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.