The sun finally showed itself and the weather turned classic Norcal fantastic today. A strong windswell registering 14-15 feet at 13 seconds blew down the Washington/Oregon coast, filling in last night and pumping up waves from the westside to the eastside. I surfed another three hour session in much smaller waves today than Friday, but the super consistent waist to chest high waves were fun and a good workout. The workout was made even more remarkable because of the strong northerly winds that were blowing 5-17 mph with a high mark gust of 20mph. It was hard enough just to stay in one place, much less paddle into the drop in the face of a howling offshore, set on driving you out the back (which more than a few did).
I paddled out around 1:30 with two other longboarders in the water. They left after about a half hour and I surfed alone until Joe joined me. We surfed for another two hours by ourselves just getting wave after wave.
Wave quality wasn't as good as Friday. Rides for the most part were short, steep, fast and windy. There were occasionally long rides to the inside, but instead of stitching together 100 to 200 yard plus rides like Friday, it was more like 40 and 50 yard rides. Inside, the waves were dredging over the low tide reefs, making for impossibly square sections that were not navigable. Rides were standard for Yellow House, letting me know how extraordinary the waves were in January and early February here. Still, we had a lot of fun in demanding conditions with no one out.
February 4, 2008 (M)
In: 1324
Out: 1630
AT= 57 to 55 degrees
WT= 52.5 degrees at the farshore buoy
Wx: Clear and sunny
Tide: .18 Falling to -0.47 to Rising to .02
Wind: N/NW at 1-17 mph, gusting to 20 mph
Sea Surface: Light to semi-moderate bump with wind scallops
Buoy: NWS
1200: 14.8 feet @ 12.9 Seconds WNW
1300: 15.7 feet @ 12.9 Seconds WNW
1400: 14.4 feet @ 13.8 Seconds NW
1500: 13.8 feet @ 12.9 Seconds NW
1600: 14.1 feet @ 13.8 Seconds NW
1700: 13.5 feet @ 12.9 Seconds NW
10'4" Angulo SUP with Infinity paddle
Rock reefs
Waves: 8 feet at 12 seconds (Nearshore buoy approx. ave.) Storm Surf Buoy Model
That looks so fun!!!
ReplyDeleteThose are your best photos so far in my opinion. I especially like the last two- gets me pumped to scores some of my own.
It cleaned up today here as well with NE winds in the morning- couldn't tap it though because of WORK!!!!
But tomorrow I'm done by noon- Sunset Cliffs here I come!
John,
ReplyDeleteHope you got some good ones at the cliffs today. I used to live at Cal Western many years ago...surfed Newbreak and Abs all the time.
Thanks for the kudos re the pics...totally serendipitous in nature...if I'm in the right spot and can get the Oly out of my wetsuit in time I might get a decent shot. From land I use the 300mm and hope for the best...just documenting the sesh.