There's a lot of dead stuff floating around in the bay and washing up on shore. I can't recall seeing as many floating carcasses and dead animals as I have this year. Why? Who knows?
Here's my theory: The water this year has been pretty cold, in the low to mid-50's most of the summer, so the upwelling, and all the nutrients (food) it brings have been plentiful. With all this food, sea life is abundant, and has set up house in the bay. More food, more sea life, more dead stuff. It's just a matter of numbers. Then again it could just be my perspective. On a stand up board I can see WAY out there. Most of the dead stuff washes into the floating seaweed, to be seen as a bump in the kelp beds and not all that big. But I can pick it up and then paddle out to investigate. Anyway, that's my story and this armchair scientist is stickin' to it. If you know better, drop me a comment and correct me. After all, I've been married to two different women for almost 40 years...I'm used to being corrected.
Paddled out at Zero-6:fifteen and into a gloomy, thick fog with limited visibility and a slight onshore breeze. There was so little going on at Sarges, that I immediately headed up to GDubs. Tide was higher this morning at 2.2 feet and I thought I'd enjoy a respite from the copious kelp. Wrong. At GDubs it was ubiquitous. Patrick paddled over from 2B's where he and Priscilla were surfing. We surfed together for a while, catching a few bump and grind kelp chokers before I headed to 2B's to say hi to Priscilla.
I ended up staying there, chatting away like the blab that I am, and sharing some fun little zippers over the reef with Priscilla. We were able to sit right at the edge of the kelp where the peak would zig-zag our way before putting up some fast, little rights; petering out into a little channel on the best waves.
The design of my Angulo 10-4 continues to amaze and please me. As I learn how to handle it more deftly, I am surprised and happy when it just kicks itself into overdrive and leaves me hanging on, grinning for mercy. No question, it rocks the sweet spot!
Also, switched back to the larger D-blade Kialoa Kole the last couple sessions just to see how the upper back and shoulders would react. So far so good. Working with Debra Smith, a certified sports massage therapist is really paying off. She is so good at pinpointing the overworked muscles and then setting up a strengthening and stretching program for those muscles. I've never felt better, and my shoulder and back muscles feel great, even after a long workout and paddle.
I still really like the Infinity Ottertail paddle (as a matter of fact I wish I'd of sprung the extra $30 and gotten the lighter, carbon fiber like the Kialoa). But no matter, it gives me a choice, and I can opt for either a high cadence (less resistance) or low cadence (more resistance) stroke, depending upon which paddle I grab for the session. It adds another variable to the workout.
I found a couple new websites for forecasting that I've been playing for the last week. One is put up by the NWS, and the other is the three-day CDIP forecast. I've only been testing them for a couple days but the NWS site was right on this morning. NW swell 5 to 7 feet at 8 seconds. I was hoping this short period swell would put up better than it did, but at least I got a few fun waves. There's no combo action in the water. The south swells are so small, as to be almost not noticeable, and they're angled precariously close to the edge of our surfable swell window. The three-day CDIP is pretty accurate too, even though it disclaims that it's highly experimental.
Aug 11, 2008 (M)
In: 0615
Out: 0915
AT= 53.5 - 53.9F
WT= 55F at the nearshore buoy
Wx: Heavy overcast with limited visibility.
Tide: 2.27 Rising to 3.5
Wind: Steady southeast from 1 to 5mph
Sea Surface: Light wind ripples, glassy in the kelp beds
Buoy: NWS
Farshore Buoy
0800: 6.6 feet @ 7.7 WNW
0900: 6.6 feet @ 7.7 NW
1000: 7.2 feet @ 8.3 WNW
10'4" Angulo SUP with Kialoa Kole paddle
Fin set-up: Thruster with K2D2 4.75" center fin and FCS Occy sides
Bathymetry: Rock reefs
CDIP: (0700 hours) 5.3 feet at 8 seconds from 325 degrees and 1.3 feet at 12 seconds from 170 degrees
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