Paddling without waves

The prior weekend I opted to mix it up and went north instead of south. The wind forecast was more appropriate for the Bo, but when I arrived the wind had a bad angle. At dawn the low tide was also making a mess of things and I lingered on the beach. I was glad I did because as the tide filled in the waves got better and the wind eased. I got to it and snagged a few by sitting deeper than the crowd. It didn't last long before the tide went too far and the wind came back up, ending the short session.

This weekend had all the weather elements in place, but no swell. I've been very slow on the repair of the Velzy because I don't feel up to it after work, or after surfing. So this weekend I worked on the repair instead of surfing. To get exercise I took out the SUP to the Oakland harbor. The preferred launch spot (Jack London Aquatic Center) is now more accessible as the Embarcadero Bridge has reopened following a rebuilding. (No more tiptoeing through the trash to get down to the water.)  I took my time paddling past the construction along the Oakland waterfront, down around Coast Guard Island. Coming back I went close along the 9th Ave Terminal where fancy new condos are matched with ongoing improvements to the waterfront. Things don't look pretty yet, but I am optimistic. Heading back to Aquatic Park was into the wind and the sound of the wind driven ripples smacking the big flat nose of the SUP got me thinking of a prone paddleboard. I picked this SUP off craigslist because it's suitable for riding waves, and it has a flat bottom on the nose instead of a chop-cutting hull shape. I don't use it often enough to justify the purchase of an upwind type SUP, but I would like to add a prone paddleboard for those conditions and to mix up the type of exercise. There are not that many on craigslist in my area, but there are several down in LA. Too far to go just to pick up a prone paddleboard, so instead I'll bid my time watching out for something local.

Anyway, it was a 3 mile loop that I did in about an hour. Not much exercise, but anything is better than nothing. Fingers crossed that next weekend will have waves.