Fun SUP Waves In Between Storms

Writing now on Sunday the 14th (don't forget to Spring forward) I still clearly remember my last surf on the 4th. It was a quick sortie in between a chain of incoming storms. The morning was clear and beautiful, the wind was still and only a light bump mottled the sea surface.

The usual beach entry was blocked by a paving project which will ultimately make it nicer, but more civilized and accommodating than it needs to be. The increased population has forced this on us all. I remember when the Scimi's entry point was a fifty foot cliff with the surfer worn foot path the nearest means of access, straight down (and then back up) the face. Footholds were worn into the path by constant use, and hand holds were the roots of the old and exposed Cypress trees clinging to the slowly eroding cliff. My friend Dave fell down that path one cold and rainy day when the path had turned into a slip 'n slide for the surf addicted. He broke his back and had to be rescued by the firefighters. But that's another story.

Today's surf was a low key affair with fun 2-3 foot waves that were perfect for the SUP. Patrick and Priscilla parked and off loaded in the same place as I, so we chatted a bit before our paddle out. Priscilla hung out for a while at the Yellow House (almost always my preferred surf spot for this section of reef) before paddling up coast to surf another reef where the waves looked a bit bigger. But the low tide was favoring YH. Patrick surfed all over the reef, picking other little peaks to perform on, so essentially, I surfed by myself in the warm solitude of the sun with a lot of waves to choose from.

I often think about how much fun small and uncrowded days can be. The waves don't even have to be all that good. It's just so soul satisfying.

After a couple hours the tide got too high for YH to work on such a small swell, so I headed back to land. The day was so rare, warm and sunny, a surf check further south was almost mandatory. The bars were working and in the past couple days an older one had built into sort of a Super Bank. Fifteen shortboard rippers out, gettin' air and having fun, maybe a few pros were even in the mix.