Redemption

My last two trips to the beach had been disappointing. Luckily, I redeemed myself on Saturday.

The first thing I need to talk about is forecasting. This year I've wanted to surf some bigger waves, but the run of swell we've been having meant I needed to look for windows when the swell got small enough to surf. Sure, I could have surfed in town Santa Cruz. But I've really been feeling great surfing the less crowded spots north of town, outside the protection of the Monterey Bay. Many of the spots I want to surf have been overwhelmed when the swells peak. Imagine 10-ft closeouts 100-yards wide. That's at the more protected spot that doesn't focus the energy!

So, with Sunday forecast to be "big" big, I opted for Saturday afternoon during the tail of an outgoing swell . I'm glad I did too! I scored Tres for a few hours with it being at it's limit, which means 8' makeable sets and 10' closeouts every once in awhile. I tried something new, also. I pulled an 8'6" 1970's era single fin gun out of the rafters of the garage. This board hasn't been waxed in decades. It was shaped before leashes, it's a hair narrow of 19" at the widest point forward of center, with a long taper to a 3" wide little tail block. It's got a blocky shaped fin, hard down rails of the era, and is at least 3" thick through a large portion of the board. I wasn't sure I could even surf it, but I'm open to new experiences.

Paddling out was a bit of a challenge because I could only duck-dive 1-2' of whitewater when the wave was half broken. I couldn't get it deep enough to dive under a real wave. With the biggest sets closing out the channel, I waited for the ocean to calm before jumping off the ledge. Even so, a few snuck through and hit me in the channel and I wondered if I was going to make it out to ride a wave. Luckily I did and took some rest in the channel and watched the line up(s). I took my first wave on an inside bowl off the edge of the channel. It was 6' and I was able to get in early. I kept telling myself to go easy on the flat tailed single fin and not try to make any sudden turns. That mantra helped and I eased into a gentle bottom turn and made the wave. It also helped me deal with the narrow board and not over-react to the rail-to-rail speed the board has. I found that at speed, the board is really stiff and just wants to go in one direction. A gentle turn can be made, but waiting to bleed off some speed made the board looser. I caught a few and then everyone left. I couldn't use my normal lineups, and being alone made it really hard to get into position. But waves kept coming to me and I kept getting rides anyway. I did well catching a handful and not falling. JB finally showed up, but the waves were coming less often. A dozen shortboarders filled in the waves breaking at the top of the reef while we stayed over waiting for some to swing wide. I did finally make some mistakes with one late enough that the lip hit my back before I could stand and I belly rode to the shoulder. Then another that I didn't read correctly and drive the nose strait to the bottom and kept going. All in all though, I did okay.

Overall it was a good session that helped me feel like I'm not a total kook. JB was kind in telling me how great he thought my waves were. I'd really like to see how I was riding because it felt like I was way on the shoulder for all the waves, and like I was moving in slow motion. Not slow across the wave, but my turns were slow. Anyway, I'll ride this  board again, and maybe try it at some of the mellower big wave spots I've been watching. The forecast has another window of "small" waves this weekend, so I may get a chance at it if the weather holds.