Author: Tracey

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Surfing with Wes

Surf: Chest high, clean, peeling, lovely.

My brother came to visit for the weekend! 😀

After a fun weekend watching the world series and going to Halloween parties, I took him out for an early AM surf. Surfing California is a lot different than Hawaii, so I did my best to prepare him for cold water, less than clear conditions, and less than mellow waves. I’ll admit, they were probably a little too big and a little too challenging for his third time ever surfing.

He did a great job padding out, keeping control of the board, and avoiding the bigger waves. Even better than that, he’s a great wavespotter. Wes was able to spot incoming sets and pick out the best waves consistently. He called me in to a few great waves, a couple that I got some compliments on. Yeah!

Wes didn’t really get a solid ride in, many good attempts but the waves were a little too steep for a clean ride. Next time I think we’ll hit Bolinas or mosey down to Cowells with a couple of soft tops. I’m glad he got to see how I spend my mornings. Hopefully next time I can call him into a few nice gentle rollers and find him some waves where he can have a little more fun.

Bonus: The Giants won the World Series! What a great weekend to be in town. 😀

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Blind Offshores

Surf: Waist high, little inconsistent. Howling offshore winds. 8.5ft @ 12.12 from the WNW at 287°

It’s been a while since the winds have blown offshore. They decided to make up for their absence with strong offshore gusts. Waves took some serious paddling and some crossed fingers to get down. More than a few riders were hucked back up the wave by the wind.

Chris provided some navigation duty, shouting to folks when they were almost there. A few folks got some nice ones.

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Size or Shape

Surf: Head High closeouts or waist high peelers. Not much in between.

Managed to pick up a little bit of face time at the bigger end. Not pretty, mostly drop, run, wash. I looked over my shoulder to see a sizeable closeout gnawing away at itself. Whew, glad to have outrun it. A few exploding unhappy waves later, we went on a paddling tour or the beach to snag some slow small waves. Caught a few fun little rolling waves. Better than getting whomped on. 🙂

Finally got to see the bioluminescent closeouts before the sun came up.

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Sun-scattered Clouds

Surf: Waist to Chest high, cleanish.

Man, what a sunrise and what a sky. Beautiful morning out there. Somewhat inconsistent waves. A few whomping closeouts but all around good time. Nice fun day back in the water after a week off.

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Difference a Day Makes

Surf: Waist-Shoulder, clean.

😀

I managed to pull off a lovely little surf before flying home to Indiana. Thanks to Chris’s carpooling, board babysitting assistance I was able to go right from the water to the airport. Wet wetsuit and all.

The waves cooperated nicely. Rather than suiting up to the sound of detonating closeouts, the surf was clean and beaut. I got plenty of nice rides in, including a right with a nice little stall on a slow rolling wave to sneak one in to the beach. Plenty of blind takeoffs into the sun. Plenty of friendly folks hooting.

The new gear bag worked out great. There was a little condensation on the outside of the bag from the temperature change in the baggage hold, but the bag didn’t leak and my suitcase arrived on the Third Coast smelling just fine.

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Desayuno con los desesperados!

Surf: Large and closed out for most of the beach. Waist-Shoulder, soft in the lefties.

Even with the later and later sunrise, it’s pretty easy to see a half beach long closeout. I made a lot of skeptical faces in the parking lot. Stomp stomp stomp in the dark. Paddling out, still skeptical. Sitting in the lineup, skeptical. Few waves later, little less skeptical. I’m trying to get the hang of this whole paddling out when it looks rough and wild in order to find the spot that’s working. Not perfect, but fun after chasing a few sections down.

I got a new gear bag to replace my slowly disintegrating reused plastic pillow cover. It’s a Dakine wetsuit bag. So far it fits my wetsuit, booties, rashguard and swimsuit. It fits in my backpack, it seems sturdy enough, and the lining turns inside out to dry.

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Bolinas Birthday

Surf: Waist High with some Chest high waves. Lots of wind and plenty of sun. 5.5ft @ 17s from W at 272°

In honor of Chris’s birthday, we snuck out to Bolinas for a few waves.

I spent most of the time fighting the wind. Chris got plenty of nice waves while I was flipping over in the sideshores. I got a few decent ones in the Channel, but mostly enjoyed the nice weather and the birthday picnic his family was kind enough to bring (and endure the wind to have).

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Mellow Waveshare

Surf: Waist High and mellow. Some larger waves holding up, some closing out.

One nice thing about staying sheltered is the morning crew. Friendly folks happy so share waves and hoot for each other. I got called in to a few waves to share them with other folks. Plenty fun.

On one wave I spotted a slumped over something towards the shore. When I kicked out, I paddled over to see it was a big doe eyed harbor seal looking for snacks in the rocks. Paddled back out, not thinking anything of it. About when I got settled in the lineup, another surfer said “I see you have a friend today!” Just a few feet away from my board was that same doe eye harbor seal give me the “whatchoodoing” face. He followed me the whole way out and hung around for a while while we surfed. Crazy little dudes.

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Pink!

Surf: Waist high with some Shoulder High standouts. Crowded.

Ready for some more sheltered shot surfing, I picked up an afternoon surf. Unfortunately the rest of the beach was closed out and ALL the afternoon traffic was bunched up in this one spot. Quite a few exciting (chaotic) takeoffs, but some decent rides.

Watched a little gal of about 9 years old get some great rides in after a push from dad. She’ll be tearing it up in no time!