Discretion is the better part of Valor

The first big winter swell (for me) of the season. I woke up an hour before my alarm to check the buoy and quickly decided to add the 8'6" Channin to the car. The buoy was in the low teens in feet, and high teens in seconds. The angle was around 305 which was good (I hoped) because it would reduce the wave size as the swell made the turn into the reefs. I made it to tres at first light. In the darkness I could only tell it was big. As it got lighter I could see it was also disorganized. It was still ridable, and luck could result in a good wave, but most of them didn't look good. With the mid-tide on the rise, I wasn't optimistic that it would get better.

JB arrived soon after and was stoked at the chance to get back into big tres waves. I wasn't, but was game to join him. We went down to the jump rock. I was hanging back stretching out my body and JB jumped in. It looked like he timed it right but I guess the light was still too low to read the ocean because he got caught by some waves clearing the channel. He ended up safely on the sand down the beach. He was worked over, but ready for more. But he also encouraged me to jump in first so he could get a small rest. I picked a different part of the rock to jump off and watched and waited. It was difficult to figure out what the best time was to go for it. I watched for 15-min before JB got tired of waiting and moved down the rock to get ready to jump. As he waited, a few waves washed over the rocks and knocked him off his feet. He was able to get back to his feet and get to higher ground, but I could see he was limping. I went over to check in. 

No joint injury, just bruises. He advocated for me to go out anyway but I explained I wasn't really that into it anyway. I decided I wanted to go look around a bit, maybe up the coast. On the way back to the car we stopped to talk to a guy who was going out at tres. He said that things were more messy to the north so I decided it wasn't a good day to recon to the north. Instead we went into town, but just barely.

It was interesting to see how much smaller, and cleaner, the waves were in town. We checked the sidewalk and although it had a handful of people on it, the waves looked fun. JB was done, and since I was still in my wetsuit he was pushing me to go get some waves. The thought of surf matting was getting me stoked this past week, so that's what I decided to do. The way I worked it out was to sit off the edge of the sidewalk and wait for the waves that swung wide or were big and missed the better section. It worked out for about half a dozen waves before the tide seemed to kill my spot. The sidewalk was still going off and there was one guy who I repeatedly thought was going to get seriously hurt on the reef, but instead he kept getting barrels and artfully bailing out on the unmakable ones.

I had to paddle back to the beach because I just wasn't getting any waves for the last 20-min or so. It's now a few days later and I wish I could go do it again!

Better?

 There was more swell this weekend so I was able to catch waves. We went to S reef because I thought it would be good on the high tide at 9am. It was pretty good, but I still struggled. JB did better, but also had trouble with the crowd. There were people sitting on the inside getting good waves, but then were in the way when a set came. There were also a couple people who would paddle just a little deeper as the wave came and I had to back out. Those waves I did get I kooked out on. But, the weather was beautiful and it was cool to see other good surfers ride waves.

After surfing we went to the overlooks and checked out some of the reefs just north of S. There were waves and far fewer people. So maybe next time conditions are like this we'll take our chances at one of those options.

Sunday was perfect weather for working on the canoe. I finished up all the scarf work, including adding 1.5-ft extensions to the pieces. They didn't come out perfect with some mis-aligned and others showing a gap. I'm not sure what I was doing wrong, but maybe the mistakes will blend away when I round the corners and sand it down smooth. The next step is to run the strips through the router to round over the edges. Once that's done I'll sand then down smoother before applying the first round of oil. Between coats of oil I'll take apart the old canoe decks and see if they are worth keeping. I wouldn't mind making new decks, but it will be my first time and I'm not sure what I'll do, exactly.

While waiting for the glue to dry on my scarf joints I started watching videos about surf matting and paipo riding. I kind of wish I had tried again on Saturday morning, going back out with another surf vehicle. Even bodysurfing the sizable shore-pound would have been more exercise. 

Next weekend is supposed to be camping on the coast. We'll see if that really happens because there is also rain in the forecast. I hope it doesn't make the tent area too muddy, and also hope the rain doesn't return while we're there. It's possible that I'll take just my son camping for just one day, and deal with the hassle of wet muddy gear alone. He would like that, and my wife would like the rare time alone. But it would also take away the one surfing window I have. Who knows, that one window might be terrible waves anyway so family time would be the best thing for me to do!

Not much to say

This weekend surf was not great. The weather was great. The water was clear and there were at least two different species of (non-stinging) jellyfish in the water. We tried to surf funboards, but it was a little too small for me. JB was getting the best of the waves and I was just missing waves. We walked up to S reef and surfed the left. I was awkward, but at least catching waves. JB was doing much better. We didn't end up surfing for very long, especially because of the long walks on the sand we did.

I did make some progress on Sunday on the canoe. I scarf cut and glued up some sticks, but I think I need to scarf a few more feet on those two sticks to get the length I want. I also cut down my other board of oak into sticks, but didn't get them scarfed and glued because I needed to think through my plan. I think I should try making the deck plates, because that will play into how long the gunwales need to be. Time to search images of deck plates for what looks the best of what I think I can successfully build.

Blinded by the fog

The forecast conditions didn't look that inspiring. It was especially hard to motivate for this weekend following the better than average surf we got last weekend. After mulling over the lackluster forecast for a few days it occurred to me that it might be the right combination for Alligators. I made the call and JB was game. There's also a lower quality but very consistent wave a short walk away that was the backup option. When we arrived before dawn we couldn't see anything through the fog. As the daylight filled in we still couldn't see more than the shore break and a little further. I decided that based on the tide, wind, and buoy readings I would paddle out blind to Alligators. The wave breaks pretty far from shore and waves breaking within sight through the fog only confused me as to where I could/should paddle out. JB was uncomfortable with the idea because he's never taken a closer look at it, let alone paddled out. There's rocks that stick out and rocks that show up when a wave pulls water off them. With the fog it was impossible to see shore. I had no problem with JB sitting on the beach because it really did seem like a sketchy situation for a first timer. I also wasn't confident there were even waves.

I paddled out and when I got past the waves I still wasn't sure where I was. I determined which side of the wave I was most likely on, so paddled in the direction that made sense. Luckily I recognized a rock and lined up off it. I've only ever surfed this spot once, so I was still trying to figure out the lineup when I saw someone paddling out through the fog. It wasn't JB, but it felt good anyway knowing I wasn't all alone. This person knew where to line-up and sat in the right spot picking off the one-wave per set that broke correctly. I was still trying to find my line between the shallow submerged rocks when two more people paddled out. At this point I felt good that at least three other people thought the conditions were right for this spot. But I was also getting frustrated that I couldn't get a wave. The same person caught all the waves, and JB was still on the beach. Even the waves that person got were not all that great looking. I decided I'd take a wave in and head to the other spot with JB. I didn't even catch a wave in and instead paddled with occasionally getting some whitewater in.

We walked to the other spot and faced the same situation: grey-out conditions. At least this spot I'm more familiar with. But I also knew based on the buoy that the waves would be pretty big. We paddled out and tried to get lined up, but got caught by a bigger set. Paddle back out, a little further, and miss a few before getting caught again. With the fog and the shifty nature of this spot, we both were not to happy with the situation. I rode two or three waves before realizing JB was not around. I wasn't worried because this wave just pushes you to the channel, but I also wasn't excited about surfing alone. I rode one in to find him on the beach. He encouraged me to keep surfing, but I had done a good amount of paddling out/around and wasn't excited for the waves I found.
We left and grabbed breakfast, which was really good. The short distance inland where the cafe is was beyond the fog and instead warm and sunny. It almost made up for the bad day of surfing.

Fall on the CA coast

Surfers and most outdoor enthusiasts in California know how special this season is on the California coast. Winter is wild and stormy, punctuated with windows of beautiful weather. Spring is cold and windy with the remnants of winter hanging on. Summer is sometimes colder than spring with the regular onshore wind that blows most of the day. 

Fall is the best season. The cooling weather mellows out the onshore wind. The sun is still high enough to warm the days, but often a chill in the air keeps it from getting to hot. The small south swells still provide waves, but the first taste of winter northwest swells start filling in, reminding me that I need to get stronger to handle the full winter swells. The Fall swells seem to come from further away and none of the storminess comes with it. There can be warm, calm wind days with overhead waves that are surfable all day long.

This weekend was one of those times. We got out Sunday morning to find overhead sets and glassy conditions. We surfed the main reef that can be seen from the road. Even before sunrise cars were parking along the shoulder of Highway 1. We decided to grab a few waves before the crowd filled in, with a backup plan to go to the more hidden reef later. As it turned out, there never was much of a crowd with good vibes and plenty of waves to go around. JB and I got a taste of winter with some 8' sets catching us. Well mostly catching me because JB was sitting on the wide peak and was able to catch waves off the occasional bigger sets. I opted for more waves, smaller waves, and not as good waves. It was a bad choice, but I got waves and some with the feeling of turns so hard my legs felt weak. Some late drops that compressed my legs and made my bad knee feel a twinge of pain. As usual, the first good NW swell after a summer of south swells and I feel like I really need to get back in shape!

The best part of the day was that I was more prepared than normal. My wetsuit is falling apart and my mail-order replacement didn't fit. I sent it back to get a better size, but also purchased some wetsuit shorts to keep me warm while I wait for the new suit. So I've got a 5mm worn out suit, but also a 1mm shirt and 1mm shorts underneath. This combination kept me plenty warm. I also drank a V8 right before paddling out. I normally drink one after getting back to the car but I've found this year that drinking one before surfing extends my endurance and avoids me feeling hungry before feeling tired. I surfed for 2-hours but felt like I could have surfed longer.

This week I need to exercise my knee, legs, arms, heart and lungs. I have images in my head of Sunday and the bigger waves, longer paddle, and multi-wave sets. So I have the goal in mind!

Skipped

I've been falling behind on my house-work/yard-work/canoe-repair. Last weekend I thought would be a good one to skip surfing and do some of the  things on my list. I thought the forecast didn't look great; but then as I was picking up rotten fruit, or trimming away dried up vegetable leaves, or sanding canoe gunwales, I would check the buoys and regret not surfing. I still got some things done, and that feels good, but I think I missed fun waves.

Now on Friday I'm looking forward to surfing this next weekend. The forecast includes a good west swell, which is exciting. A few weekends ago a west swell was also forecast but it didn't show up on-time and I was bummed. Hopefully this one is on time.

Frustrating times we live in at the moment. My 5-year old son had the sniffles starting Tuesday. That's on the symptoms list for COVID, so we had to keep him home. But then once we kept him home, he can't return to school without the passing PCR/Lab COVID test. We didn't figure that out until day two, and the lab takes up to 72 hours to give results, so now it's day four of being at home with him. He's fine and the cold ran its course in two days, so he got a bonus two days at home and I have to spend two extra sick days. I was hoping I could charge this to the "COVID" category on my timesheet and not use up my sick-days, but the new company that bought us doesn't do that, so I have to use my sick days. With that in mind I decided to try to get some work-from-home time in. The only way that I can concentrate is to sit him down with a movie so I can work in peace. Not great parenting, but all the other days I did a better job.

Yesterday in fact we went to the park. The park has a few skate ramps and I took my surf-skate out. I had a minute of luck not falling down after trying a few ramps. And then... I mis-read the transition on one that is steep and down I went. Falling at 45 years old means risking a permanent injury, because at this age nothing seams to heal 100% anymore. I think I got out of this lucky with only a scrape on my elbow and a jammed finger. I'm pretty sure I jammed my fingers like this a few years back when I was skating more. If I remember correctly, it took a year to feel normal again. This one might heal faster because although I feel that it is swollen, I can make a good fist and grip pretty well still. I still want to skate more because its good fun exercise. I just need to be carefull.

Not good

The conditions weren't forecast to be great, but there was potential for it to be good. The weather was right, the tide was okay, but the swell didn't arrive as forecast. I considered Scot's Reef for a bit, but the pre-dawn fog made it difficult to see anything more than just the fact that waves were breaking. I decided to go for the hike and see if FRG stretch was any good.

The walk down had some waves along the sand, so my hopes started to raise. Funboards had small waves, R reef had waves but didn't look right, and G's looked the best from the beach. We paddled out and got a few. I decided with the small waves I was going for one of the deep barrels. The current was hard to read because it was still too foggy to see the cliff very well. I ended up to far on the shoulder for the first set, then too far behind for the next set. I didn't feel like waiting another 20-min for one chance at a wave, so I paddled down the reef towards JB. He had been getting a few and let me know that they were lining up more than usual. But I waited, drifted, and never really caught a good one. I was having trouble getting to my feet under control too. I went to the beach to check R reef again. It didn't look good, I still wanted more waves, and JB always takes a long time to get his last wave, so I decided to paddle back to G's. JB took a set wave and didn't notice me paddling back out through the channel. He rode his to the beach despite me shouting at him. Oh well, I decided he would wait for me this time. But then I quickly got bored and chased a small one, then paddled back across the channel to JB. We looked again at R reed and it still wasn't much good. On the walk back we took a longer look at the waves and JB even jumped in to get one. He ended up taking a big set on the head while jumping off the beach, which meant he'd have to wait another 20-min for a set wave. He ended up catching a small one that wasn't as good as what we saw, and rode it all the way in. Oh well, not every day can be the best day.

Now I'm thinking of what I need to do to stay in shape, and improve too. Winter is coming and I'm feeling stronger, but not strong enough. My weak knee in getting stronger but gives out occasionally still. My shoulders can paddle me out through the channel without taking a rest, but I know I need more once the waves get bigger. This weekend I came in because I was bored and hungry, not tired. I need to figure out what to do about that. Maybe eat a fiber bar when putting on my wetsuit.

I almost forgot...

Surfing last weekend was so blah that I almost forgot to record it. There was a decent south swell due to arrive Saturday afternoon. JB and I debated whether we would surf both Sunday and the Monday holiday. By sundown on Saturday the swell hadn't arrived, and we realized Sunday morning probably wouldn't deliver. Monday became our best option. At around 5am on Monday, when we're each gathering ourselves to drive to the beach, I got a text from JB saying he had food poisoning. As I drove up the coast I considered what that meant. I parked at G-rock and watched the waves not deal well with the too low tide. I thought how G's might be better, but I didn't want to get so far hidden all alone. I decided to wait for the tide to fill in at the rock and go there. If anything happened to me, there's always some people around on the beach and in the parking lot. Two guys showed up to check it also and they decided to go to little rock. Close enough to see each other, but two completely different waves. I agreed that little rock looked better, but I wanted to see if the main left would get better as the tide filled in.

The swell didn't really fill in as the tide was rising. There were occasional sets of a few waves and within that sometimes one of them would line-up correctly. I was only able to get a few waves after an hour because the peaks were shifty, or maybe the water was swirling and moving me around. I couldn't tell because there was just enough fog that I couldn't see my line-ups off the cliff. I ended up getting frustrated and going in before I got tired. I felt like the spot needs more swell because on this day only the biggest broke how I like.

When I decided to go in I paddled around the rock and rode a right on my belly. It wasn't half bad, so I walked out onto the rock to do it again. I found I could stand on the rock watching the sets come in. When a wave looked good I would jump off the rock and a few strokes to the peak. I rode a few that way, but because I was on my TH (instead of a longboard) all I could do was nurse the wave trying to stay with it. It wasn't quite good enough for me to hike up and get my surfmat out of the car.

So I had a bad session, but afterwards I felt I had learned something. On days like this, it's probably better at G's than at G-rock. So next time, I'll go to G's without hesitation. Once I'm there, I won't wonder if it's better at the rock!

Hawaiian Paipo Designs

Went out to R Cove on the HPD this weekend. Forecast showed a small south, moderate NNW wind swell, and calm winds. Add in a mid-tide, and JB and I opted for R Cove. I arrived around first light and hiked up to the overlook. It didn't look exciting, but there were waves. Another guy came to take a look and left before JB met me on the cliff. JB said he saw the guy driving away and was worried it wasn't worth surfing. But, all things considered, this seemed to be the best chance for getting a few waves. My only decision was what to ride.

In an effort to strengthen my legs I've decided to ride my "swim fins" wave vehicles. I've been out a few times on my 4GF surfmat and had fun. I've been bringing my Blade too, and this time I brought the HPD. The mat works in more longboard type waves, and the blade more like a bodyboard. The HPD is in between and a challenge to get used to. It handles the late drops if I can get my body off-center and onto the inside rail. Then if the wave flattens out I can get the whole width of the paipo into the water and make it through some flats as long as it still has a little push. Watching the waves come into the cove it looked like a freefall drop into the wave and on to a flat shoulder. Occasionally one would hit just right and reel over the reef reforming and creating steps over the shallow spots. This seemed like the perfect time for the HPD.

It turned out I was right. After dealing with the long paddle out and adjusting to the small-wave take-off zone, I was able to get a few fun waves. I was reminded of how great it feels to engage the rail at the bottom of a steep drop. I got two waves that reeled across the reef and had a long paddle back out. That, mixed with plenty of short drop and die kind of waves, and I quickly got all the exercise I could stand. JB was on the wavestorm and was also catching wave after wave, making the most of the conditions. Although we saw several people come to the overlook, nobody else came out to the waves.
Afterwards I tried the cafe at the bar and was pleased by the good food and beautiful weather.

It was another great day of surfing, and this was just another reason I appreciate having options when I surf.

Mid-week

A friend I don't get to surf with very often call and asked if I wanted to catch the Tahiti swell mid-week. I said, "Yes!" and was stoked to show him some of the new spots JB and I have been surfing. I requested the time of work, coordinated with JB, and repeatedly checked the forecast. As quickly as things came together, they started to fall apart. JB realized how narrow his window is between drop off and pick-up of his older kid. JZ called to let me know he hurt his back on a bad fall while surfing. Well, the wind forecast still looked good and I already had the day off, so I was going with or without them.

JZ got a doctors appointment so was out, but JB was still in. We stressed a bit about maximizing our surf in his window, and exchanged messages about, "Where are you going to check first?" and "What time will you arrive?" JB checked tres and David's port and I went strait to the rock. At first I didn't like what I saw, but JB said he was willing to try the outside. I saw a good wave but didn't think much of it because I'm used to being tricked by that one perfect wave that never repeats once I paddle out. But as I was trying to get enough signal to tell JB I was going to check another spot, I saw another, then another good wave on the outside. I rewrote my message to basically say, "Come here now!"

He arrived and took a look. He said David's looked good but have a handful of people. There was nobody in the water at the rock and waves kept looking good so we suited up and hit it. We opted to paddle around the rock and even though the waves break softer along that route, it's further to paddle. On top of that we rounded the corner just as a set of many waves swung wide right at us. I was happy with how far I was able to paddle without a rest, but I did have to stop once or twice to let fresh blood back into my shoulders. I was glad I had surfed it once before because I felt like I was quickly able to figure out the line-up and pick the right waves, despite the surf being 3-times larger than the small day I rode it.

I got the first one and went right as a quick test of my knee. I dropped and kicked out pretty quickly, thinking I'd take a few strokes and be back in the take-off. Instead another wide set filled in and washed me all the way down to the end of the wave, the end of the going left wave. It took about 15-min to get back to the spot!

I took the second wave and went left. It was a steep bowl but I did okay. By this time JB was pushing himself deeper to where I was and he got some waves too. I think in all I got the biggest, but he got the longest wave by far. A few people came out and it felt a little complicated. I got a cramp in a weird part of my leg, and JB was getting worried about the time. I agreed to go in, but by way of the inside right because I thought I could handle one or two more waves there. The inside ended up being like a treadmill in a washing machine. And to top it off, I didn't even see a good wave roll through. I took whitewater to the beach just as JB was walking over from coming in after a left on the outside. We hiked up the long hill and got back to the cars early enough for JB to get home and pick up his kid on-time (instead of a little late like he thought would happen.) 

Overall it was a worthwhile trip, despite the stressors that come with being a father, employee, and husband trying to go surfing mid-week. If it had been during summer break we both could have gone super early because our wives work at schools and are home with the kids all summer. So, maybe next time, now that we know the wave a little better. And maybe next time I'll have a better board for handling the wave. I did alright on the TH, but it's not the kind of wave that board is made for.

Utilize the options

 The forecast for the past weekend was back to the great conditions we've had most of the summer. Calm morning winds, a small north wind swell, and a medium-small south swell. JB and I knew what we had to do, back to the usual!The sand at the rock was too low for us to climb over, so we had to paddle around. I brought both my TH and my mat&fins, so paddling around meant looping my leash through the swimfin straps, and putting the unrolled mat between myself and the board. It worked as well as could be expected with the fins acting like small anchors and the mat trying it's best to get away at every duck-dive. In my awkwardness I barely made it around the rock before waves started washing me back to shore. No problem, but it left JB paddling over to R's on his own. I walked up to R's and looked at G's but couldn't make much out through the fog. JB hung at R's, and I saw a wave that had potential, so I ditched the mat gear above the high tide line and paddled out. After 20-min of waiting for a good wave to come in, we each caught a set wave. Neither was any good, so we went in to walk down to G's.

I decided to start on the mat. I sat deeper over the reef and JB took up his usual spot catching the bigger ones that swing wide and roll into the cove. I managed a few steep drops but wasn't getting any connections, so all my waves were short. So short that I kept ending up over the reef as other waves came behind the ones I caught. After an hour or so of matting, my knee started to complain. The waves were still good with the dropping tide so I went to the beach and switched to the TH.

Back in the line-up I had to give myself a moment to adjust to the board. I was lower on the reef and ended up watching a few of JB's best rides of the day. I was flopping around at first, but ended up managing a few rides before my energy faded and I went in. On the walk back to the car JB and I talked about the upcoming "Tahiti" swell and trying to surf some of it Thursday. We both have kids to drop at school, so it would be a mid-morning speed session with JB rushing home after to pick-up kids after the school half-day.

Then on Sunday JZ texted and asked about surfing down where we've been scoring all summer. Yeah? JZ willing to drive? I can't pass up this opportunity, so today one of the first things I did at work was request Thursday off. It actually looks like it will get better later in the day, so if JB doesn't manage to get the morning off, JZ and I can still score some good waves around mid-day. If the wind cooperates I could get two sessions and really wear myself out!

Lowered expectations

Forecast was for good weather, but almost zero swell. We lowered our expectations, packed up the longboards, and agreed to not meet so dang early this time. Of course I couldn't sleep and woke up early enough to arrive before dawn, even after sipping a coffee before leaving home. We decided to shoot for puppy pools as the first choice, and when I arrived at first light the tide was still too low. But, it seemed like waves were there and in time it would be good. JB showed  up a bit later and we chatted and watched the sets break and tide rise. Before to long another car parked and two guys started suiting up. This, of course, got us antsy and we also suited up. The tide was just starting to get okay, so it wasn't too early to start.

We were worried about sharing the limited resource of the few waves that hit the inside just right. As it turned out, they were riding the bigger waves that swung outside and leaving the insiders to us. JB was getting plenty of waves and I was struggling with the small weak waves, even on my longboard. Still, I got a few and had some rides. When we switched boards I caught a bunch and JB caught fewer, but was stoked on how different the two boards ride. We swapped back and continued to ride waves, making the most of what was there. 

Driving back to town we didn't see any waves, and if felt like we did pretty good with our choice of where to surf that morning. Breakfast burritos at La Cabana, and back into the car for the long drive home.

Surf mat

It’s been awhile since I’ve been on my surf mat. I still check the surfmatters.blogspot.com website almost daily, and I still look at waves through the surf mat lens. The left I’ve been riding so much would probably be good on a mat. I also want the full body workout of surfing with swim fins. So, I dug out the fins and got ready. This weekend is family camping so no surf. Luckily there was a mixup and I took Friday off work even though camping was Saturday. I used the opportunity to surf!

My plan was to go to the left, but I had low expectations because there was almost zero north waves and only a 2’@15 from 180. I thought it would be a good idea to check the big rock to get a reference data point. When I got there it looked pretty good. Both the inside right and outside left looked like fun. Soon another person came and checked the waves and as she was walking away I asked if she was going to surf, so I didn’t have to risk it all alone. She said no, but her friends were on the way and they would. We chatted a bit more and good waves kept coming about 10-min between sets. The friends showed up abs seemed friendly and full of good vibes. I get my gear and took the walk down the steep hill, figuring they would be out soon. I got a couple not great waves on the right as the others paddled out on their longboards. In just a few waves I could tell they knew what they were doing and I thought I would be happier trying my luck on the outside left. It took a minute for me to get it figured out but my first wave I made was a long speedy shoulder. I continued to get waves, sometimes two in a set, and the sets kept coming. I had fun, and was exhausted in about an hour. I was using muscles I forgot I had, and I’m glad I did because it makes me want to do it more and get stronger.

So, new spot, good vibes, surf mat, and waves exceeding expectations. A great day in small waves!

Learning from failure

I had field work on the north coast on Friday, and so woke up early to sneak in some surfing at a new spot before starting work. I arrived before dawn and hiked the mile down to the spot. There's no way to check it that I know of except to take the hike down to it. When I got there I must have seen the best set because one or two waves were almost ridable, but those were the biggest and best I would see that day.

It's a rocky spot and I wanted to take a minute to see where the problem rocks were before suiting up and paddling out alone. I waited, but only tiny waves were filling in. Too small to catch and breaking through the rocky piles. I waiting longer, not having anything else to do with my time while I waited for the designated meeting time with my co-worker. It's a nice hidden pocket beach, and probably protected from some of the wind, but hard to get to for sure. After awhile of not a single ridable wave, I decided to run up the coast and reconnoiter another hidden spot. Even if I didn't have time to surf, I could get eyes on it and find the path down, etc. I ran into trouble with my phone not getting enough signal for the maps to work. I did my best to pick the right cove (there are so many coves and headlands!) but I missed it by one and checked out the wrong cove. By the time I figured out my mistake I was out of time to continue exploring and had to head to the work-site.

When I got home I dug into the buoy and wind data from the first time I checked the spot and the conditions of my failed attempt. The two days were very similar, so I'm going to assume the one difference was the critical difference, swell angle. It wasn't even the difference between a N and S, more like the angle of the swell was 10-deg different. So, now I know one more detail about this spot.

Then Saturday JB and I returned to the usual G. It wasn't great, but it was good enough. The weather was good and it was just the two of us. After more than a year of surfing this spot almost weekly during the smaller swells, we have only ever shared it with one other person. The adjacent spot occasionally has some people, but we've surfed that a few times too with nobody, or just one or two people out. Pretty great that we found this spot, even if it's not a great wave very often.

It's been awhile since

The spots we've been frequenting don't handle the onshores we had Saturday morning. On top of that, there was a lot of choppy junk in the water and that area looked a mess. I made the call to go to tres-mile because I'd seen it look good when the north coast looked like it did Saturday. Despite not liking 3s when its small and south swell, JB was still game. When we got to the beach there were only 4 guys out with shoulder high sets and it looked like fun! By the time we paddled to the reef there were 6 surfers, and then when I counted again, 12. Still, most people choose the end of the reef and with good reason. The waves there are always make-able and have a longer ride as the wave wraps around the edge of the reef. I prefer the less crowded middle reef which has an exciting drop and section before catching up to the lower peak and closing out. I got a handful of good waves, sharing the lonely peak with JB. As the tide filled the magic hour started and JB make the connection through the lower peak all the way to the beach. I knew it was now do-able, but people were starting to congregate at the peak we were at, and filling in the between-section in an "in-the-way" way. It all got too crowded for me, and then my calf cramped. It's an ongoing situation that when I get tired my calf will cramp and at best I can get a few more waves before it cramps so bad I can't get it to relax. Anyway, I took waves in and checked some novelties down at the sandy cove. There's potential there, but I didn't have the patience to wait for one. Someday I'll stumble across it when it's better and ride another novelty for the first time. Overall a good day when familiarity with the area paid off.

New Spot!

I motivated and got myself up at 2:30am for the drive north on Saturday. It was a long drive, but I was rewarded with a longboard wave with only one other person out. There was a light onshore wind blowing, but it was better than it looked from the beach. I especially enjoyed the opportunity to longboard without a crowd. Even so, I could tell where I surfed was no secret. It's also easy enough to get to that I imagine most people check it as routine.

After surfing I hiked to the next point south checking to see if it was surfable. Not at that time. Then I drove up and hiked to another point to see if it was surfable. Not at that time, and looked like it had less potential. After all that I went up to the well known spot and watched the fishermen and the left. The left looked really shifty and difficult. It looks like there are good rides to be had, but it would take some study to know where to sit and which ones to catch. The outside left looks challenging, and was too far away to really tell what was going on. The fact that nobody was surfing it was also a little worrisome. I didn't explore any further north.

On the drive back home I made a stop at one well-known beach. It looked like a sand-bottom beachbreak, so could be surfed. There appears to be some cover from the NW wind on the sandy beach, making it a good spot to bring the family. Then, much further south, I noticed some surfboards and wetsuits parked on a small pull-out near the "secret" spot I found last time I was in this area. In my opinion, this spot remains a secret because there is no easy way to check it. The only way I can figure is to take the 1-mile hike. Although this pull-out might make it a 1/2 mile hike. Still, I won't divulge any more about it because I like secrets.

Sunday morning I got up early again to go back to the same old spots with JB. When we arrived the conditions were perfect and we had high hopes. When we made the walk and got close enough to see the left, we were unimpressed. However, the old-man's spot looked better. So we went there. The right wasn't good and many of the lefts were also just a peak and no shoulder. However, once in awhile a bigger left would come in and roll into the sandy stretch. The sand was arranged for a nice long and fast ride. Although I never got one of them, JB got several and was smiling. It was the best he'd ever surfed at this spot. I surfed until hunger made me need to leave. JB stayed and got a few more before returning to his car. 

Nobody came to surf and I realized that some of the best surfing to be had on the coast (balancing quality, consistency, and crowds) might just be here. It really calmed my excitement about the spots to the north I had been researching. Although there's surf up there, it's not that much better than what I've been surfing lately.

New Waves?

My wife was out of town and so I was solo with my young son. He's too little to leave on the beach while I surf, but he loves the beach too. We went to a beach I've only ever been to once near HMB. South of town is rocky and I've never done much work trying to find waves. I'll call this beach Green Ravine, and it has rocks and reefs typical of the area. As my son and I dug a sand castle I stole moments to watch for surfable waves as the low tide filled in over the rocks. I didn't find anything obvious, but I found waves that could be fun on a foamy with low expectations. There's several more points of beach access in the area, and I'm optimistic I'll someday find something to surf.

It would be great if I could go surf known waves and then on the drive home scout out a few of these spots. The difficulty is that many of these beaches have small parking lots that fill up by the time I am finished surfing. In summer I've seen long rows of cars parked along the highway overflowing the parking lots. So maybe I just have to toughen up and accept that I'll have to walk a little extra to check some waves.

Making it work

I didn't get to surf last weekend, and won't get to surf next weekend, so I really had to make this weekend count. I started with the normal long drive down to Scott. The south wind made it look bad, and the swell was too small to allow us to go find somewhere in town to hide from the wind. I figured our best option was to go north of the pigeon lighthouse. As we convoyed north there were some tempting waves out the window. But every time we stopped, we didn't see another wave do the same thing. JB showed me where to check for a spot I've never looked at before, but it wasn't working. We ended up at the cove and it was surfable with only one person out. I knew if we kept looking, chances were good we wouldn't surf at all. JB agreed that this was our best bet and we went for it.

To make things more interesting, we rode JB's wavestorm and Vernor mini-simmons. The 8-ft foamy was pretty fun because it allowed me to catch more waves and catch them earlier, which allowed me to sit deeper over the reef. Mid-session we swapped boards and although I could still catch waves, I couldn't catch as many, and when I did I struggled to deal with the difficult wave on the different board. Still, I got exercise.

My knee is still not right and I'm raising the issue with my doctor.

Longing for adventure

It's been more than a year now since I bought a longboard and returned to surfing the reefs north of town. It rekindled my stoke when I rode tiny waves at formile with few to nobody else around. One day when there was a decent swell that spot was crowded enough that I shifted to the outside peak which was doing it's typical mixed-up thing. I took a bad drop and twisted my knee after less than an hour in the water. When I got dressed back at my car I wasn't satisfied, but couldn't surf. Instead I drove around to look at waves at other spots. That's when I was reminded of how good and relatively uncrowded some of the other reefs can be. I reasoned if that was the crowd when it was good (8 people) then it was likely less crowded when it wasn't good. So I started checking it and decided it was worth surfing even when not perfect like I'd seen it. It's a bit off the map and not easy to get to, but I realized it was worth the extra effort for me. I took that same mind-set and applied it to other spots in the area, further north, and way further north. And so began a renaissance in my surfing.

But lately I've been traveling in the same circle a little too much. I'm ready for the next "discovery" and to surf somewhere for the first time. My sights are set on Mendocino. It's 3-hours away, and I have only ever surfed one spot in that county. There must be more, but it's a schlep to get there and back. I found a campground and got reservations for the earliest weekend available, November 3rd. I don't want to wait that long, so I'm keeping my mind open to an opportunity to go up before that time.

But I haven't forgotten about SLO, which is about an hour further away, but to the south which is away from the wind. I can't imagine that being a day trip, so camping is the way to go. I should probably make reservations now, since it's likely to be booked for many weekends as well.

And what about the canoe across a lagoon to a surf-spot idea? SLO has that, Salinas River, Humbolt has those wonderful huge lagoons and empty beaches. Even Mendocino has some options (one of which is where I'll be camping.)

So I've got the adventure itch and plenty of options. The only thing is, adventure implies difficulty, and I'm kinda lazy lately :D

Another

Another early morning in the ocean. JB and I returned to G's with a medium tide, medium south swell and medium north wind-swell. The wind was offshore, but the prior day's wind (and wind further north) was strong from the NNW. We went out to G's even though it didn't look good because that spot has a habit of tricking us and looking worse than it really is from the beach. But this time, when we got out there and tried to chase down a few, we realized it was as bad as it looked from the beach. No worries, we just went to the next reef which, surprisingly, was handling the situation better. I got a few waves and was too deep for all of the biggest set waves. Still, a nice day of surfing. My knee was okay and I had to end the session because my calves were cramping, which is an old problem for me.

I'm Back!

I had an odd weekend. The family spent three days in Santa Cruz, and there were some waves to surf, but I was hesitant. With my knee being weird, and JB not available, I opted to avoid the hidden spots on the north coast where an injury would have to be handled alone. Looking around in town the south was hitting some spots, but plenty of people were taking advantage of the waves. Being gimpy and spoiled by empty waves, I didn't surf on either Saturday or Sunday. By Sunday night I was regretting my caution and knew I needed to surf, good or bad or crowded. I opted to go dawn to Sewers.

It wasn't exactly dawn, and three guys were already there by the time I paddled out. I got a wave or two and then more guys came out. It wasn't good enough for more than a few people, so I paddled in. I walked down to Rockview but didn't see much surfable. I looked at Little W&S and it wasn't really working, but there was a wave now and again. I figured the off-tide was a good time to give it a try. It's challenging at high tide because the wave wants to miss the best part of the reef, and because the backwash is pretty substantial. I made the most of it and felt like I could handle the late drops. I didn't make them all, but my knee wasn't complaining. I took a weird fall and hurt my scrotum. I thought I had torn it, and gently paddled to the beach. By the time I made it to the sand I was much less worried, but still wanted to go home and check the situation visually. Turns out it was red and angry, but nothing permanent. 

After surfing I rode the long skateboard about a mile down to meet the family at the coffee shop. My knee handled it fine. In fact the arch of my foot complained before my knee weakened.

So I feel really good about my knee coming back into service. It was weighing heavy on me because I thought that was it, my knee was just going to be that way. I thought I had suddenly gotten to old to surf the waves I wanted to. Hopefully I can keep that feeling close at hand and use it to motivate me to stay strong and in shape.

Ouch, my knee!

I've been having trouble the last couple sessions getting my feet under me. The problem seems to be a weak left knee. It's the same knee that I dislocated several times as a teenager. It has always been a small problem for me, but for the last month or two, it's become a bigger problem. I did something to it several weekends ago when I surfed multiple times in a weekend. I don't know what I did, maybe just too much exeercise. But that weekend it swelled up, and it's been weak since then. It was bothering me yesterday at G's, but it wasn't stopping me. The TH was getting into the waves nicely and I was fighting my weak knee to do what I needed it to do. After two successful (but not great) rides, I decided to paddle deeper where the wave was more exciting. The first wave I went for sucked out before I got my feet all the way set and I lost control. My left foot kinda stuck to the board as my body fell and I strained my knee. I heard some noise (maybe in my head) but it wasn't painful right away. Still, I knew I did some damage and paddled back to where the waves were a bit easier. I got to my feet on another wave but after than just rode them on my belly. My knee felt okay at rest, but when swirling my feet to swing the board around, or just to stay balanced while sitting, my knee complained. I took a wave in and made the walk back down the beach careful to not put to much stress on the knee.

By the time I got back to the car, my knee was starting to tighten up. Still not painful at rest but sensitive to movement I took a single does of ibuprofin and made my way home. An hour and a half later, getting out of my car in my driveway and my knee wasn't cooperating. I'm keeping up the low-dose ibuprofin and trying to maintain mobility in my knee by walking around. But I'm also sitting at my work-from-home desk and I have a ton of work to do. I know I have field work, but nothing scheduled yet because I've been busy with office work. I hope I'll be ready to surf this weekend, but I'm not so sure this 46-year-old body will repair that quickly. So it's possible the three-day weekend will be non-surfing. Sounds like a good time to go canoeing!

Don't forget the lessons

 I went out to G's with JB last weekend. I brought my 6'0" because I wanted to try it after having ridden the TH so much lately. I had a terrible time. I couldn't get into the wave before the thump, and I don't have the skill to get in under it on this board. After an hour+ of trying, I went in having never ridden a wave. I walked past R's and looked at Funboards. Went back to R's where the waves looked better. I think I could have had a decent surf there if I wasn't already tired. I rode one on my knees because I couldn't get my feet under me in time. I finally made it to my feet and rode a pitiful left. I rode it to the beach to call it a day.

I had forgotten the lesson I learned at G's, bring more foam. The wave has a soft part just before the thump. With a big enough board I can get in at the soft part and be on my feet ready when it thumps. Without that foam it's just a nightmare. (Alternatively, less foam makes handling the thump a little easier, but I'm far out of shape for that.) So this weekend I plan to return to G's, this time back on the TH.

And there was another issue besides picking the wrong board; being out of shape. I've had a stressful run of weeks at work and missed opportunities for getting away from my desk for a walk. I have been out on a few field days, which at least gets my body moving, but apparently it isn't enough. So this week I forced myself for a few walks, did a few squat reps (just bodyweight) and thought about doing some push-ups. I also thought about how skateboarding is a good way to strengthen my knees and legs. I looked to Utube for inspiration and instead found an affordable "surfskate" option. The WaterBourne surfskate and rail adapters are supposed to make skating feel more like surfing. For $100 shipped, I thought it was worth the experiment. It arrived yesterday and I put it together and got a little skating in. 

It's certainly a work-out because there's not much room for straight legged riding. Kicking is difficult with the extra height of the board and the introduced loose feeling. The recommended approach is to instead use the adapter advantage and pump to generate speed. I tried and just barely could feel anything. My feet and legs were tired after just a few minutes and I stopped to get back to family duties. It's worth more trying, although I wasn't blown away at the feeling of it. If it gets me out of the house, it's worth it.

Inspiration

I didn't fully utilize the "La Bomba"TM swell this weekend. I only surfed Saturday, although the wind wasn't blowing Sunday morning and I could have gone for the two days of surf. On Saturday we were afraid of the forecasted south wind and reacted more to what we thought would happen than what actually happened. We hid from the wind at sunrise Saturday. We went to the fun little novelty wave that's protected from the wind but isn't much of a wave. The outside left was working because the wind never came up. It was, at 6 people, 3x more crowded than I've ever seen it. To be fair, it's not my first, or even second choice spot, so I don't have much experience with how crowded it gets. Chatting with a guy who surfed the outside while we were on the inside he agreed that it was the most crowded he'd ever seen it in his 20+ years of surfing there. Still, I got some fun waves. I did what I consider my best cutback of the year. I'm experienced enough to know that what it felt like is not what it looked like, which brings me to some inspiration.

The Displacmentia Blog has a post today that reminds me that hulls are fun! And that hulls are not for show. I have a little 6' hull, and longboard hulls, and I bought and sold a hull that didn't work like a hull should. So I think my cutback is best felt and not seen. I wish some of the more "hull-y" waves around here weren't so crowded, or that I could find an uncrowded one.

Then the Mandala Surfboards blog has a board with a description that fits me pretty well, "super fun combination for the aging shredder or aspiring lip blaster" The only problem is, I was never much of a shredder, but I'm an aging aspiring lip blaster! The shape is not far from the Vernor TreeHugger I've been ridding, although probably more sharp around the edges and certainly for a smaller old guy.

The uncrowded waves I've been riding are a bit more challenging than what I can handle on a longboard or hull, but within my abilities on a modern, hard-railed, multi-fined board. And that's the whole point of this blog, the right board for the right conditions. :) 

Kook move

Major kook move.

The south swell was getting a bit smaller and the wind was questionable, but the tide was right. So JB and I agreed to meet around dawn. I arrived first and started getting ready only to find I forgot my wetsuit. I had my boots, towel, extra layer, everything except the suit. I must have not been paying attention when I grabbed the pile of stuff. When JB arrived I asked if he had an extra suit, and he said he had two in his hands at home but decided to not bring both. Ugh!

I didn't miss much. The swell was not as good as last time and there was just enough junk on the water that JB was hesitating going at all. I was able to encourage him by pointing out the good waves right out front, he didn't even need to hike down the beach. I'm glad he got out, but he only got two waves because it turned out to be more shifty than it looked.

I took a moment to run up the coast and look around a little. I didn't find any magic, but added a little to my understanding of the area.

So that was the extent of my surfing. On the drive home I made a side trip to try to sell a board. The guy hesitated, and so I have to keep trying before I can order the semi-gun.

I did more work polishing the oxidation off the Mad River Explorer. I had been loosing steam because with all the work it wasn't looking that much better. I tried one last thing, soap. It made a huge difference as it cleaned off all the polishing compound and the loose oxidation that wasn't coming off with just a rag and water. What I ended up with was pretty good looking and I have faith that the wax will take once I finish removing the rest of the oxidation. I'm not sure if I'm getting 100% of the oxidation off, but I'm not willing to continue working with the diminishing returns I'm getting. 

Next I need to order the webbing to repair the seats. I'm trying to decide if I should take the risk on colored webbing, or stick with the safe choice of black. For colors, I can either go with a tan so it blends with the wood of the seats and the color of the inside of the canoe, or I can go with blue or another color to either match, complement, or "pop" with the outside of the canoe. Every time I think about it, I lead a different way.

Lake Chabot

I brought the family out on the MorningStar for a paddle on Lake Chabot. The most important thing to know about canoeing on this lake is that there is a portage from the car to the launch. It's about 1,000 feet, so it's not any sort of trek. But if I was there with just my 5-year old son, I would have had to make two trips to haul even the basic gear down to the water.

They've got a pretty good set-up there with grassy meadows for picnicking, a store with snacks, trails that go all the way around the lake, and a range of boats to rent. The whole trip wasn't too expensive with parking, boat launch, and boat inspection not more than $15. Plenty worth the price considering there are docks along the shore that lead to port-a-potties, benches, and the trails. It's a good sized lake with two large bays and a small island too. (Nobody is allowed to go on the island, bummer.)

We had a leisurely paddle around and landed on shore to have a snack and use the bathrooms. After a rest ashore we decided it was time to make the trip back and get home for a real lunch.

I paddled us back to the marina totaling about 2 miles. Along the way we saw mallard ducks and Canadian geese in the water. We saw cormorants and coots to, but far fewer of those. Near the marina at one of the docks we saw someone land a good sized fish. I couldn't tell what kind it was, but it was more than 12-inches long!

The next day I could have gone surfing but conditions weren't shaping up to be very good. I opted instead to sleep in, spend some time with family, and do a little more work on the Mad River. I'm still slowly working through polishing the gel coat up. After that I'll work on refinishing the wood.

Paddling upwind

 This isn’t a metaphor. Yesterday I took out the Mad River Explorer 16 for the first time. I was solo, and went down the the MLK shoreline. I knew there was a steady north breeze, and the tide was mid and falling, but I went anyway. At the launch the breeze was light, but being cautious, I opted to spend my energy paddling upwind. Upwind was also with the tide, which meant there was some texture in the deep water where wind waves met the opposing flow of water. As I paddles upwind I got away from shelter and gradually faced a stiffer breeze. I learned a lot about how to handle the headwind, and how low the limit is of what I can paddle against. 

1) keep the bow down. Even sitting reverse left too much now in the air on the empty canoe. I had to shift my weight forward which meant kneeling at the yoke. It makes it harder to make strokes, but ends up being the way to go because of the increased efficiency. 

2) keep it straight. The canoe has less wind resistance when pointed straight into the wind. This takes more concentration than I expected. Almost every stroke has correction as part of it, which is frustrating when also fighting the wind. I wanted to power stroke into the wind, but if I got too much angle to the wind, the canoe would swing around to be broadside to the wind and it was a real struggle to get it facing upwind again.

2a) occasional swirling gusts can swing the canoe off line with the wind. 

2b) once sideways to the wind, I would get quickly swept to the middle of the channel where the water was rougher

2c)  now sideways in rougher water, long sweep strokes are needed to straighten out. Sometimes it was easier to spin around 180 and drift downwind towards shore before finishing the 360 to get headed up wind. Most of the times I needed to hug the shore to get spun around a little bit sheltered from the wind. However, snagging the paddle blade in the shallow mud on the downwind side of the canoe caused the canoe to lever against the stuck blade and tried to pull it out of my hands. Extra care was needed. 

3) the Mad River boat doesn’t have any tumble home, which I appreciated in the wind and waves. I’m curious how wet I would have gotten in the Morningstar with it’s tumble home shape. 

4) I need a better way to paddle solo than on my knees. I can’t keep my knees bent for that long. I want to keep the yoke and avoid doing three seats. The middle seat on the Morningstar prevents it having a carry yoke, which makes it a struggle to carry any distance. 

Great Weekend

A south swell in the water and spring tides high in the morning so JB and I got to the beach closer to dawn than first light. Our first waves were at a spot I've purposely not discussed publicly. Although it's visible from the road, the somewhat transient nature of the Scott's Creek bar makes it sorta secret when it forms and starts working. By now, tons of people have driven past and word must be out for anyone interested. So that's where we paddled out around dawn. 

It looked great from the road. It was actually pretty shifty and soft, making it hard to get a satisfying ride. JB did better than I did, getting two "good" rides as well as several mushy ones. I only got two mushy ones and when I saw 6 more people paddling out, I took that second mushy waves to the beach. From the beach I found another peak that was hollow and nobody on it. I paddled out to it and grabbed a few close-out barrels, one in each direction. JB had joined me and didn't have as much luck. We decided to head to the reef instead.

The walk to the reef was sketchy because all the sand between the rocks is washed out right now. The tide was mid-low and we still were in water up to our chest and getting pushed around by wave surges. There were a handful of people at the first spot, mostly going left. We kept walking. The cove/channel was also devoid of sand making it more bouldery with reef peaks sticking out of the water when waves lowered the water level. Sketchy. It actually seemed safer to walk to the tip of the reef as far as possible and then paddle out sideways washing over the shallow spots and getting pushed to the outside part of the channel. I ended up at the top of the reef and got a good one. The larger ones would break a little further out and had great shape. The medium and smaller ones would bowl up and break where reef peaks would boil the face of the wave. Sketchy!

We each got a few and JB decided to move down the reef where the waves were hitting different. I stayed at the top picking carefully and not paying the price for the few mistakes in judgement. (Well, I did chip the tip of a fin on the reef duckdiving my way back out after a wipe out.) I noticed that some that swung to wide to go left looked like going right was an option. I tentatively took a right and found a pretty good wave to fill in between the more exciting lefts. I eventually got worn out and took a right to the beach. It was also sketchy, but the reef was more predictable in shape with fewer peaks and more readable ridges. When I got to the beach the tide was pretty low and I explored the tidepools to see what was there. I found lots of the same things. No purple urchins, no owl limpets, but many turban snails. I found two nearly complete, empty pink abalone shells. I decided to leave them there.

My exploring continued as JB kept getting good waves and paddling back out. I ended up back at the other reef just as the last few people were on the beach leaving. I decided to paddle out and caught a wave before JB was on the beach waiting for me this time. I caught one more with arms of jelly and just rode it to the beach. We got back to the cars and it had been nearly 5 hours of beach time!

I left that spot and met my family down at tres mile sand. It was a beautiful day, waves were good there too, and the tide was very low. I explored some of the deeper tide pools and found some of the more rare species. I was watching novelty left and it looked fun, but I was spent.

The next morning I wasn't planning on surfing but my body felt recharged enough to go get a few. I checked the reefs and the wind was just enough to kill it. I checked the landing and it looked pretty mushy. I went back to novelty lefts with a board and the 4th Gear Flyer. I didn't make the final decision until I was suited up when I decided the surf mat was the right choice. The reasoning was that the medium sized waves were getting reef peak boils on the face, and many of the waves were hit with backwash warbling the face pretty harshly. I rode nearly 10 waves of all sorts and had a pretty good novelty session. As I was getting rides I thought that this wave was pretty good on a surf mat but might be frustrating on most other surfcraft. The surf mat allowed me to enjoy these waves. I know the surf mat would have also been tons of fun up on the reef, or on any of a number of the reefs along here. 

Then Monday I took the day off work and my son and I went for a hike in the redwoods. A great weekend all around.

A not gentle reminder

It's been a long time since I've surfed OBSF. Last weekend I had a narrow window to surf, and the surf looked small and junky, but with no wind. I figured it was as good a time as any to give OBSF a try. I wanted to feel the longboard again, and had it in the car with the TH. I met JB pre-dawn and we looked around. It wasn't great, and really wasn't even good, but we had agreed to make the most of it. We went out near the north end where the mess of waves was smaller and hopefully more manageable. It was a good reminder of why I stopped surfing OB.

1) It was silly how many people opted for the not-great conditions first thing in the morning.

2) We decided to walk down the beach to get away from people. The ever-present currents at OB quickly moved us back to the crowd.

3) The waves were all over with no organization that I could make sense of. No line-up, just drift and hope for the best.

4) The few waves I paddled for were close-outs. I only rode one or two and those were brief.

5) I found myself in a rip, which seems to happen at least once per session at OB. Of course I wanted to be on the far side of the rip, but experience has taught me it's often not worth the effort.

And that was it. About one hour of kooking around in the ocean with some exercise and no fun. The day was not all bad because JZ met us on the sand and we all hung around catching up with each other. And, I have a reminder fresh in my head why I drive the miles to get away from OB and get the better waves at the reefs. 

Pretty good actually!

With low expectations I dragged by body out of bed at 4:15. I really doubted that it was going to be worth the loss of sleep and gas money. I made my coffee and lunch and was on the road in the dark. JB and I agreed to meet at DLanding. The forecast was for smaller, short period waves and wind. We figured at least we would take a look and learn something about the spot. We learned that it wasn't good that morning. We drove up to Scott's and found the same, but that was expected. We decided to head back to the same old same, but made another recon stop along the way. We had an interesting experience at D.aves. When we parked it looked like at least one or two of the cars were not overnight sleepers but morning arrivals. We walked the main trail and saw one wave that hinted at what I thought was worth surfing. Then a guy came up from the beach trail and kinda startled us. Maybe he was down there going pee or something, I dunno.

We saw more potential, but hadn't seen anything worth it when three teenage girls came out of the trees through the path, all giggles and excitement. What in the world were these girls doing at the cold beach in the first light of day? The sun wasn't even over the hills yet! They milled about chatting until one of them had the courage to ask us, "Where is the swing?" Ah, the Instagram-able swing, that makes more sense. Maybe they were savvy enough to know that the morning is "golden hour" in the photography world and wanted to up their Instagram game. I gave them directions, and they left just before another young person came through the path. This guy was suited up with a board under his arm. We didn't see anything to surf, but he looked like he knew what he was doing so we stayed to watch. We soon figured out his game was the sideways-backwash-hits-the-incoming-wave-wedge. It was cool to watch him get wave after wave and sorta good rides, but not rides we were going to try to get.

So we headed to Tres and actually parked in our usual spots. DwnPtrl was there but nobody else was around. We opted to bring gear down because we weren't sure it was going to be worthwhile. We made an agreement that if there was anything, we would go surf. When we got there it was a little more than nothing, and DwnPtrl was heading in! We hiked down to our usual spot and went out. I opted for a long walk to the pinnacle reef. I climbed up and inspected the jump off. The waves were small, but non-stop and the edge of the reef has steps in it making it impossible (or just really risky) to jump off the top of the reef. The non-stop waves made it tricky to time a walk down the steps. I managed it by being patient.

I stopped at the top of the reef and it was starting to do the break/roll/threaten thing. I got a few fun waves and convinced JB to come up to the top. The inside wasn't great and was getting crowded, so he did join me. He got some good ones and we had it to ourselves for the most part. It lasted about an hour before it shut down, which is a pretty good little session. After it stopped working I tried to figure something out on the inside, but it was truly crowded. We went in satisfied. Even though it was only and hour I caught a good number of good enough waves and felt good about it.

Edit: Part of the inside crowd included a surfmatter on a Standard model 4th gear flyer. I stopped for a moment to chat, but the conversation was cut short by him catching a set wave and "whoosh!" off he went. I talked a bit more to his buddy on a longboard. He had tried a mat but wasn't convinced. I gave him a few hints of when/where to ride a mat to the most enjoyment, and hopefully sparked some interest. I was tempted to swap out the board for my mat but it's a pretty long walk and the chances were good that he'd be gone by the time I returned. Anyway, good to see variety out there.

Canoe Quiver

It started with a $400 Old Town Discovery 168 in Royalex. I had just purchased an old truck and build a rack out of 2x4s so I could go pick-up this canoe. It came with a few paddles and was a great starter canoe. It only ever went out to the Oakland Estuary, but I enjoyed the calm of moving quietly through the water with nowhere in particular to go. One great memory is of a warm summer day when I was unemployed. I paddled down to the German brewhaus on the water called Brotzeit Lokal. I had a pretzel and a beer before paddling back to my car and heading home.

But that canoe weighs upwards of 80 pounds. With a small kid always under-foot, I had a few scary close calls where I thought I might drop it onto my son. I needed something I could handle lifting onto the top of a car. (The truck became too expensive to maintain, so I am now in a Honda Element.) On Craigslist I found a Bell Morningstar in Kevlar for cheap. It was cheap because the person who was selling it never got around to making repairs to the wood. Nearly every piece had to be replaced, including the gunwales. I did the work and it came out okay! 

I sold the Old Town and this is my canoe for adventures. I've taken the Bell out to a few reservoirs, mostly with my son. (He's in the background near the tree.) He prefers to explore the shore over fishing or paddling around.

I had good feelings after buying a canoe for cheap and restoring it. I never stopped watching Craigslist and came across a Kevlar Wenonah for free! I went to pick it up and found the Kevlar in pretty rough shape.

After researching what it would take to fix it, I decided it wasn't worthwhile. I contacted the guy who gave it to me and we arranged for me to give it to someone else who had responded to the original add. Back to one canoe.

But of course I keep watching Craigslist. I came across a Dagger Venture 17 in Royalex for $60! With the research I did on the first two canoe repairs, I had an idea of what it would take to fix it, so I went and picked it up a few weekends ago.

It's only the hull with no thwarts, seats, or even gunwales. It was so floppy on top of the car I convinced my parents to let me store it at their place which was close enough to the pick-up spot that I could drive there staying on city streets. It sits while I source vinyl gunwales and figure out what other parts I need to order. I think I can repair the seats that came out of the Bell, and I'm deciding what else I should purchase or should make by hand. The goal is to repair it and then sell it for a small profit. The main goal being the experience of bringing it back to life.

Of course I still haven't stopped watching Craigslist, and I found a Mad River Explorer 16 in Kevlar for $300! Most of the gunwales are restorable, but it looks like I'll need to scarf in a few pieces at one end. I have end-cuts from the Bell gunwale replacement, so this repair might be doable without any purchases, just some work of sanding and oiling. The Kevlar is in excellent shape, and I'm considering selling the Bell and keeping the Mad River. I'll have to paddle the Mad River before I decide on anything.

In summary, I have three canoes. One that's ready (Bell), one that can be used but needs some work to seal the wood (Mad River), and one that needs all the structural parts put back together (Dagger).

And because surfing is my passion, I can't stop dreaming of accessing surf-spots by boat. Being canoes and not really suited to the ocean, I'm looking at lagoons and calm rivers. I've got some spots picked out to try, and I'm just waiting for Covid to clear so I can have a second person with me. Until then, I'm looking at boat in camp sites.
 

It would be nice

I think it would be nice to find an uncrowded spot to ride a longboard.

A good one

I did some gardening and some surfboard repair on Saturday. The repair was frustraiting because I was distracted, uncovering more problems as I went, and generally not into it. But still, progress was made. 

Sunday was the surf day and we made a good choice. Although the swell peaked on Saturday, the north coast was windy. Sunday dawn still had plenty of waves and no wind. We surfed Tres mile on the high side of the tide. Dealing with some backwash and shorter period swell, but still something to work with. I got my share of waves and so did JB. All around a good session. 

Afterwards I went and paid $60 for a Royalex hull. Someone had stripped everything off the hull, the gunwales, decks, thwarts and seats. The guy who had it never got around to buying any of the replacement parts and had given up on the project. I took it on and my plan is to go with vinyl gunwales and repairing the old seats I have. I'll make the decks myself out of wood, but I'll need to buy thwarts because I don't have any hardwood on hand. The first task is sourcing the gunwales and getting them shipped for something less than $300! 

 Edit: I had to come back to this. Later on Monday my legs were feeling tired and I banged them a little with my fists to loosen up the muscle. Instead, my thighs threatened to cramp. This reminded me of the most noteworthy part of my session, bottom-turns. I had a few kinda late drops on overhead waves. On those, my legs didn't respond like I wanted them to. They are too weak and the extension during the end of the bottom turn was delayed as my legs waited for the g-forces to lessen. I remember this feeling from many, many years ago when I had a 7'4" min-gun and I was first riding shortboards and big waves. Longboarding small waves never tested my legs and I was suddenly feeling to weak to do what needed to be done. Every once in awhile I get compressed on a drop, but yesterday it was nearly every wave. So I am once again doing more squats during breaks from the computer.

A nothing weekend.

No water related activities. I harvested spring potatoes, reset the bed, and put in new seeds. I weeded the yard and generally did family stuff. Then on Sunday I went to my mother in-laws's birthday. Socially distant, heavy food and a nap in the yard. (Can't go inside because grandma and grandpa don't want to get sick.) I guess I did something, I picked up some surfboard repair supplies. But didn't touch the repairs. I'm looking forward to next weekend and hopefull condtions are decent!

No Surf Weekend

It's terrible for my physical fitness to skip a weekend of surfing. The forecast was questionable and JB was just as hesitant as I was. I've been falling behind on "Life duties" and took the weekend to take care of the family. I did sneak in some surf related work by doing some of the repairs to the Downing-Hennessey (DH), and some water time with an hour in the canoe.

The delams on the DH are extensive. Because the board is an experiment, I didn't want to strip wax and rebuild the void spaces, so I went with a more basic approach. I drilled a feed hole in one end of each delam, and a vent hole in the other end. Fill a large syringe with resin and push resin into the feed hole until it starts to come out the vent hole. Then wrap and strap to squeeze everything together while it cures.

I mixed up 8oz of resin so that I would have plenty to work through the delams and spillage, etc. Well, I used it all and didn't manage to fill all the gaps. After everything cured the deck is wavy where the straps squeezed down, or didn't squeeze down. I have more filling to do, but probably only need to mix 4oz this time because I got most of the delam gaps "good enough" to go surf. There's work to be done fixing a 10-in crack  along one rail that is not water tight, and the tail (taped off in the photo) that is also leaking. When I got it the tail had a layer of dried salt that wiped off.

On Sunday the weather was forecast to be nice early, so I grabbed my son and went for a short paddle in the estuary. We went just a bit further away to a spot not surrounded by buildings, but still urban.

He doesn't last long in the boat, so we were probably only out for an hour of gentle paddling in a big circle. Afterward we did our usual beach combing and I'm glad he's old enough to avoid trash because there was as much broken glass as shells to find. I tried to google around for a way to decontaminate clams because I'm sure there's some to be found in this rocky muddy shoreline. But this is surrounded by the OAK airport, Oakland Colosseum, etc. so certainly not safe to eat any filter feeders.

 

Downing-Hennessey

 Who?

Thickness is where? Behind the mid-point?

Not a gun, but tapered template.

Fin box allows for experimentation.

Some delam on the deck where hands go when making the drop will be filled with resin. A few other open dings will get proper treatment before getting it wet again. I picked up a glue-down leash loop so I don't have to glass one on before surfing the board at least once. 

Tangent. On the East Side of Santa Cruz I went to 4 of the 5 surf shops and only found one single glue-down leash loop. One! Are people not buying old boards anymore and trying to ride them? I know "too cool" surfers are still getting longboards without leash loops. When us normal people buy a cool guy's board, we need leashes!

I'm interested in this board because of how different it is from the Lightning Bolt style boards of this era. It has a relatively wide tail, and thickness behind the mid-point. It's similar to Bolt boards with the wide point forward and the domed deck to flat bottom making for hard, down rails. If it's fun to ride I'd love to put a pigment layer of resin over the whole board. Something white-grey similar to the modern Velzy pig I did repairs on a little more than a year ago.

Spanked

The conditions were great for "at the limit" Tres mile. I opted for the Channin 8-ft something pipeliner. My last surf at this spot on this board was great with smooth slides into big long walls. The next session on the board was at Scott's, and wasn't so good. I had trouble getting waves that day, and surfing that reef with low tide and some chop made it even harder. So, with those two data points in mind, I really thought I was going to have another great session back at the spot that went so well before.

I didn't.

This time the waves were breaking harder. This time I tried to surf a different part of the reef. This time there were more people to contend with. And finally, this time I had bad luck.

The waves were breaking harder and I thought I could handle it. I paddled up to the top of the reef where the drop can be more sudden, but the section to surf was hollow. I swear I saw a make-able barrel, and its rare for any barrel to appear at this break. I worked my way up to the top and tried for a few smaller waves to get my first wave of the day. After missing one, a set broke out the back. JB had been sitting further out and over to the shoulder than where I was trying to catch a small one. He barely made it under the first wave and I took the broken wave on the head. I knew there was no way to fight through the mess so I let them hit me and tried not to drift to far in. The waves kept coming, maybe 6 in the set, and I just washed in to the calmer inside waters. When the set finally passed I paddled sideways to the channel and worked my way back out.

I sat on the inside bowl to catch my breath. I missed a wave or two and got ants in my pants, so I paddled back to the top where JB was. This time I didn't make the mistake of trying for smaller waves and instead waited for a set. JB got a good one, and then a big set it. I tried to make it over but once again I took a multi-wave underwater ride to the inside. Again I was patient and waited to get over to the channel. This time JB was sitting on the inside bowl and I had given up on the outside point. I sat with him and even though it had only been an hour, he said he was ready to go in. I told him I wanted to actually ride a few waves before going in. After about 10-min waiting for waves, a sense of unease hit me. It wasn't "shark," but I don't know what it was. The big waves had me being careful, but I wasn't scared. But now I didn't feel right. I told JB I changed my mind and was ready to go in. He caught a good one on the inside bowl, and more were coming. I tried for one but the nose lifted and I got pushed out. The next one was good two and I was in okay position, so I tried for it. The inside bowl often stands up then rolls for a bit before breaking. This one never backed off. I made it to my feet but they landed on the tail and although I made the drop I was completely out of control. I looked at the wonderful big wave breaking off in front of me just before I fell.

I let the white-water wash me into the beach where I caught up with JB. And that was it. One wave that I got to my feet and then nothing else. Another humbling experience served up by the Pacific.

On the other hand, JZ picked up a used board for me, JB got it from JZ, and then brought it to me. It's a 70's era Downing-Hennessey. I don't know anything about the shaper(s). It's interesting to be because it has the early 70's down rails but more of an egg or funboard outline. Single fin, sunburnt, dinged up, and delamed. I'm going to get it water-tight and surf. I'd like to make it look pretty, but I'm not sure I have time. Too many other "to-do" items I also want to do, but just don't.

Continued slight improvements

Same spot, again slightly smaller. This time I wised up and went out on my 6'8", which allowed me a few early take-offs. Those I got in early on were fun, but both times I ran into the back end of an inside section and flopped into the water. Then most of the rest of the session was spent trying to read the crossing chop, boils, and shifty take-off spots out there. Although it was smaller than the smaller last time, I was still dodging the occasional outside set. I think it became more of a problem as the tide dropped, and the take-off zone shifted to be more difficult. I think. I don't really know because although there isn't much current, there is a lot going on out there. Things are shifting around and popping up. A wave looks like it will crush me, but then I can't even catch it. It's a challenge and a fun one.

I think I'll even go back tomorrow for a mid-week surf!

Slight Improvement

I went back to a cove that had handed it to me a few weeks back. I had first gone out expecting it to be kinda soft rolling shoulders, and seeing the best fun could be had racing the short wall at the take-off. I was on my 6'0" thinking I was going to rip the place up. (Or my version of that.) What happened last time was that I experienced first hand that the bowl/wall was more than I was ready for!

This weekend it was smaller, but I went for the same sized waves in the same spot. The biggest difference were fewer outside sets that I had to dodge to hold my spot. I was on the same board (repeated that mistake) but this time I was more ready for what I was facing. I also had JB with me, which makes finding the take-off zone after a ride so much easier. I was able to negotiate some drops and make it across some walls. The key for me was finding a wave that broke in the deeper lead-up to the shelf where the wall is. If I could get in just a moment early, I could get my feet under me for the wall. 

However, I repeatedly landed with my feet so committed on the inside rail that once I cleared the wall I couldn't do anything except fall. The wall is intense but short, and I need to do a big cutback to stay with the wave. I couldn't. Like, maybe twice I had enough control for a soft cutback that wasn't enough to stay with the wave. Many times I flopped one way or another trying to make a turn. One time I even grabbed the rail to make it across the wall and as soon as I let go of the rail I flopped over. Even considering all this, I was improving over my first day because I was at least riding waves!

So my plan is to keep trying. Next time I should really be on my 6'8" which both lets me take off earlier, and has a narrower tail which I expect to help deal with the situation. If not, I have a few more boards to try out.

Meanwhile, JB was doing alright out there. I happily gave him the 2-waves of the day award. He was also having trouble with the take-off because of the cross waves that seem to be persistent out there. There must be plenty of other reefs shallow enough to bend the swell, and it seems to all combine in the bowl we were trying to ride. It certainly requires paying attention when paddling for a wave and trying to be ready for a bump/step/chop from whichever direction it is coming that time. The flip side is that occasionally an A-frame hits the bowl and those are easier to ride if they let me in early.

Afterwards I went to a surf shop where I was planning to meet a guy to sell a board. He hadn't been responding to my emails, so I figured I'd hang around until I got bored. Luckily JZ came by to say Hi. We haven't seen each other in person since lockdown last March, and we've both been going through our personal troubles. We caught up as well as we could in the small amount of free time he had. Luckily, the guy to buy my board finally called and I said goodbye to JZ. I showed this guy the board and although he has appreciation for the all-wood Hess boards, mine didn't seem right for him. I had my 6'0" in the car and he really liked the look of it. I let him check it out but made it clear it was not for sale.

So, decent weekend all things considered!

Unremarkable

This weekend's surf was mostly unremarkable, but I'll try my best to make it interesting. The wind forecast didn't look good for either day so JB and I picked the window that looked like it had the best chance to be clean; Saturday at dawn. I arrived at first light and it was cold, but not frosty cold. We've had a relatively warm winter up until this weekend, and the cold air gave us the first taste of what winter should be. The cold air had me moving slowly, and the buoys read about 10ft at 11sec from steeply north of 315. We didn't know what to expect so we walked the trail in the dark to go see what tresmile was doing. When we got there a set hit and it didn't look bad. Not as big as we'd been surfing it, but not small either. An in-between size that looked good enough here, and would probably be bigger than we wanted if we went north. The tide had just peaked and was going to be dropping that morning, so things would improve.

We walked back to the car to grab gear to bring down and suit up at our usual spot. The daylight was filling in. Moving about after the long drive was warming up my body. This day I had given up on the 7'5" and didn't see the need for the Channin, so I had the 6'8" with me. JB asked, "Is that your tresmile board." to which I relied, yeah, and it works great at some other spots too. Walking down the sand we saw our path was getting regularly washed over with waves, but not wanting to leave stuff where it's easily accessed, we put on our wetsuits from the sand, but walked our bags over to the hiding spot. Waves were washing over the jump spot in a menacing way, so we both took extra care waiting for a break in the waves. I still got hit by a wave in the channel, but not bad. Just enough to get a wet chill!

We were the only ones around and JB noted that it was hard to pick the takeoff spot because we both had been surfing it at the limit recently, sitting way off the edge of the reef. We each got a wave that looked good but died in the channel. We spent the morning chasing waves back and forth between the inside bowls, the inside reef, and the outside reef. Others joined us one-by-one, but the waves weren't very good. Good enough to stay out, but I figure those watching from the cliff were taking there time hoping conditions would improve.

Eventually JB and I had had enough. I got bored of chasing after waves only to be disappointed with what they were. We took waves in and called it a day. A thought lingered about whether using a surfmat and catching a big one off the top of the reef would work. That wave is hard to drop in on, then just rolls along for awhile before doing who-knows-what when it hits the inside reef. I think it could be fun, and might give it a try one of these days.

I wasn't tired from the session, and the day was shaping up to be pretty nice. I hung around town for a bit but couldn't think of anything to do. I decided to drive home over the coast route and look at some spots. The wind was coming up just a little and nothing looked very good. I realized we probably made the best choice of where/when we surfed.

I've had the 7'5" up on craig's website for a few weeks now. Besides a flurry of interest by 4 people all in two days, I've heard nothing. All those guys found other boards to buy. There have been a good series of boards available, and most of them for less $. I'm slowly lowering the price I'm asking, and being patient. But I've told myself I won't order the next board until I have this one sold, so it's hard to be patient.