Some funny stuff

It was sunny yesterday, water temp and air temp were both hovering in the low 60's. There was quite a bit of size out there and a lot of drift. I spent a lot of my morning staying ahead of one of the lifeguard towers, while trying to catch waves every now and then.

The funny part was seeing this girl paddle out. The fact that she's a girl isn't the funny part. It would have been funny if it was a guy who did what she did. I start my paddle southward to fight the drift, she's sitting 5 yards farther out than I am, another local is about 10 yards inside of me to the left. She sees a wave (not really rideable), turns around and starts scratching for it. I can't really say "paddle" because she really looked like she was just scraping the water. I guess it works because she's on a longboard. I have to stop and start paddling backwards to get out of her way. She was on a trajectory to go between us. I barely get out of her way as I see she's not going to go around me at all. The other guy on the inside just kicks back and she goes barreling into him, narrowly missing.

"Come on!" she yells at the local, who's pretty darn good and very cool about waves in general.

"If you can't surf around me, then you shouldn't be out here!" That's what his reply was. I totally agree. He wasn't moving anywhere and she wasn't on the wave at all. The fact that he was in the way wasn't what really stopped her from catching that wave.

She leaves in a huff. I thought they were joking at first, but I caught up with the guy later and he said she was dead serious. I side with the guy in this case because the girl could have changed her angle just a little bit, even though that wave was going to pass her by regardless. I found the whole interaction funny. There's rarely a clear path on a Saturday. Just have to deal with the conditions and learn to paddle around every so often.

Blown out

I was amped to go out this weekend after experiencing Sunset, but the winds were howling early on. Few people even bothered to get in the water on Saturday. More people were out there today, but the winds were still howling and it was high tide in the morning. I was so unmotivated to go after seeing the conditions. It would have been tough to catch some of those waves.

The one good thing about the wind was that I was able to see Catalina for the first time in ages.

Sunset (more details)

Walking out of the path from the small cul de sac, leads to a tree at the end of the path. It sits right on the fringe of the sand of the beach and the small dirt trail that leads to it. The roots of the tree have created steps that help with the changing grades. Two houses stand as sentries for the small thoroughfare. Someone at some point, placed a park bench under the shade of the tree, perhaps to enjoy a family picnic before going out to enjoy the warmth of the sun. No "Ez-Up" tents needed with that tree standing there for decades.

Looking out of the water towards the water, you can see the shallow reef off to the right. The whitewater continues to churn there, long after the waves pass through. The water is crystal clear, submerged rocks coloring the azure waters darker in some places.

The crowds were light as we paddle out, no more than seven people out in the water and it was considered a crowded day. With a reef or point break, crowds are never good. Any more people and it would have been downright ugly.

I am on a friend's 8' funboard that has seen quite a bit of action. It's a bit narrow, but easy to paddle with. That easy paddling is a bit deceptive as I had a hard time getting into waves. I turned and paddled for the first decent looking wave coming my way, but never quite generated enough speed to catch up to the wave. It just rolled right by me.

Being a reef break, it took a little while to paddle out to the outside, with no duck diving needed. Just had to go around to the side, the side away from the shallow reef. As windy as the day was, the water was still relatively calm.

I went out to the lineup on the outside while some friends stayed towards the inside. The waves broke in the same spot over and over again. The lulls weren't too bad, the longest being 10 minutes.

I finally caught a wave, just charged it. It was a bit close to the shallow reef, but I caught the wave and popped up, with this gigantic shoulder in front of me. Riding to the top and sliding back down made the wait well worth it.

I didn't catch much anything else after that as more people paddled out to catch a little bit more magic. They probably don't know how special it is because they were locals, accustomed to the waves out there, but it was different for me. I normally surf a beach break that shifts after each swell. There are no channels to ease the trek to the outside.

I paddled in after awhile, never catching another wave. I did try for a couple more, but wasn't able to duplicate my previous effort. My friends were already waiting on the beach, having had their fill of waves since they spent a majority of their time in Hawaii surfing numerous breaks. The small moment has inspired me to come back to try out some other hallowed waters and hope I can once again slide across the blue ocean.

Sunset

Just got back from Hawaii. Have to say, it was awesome! I only surfed one wave and it was a great one. I really want to go back to Sunset and surfed hallowed grounds. Not many people can say they've surfed there, but it's truly paradise.

The waves were waist to chest with an occasional head high set coming through. There were only 7 or 8 people out, with one stand up paddler. The picture is the break at sunset.

It's a little freaky when you consider that if you go too far to the left, you'll end up on reef. Even the bottom of where you surf, there's a bunch of rocks. Not a good place to wipe out too much. The wave seemed like it would crash heavier than it did. It was mostly mushy, but one guy did get covered.