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January 9, 2012 Photo: J. Chandler

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

New Short Duration Wind Swell

Wednesday December 15, 2010

Surf heights and periods bumped up last night pulsing in at 8-9 ft. @ 12-13 seconds WNW. Yesterday's all day drizzle dried up but was reluctant to yield completely to anything like dry weather while acting as regent for the rains that are coming. I figured it might be one of those days when town was too small to feel the swell and the beaches would feel it too much and it would be too big for me on the SIMSUP. But when I arrived I saw one good set that looked ridable at Monday's spot. It's easy to get suckered at the beaches. You see one good set and lick your lips, but the fact is, it often turns out to be a turd sandwich in disguise.

The channel was closing out, but only on the biggest sets which were well overhead but time-able and not a lot to worry about. (Getting caught inside at the beaches on a SUP is a battle against the elements I don't usually win until the elements relent and let me pass.) You know you're going to take a few on the head, but it won't be a constant drubbing of endless pounders from which there is no escape. I made it out easily enough and started to search out the line-up. I keyed off Monday's take-off which turned out to be way off the mark for today. After a half hour of dodging set waves, getting smacked a couple times, and missing a plethora of fat rollers in the higher tide, I thought I was gonna have to scratch today off as a good try but no payoff. Then as beachbreaks do, it changed for no apparently good reason.

As series of waves lined up down coast of Monday's takeoff spot, offering a backdoor peak that put up a good drop and a long wall into a bumpy but manageable channel. Since the swell was bigger, most waves were in the overhead range and breaking harder than on Monday. I got four or five good waves in quick succession over the next half hour before it all changed again. The peak I was riding just stopped being a peak, and changed into an unridably long closing out wall. End of session.

But by then I was happy with the effort and satisfied with the waves ridden. NorCal's gonna turn into a stormy mess on Friday and then into the foreseeable future so we've got to take what we can get and be happy about it. I'm happy.

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