A different part of the reef...

Took a surf day off work to dodge the crowds and try to get a piece of the swell. I got a very small piece at WR at dawn. Lucky I got out at that time because I surfed warbled early south swell for about an hour before the wind picked up and made it un-surfable. I headed into town but the West Side wasn't working and the East Side was very crowded. I did nothing much for the rest of the day except watch the surf and visit a surf shop.
The next day I surfed with Jeffs back at the same spot. I started on the North corner, where I normally start, but Jeffs went south to the BB-shoulder section of the reef. I wasn't having much fun on the north end so I paddled down to see what they were doing. WOW! That is a great waves. The peaks bounce around a bit but when they came to me I was getting steep drops from behind the peek into a steep, but short shoulder. Very fun indeed. I was on my 6'6" Buttons Pipeliner, which was a good board choice. The extra float allowed me to get in a touch early and the narrow template let me stay close to the steep face. I had a really great time on the few waves I got. I pushed my luck on a few and got too angled on a take-0ff and the tail slipped around as I pulled under the lip. I did a similar thing a few waves later and decided I should let the wide ones go by.
Meanwhile, at the TRUE BB there was a crowd of rippers gathering. That take-off was just as critical but the wave after had a nice long shoulder. I stuck with my peak until the waves stopped coming and took one in.

That afternoon we tried the reef/beachy south of Scotts. It looked great so we stopped on the side of the road to watch. Several more waves of good quality filled in and we suited up and paddled out. We each got a few waves, then it all stopped. We went in and before we left saw only a few more good waves over there. Scotts and WFs was not doing anything good with the south.

The thing that made my weekend so great was I found a new part of WR that I plan on surfing again, hopefully soon, and I got a really good feeling from the Buttons board.

Right now the forecast is for a west swell and glassy conditions for the weekend. There will be 1' low tides in the evenings, so I think I'll surf OB in the morning, then again in the late afternoon/evening this coming Saturday.

September Mornings

It's September, and if feels good.
Yesterday was warm, in Berkeley! I had lunch outside and we stayed for an hour or more soaking in the sun and arguing about Afganistan.
Today I surfed OB with SR. The waves were chest high and all mixed up and warbly, but it was sunny with no wind and just so pleasant we made the most of it anyway. 5' @ 9sec from NW with little to no S in the water.
Anyway, it's September which is the start of good waves and good weather around here. I'm spending the weekend in Aptos (wedding) and I hope to get some surfing done while I'm there.

MatMeet North

On August 21st MatMeet North was held in honor of the main MatMeet which happened the following day at Cotton's Point. See 23breaths blog for the glorious details.

MatMeet North had one participant, me, but I shared some interesting waves with one friendly kneeboarder. We were at onA at very low tide with a small south and small NW windswell in the water. The kneeboarder, Darrel "in the Barrel," said the south was causing more close-outs and that the previous 6-weeks had been great at onA. (He enjoyed the small, shapely peaks and I witnessed one tube ride he handled well.) So, onA likes the small NW wind swell better than the south?

Anyway, while I was there the side wave worked a bit, the water was freezing, and I caught some exciting waves on my mat. Coulda maybe been narreled on one or two.

UDeeTs test ride. I used the bench-top belt grinder to remove material from the Large sized UDTs. The idea is to soften up the blade and reduce the resistance while kicking. The fins have proved too powerful for me in the past and caused foot cramps. I didn't feel like I took off very much, and I concentrated on the center spine which I probably reduced by half on both sides of the fin. Anyway, I surfed for an hour or more and never got a foot cramp, even though I was kicking most of the time. I think that is a positive result and I'll leave them like they are and try them out some more.

Well, not exactly as they are. I wore them without fin socks and I rubbed holes in my feel. My right foot on the bottom had a row of open blisters where the fin hits, and my left foot inside ankle was also blistered and open. So, if I want to wear these barefoot (which I do) I need to re/apply the wetsuit material to the fins, and/or redesign the straps.

After a leg cramp that wouldn't go away I switched to the Haut2. I only caught one decent wave and gave it up as the crowd was growing. I took my time and changed out of my wetsuit on the beach. I watched as the side wave was no longer working and the take-off was next to the rock. The tide had filled in to ~3.5ft or maybe a bit more. The waves were much more peaky and the rippers that had showed up were getting good rides, but not quite barrels. Anyway, the point is that low tide south swell is not the only combo for Ona, and maybe not even a good one.

Thinking about returning this weekend, but my feet still haven't heeled.

August

It has been a terrible summer. Long streaches of onshore wind, little to no surf, and I've been working harder than I ever have. (Well, except that few months I worked two jobs.) My last two sessions were two weeks or more apart with a mat surf in crap waves more than a month ago and a fun but minor bodysurf session two weeks ago. Out of town this weekend.
Once I finish all this work I'll be looking to vacation somewhere surf related. Not sure where (or when) but hopefully this fall.
Options:
North up the coast would be interesting, less crowded, colder, camp-able = cheaper, but without any prime surf spots that I can think of.
South down the coast has many, many options that are well advertised. Once I round Point Conception the water is much warmer. Camp-able, but less so, especially without reservations. Crowds, but I could surf the not-longboard spots which I would guess are less crowded. I could also try to meet with other bloggers.
Mexico = warm waters and new territory. I still want to spend some time at Puerto Escondido and make a tube. I think I could do it if I had a week of 6-8ft surf. Puerto could end up giving me a week of 16-18ft surf, or break my boards and end up costing me mucho pesos in repair costs. Pleanty of other options down there, but for someone who speaks little spanish it's intimidating going it alone.
Hmmm....

The Three Bears of Hess

I've ridden the HessQQ (Quinara Quad) three more times now. Once I ended up at overhead 3mile. It was big enough to make duckdiving hard and move enough water around that I got tired just trying to get to the take-off spot. At the same time it was breaking soft and hard to get into. Once in there wasn't enough power to get me going much, at least on the waves I caught. Blah, any other board I own would have been better, probably... Papa Bear, to much water moving.

The next time was a pre-work surf with work friends at Linda Mar. The north end did have some shoulder high waves with a bit of push at the start. Some even had shape on the inside. I got some good waves but would have been better served by the Haut2. But other than that it was sunny, warm, and glassy with few people in the water competing for waves... Mama Bear, to small and soft.

The next day I went to catch some south at Waddel Reefs. The tide was low and the swell was about head high, with a few bigger. It was great! Some steep ones and attempted barrels. One I'll count as a long narrel (not a barrel, nearly a barrel.) A few other guys out there were getting in the pit but for the most part I was holding my own, even though I was paddling all around never staying lined up for very long. Not that I was getting pushed off the reef, just that it felt crowded and I was trying to find waves uncontested. Overall that is the kind of wave I should be riding on the HessQQ... Baby bear, just right.

Trigger Pulled

So, I bought the board. I tried to be thoughtful about it. I put the boards side by side on the grass, I compared dimensions, I tried to think of counter arguments... But in the end my excitement was too much and I bought the board in a fog of giddiness. I got it in the water that afternoon and right away felt that it was much smaller than I imagined it would be. I'm guessing that Hess doesn't dome the deck like the Haut2 is. And perhaps the wider template has more effect than I thought it would, and calculated.

I was able to catch waves and ride them, and it duckdives great because I sink it completely when I'm paddling. It made me feel very out of shape.

I had a board that was small, the mint Bonzer, and I had to let it go. The reason was that it didn't have enough float for me to catch waves early and it didn't drop in late very well, or at all. This Hess board drops in late just fine, so maybe I will be able to make it work. It just wont be my everyday board, more for good waves.

Big Island Little Waves

Went looking for Shark Pit and found it HUGE. It was the day the Mavs contest was held, and they said it was some of the biggest surf ever paddled into for a contest. There was a car parked overlooking SP with two 10' full guns on the roof and the driver telling his friend it was just too big to surf, out of control. We took that as a good reason to go home, via a quick dip at Bolinas.

Bolinas was about head high and smaller. The bigger waves closed out and the smaller ones rolled along without much excitment, but it was wet.

The last week in Feb I was on vacation with my wife on the Big Island of Hawaii. There were waves out in the ocean somewhere, but all I ever found was some small wave bodysurfing at Hapuna Beach. It was warm, in clear water, and with not too many locals to make it unsurfable. The weekend did bring more boogers to the beach but we were on a schedule and didn't have much time anyway.

Now I'm several weeks since a decent session and I may be making up for it chasing down a used Hess board. I've wanted one for a long time, and this used one is a good price and is close to if not exactly what I would order if I was to buy a new one. I'll have to see how it works out, whether I pull the trigger or not. I'm leaning towards yes, especially since the wife is starting work and we'll be a two income household again. And she's been spending money doing her things, and we just had a cheap vacation, and the tax return is coming, and...

I'm probably gonna surf this weekend, good waves or not, just because I have friends in town and I'm getting desparate. Here's a photo of the board. It's 6'2" 19 3/4 and 2 9/16 thick.