Monday, December 17, 2007

Chill Factor

Winter has come and it was freezing in the water yesterday. I didn't bother with paddling out on Saturday (combination of late night, cold morning, and few waves). I went out yesterday because I brought out the log and there was no one in the water. Within the 100 yards or so of break that I stay between, there were maybe 10 people out. We each had our own spot and only paddled over to talk to one other when the lulls hit.

Things started off promising with a bunch of small rights with workable shoulders. After an hour though, things died. Someone hit the off switch because the lulls became super long and the cold made it worse. The water was only marginally warmer than the air temperature. The sun hid behind clouds every so often, making the lulls feel longer.

I'm debating on buying some gloves and a hoodie. The hoodie looks a bit funky, but I think I may take the plunge and get one. The gloves are still up for debate. Might not be bad to get those webbed ones for extra paddling power.

Monday, December 10, 2007

After the Storm

There's nothing after the storm in terms of surf. The surf reports are reporting 1-2 which isn't much of anything.

The anticipation of a rainstorm also diminished my desire to go out surfing. The rainstorm never arrived, but it did bring lots of wind, messing things up.

Guess I'll just have to hope that there's another swell coming in the near future. I still want to make a surf trip this winter up the coast to Santa Barbara or down south to San Diego. I just want to make sure there's going to be surf before I make a trip like that, putting more miles on my car.

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Big Wednesday... sort of

It is definitely the biggest swell of the year that I can think of. I went out to Sunset early yesterday, thinking it was the only place that would hold its shape with such a large swell. The news were already reporting on the swell on Tuesday night.

When I got there around 7:00 (combination of traffic and me being lazy), the place was already filled with other wave riders. It was a zoo. I stuck around for a short while, watching the action, then decided to leave. Blasphemous to waste one of the biggest swells of the year, but I don't like to jump on party waves. I don't trust myself, or others for that matter, in maneuvering around the break without spearing someone.

This has been a small year overall. The only good thing about this year is the lack of rain (which is also bad because we're in a bit of a drought because of it). No rain means no bacteria. The rain is going to start tonight (Thursday) and continue on through the rest of the weekend.

Till the following weekend then...
Clerks II - July 21, 2006