We bought a house. Being that we don't make awesome money, and we live in the SF Bay area, we got a "fixer." One thing about home improvent is its expensive, so we are doing as much as we can ourselves, saving the money for the jobs that require special skills. Another thing is that as you go along fixing things, you are bound to find more problems just under the surface. What does this have to do with surfing? Well, I havn't been thinking very much about surfing because I'm neck deep in home repair.
I did get a surf 1/16/13. It was a mid-week afternoon that was sunny, warm, and small at OB. I found a sandbar all to myself and had the best surf mat session I've ever had. I was playing with keeping the mat flat on the face instead of trying to "hold an edge," the logic being that the mat doesnt have and edge to hold. Keeping more mat in contact with the face increases the friction, similar to putting an edge on the water. I don't know how well it was working because I didnt get enough waves to try it both ways to compare, but at least I can say it worked. Afterward I came down with the flu, a result of exposure to the bug, home repair in the morning, and surfing the afternoon.
I also got out last week on Thursday. I went down to look at the west side and it was not very big and had some people out. I decided to go 3 Myles up the coast for some size and fewer people. I got that, but more that I could handle. It was big enough that the paddle out was like OB with pleanty of duckdives. I fought my way out pretty far, almost to where the only other surfer was. I tried for one wave, mised it, and turned around to see the other guy who was farther outside get mowed by a 8-10' wave. I went under it and there was another. Too big to hold onto it to duckdive I started swimming deep under each wave. I was still getting washed in and noticed the other guy gave up and turned to go in. I kept ducking waves until I saw I was way inside, and past the safe place to go in. I changed tactics to try to make it in at the next cove, which I did easily, with the help of rows of whitewater.
I left my suit on and went back into town where John is. The waves were just overhead, and there were 20 or so people, 7-10 at the peak. I finagled a few to myself and out a speedy spot a bit forward on the 6'8" moraga. I surfed until I got too tired to make the drop and drove home in the dark.
Today I noticed what a pleasant day it was with warm weather and no wind. I wondered for the first time in a week what the surf was like, but didn't wonder strong enough to even check the report. We move into the house in just over a week and, as of now, we have zero major appliances, one bedroom is unfinished, and the kitchen floor has been striped back to 50-year old linoleum. This is why I haven't had time to think about surfing!
