La Playa Si; La Ciudad No!

Herbie finally talked me into surfing the beaches, which, given the condition of town surf, was really a no-brainer. The best spots in town were only putting up small waves at the lower tides. Last Monday Andy surfed Henry's on the westside almost by himself in fun low tide, waist high peelers for long rides into the cove. But I've been hearing talk about how good the beaches have been for the last two weeks.

Generally, for my taste (read: age, physical condition, willingness to work that hard) if the waves are showing four feet or less on the CDIP wave forecast, and the wind isn't up, surfing will be good at the beaches. I paddled out this morning a bit late, waiting for more solar gain (it's getting tougher for me to paddle out when the temp reads below 40 degrees...I guess it's that 30-something barrier). Even at 10:20, there was already a light onshore blowing. I found a relatively uncrowded peak west of the main lot, where really, the surf wasn't as good as the other peaks east of that location. No matter, on the SUP I can paddle into the fat ones and get a good ride as they jack up closer to shore. But beach breaks being beach breaks almost anything can and does happen during the course of a session, from a set of perfect lefts (that only breaks once every two hours) to a set of horrendous close-outs that look benign but end up pushing salt water through your sinuses and out your eyes. There was also a nice channel next to the peak which moved around a little, but for most of the time provided a safe haven to paddle back out.

Neil and Buzz were out on their 10-10 Angulos, Eric paddled up on his short board and we had a chance to chat a bit. I ended up catching quite a few waves in about an hour and a half. My back felt a lot better and did OK in the surf, although I'm still taking it easy and not pushing too hard.

Weather has been immaculate but patchy fog is coming soon. Tonight and tomorrow morning for sure. It's been a dry, dry year, and it looks like it might stay that way. Also, by my calculations (and looking back at my 2007 blog posts) this year has been slower than last for surf. Which is pretty bad seeing as how last year wasn't that great either.
Dec 31, 2008 (W)
In: 1020
Out: 1150
AT= 47 to 52F
WT= 53.4F
Wx: Mostly sunny with some light wispy clouds
Tide: 4.5' Rising
Wind: Mostly calm with periodic light south wind 1-4 mph
Sea Surface: A little bumpy but mostly glassy with some light wind chatter
10-2 Angulo SUP with Infinity Ottertail paddle
Fin set-up: Thruster with K2D2 4.75" center fin (second mark up from back) and Future FJC1
Bathymetry: Reefs
Deep Water Swell and Wave Face Heights CDIP Archive
Buoy: NWS (Nearshore)
1030: 3.9 feet @ 11.8 WNW
1100: 4.9 feet @ 12.5 WNW
1130: 3.9 feet @ 12.5 WNW
1200: 3.9 feet @ 12.5 WNW