Windy Wind Swell and A Bit of South

I was fully confidant that the south swell forecast for SoCal and parts of NorCal would vaguely reach our shores. Well, I was sure wrong about that. I was thinking that it was going to go flat pretty quick, and that if I wanted anything at all I'd better get to the beach and grab a few.

So without even looking at it, I suited up, grabbed my GB2 (sans leash) and headed for the access point. Halfway down the stairs a head high set of five or six waves came booming through and I did a quick 180 back to the Vdub for my tether. Since it was a higher tide a lost board would probably mean a day down for repairs. No thanks.

The last of the strong northerly winds were still in effect and it was blowing pretty good for the whole session. It became harder to pull free from the kelp as the tide dropped, but not impossible. In these mega-kelpy times it feels like the tentacles just climb over the top of the board and grab at your ankles on some rides.

I surfed all the bowls from top to bottom, eschewing Gdubs, mostly because of the crowd that was there, and the fact that it was nothing but closeouts, especially as the tide dropped. But the majority of the waves (as per most southies with a lot of south in 'em) were close outs, and no one was connecting the dots/bowls. The average ride was drop in, turn off the bottom, turn off the top, turn off the bottom and fly out the top.

Still, a pleasant surprise that there was any ground swell at all, much better than flatness.

NOTE: Water temps this year are significantly colder than last year at this time. Last year we were in the upper 50's, this year it's mid-50's, a 3-5 degree difference. The water temp 800 miles to the northwest? At 46006 it's in the mid-60's! So that means that if I jumped in the open ocean, 600 miles west of Eureka I could be in my 3/2 or a Spring suit even. But here in NorCal I'm in full rubber...5/4/3 with hood and booties. Go figure.

Note 2: My Canon Rebel SLR is in for cleaning. All shots taken on Oct 5 and Oct 6 are with the Olympus Stylus Tough 6000. Also, I stopped using the "High speed" sequential setting in favor of the more moderate setting on the Oly. On "Hi" the photos when zoomed in are always soft...not good. While never super sharp and clear, the moderate sequential setting seems to deliver better results overall.

October 5, 2009 (M)

In: 1440
Out: 1630
AT= 58F
WT= 55F
Wx: Sunny, crisp, clear and windy
Tide: 2.64' Falling to 0.7'
Wind: Moderate to strong northerly with stronger gusts
Sea Surface: Wind rippled

5-11 Freeline Ghost Buster 2 Mini-Simmons
Bathymetry: Reefs
Deep Water Swell and Wave Face Heights CDIP Archive
Buoy: NWS (Farshore #1-Nearshore-Farshore #2)
Time-NDBC Data-CDIP Data (Primary Swell Dir.)(Local Wave Ht. Avg.)
1300: no data - no data (2.5 ft. @ 14 secs 195) (2-4 ft. faces)
1400: no data - no data (2.1 ft. @ 14 secs 195) (2-4 ft. faces)
1500:no data - no data (2.2 ft. @ 14 secs 200) (2-4 ft. faces)
1600: no data - no data (2.2 ft. @ 14 secs 190) (2-4 ft. faces)