Xmas Weekend

I only went out one day, Saturday. The tide came up fast. It was only good for 30 minutes before the tide killed it. If you got there early (which I didn't), then it was all lined up. Just can't get the right conditions, but that's the good and bad thing with mother nature. Things will never ever be exactly the same.

The pounding last week helped with the paddling this week. I took out the smaller board again and had a bit of trouble getting into waves. I should have just gone into the inside section and chanced those waves and avoid breaking my neck on the shorepound.

At least there's something still in the water for this weekend. Can't wait!

Pounding

The forecast for the weekend was for PM showers on Saturday at 60% and AM showers on Sunday. So, Saturday morning was the only chance I'd get to surf some waves. The actual weather? Cloudy and windy. It's a 40-45 minute drive out to the regular break, so weather can be totally different by the time you get out there.

Weather at the beach? Gusty onshore winds, lots of chop, sprinkles off and on. Very few people out in the water as the white water was just everywhere. It was messy with lots of size. It's a beach break, so there are few true channels to paddle out through, just have to dive or wait for the lulls (which were frequent, but very short).

My friend was already out in the water and I just stood at the base of one of the lights just watching to see if he caught anything. I was debating whether to go out or not because it was cold!

I started chatting with some guy who just came out and he said it was fun, if you catch one. "Might as well go out, this is the only day you can surf because it's going to rain tomorrow." That was enough. I've been too long out of the water not to at least get some paddling time in. It's the first thing that goes, after all.

I suited up, paddled out a little to the north of where my friend was (have to compensate for the drift). There was only one other guy out there on a longboard.

Guess how long it took to get out to the outside? Honestly, I couldn't tell you. It was over 15 minutes of just paddling and ducking through wave after wave. After awhile, it was just me diving under the waves without the board. There were a few times where it would have been much easier to just turn the board around and belly board one in.

After getting tossed around, held under a couple of times and occasionally dragged backwards by the board, I got out. Triumph! I ended up 100 yards south of where I started out. The arms were dead. They were paddling, but very little travel came of it.

What do you know? A sneak set came in, 20 yards farther out. Started scratching for the horizon, but it was pretty clear that I wasn't going to make it. Took one on the head, then caught one in. Didn't even have the strength to pop up.

Today was the day after the storm. Surfline said that it was weak and sloppy. Nothing to wake up for so I slept in. I hope next week is better.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't

Last week was flat. I didn't bother going out, there was no point.

This week was supposed to be the big swell. I went out yesterday and wouldn't you know it, it was big and hollow. Only problem is that the whole beach was walled up. The tide was coming up and there were some guys out. All I saw was people catching waves and going straight before the whole thing closed out. I could see a shoulder, but it was closing out way too fast. My friend said that he was almost at RPB, some place that was good during large winter swells. Big mistake. That place turned out to be knee high waves with barely any push. I didn't bother suiting up and getting into that foul water with only my little 7'0 hybrid to battle against longboards.

My friend was in the water and he caught a few tiny waves, but they were short rides and nothing great. I should have just stayed at the home break and waited for the high tide to slow up the waves just enough that the shape would clean up. A few of the locals mentioned that it got great yesterday.

I went out this morning hoping that there would still be some swell in the water, but the conditions totally sucked. It rained the night before and the water reflected the storm.

Ugh. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.