going backwards). Then I remember the advice of my old surfing buddy, to step back to a longer board, on which to get more waves and replenish stoke. And so it was today when I left 6'2" Rocket at home and took out 7'0" Emm, hoping for a high-wave count session. That didn't happen, but I got a couple good rides to bookend a batch of nothing-to-write-abouts, and enjoyed a beautiful warm sunny morning on the water with a buddy. My first wave was the best, a nice shoulder-high right with a face that held up for a bit and took me downshore. My last wave was next best, a chest-high right I rode in with Luke behind me. It was a great way to close out the session. Surfline: Offshore flow and leftover NW (280-320) wind and groundswell mix prevails this morning. Better breaks are in the waist-chest high range, while top spots pull in a few sets running shoulder-head high. Shape is a bit fat for a lot of spots as the tide comes off a deep high tide that peaked just before sunrise. Look for some improvement with the dropping tide. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 6.2 ft at 9.1 s NW 21 / WIND WAVE: 1.3 ft at 3.7 s WNW / WVHT: 6.2 ft / APD: 7.3 s / MWD: 321° (Met) WSPD: 8 kn / GST: 10 kn / WVHT: 6.2 ft / DPD: 9.0 s / WDIR: 330° / ATMP: 50° F / WTMP: 49° F. Tide: 3.5' falling to 1.'

Surf Coaching: Duck-Dive (Sharks)

Posted on February 25th, 2012 in California, Half Moon Bay, Surf Sessions. The cold I tried to fight off over the weekend knocked me down and kept me home from work for a couple days, but I kept pushing back, hoping to surf with coach Barry at the end of the week. Apparently jonesing for surf can cure the common cold, at least well enough to get out and make use of what Jacob calls "nature's neti". I packed the car with two 6'2" surfboards, Rocket and Feo. Barry took Feo to start and it had him sitting chest-deep in the water. There was already a little crowd at the Hook so we paddled out at Sharks to be alone. The waves were waist- to chest-high and I missed several in a row. Barry'd say, "well, that one backed off," or "that was a little tricky", but then, "a good surfer would've turned and caught it," and finally, "you should've gotten that one." It must be frustrating for him at times, as it is for me. I'm highly motivated, but I'm not a natural athlete and it doesn't come easy for me. In school, my severe myopia was corrected with thick glasses that rendered objects closer than they appeared, which impaired my eye-hand-ball coordination and led to me being picked last for all team sports. My parents were not into any sort of physical activity, and even tried to discourage me from skiing for the first time in my late teens with "you'll break a leg!" If only they had encouraged me in swimming, at which I might have excelled, instead of making me stumble clumsily through ballet lessons in an attempt to "become graceful" - ah, but then one can't change one's parents nor rewrite childhood. I can only affect who I become. And I want to become a good surfer, however long and however much work that may take. Eventually I caught and rode a wave, and then a handful more, with a few misses and sinus-cleansing wipeouts in between. In an effort to shift my weight onto my front foot instead of sliding it forward, I was staying low, but Barry told me to get more upright once I was comfortable on the wave. Doing that on the next one, my front foot slid up again to maintain speed. Then Barry mentioned something else that I'd been missing on this whole front foot issue, a bigger part of the big picture: if I got in front of the wave on the flats, instead of staying on the face, on rail, moving down the line, I'd slow down. So it's not just my foot placement or my center of gravity, it's where I am on the wave and the relationship of my board to the wave. After one more ride, it was time to switch boards for duck-diving. The good news is that I can sink skinny Feo very well; I will learn to duck-dive with it. Contrary to my buddy's advice oh so long ago when I first tried, Barry said that instead of closer to the nose, my hands should be under my shoulders, where they are normally when I pop up, to sink the front of the board. And one of my feet should be centered, pushing with my toes against the ridge in the traction pad, to sink the tail. In this tripod, I should be able to hold the surfboard level underwater for a couple of seconds, balanced and stable. On narrow Feo it was a bit tricky, but I'm getting the hang of it. Barry suggested practicing in a pool, so I'll have to see if my health club will allow that. We didn't have time to try the whole shebang against more than a few actual breaking waves, but after sinking the board as a wave approaches, Barry said to extend my arms forward to pull my chest to the board. On one wave, it felt like I almost did it right. More practice is needed, but with a truly sinkable board, I'm sure I'll get it soon. Barry had to cut the session short to take his kids to school so I tried to catch a wave in on the potato chip, popping up on a little whitewater for a brief ride. Not ready to go myself, I stashed Feo in the car and headed back out with Rocket. By then two longboarders and a novice shortboarder were out at Sharks. Entertainment was provided by the comedy team of a floating sea otter and a squawking seagull, the former being nagged by the latter into dropping a piece of food. They reminded me of my cat and me whenever I'm eating something on the sofa. Unfortunately the longboarders were taking all of the inconsistent shortboardable waves. I snagged a quick left that they let pass, but then got tired of backing off and paddled around them to the pole position. From there I got a nice right in to the shallows, wishing I didn't have to leave on such a beautiful sunny day with the firm promise of summery warmth. Surfline: WNW swell mix is slowly easing through the day. Good spots pull in knee-waist zone waves with top NW exposures producing chest-head high waves, especially on the more favorable tides. Very small SW swell mixes in with 1-2-3' sets. Smooth surface conditions, but there is some warble/lump running through the swell mix. Improving with the tide push. (Wave) SWELL: 9.8 ft at 12.1 s NW 19 / WIND WAVE: 2.0 ft at 4.5 s NW / WVHT: 10.2 ft / APD: 8.7 s / MWD: 309° (Met) WSPD: 10 kn / GST: 14 kn / WVHT: 10.2 ft / DPD: 12.0 s / WDIR: 320° / ATMP: 50° F / WTMP: 50° F. Tide: 1.5' rising to 2.5'.

Off the Rocks (West of Getchell’s)

Posted on February 13th, 2012 in California, Half Moon Bay, Surf Reports, Surf Sessions. Some of my surf buddies, of the longboard denomination, wanted to attend today's Church of Surf at 38th or Cowells in Santa Cruz, or at the Jetty if their time was tight. Likely to be soft or sloppy, those services didn't appeal to me. Shortboarder Steve said he could attend the Westside Sunrise Service, so I forwent our usual leisurely weekend breakfast and drove south in the dark. We both thought it would be fun-sized, and Steve had even suggested that I bring a bigger board.

While the main peak at Getchell's had a good little crowd, the next break west was empty. Between the two, at the bottom of a narrow path through blooming iceplant, was a wide rock ledge jutting into the sea. We stepped carefully across the ledge, skirting irregular pools filled with swaying pale green anemones, taking care not to slip on fringes of slimy forest green algae, and put on our leashes.
Before I could ask if he had any tips, Steve stepped to the edge and jumped off into the water. Hmm, I've never done this before. I made my way to the brink and saw it was about a 6-foot drop into the water. I didn't see any rocks or boils, but with our murky sea, that wasn't saying much. I remembered Steve had jumped just as a wave reached the base of the ledge, so I prepared to do the same from the same spot. Unsure what to do with my board, I tossed it to the side as I jumped, retrieving it quickly when I surfaced and paddling away before the next wave came in. Well, now I have done it.

Sea caves

When we reached the peak, there were a couple other shortboarders out, but they sat farther inside, everyone trying to find a clear space amidst the kelp that constantly ensnared us. The waves were not small, going overhead on the sets, and also steep. I caught one and popped up into a heckuva wipeout. Back in the lineup, Steve said I was way too deep; "only Kelly Slater makes those." With a big outside set incoming, we all paddled for the horizon, but I knew I wasn't going to make it before the first wave broke. What the hell, might as well try to ride it. I turned and caught the fast-rushing whitewater, popping up to ride the tumult for a bit until a section of lumpy froth blasted in front of me and threw me off.
Soon the first two guys were joined by another, and to my surprise and admiration, a surfer girl. I saw a lot of nice rides by Steve and the rest, including one of the guys getting his hair wet in the curl before the wave chewed him up. My fingers had become too cold in leaky gloves to press camera buttons, or I could've had some nice shots, augmenting the (today) disappointing surfing hobby with the photography one. I felt out of my league, surrounded by better surfers and waves above my skill level.

After riding right, Steve paused a couple of times farther in and closer to Getchell's, and I paddled over to join him. Shortly he returned to the main peak, saying it was only breaking at that inner spot on the really big sets, but I decided to hang there, waiting for something smaller. I hadn't had a chance to ask him where we'd get out (jumping onto a rock ledge not being an option) when he caught another wave and I soon saw him standing on a small strip of sand below the bluff. As I looked for a ride in, and he couldn't wait for me any longer, I tried to watch where he found a trail up to the road.

Soon one of those big sets threw a wave my way, and I paddled for it but drew back at the brink. After the big wipeout and a couple of not long but still "don't panic" holddowns, I was inhibited by a niggling bit of fear, just enough to keep me from pushing over. Shoot, I could've had that. Next one, go for it! Commit! I moved into position, turned to stroke into the second wave (Commit!), and saw it was bigger than the first and I was too deep just in time to turn out again. The third wave was bigger yet, breaking well outside, so I ditched Rocket and dove down until my ears popped, yanked shoreward by my left ankle when the wave caught my board. That was the last of the set, and I made the paddle of shame in to the beach.
This was not what I hoped for as a Sunday fun day, and I find my stoke is seriously depleted. I need a few good waves, and soon.

Surfline: Easing W-WSW energy blends with WNW swell for plenty of shoulder-head high+ waves this morning. Standouts can get up to a few feet overhead on occasion. Clean early with light wind. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 8.5 ft at 12.9 s WNW 16 / WIND WAVE: 4.6 ft at 5.9 s NW / WVHT: 9.8 ft / APD: 7.3 s / MWD: 287° (Met) WSPD: 14 kn / GST: 19 kn / WVHT: 9.8 ft / DPD: 13.0 s / WDIR: 320° / ATMP: 51° F / WTMP: 53° F. Tide: Less than 1' rising to 1.5'.

Push (Natural Gas)

Posted on February 6th, 2012 in California, Half Moon Bay, Surf Sessions. After yesterday's overcrowded eastside session, I was looking forward to a more empty westside lineup during the Super Bowl. But the drive to Santa Cruz takes an hour, which gave me too much time to think. I was meeting Steve and his buddies Kazu and Steve (aka Stingray), all good shortboarders, and expecting overhead waves, outside of my comfort zone. I started psyching myself into a bad place: What if I can't make it to the outside? Or wipe out badly and get hurt? Or can't catch any waves? Or totally kook it up in front of these good surfers? Maybe if it looks too big, I should just go to Indicators instead. No, I have to try; if I don't push my limits, I'll never push past them. So stop being negative. You can do this! 

Boulders down the cliff to the beach

The guys were checking the surf when I arrived, noting that Ratboy was in the lineup. It always feels a little funny when I'm introduced this way: "You know the Surfergrrrl blog?" "Yeah, I read it." "Well, this is her." We walked down West Cliff Drive to check a few more breaks between Gas Chambers (also more charmingly called Naked Beach, for its warm day, low-tide beachgoers) and Natural Bridges, settling on an unnamed spot in between christened "Natural Gas" by Kazu.

To get to the little beach, we had to navigate down a jumble of big rocks piled against the cliff to protect it from erosion. It was a bit tricky, but Steve helpfully took my board over a steep bit and the last algae-slimed boulder so Rocket and I both arrived safely on the sand.

There be shorepound

Kazu, Stingray, and Steve

The waves were overhead and funky with backwash. While the other guys caught a few, I wasn't getting into them, and it didn't help that the view from the top of the drop had me hanging back a little. Probably sensing my hesitation, Steve pointed out that the waves weren't that steep. He also offered that my paddling seems too relaxed, as Barry has observed. I wish I knew better how to speed myself up, to make my little hands push more water. Determined to avoid a skunking, I caught one wave but the backwash kicked my board toward me as I started to pop up. The guys rode some more waves, and then I caught one, with Steve exhorting me to "Paddle harder! Commit!" Though I didn't land the drop, as I rejoined the lineup, all three were all smiling that I'd finally gotten a wave. I tried for more without success, and a wipeout landed my ass hard on the ridge in my traction pad or perhaps the edge of the tail, raising a big bruise.

An uncommon view of the arch at Natural Bridges State Park

There were more surfers in the water than I'd expected with most of the country home watching expensive commercials and guys in tights chasing a ball around a field. But it was a sunny, almost windless, 70-degree day in winter with good swell, so I wasn't too surprised. After a time, the next peak mostly emptied and we moved over for slightly smaller but cleaner and peeling waves.

Sunset, Stingray and Steve

I had better luck at the new spot, zipping down the drop on a slightly overhead right - woo hoo! - and riding briefly until my front foot wanted to move forward on the board but couldn't, and I fell. I got another like that but smaller and shorter, and began to wonder what's going on? Rocket and I had been getting along so well for a couple of months, and now we're have this relationship issue between feet and board. Although it seems I didn't bring back malaria or dengue fever from Nicaragua, maybe I picked up some bad habit while I was surfing without booties and could easily slide my front foot. I think I need a smaller, high wave-count dawn patrol at the Jetty to get it figured out and hopefully fixed.
The sun began to set into the sea as the surface turned glassy. Kazu got the wave of the day, a long right. I hoped to redeem myself with a decent ride, but after a few more missed waves, a few more drops into wipeouts and just plain wipeouts, and it was time to go. Caught inside, I rode whitewater to the beach at Natural Bridges. The drive home gave me more time to reflect, discouraging thoughts about how I didn't ride any waves well. But I realized, I'm concentrating too much on performance and am losing sight of the reason I surf: because it's fun. It needs to be about the woo-hoo, about the awesome feeling of making the fast drop on a large wave and turning at the bottom. So then I fell, so what. It was fun! And the next times, I'll do better.
Surfline: WNW-NW (270-300+) energy continues to provide solid surf as a very small/inconsistent SW (210-225) swell moves in through the day. Fun, workable surf on tap this afternoon with light wind. Waves continue in the shoulder-head high+ range with larger sets running several feet overhead at the standout breaks. Shape has definitely sped up a bit with the dropping tide. Buoy 46012: (Wave) SWELL: 9.2 ft at 13.8 s WNW 14 / WIND WAVE: 1.0 ft at 3.7 s ENE / WVHT: 9.2 ft / APD: 11.6 s / MWD: 295° (Met) WSPD: 4 kts / GST: 6 kts / WVHT: 9.2 ft / DPD: 14.0 s / WDIR: 60° / ATMP: 55.8° F / WTMP: 54.1° F. Tide: negative 0.5' rising near 1.'

Rain Brings Rainbows (Diamond Head Cliffs)

Posted on December 2nd, 2011 in California, Half Moon Bay, Surf Reports, Surf Sessions.

Early Birthday Surf (HMB Jetty)

Posted on November 9th, 2011 in California, Half Moon Bay, Surf Reports, Surf Sessions. 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'.

Into the Sun (HMB Jetty)

Posted on November 3rd, 2011 in California, Half Moon Bay, Surf Sessions.

Into the Fog (Linda Mar)

Posted on October 31st, 2011 in California, Half Moon Bay, Surf Sessions. 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'.