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.

Ouch, my knee!

I've been having trouble the last couple sessions getting my feet under me. The problem seems to be a weak left knee. It's the same knee that I dislocated several times as a teenager. It has always been a small problem for me, but for the last month or two, it's become a bigger problem. I did something to it several weekends ago when I surfed multiple times in a weekend. I don't know what I did, maybe just too much exeercise. But that weekend it swelled up, and it's been weak since then. It was bothering me yesterday at G's, but it wasn't stopping me. The TH was getting into the waves nicely and I was fighting my weak knee to do what I needed it to do. After two successful (but not great) rides, I decided to paddle deeper where the wave was more exciting. The first wave I went for sucked out before I got my feet all the way set and I lost control. My left foot kinda stuck to the board as my body fell and I strained my knee. I heard some noise (maybe in my head) but it wasn't painful right away. Still, I knew I did some damage and paddled back to where the waves were a bit easier. I got to my feet on another wave but after than just rode them on my belly. My knee felt okay at rest, but when swirling my feet to swing the board around, or just to stay balanced while sitting, my knee complained. I took a wave in and made the walk back down the beach careful to not put to much stress on the knee.

By the time I got back to the car, my knee was starting to tighten up. Still not painful at rest but sensitive to movement I took a single does of ibuprofin and made my way home. An hour and a half later, getting out of my car in my driveway and my knee wasn't cooperating. I'm keeping up the low-dose ibuprofin and trying to maintain mobility in my knee by walking around. But I'm also sitting at my work-from-home desk and I have a ton of work to do. I know I have field work, but nothing scheduled yet because I've been busy with office work. I hope I'll be ready to surf this weekend, but I'm not so sure this 46-year-old body will repair that quickly. So it's possible the three-day weekend will be non-surfing. Sounds like a good time to go canoeing!

Don't forget the lessons

 I went out to G's with JB last weekend. I brought my 6'0" because I wanted to try it after having ridden the TH so much lately. I had a terrible time. I couldn't get into the wave before the thump, and I don't have the skill to get in under it on this board. After an hour+ of trying, I went in having never ridden a wave. I walked past R's and looked at Funboards. Went back to R's where the waves looked better. I think I could have had a decent surf there if I wasn't already tired. I rode one on my knees because I couldn't get my feet under me in time. I finally made it to my feet and rode a pitiful left. I rode it to the beach to call it a day.

I had forgotten the lesson I learned at G's, bring more foam. The wave has a soft part just before the thump. With a big enough board I can get in at the soft part and be on my feet ready when it thumps. Without that foam it's just a nightmare. (Alternatively, less foam makes handling the thump a little easier, but I'm far out of shape for that.) So this weekend I plan to return to G's, this time back on the TH.

And there was another issue besides picking the wrong board; being out of shape. I've had a stressful run of weeks at work and missed opportunities for getting away from my desk for a walk. I have been out on a few field days, which at least gets my body moving, but apparently it isn't enough. So this week I forced myself for a few walks, did a few squat reps (just bodyweight) and thought about doing some push-ups. I also thought about how skateboarding is a good way to strengthen my knees and legs. I looked to Utube for inspiration and instead found an affordable "surfskate" option. The WaterBourne surfskate and rail adapters are supposed to make skating feel more like surfing. For $100 shipped, I thought it was worth the experiment. It arrived yesterday and I put it together and got a little skating in. 

It's certainly a work-out because there's not much room for straight legged riding. Kicking is difficult with the extra height of the board and the introduced loose feeling. The recommended approach is to instead use the adapter advantage and pump to generate speed. I tried and just barely could feel anything. My feet and legs were tired after just a few minutes and I stopped to get back to family duties. It's worth more trying, although I wasn't blown away at the feeling of it. If it gets me out of the house, it's worth it.