Surf: Small and clean!
YAY Mexico. Yay Yay Yay.
Yay Mexico!!
Fun morning rides. Pancakes. All the good stuff.
Hullabaloo
Surf: 2.3 ft at 12.9 s from the SSW at 208° Small and kinda clean.
Started out the morning at Ocean Beach. It was windy, small, and all around not inspiring. After kicking some dirty and waiting for a wave, the wind shifted south and we decided to look for a more sheltered spot.
I’d brought my hull hoping to convince myself that my hull was not really all that fun and I shouldn’t take it to Mexico (even though Burros is pretty much the perfect wave for it.)
Linda mar looked small. I thought it would be perfect. I’d struggle and get frustrated and decide that all I need to take is my fish, not my fish AND my hull.
Of course, when you decide something like that, the waves turn out to be super fun. My little hull zipped all around, gliding like crazy, swooping a little. It was silly fun. I got some great long rides.
I wound up walking away from the session knowing I was going to take one heavy board bag to Mexico and that I was going to have a heck of a lot of fun.
Board Swap
Surf: 3.0 ft at 12.9 s from WSW at 245°. Windy.
Sometimes when the surf is less than inspiring, the only thing you can do is swap boards. Brien got a chance trying both Chris’s 10’something” log and my 9’4, Chris got a try at Brien’s 7’4 egg and my board, and I got a try at Brien’s board.
I got some fun rides all around. I also managed to flip myself completely over. Chris got some good ones on Brien’s board, but I think my board falls into the “too similar but too different” window so no love there. Brien got some long ones on Chris’s board, but my board turned out to be a little less intimidating.
Fun party waves all around too. Not bad, but spring conditions for sure.
Almost
Surf: 3.3 ft at 16.0 s from the S at 184°
I *almost* got into a lot of waves today. I’m having trouble and I’m missing em. I felt like I was getting lined up right, but I was missing that last elements I needed to get up and go.
I still got a few. They were mostly scraps that felt mushy and slow. I left the set waves for people who wouldn’t totally blow it, so there wasn’t much to work with.
One wave I felt like I was set up right, I paddled, I almost got it, and then I get swept over the falls kicking and screaming. The whole way down I could hear Sticker and Josh howling from the cliffs. The orange board makes me easy to spot. I still think orange was a good color choice. As I’d mentioned to Sticker: Nothing says AAaAAAAAAAA LOOK OUT like international orange.
The surf got better as the tide changed. I didn’t want to leave but I’d gone from getting waves here and there to not getting into anything at all. I figured it was office time before embarrassing myself further. 😉
Offshore
Surf: Offshore. 4.9 ft at 10.0 s from WNW at 302°
Wow. I was not expecting this at all. Not only was the wind off shore, but the waves were working. Good size, nice long waves. Wow.
Of course, in typical Lindy style it was packed to the gills. I’m not yet comfortable with sitting inside so every wave felt like a firing squad. It didn’t help that in trying to avoid being the the way, I got squarely in the way over and over. John nearly hit me, Mike nearly hit me, dozens of strangers nearly hit me. Yeeow.
I guess it’s good duck diving practice? (Although a failed duck dive resulted in me turning my eyelids inside out. Ow)
I managed to get a few waves, but man did that take effort.
There was a cameraman in the water. I’m pretty sure half his roll is me *not* getting the wave. Ahh well. That’s me in the bottom photo, trying to see in the morning sun.
I got a few drops to remember out of the morning and got to see friends get some really nice ones. 🙂
Sandbar
Surf: 2.3 ft at 12.9 s from the SSW at 211° Windy
After yesterday’s fun waves, today’s windy small stuff was a bit of a let down. Oh well. We got a few fun tiny warbly ones off this very shallow sandbar.
So shallow, I took a close out wrong, board hit the bottom, board hit me, and I wound up with a real nice bruise on my thigh. Ouch.
This beach will always be a strange one for me. Super shallow sand bars. Crazy deep channels. Shifting, bending, backwashing. It’s a tough one to figure out some days.
All to myself
Surf: 3.3 ft at 13.8 s from the SSW at 198°. South Winds.
I knew the surf would be on the small side and I figured it would be a good day to get in some log time. What I forgot to do was switch out my 6ft leash for my 9ft leash. Opps.
Rather than try to navigate the crowd while leashless, I went up to the north end where I had a solid hour of solo time, just me and some really fun little waves. Well, me, fun little waves, and a whale right in the lineup!
I got some real nice long ones.
Eventually folks figured out that I was having a ridiculously fun time and joined me. Sure, it wasn’t as fun to have to share, but it did mean I got to surf with Heather for a while, that was fun.
All around lovely morning.
The wind came up
Surf: 3.6 ft at 14.8 s from the SW at 214°
The session started out glassy. It also looked small from the cliff, which it wasn’t (it never is! never!) I struggled on my fish and drifted around with the current. Eventually the wind came up. Once things were junky, I managed to get waves. I’m guessing that’s some sort of Linda Mar skill. I can get waves when it’s junky and not when it’s clean.
Ran into Mark, Goose, and Jonas on the beach for the first time in the entire time I’ve been surfing. Little Jonas is too dang cute.
Collide
Surf: 3.9 ft at 8.3 s from the NW at 323°
This session started out fun. I got a wave, so that’s pretty nice. It was a left and I was relieved (after much paddling on my little fish both to get out and to get the wave) and I wasn’t going to be skunked.
After that it was all sunshine and me being exactly in the wrong spot. I got almost right under Daniel as he was taking off. Sigh. Kook+ move. Then Chris, Eduardo, and Brien somehow got all kinds of tangled up. I had to dive a wave so I couldn’t see what happened, but when the spray settled Eduardo had a big old cut on his head.
We helped him in where Chris patched him up with a comically large band aid that had probably been in his wagon since the 80’s. Eduardo is thankfully okay. No stitches needed.
Bigger, softer waves
Surf: 3.9 ft at 8.3 s from the NW at 310°
Today’s surf was bigger and softer than it’s been. Crowded too. With the softness I was really fighting to get into waves. I managed to get a few but they all felt slow.
I had a duck dive that went wrong and I kicked my fin. My whole foot is blue. Having so many fins so close to me means I’m constantly kicking them. Owwww.
After struggling a while on the bigger wave, I snuggled up to a small left and picked up a few more fun ones.
It’s always the little waves I catch easy, not the big ones. It’s silly, but I’ll take it.