3 to 6 Ft. Evening Session in New Dateline Swell

Made a mad dash for home after teaching all day to get my stuff, and headed for the reefs. I was paddling out at 1658, heading through Sarges, and enroute to Casa Roja's, the next upcoast reef in the group. On the way out got a nice 12 shot sequence of Fig. Sweet little wave.

The swell jumped up last night, and by morning a decent shot of dateline west swell was pouring into the bay, putting up some good numbers and 4-7 foot faces at 14 second periods. I was surprised by how much sand had been moved out of the small cove, revealing the bare rock bottom of the small beach which is usually covered by enough sand for kids to build sand castles and play in all day long. Tide was high in the morning so the waves were swollen and lumpy, but as soon as the tide dropped, they shaped up. The tide was one foot and rising, which was good timing, as the kelp is still thick and rapacious.

My first wave was one of the best. I picked up a sweet head high peak well off the main take-off at Sarge's for a fast and sectiony ride which I almost made. After that one, I shook off the wipeout and headed back to Casa's where I surfed 3 to 6 foot faces with an occasional o-head set until about 40 minutes before dark. Waves were very consistent except for one short lull, and although the swell had more energy than yesterday, the rising tide started to filter some of the juice out of the sets. Still, a number of very good rides were to be had in the glassy and improving conditions.

About ten 'til six I looked at Sarge's and saw that just about everyone had bailed out. So I caught a nice wave to just outside the main takeoff, which closed out as I arrived. Another fast moving comber was looming so I paddled hard down peak and caught that one which took me into the nudie beach. The offshores came up right on cue and the rest of the session was defined by wave after wave of fast, clean, wind blown lines. Only four of us out by then, Tory and Eric and another longboarder. We shared waves, screaming and hooting each other on until it was so dark we couldn't see if the peaks were about to feather, or just roll past us. I got one last screamer in the dark that squirted me out of two sections before dying out on the inside.

This Friday session was such a blessing. A whole 'nuther series of storms is coming with bad ju-ju high southerly winds forecast for Sunday. It's safe to say I'll be land locked for a while, but with some good memories to keep me stoked.
Feb 20, 2009 (F)

In: 1658
Out: 1837
AT= 56F to 53F
WT= 54F
Wx: High hazy cloud cover with filtered sun
Tide: 1.3' Rising to 2.6'
Wind: Light west-southwesterlies to calm to brisk offshores
Sea Surface: Mostly glassy with some higher tide light backwash bump late in the session

10-2 Angulo SUP with Infinity Ottertail carbon fiber paddle
Fin set-up: Thruster with K2D2 4.75" center fin (fourth mark up from back) and Future Fiberglass YU (actual fin not shown)
Bathymetry: Rock reefs
Deep Water Swell and Wave Face Heights CDIP Archive
Buoy: NWS (Nearshore)
1600: not available (3-6 ft. occasional 7 ft. face)
1630: not available
1700: 5.2 feet @ 13.3 W (3-6 ft. occasional 7 ft. face)
1730: 5.2 feet @ 13.3 W
1800: 5.6 feet @ 13.3 W (3-6 ft.)
1830: 5.2 feet @ 13.3 W