Wind Swell Continues in Pristine Condtions

I made a true dawn patrol this morning, entering the water at 0520. To my surprise I was joined almost immediately by Marsha on her custom 9'6" Angulo SUP who out-paddled me to the line-up at GDubs. (She can surf that thing too!) We surfed there for an hour alone until she had to go to work. Then I surfed it for another half hour until Bill came out on his shortboard. Finally, after two hours I was ready to paddle back to the take out.

I caught a nice long wall to the inside which put me closer to Sarge's. But on the way, a big for this morning set came through and I stayed out. A few minutes later MikieB and Mash came out on their stand-ups and we surfed another hour at Sarge's. All together I was in the water, paddling and surfing for almost four hours.

Conditions were perfect. If there was any wind it blew lightly from offshore. The sea surface was glass with hardly any bump. Air temps were mellow even though the ocean is still cold. The only downside this morning was the immense amount of drift smoke from the Martin Fire. You could see it as a thin haze in the distance, and a light smell of burning forest was in the air.

The waves were a little smaller than yesterday and a bit more inconsistent, but not by a whole lot. Again Scimi's was cranking. Greg was out on his 10'10" Surftech just catching wave after wave after wave. GDubs was smaller and less consistent but still fun with a nice fast wall periodically. Mash, me and MikieB got our fair share at Sarge's too for a near perfect morning SUP surf.

The forecast south swell never made it into the area. These fun little waves the last few days have all been wind swell.
June 12, 2008 (Th)
In: 0520
Out: 0900
AT= 46 to 69 degrees
WT= 50-51 degrees at the nearshore buoy
Wx: Sunny with hazy skies from the drift smoke
Tide: 2.73 Rising to 3.14 at 7:10AM, Falling to 2.73 at 0900
Wind: Calm to 1-2 mph offshore
Sea Surface: Glassy
Buoy: NWS
0500: 6.9 feet @ 10 NW
0600: 7.9 feet @ 10.8 NW
0700: 8.5 feet @ 11.4 NW
0900: 7.5 feet @ 10.8 NW
10'4" Angulo SUP with Infinity paddle
Fin set-up: Thruster with Bluecoil 5.5" center fin and FCS Occy sides
Bathymetry: Rock reefs
CDIP: 5.9 feet at 9 seconds from 330 degrees and 1.5 feet at 14 seconds from 185 degrees

NorCal Burning!

The cautionary alerts regarding Fire Weather issued by the National Weather Service have proved to be prophetic. This afternoon at approximately three o'clock the second big fire in the Santa Cruz mountains this fire season roared to life, consuming over 50 acres in the 15 minutes it took for the first Cal Fire units to arrive on scene and give their initial report of conditions. The fire, dubbed the Martin Fire, joins it's consuming cousin the Indian Fire which is burning freely in the Ventana Wilderness in Monterey County. (The sat pic shows the plumes of both fires. The Indian Fire is to the south of the Martin Fire.)

The Indian Fire will burn until it goes out, or burns out of the wilderness. As wilderness, no mechanized equipment is permitted in the fire area. There is little to no human presence in the wilderness. The Martin Fire is bad news. This is burning in a heavily populated area known as Bonny Doon. Over 1,400 people have been evacuated at this writing. There are numerous homes and businesses like wineries in the area. I'm afraid this one won't go down easy.

Fun Wind Swell Waves; Superb Weather

With the great weather, small wind swell waves, and corporate reports of an incoming (but non-existent) south swell, the line-up (even at dawn patrol) was experiencing summer conditions, i.e. it was crowded compared to what it's been all Spring.

I finally made the dawn patrol and hit the water at 0550 hours, still late 'cause I could have been padding 20 minutes earlier. The moderate wind swell wasn't strong enough to overcome the 3.3 foot high tide and Sarge's was flat. Everything north of there was working OK, getting bigger and more consistent the further towards the point I looked. Scimi's had some sweet sets and was pretty consistent given the lightweight nature of the wind swell.

I started inside at GDubs and picked up a few there and even an occasional set wave wide of the folks sitting on the main peak. Greg paddled out after a while and we discussed the merits of him coming over to the dark side. He'll be picking up his new Angulo Nui SUP soon.

Around 0700 hours GDubs began to fill up with long and shortboarders. Because the waves were (like yesterday) still pretty sectiony I decided to paddle back to Sarge's and see if the lowering tide had made things better. I picked up a nice set wave just as I arrived on scene and surfed for about a half hour by myself, picking up some nice peelers before Andy paddled out. We surfed another half hour before being joined by Andy (a different Andy, this one of Olade fame, try it, you'll like it!) and Greg. Then it was just the four of us in fun but somewhat inconsistent waves in pristine conditions until I paddled in to the beach.

Winds are progged to stay strong through the night and into tomorrow, so I'll dawn patrol again in the morning and hope for some good exercise in some fun waves.
June 11, 2008 (W)
In: 0550
Out: 0830
AT= 51 to 64 degrees
WT= 51 degrees at the nearshore buoy
Wx: Sunny with clear blue skies
Tide: 3.42 Falling to 2.4
Wind: ESE Calm to gusts of 6 mph
Sea Surface: Glassy to light wind rippling
Buoy: NWS
0400: 9.5 feet @ 10.8 NW
0500: 8.9 feet @ 10.8 NW
0700: 8.2 feet @ 11.4 NW
1000: 9.2 feet @ 10.8 NW
10'4" Angulo SUP with Infinity paddle
Fin set-up: Thruster with Bluecoil 5.5" center fin and FCS Occy sides
Bathymetry: Rock reefs
CDIP: 8.8 feet at 8 seconds from 325 degrees and 1.2 feet at 17 seconds from 170 degrees

SUPsplosion II

Late Post for Monday June 9, 2008
The south swell that's currently feeding the surf lust of the SoCalians is trying hard to make it into our little corner of the surfing world, but unlike the little train that could...it can't. Not yet anyway. But the weather is mega-killer with temps in the high 80's/low 90's so I decided to take a paddle and trunk-it all the way.

So just before I left I got a call from Garrett who's doing a story on SUP surfing for the Metro Santa Cruz, a local hometown weekly, wanting to know if I could hook up with him for an interview for the paper, and SUP lesson. (Garrett's buddy Hunter works at Freeline Surf Shop and referred him to me. The shop loaned him a SUP.) Garrett said he was on a short deadline, suggested today and that worked for me. Stand up paddleboarding...everyone wants to know about it.

Garrett and Pete met me at Sarge's for an interview, a SUP lesson and a little paddle/surfing in that order. Garrett did good (like all young surfers do) and took to stand up like a duck to water. I managed to stay dry in the small, high tide swamped waves over at GDubs and Pete said he got some pics. Everybody happy, everybody wins!

Surf was inconsistent and soft but a few sets surprised me with some speedy short walls inside. Wind was persistent out of the southeast and the body as sail was in effect. Hard to tell if the small south was showing, or just wind swell. There wasn't much, but there was something and good exercise to boot. Promised M I'd be home for dinner at 1800 and I almost was.
June 9, 2008 (M)
In: 1630
Out: 1730
AT= 84 to 70 degrees
WT= 52 degrees at the nearshore buoy
Wx: Sunny with clear blue skies
Tide: Peaked at 4.5 feet
Wind: ESE at 3-7 mph
Sea Surface: Light to moderate wind rippling
Buoy: NWS
1600: 4.9 feet @ 8.3 NW
1700: 5.2 feet @ 9.1 NW
1800: 3.9 feet @ 9.1 NW
10'4" Angulo SUP with Infinity paddle
Fin set-up: Thruster with Bluecoil 5.5" center fin and FCS Occy sides
Bathymetry: Rock reefs
CDIP: 2.6 feet at 8 seconds from 300 degrees and 2.1 feet at 17 seconds from 205 degrees

Post for Tuesday June 10, 2008
I arrived a little after 0700 to meet up with the boyz for a Tuesday AM group paddle. I was greeted by a pick-up unloading three or four SUPs and my bro's already out in the water. By the time I got down to the launch there were 11 stand up paddlers in the water. (SUPsplosion!)

Although the wind is up out of the NW with a tight gradient from Arcata to SF, it wasn't clearing out the fog which was teasing the coast until it finally gave up about 0930. Surf was running about thigh to chest high on the biggest sets. I paddled over from Sarge's to GDubs right out of the gate and rode off peak for a couple hours. Sam was over there, and the main peak was populated with pronies. That group of mostly shortboarders thinned after about 45 minutes, but it was still fairly crowded for the quality of surf and conditions, which weren't great with a steady SW wind driving the diaphanous fog and putting light mottling on the sea surface.

If there was south in the swell, or just wind swell, the waves weren't lining up right and were very sectiony. Even at a higher tide (it was dropping) the kelp was bothersome. On my best wave of the morning I got thrown off riding through a patch of kelp. I paddled over to Sarge's to go in and took a couple really sectioned waves there and then one into the beach.

(Comparing the well data from yesterday, this morning and yesterday, it looks like the wind swell is picking up a bit. Not surprising since the NWS has issued a wind advisory for the North Bay counties. With pressure gradients tightening even more, the wind is forecast to come around and blow offshore, therefore a fire weather watch is in effect. For fighting fires this is bad, for surfing...not that bad. At any rate, the northerly winds probably won't blow directly offshore here, they'll blow down coast and hopefully enhance our chances for some good waves in the short term.)

Just about everyone out this morning are guys I know. Mo, Jeff, Mash and his friend, John were also enjoying the morning. It must have been the perfect SUP storm (SUPsplosion). Andy from Coeur D'Alene Idaho was out with his longtime friend (since kindergarten) also named Andy. Idaho Andy SUPs the lakes up there. Who knows if the sport is going to continue to blow up like this all summer and then taper off for the winter, or just keep exploding?
June 10, 2008 (Tu)
In: 0730
Out: 0930
AT= 53.6 to 65.2 degrees
WT= 52 degrees at the nearshore buoy
Wx: Light fog to clearing
Tide: 2.4 Falling to 0.85
Wind: SW at 1-4 mph
Sea Surface: Calm in the kelp to light wind rippling
Buoy: NWS
0800: 4.9 feet @ 9.1 NW
0900: 6.6 feet @ 9.1 NW
1000: 6.6 feet @ 9.1 NW
10'4" Angulo SUP with Infinity paddle
Fin set-up: Thruster with Bluecoil 5.5" center fin and FCS Occy sides
Bathymetry: Rock reefs
CDIP: 6.1 feet at 10 seconds from 320 degrees and 1.6 feet at 17 seconds from 185 degrees