Learning to Surf


Surf: 5.6 ft at 13.8 s from the W at 270°. Outgoing tide. Light off to sideshore winds.

Day 4 in the water! I’m trying to get in all the surf I can before it starts raining again. 

Today was smaller and more mellow compared to the end of yesterday’s session. I’d hoped to get to surf my favorite corner of the beach. It looked very small but doable. Only one guy out! But very suddenly, that one guy paddled back in. He happened to be parked next to us in the lot and said “be careful out there, there’s a really aggressive harbor seal! It nipped at my feet. And chased me off the spot!”

I haven’t encountered harbor seals behaving aggressively, so I wanted the spot for a bit. I saw thrashing around in the water and seal flippers splashing above the surface. I decided to paddle out in a more crowded spot for safety in numbers.

Anyone know what was up? I couldn’t tell if there was one seal or if there were two. 

The more occupied spot was about the same as it’d been the last few days, lots of waiting and mushy waves with the occasional cleanup closeout. There were a few gems here and there that worked out, but mostly I was grateful to be out in the water and to be clear of the harbor seal kerfuffle. 

Surf: 6.9 ft at 16.0 s from the W at 263°. Outgoing tide
After yesterday’s bigger sets and light winds, I was surprised to show up to the beach and see little crumbly waves. We decided to give it a shot anyway. 

The waves were rideable enough, with a few gems in between the closeouts. The swell started to build very quickly, however, leading to some exciting cleanup sets. By the time we got out of the water, those crumbly little waves had turned into beach long whomping closeouts. Cleaner, but slamming shut. 

Still chilly out there, too!

Surf: 4.3 ft at 19.0 s from the W at 279°. High tide. 

Sunday I managed to get up a little earlier. Just a little bit. I’m still beat. So beat I missed the Great Highway Gallery’s new opening. I dropped by yesterday before the big event and WOW. The new exhibit is amazing. 

Sunday I wound up surfing the same spot I wore myself out on on Saturday. It was a little bigger and cleaner, but the big highlight was Darren was out! It was so great to catch up and share some waves. 

The waves were speedy and everyone got some real nice ones. I saw both Darren and Chris catch some really beautiful looking waves. Lots of fun and so nice to catch up with Pacifica folks. <3 surfy family!

Surf: 4.6 ft at 14.8 s from the W at 270°. High tide. Moderate onshore winds.

I’ve been busy lately. Early meetings, evening events, and some longish days at work. My work guilt keeps me from going out when Chris can’t go out, but even when he can, I’m the lazy loaf that just wants to sleep in. I’d made some promises of “yeah, let’s surf early” for Saturday, then didn’t get up till late.

My the time we made it down to the beach, the wind had shifted and picked up. What was probably nice and glassy in the morning was pretty crumbly by 11.

But hey, with all these week-long rainstorms, finding a sunny weekend with waves has gotten pretty rare.

The waves looked rough and there were plent of people on them, but a few good ones came through here and there. It was one of those days where it’s mostly left, but there’s a nice right if you can get it without a dozen people trying to go left on it. I got a few that were a blast. I also got paid a great compliment by another surfer in the water. I was beaming. It’s a good reminder to tell people when you saw them get a good wave and share some of the stoke 😀

Later on we move more north. It was bumpy and bigger. I wore myself out pretty quick! Hopefully I have enough energy left to get out tomorrow, too!