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cold, freezing, foggy,small crowds, friendly facesdon't surf after drinking all nightbailed on a bunch of ridesgot a few rides, tried cross-stepping againfell on all of the steps, almost made one successful stepa buddy told us we're actually starting to be able to surf! stokedleft with freezing feetgot some fun rides right before leaving
105-106-107Fun number 105.Glassy offshoreonly half the beach breakinggot in, more fun than it looks from the beachgot some inside ridessome rights, but more leftssaw familiar facessome closeouts, looks much better from the beachevening glass off for 106found a desolate beachbreak with enough peeling/closeout ratioshared it with my brothergot little bumps after little bumpsstayed till the sun went downfoggy 107bumpy small wind swell coming in at short periodscold and gloomysome size in the northgot some inside rideslet the cross-stepping begintried crossstepping, fell, it felt really wobblygot another wave, turned right, at the top and in the curltook one step, hesitated and came back, then tried again, fellpicked off another wave that jacked up, hung right,sidestepped, then one more, and then fell again!
sunny offshore, new booties and gloves. i hate gloves for now. maybe when it gets colder, i will like it. it wasn't too crowded. got some fun waves. some more trimming and one up the face ride.
Foggy, foggy, and more fog. Kinda gloomy, but offshore for sometime, then the windswell picked up and it was fun. I had one really memorable ride. I turned late and decided to paddle for a shoulder high set that came through. I gave it a few strokes and at the moment i felt the slide, i popped up and went down the line. It seemed like forever, but I finally made it to the bottom and cranked a smallish turn. I can see the white breaking behind me, and a wall building as I glide onwards. I was really stoked that I got this wave that I let out a hoot as I came down the line. It was as if I was at the right time and the right place to get this wave. It seemed like everything I did for the ride was from muscle memory. I am stoked to be able to pull of a ride like this and not think about it!
went south to catch some of that 20 second south swell that was making it's way towards california. get to SC, but the tide was high. there seemed to be a lot of moving water, some winds, a westward current, and no beach entry/exit. i get pounded trying to enter from the stairs. rejected, i walked south more to a cove that had a nice entry, admist all the shore pound coming through. the outside was not crowded at all. there was only one peak breaking, but i wasn't positioned to get any of it. i wanted to catch it while it is breaking more inside...well...didn't happen. i sat out there watching the way way outside break overhead, with nice a-frame and many surfers ripping it up. one day, i will get out there.well...i get beatdown trying to paddle back in. i thought i could make a run for the stairs...time it, paddle, time it some more. i managed to get aground, with some knock around on my legs and my board was a little battered. however, my brother got beaten even worse. his board was totally killed, complete with gouges all over the bottom, and the fin box ripped out.so the lesson is to not paddle out at SC at high tide...but if you do, look for a safer exit.
Got woken up for work related matters and just couldn't go back to sleep. I checked the weather and jammed out of the house. Beach was really foggy and the sand was cold on the feet. It is definately Fall. Large loomy sets throughout the beach and occasional closeouts. I opted for the south end peaks, which were a lot more mellow and only had some head high closeouts. The paddle out was uneventful, and the sets came in every 5 or so minutes. I got some of the right hand peaks and just hung out. The water was cold and my feet were just freezing. I couldn't feel them about half way through the session. It took me a few waves to settle down. I managed to botch a bunch of them and just let a few roll through. I think I am getting too passive waiting for waves. People probably think I might go for some of them, but I keep thinking others will go for them instead. I think everyone was on a turn system. Oh well, I think I started to get into it at the end of the session.Most of my rides were right handers except for the last one, which I took all the way to the beach. I think I need to work on moving up the wave face, now that I can get into the wave and turn. Nevertheless, an unexpected session is always fun!
Session 99 was nothing really memorable. There were a lot of people out and I was pretty mellow, knowing that I have tendencies to run into people at times. I hung back and got waves when I know I was in the clear. It was foggy for the most part, but the sun did peak out. After two more sessions on the Miller, I brought out the Coletta again. Surprising, I didn't notice any difference in ride quality on that particular day. It probably was the waves I went for. I did manage a few fun rides. Towards the end, I paddled for more waves and actually out paddled someone for a ride into the beach, which I will call my best ride of the day. Looking back, there was a mixutre of ground and windswells that rolled through. They were mostly knee high. I can know tell the difference between the long and short period swells. The longer ground swells had more defined shape and broke with shoulder. The shorter period wind swells just jacked up and dumped on you, well, there were some rideable faces and shoulders from that as well.Today, I hit 100! I didn't think I would make it to 100 this year, but I did! To top it off, I took off work today to surf, hoping it would be fun! Instead, I got inconsistent wind swells with onshore winds blowing out the shape. At the beginning of the session, I found myself a peak that I sat at ALONE! That was fun, because I didn't have to worry about anyone and can take off on whatever I wanted. I got some fun rides, small turns and a mouth full of seaweed when I did come to shore. Then I would have to clean off my leash before paddling back out. An additional step, but what the hell. can't really complain to be able to surf by myself. I pearled on a few of them, since the waves that rolled through jacked up fast and near the shore. I was playing in shorebreak. The sun was out, but it was really cold. I tried to search up the beach for another decent peak, but the wind was starting to blow even more, and the chop was really showing! So much for a Fall day! So to re-cap the good stuff today, blew off work -> surfed a peak by myself -> made it to 100 session!What have I learned so far? Not a whole not! I still kook out 9 times out of 10. But I do know where to sit for a better chance at a wave, I can get 6-7 out of 10 waves and not bail. I still pearl on ones when I am not positioned correctly. I have an understanding for waves and the wind, very rudimentry. I can kinda knee paddle. I can shuffle on the board. I found my trim spot. I can go front side and backside. I can finally wax my board and it doesn't look ugly!