the rundown

 Well shoot, a whole lot has happened.

1) A rare lightning storm.

2) I got a new TH by selling my TH one day and buying a smaller one a few days later. 

3) Fires.

4) Quarantine.

At 3 am on Sunday morning the flashes of light woke me up even though I didn't hear thunder. I checked the weather page to see what was going on and the coast was lit up with thunderstorms. I drove down the inland route before cutting to the coast around the back side of the storms. I got to see lightning in the dark but it was mostly offshore and I didn't experience much wind or any rain. Unfortunately the low tide and small waves left nothing surfable, at least not to me. I hung around an exposed reef watching the tiny waves occasionally roll in, but mostly exploring tide pools and watching the sunrise light show of dramatic clouds and sunrise rainbows. As the breeze changed directions I occasionally smelled smoke. Later, two guys paddled out around 8 am and I was shocked to see the "tiny" waves weren't as small as I thought. In fact, for the 2 hours nobody was out, I would have had fun out there if I had my longboard with me.

Picking up the new TH happened mid-morning after hanging around the beach. I drove down to Aptos and got the board before returning to the same spot along the coast. The tide was higher and the wind hadn't picked up too much. I drove around a little looking at spots I've been trying to figure out before returning to Scott's. It didn't look good, but it looked good enough. I paddled out on the new TH to see what I could make of it. The board felt much smaller under me. Maybe not too small, but close to the limit. Less of a mid-length and more of a shortboard for a 44 year old who lives inland and surfs once a week. That's okay, it'll do. The waves weren't good enough for me to really get a feel for the board, but besides the volume I got the sense that the nose was less forgiving. The first TH had belly and rocker in the nose. The new TH seems to have less of both. 

So I made the most of what I had and went home. JB and I agreed we'd surf whatever we could the next weekend. But by Tuesday, the news was all about the fires started by the dry lightning storm. Several smaller fires were burning in a complex along the mountains of southern San Mateo and northern Santa Cruz. The smoke was heavy and Highway 1 was closed off because of it and to clear the way for fire crews. JB and I came up with alternate plans to try Pacifica and Montera, but by Thursday HMB and Pacifica were announcing their beaches were closed due to smoke, covid, fire crews passing through, and evacuees needing space. So I started looking around and realized OBSF was one of the few places open. It didn't look very good on the cams, but maybe it would be okay one of the weekend mornings.

Then Friday my son's pre-school called to tell us one of the teachers tested positive. My son had direct contact with that teacher recently, so he's on 14-day quarantine, and so are we. I updated JB that I was out of commission for the next two weekends.

So that's where I am now. The good news is everyone in my family is healthy so far, we both still have a job, and I haven't missed any good surf. With any luck things will be back to normal in early September and I'll be able to update about the good waves I surfed.

Rocks and reefs

Last weekend I rode the V-pin at 4-mile. The forecast was for very small waves and a bit of wind, so 4-mile was the obvious choice. It ended up being difficult to get rides, but fun enough. I got one good one from the top of the point, but "good" is relative.

This weekend I was lucky enough to spend two nights at my family's beach house. The forecast was similar to last weekend and I didn't expect the windswell to make any ridable waves, but I was wrong. Saturday mid-morning I rode my surf mat at Rockview. It was great making the most of the small waves and skimming over the kelp that kept the longboarders away from where I was riding. Sunday morning I went on a reconnaissance mission up the coast. Its not as hidden as other places I've surfed, but it's enough out of the way that it's not frequented. Sunday clearly wasn't the best conditions for this spot, but it was good enough to be worth getting wet. I think I'll go back sometime when there's a bit more swell in the water.

We did less cleaning of the beach house this time. Instead we did more relaxing and breathing of the cool beach air. There's something about that place that eases my mind. The wifi signal is also weak so playing on my phone is no fun. Instead I'll be content just sitting, or leafing through a field guide to birds.