WNW Swell Arrives

A new WNW swell arrived early this morning putting up some pretty good numbers. At 4AM the buoy was reporting 9 foot waves at 15 second intervals. The tide is a kelp dodging three to four feet this morning from 5AM to noon but if the swell holds and has some energy then we should have waves throughout the day. This swell is forecast to stick around for a couple days.

Paddled out at Sarges with my new clear plastic paddle edging cleanly installed. The edging's purpose is to prevent rail dings when I "skillfully" bash the side of my board with the edge of the paddle. It should also be handy for keeping the paddle blade from marring or even cutting the rubber deck pad.

The day dawned cloudless and beautiful with a soft orange glow blossoming in the eastern sky. I paddled out when it was too dark for me to see very well, but wanted to get over to GW's asap, thinking the crowd would form early...it did. A group of locals was perched on the stairway landing watching. There were waves. I did my warm-ups and some light stretching as per my usual.

By the time I got to the line up there were already four people sitting on the main peak. Twenty minutes later it was twelve. Word was out. I arrived at GW's at 0644 and promptly paddled into my first wave, the first of 32 waves in a little over two hours. This (SUPing) feels like grand theft surf. But I didn't weasel anyone (like a couple of the longboarders were doing) and I rode a lot of waves that got away from the crowd. Conditions were clean and the waves were consistent and had some size (nothing overhead though). Lot's of sets.

After I went for an apres-surf coffee I returned to take some pics before hitting TJ's with my honey-do list. But I ran into Mash and some other guys and ended up bullshitting. I ran out of time and didn't get today's photos. I think I'm going to have to consider investing in a waterproof camera. My Christmas present?
October 2, 2007 (Tu)
In: 0638
1st Wave: 0644
Out: 0900
Wave count: 32
WT=57
AT=58
Wx: Clear and bright.
Tide: Falling 3.8' to 3.5 then Rising to 3.6'
Wind: Light offshore
Sea Surface: Glassy to lightly textured
Buoy: NWS
0600: 10.2 @ 14.8 WNW
0700: 9.8 @ 14.8 WNW
0800: 9.2 @ 13.8 WNW
0900: 9.2 @ 14.8 WNW
10'4" Angulo SUP
Reefs: Rock and sand
Waves: 9' @ 14 (approx. ave.) Storm Surf Buoy Model