Tag: pacifica

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Hull experiment

2014-LM-11-06

Surf: 3.9 ft at 13.8 s from the WNW at 283°

My physical therapy has been going pretty well. I decided to run a little experiment and see if I could take out one of my shorter boards without totally throwing my neck out. Past attempts at anything shorter than 9′ had me laid up in bed after so, in addition to the likelyhood that I wouldn’t catch any waves, this was a risky proposition.

Thankfully they waves were very forgiving. Hardly a duck dive needed. 🙂

And surprisingly enough, I got waves! It was like I hadn’t even put that board down. The tide was in just the right swing that there were plenty of fun fun rights. It was a little sketchy on the inside, but lots of fun swooshing turns before hitting that point. I eventually got back into the hang of kicking out on my little board (I kept stepping off.)

Nice morning!

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Foggy Beach Day

2014-LM-10-05

Surf: 3.9 ft at 16.0 s from the S at 186°

It’s boiling hot in the city, so naturally it’s completely fogged over at the beach. I like the fog, but from the looks of the crowd down there, everyone was hoping for a sunny beach day.

I bodysurfed for a little while before eventually grabbing my board. I did get a couple long, fun waves that made it worth the traffic. Lots of swinging the board around to sneak just a little bit more out of every wave. Had a few right into the sand.

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Split peak morning

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Surf: 3.6 ft at 19.0 s from the SW at 299°

Yeeehooo, that was a fun little morning. Yeah, waves were a little lumpy with the backwash, but still plenty fun. Chris and I paddled out and immediately split a peak. Yay for shared waves. Sadly did not get a ton of stepping in, but did get in some zipping and swooshing. Plenty of folks in the water were getting fun waves. This is definitely the kind of morning I’ve been missing.

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Bodysurf party wave

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Surf: 5.3 ft at 10.0 s from the NW at 307°

Ahh colorful fall mornings and closeouts. Warm winds were blowing which I think was the only thing holding up these waves. Could still sneak in a little bit of a ride. I went for some smaller ones to work on wedging my rail into the face and working out a step. It was fun, but eventually me neck started hurting again so I swapped out my board for fins.

Since I’m trying to be ginger when it comes to my upper body, I had to pull out of a few whompers just before they whomped. These steep waves held up by the wind were otherwise perfect for bodysurfing. I even managed to get a party wave with J-bird. I hadn’t thought about what it was going to be like sharing a wave with someone on a board and, well, it’s kinda scary! I pulled out and let her rock the rest of the wave solo. Hoping to get her into a pair of fins so we can bodysurf party-wave sometime soon. 🙂

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Fujii

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Surf: 3.3 ft at 13.8 s from the WSW at 239°. South winds. Outgoing tide.

Back out there. Did some bodysurfing and swimming, but also tested this board out.

It’s shaped by Stan Fujii out of Ventura. Turns out, my friend David worked for Stan back in the day at the Ventura Surf Shop. This board is HEAVY. Wow. Tapered t-band stringer. Tail block. Beast and a half to turn, but super stable once it’s going. I walked waaaaay up before I ran out of ocean.

The weight is not the best thing for my shoulders. Happy to let it’s owner handle it from here on out.

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Achievement

2014-LM-09-18a

Surf: 6.9 ft at 10.0 s from the W at 265°. Incoming tide. Light S winds.

Day two of getting up and getting out. It was raining when I left the house. How great is THAT? I’ve been waiting for these south wind mornings and we could really use a wet winter to ease this drought. (Note, I may not feel the same way after my third sinus infection from dirty water.)

Got down south and the waves looked fun. I decided to skip the bodysurfing and go straight for the board. Wheee. Sure, it was kinda closed out, but lots of friends I hadn’t seen in ages were out and there were a few makeable waves.

The big highlight: making it through a whole session without the sharp pain I’ve been having in my neck. Sure, I’m sore in all the usual spots, but it’s a big step up from the kind of pain I’m normally in these last few months.

I think that’s a win.

I’ve been adding a sticker to this thing every time I’ve had a really great session, pulled off a surf move, or something else pretty rad. So far, not a ton of stickers, but today I added one for cooperative shoulders. Not bad.

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Beach day

2014-LM-09-07

2014-JT-09-07

Surf: 3.0 ft at 16.0 s from the SSW at 197°

Sunny, warm, with tiny waves, perfect for a beach day with lots of groms. After a thorough check of semi-grom friendly spots, we set up camp on the beach. Groms on boogie boards, groms on soft ops, groms on beat up surfboards. Lots of folks getting waves and having fun.

I surfed for a little bit, bodysurfed for a little, and attempted to boogie board before my shoulder said “nope, no boogie boarding. This is where we draw the line.” At that point I had snacks on the beach.

Groms got all kinds of waves. 🙂

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Labor Day + Franklin Point

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2014-LM-09-01

Surf: 5.6 ft at 8.3 s from the NW at 306°

Last minute weekend getaway on the coast!

Meghan had some extra space on her tent-cabin camping trip so I tagged along. It’s a great spot, plenty of hiking including a nice hike out to the dunes and cliffs Franklin Point. What a view! As the sun started to go down, there were hundreds of searbirds diving just offshore. Pelicans, gulls, cormorants, all kinds of birds. Total amazing mayhem.

The next day we walked to other direction to check out some tidepools.

Ant the way back we met up with some friends in Pacifica to cool off (so hot this weekend!) The rips were very strong and the shorebreak really stomping so bodysurfing was kept to a minimum. Still nice to get wet (carefully.)

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BIRTHDAY!

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Surf: 3.3 ft at 14.8 s from the WNW at 291°

It’s my birthday 😀 Yeeww

With a tent filled with snacks on the beach, I spent hours and hours surfing, bodysurfing, snacking, and pushing Meghan into waves. It was sunny, water was warm, surf was decent enough. So much fun. Meghan got three pretty good waves! She was starting to get on the face (with a little push from Chris in the right direction.)

I got some great bodysurf rides. Probably one of the best I’ve gotten without a hand plane. Most of the board rides and bodysurf rides were almost right into the sand. Pretty punchy for little waves!

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Following day (after much sleeping in) I did some kayaking on San Pablo reservoir. So swimming here (aww) but so pretty! And perfect weather. Just enough breeze to keep cool. Plenty of sun. Super nice day. Had a picnic on a rock!

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Lovely lovely weekend. Birthday stoked!

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Warm water

2014-LM-07-24

Surf: 3.9 ft at 7.1 s from the WNW at 290° and building.

It’s been a pretty lousy week. I’ve been running around for work that has been less than rewarding. So, with nothing on the schedule for Thursday, I jetted off to see if I could find some surf. It started out flat and grey, but kinda workable, but by the end, there were waves and there was plenty of sun. I got sunburnt for sure. Oww. Overall, not bad. Worked on some quick turns.

Water is SO warm. They’re saying it’s a record high maybe 65°, hasn’t been this warm since the 80’s. I was roasting. Beautiful weather.