More Beach Break And A Fin Change

I'd actually meant to do this last session, but forgot until I got down on the sand. Anyway, it's easier to change out the fins on the saw horses at home prior to the session.

One of the reasons I'm surfing the 10-2 "Perfect Wave" (as Ed likes to call it) as a thruster, is the kelp. The shallow draft fins don't catch on the kelp stalks and leaves anywhere near as badly as a longer fin, and in smaller, less punchy waves, the thruster tri-fin set up allows more maneuverability. The board is still fast with the thruster set-up, but when the waves gain in size and/or energy and there's not kelp, the game changes a bit. I like the pivoty feel and the little bit of extra drive I get from a longer center fin. And in bigger surf, like what's coming this weekend, extra maneuverability isn't an issue. I'll probably feel a little more comfortable having the deeper center fin while making longer, drawn out lines on the larger wave faces. Covering territory directly will be on my mind if the waves are refracting in such a way as to hook up from reef to reef. Sounds good to me anyway...

Of course one of the first things I noticed about the fin swap was how much harder it was to quick turn the board. I can't "cheat" as much, and don't have to weight the tail at all with the thrusters in order to get a quick turnaround and paddle for the wave. With the deeper center fin it's time to sink the tail and bring it around. On the up side to that though, is I can take a lot more strokes on one side of the board before having to correct for direction by paddling over on the other side. Life's full of trade-offs.

Today's session at ManRay's was fun, and the size was just about right, two to four feet. There wasn't as much of a channel today as there was on Sunday, but the waves were a wee bit bigger. I punched through most of the breaking whitewater except for a couple occasions, and only got caught inside once. Like John said, the trick is to prone paddle out the back while laying on your paddle when things get consistently energetic in the white wash. I don't know how Keith does it up there in OB except for that he's a man in good shape and I'm a wimp, gasping, sputtering and swearing at my bad fortune to be caught inside.

Buzz paddled out after a while on his 10-10, followed by another guy on another Angulo 10-10, but by then I'd gone in. Never did recognize the other sweeper.

Tomorrow things start to get interesting.
Nov 28, 2008 (F)
In: 0845
Out: 1000
AT= 54F to 56F
WT= 55F
Wx: Variable Cloudy to Overcast with periodic breaks in the cloud cover
Tide: 5.24' Rising to 5.35' Falling
Wind: Light offshore to calm
Sea Surface: Light wind chopped to calm
10-2 Angulo SUP with Infinity Ottertail paddle
Fin set-up: 2+1 with Future 9" Cutaway center fin and Future Quad 340 side bites
Bathymetry: Sand bottom
CDIP: Deep Water Swell
0800: 3.7 feet @ 12 WNW (300 degrees-NPAC) and 1.0 @ 12.0 (165 degrees-SPAC)
0900: 4.2 feet @ 12 NW (310 degrees-NPAC) and 1.1 @ 12.0 (165 degrees-SPAC)
1000: 5.0 feet @ 12 NW (310 degrees-NPAC) and .9 @ 12.0 (165 degrees-SPAC)
1100: 5.5 feet @ 17 WNW (295 degrees-NPAC) and 1.0 @ 12.0 (165 degrees-SPAC)
CDIP: Wave Face Heights
0800: 2-4 feet
0900: 2-4 feet
1000: 2-4 feet
1100: 3-5 feet
Buoy: NWS (Nearshore)
0800: 2.6 feet @ 13.3 WNW
0900: 2.6 feet @ 13.3 WNW
1000: 3.3 feet @ 13.3 WNW
1100: 3.6 feet @ 13.3 NW

More Fun in New Small Wind Swell

Maybe it was the impending rain storm. Perhaps it was the late arriving Surfline updates, or just inattention. But whatever it was, it was good and it gave me an hour and a half of uncrowded conditions in very consistent waist to occasional chest high walled up, fast reeling and peeling zippers.

I paddled out to four people in the line-up. Codi had been out for a while and bailed almost right away. The two longboarders were sitting too far over, got frustrated and paddled in after about a half hour. That left me and fellow Angulo 10-2 stand up surfer Dave C alone with about 30 or 40 waves. We surfed by ourselves for an hour.

Near the end of the session, Gunnar paddled out on his 10-6 Jr. Lifeguard competition paddleboard and proceeded to rip, riding on his knees and even standing up a couple times. A testament to incredible balance. John S. paddled out on his 10-10 Angulo but by then, the tide had dropped way below where it should have been to produce the necessary water depth and anyway, I was done. I was surprised that it was as good as it was for that spot, and that it lasted as long as it did, given the very low tide.

Rest tomorrow and prep for Thanksgiving Day.
Nov 25, 2008 (Tu)
In: 1310
Out: 1445
AT= 59F
WT= 55.8F
Wx: Overcast with periodic light rain
Tide: .62' Falling to -.39' Falling
Wind: Light and variable with some offshore
Sea Surface: Mostly glassy
10-2 Angulo SUP with Infinity Ottertail paddle
Fin set-up: Thruster with K2D2 4.75" center fin and Future FJC1
Bathymetry: Rock reefs
CDIP: Deep Water Swell (Incomplete hourly data)
1100: 6.6 feet @ 12 WNW (280 degrees-NPAC) and 0.0 @ 0.0 (000 degrees-SPAC)
1500: 6.5 feet @ 11 NW (315 degrees-NPAC) and 0.7 @ 9.0 SW (230 degrees-SPAC)
1600: 6.3 feet @ 11 NW (310 degrees-NPAC) and 1.1 @ 14.0 SSW (214 degrees-SPAC)
CDIP: Wave Face Heights (Incomplete hourly data)
1100: 3-6 feet
1500: 2-4 feet
1600: 2-4 feet
Buoy: NWS (Nearshore)
1300: 4.3 feet @ 12.5 WNW
1400: 4.9 feet @ 12.5 WNW
1500: 3.9 feet @ 12.5 WNW
1600: 4.3 feet @ 11.8 WNW

Expanding Horizons

Since this Fall/Winter season has not yet delivered any really powerful ground swells, the surf has been somewhat disappointing. So far, some forecaster type folks have concluded that the year to date has been less than average surf-wise. On a scale of 1-10, I've heard this Winter is forecast to be at 3.5. Fact is, we only had one real south swell this season (and it was a good one) and that could be an indicator from the southern hemi re what the NPAC will produce this Winter. Of course I hope the prognosticators are wrong, but so far they're pretty right on.

While the swells are just not pushing enough energy to wrap into town with any real power and size, the beaches north and south have been macking. It's really the in-between stuff I'm looking at, when the beaches are putting up some decent waist to chest high waves, and town is really pathetically small and crowded.

I put my expansion theory to the test this morning and got a couple hours of very nice, but somewhat mushy, crumbly peaks and walls at ManRay's. I gotta say it was very pretty this morning. Sunny and warm considering the 40 degree night time temps, with a consistent but very light southwest wind. It was a perfect day and set-up for me to get back to the beach breaks, which I used to surf all the time BSUP (Before Stand Up Paddleboard).

The transition from laydown surfboarding to SUPing has brought forth a few changes, not the least insignificant of which is paddling through breaking waves and white water. It's taken me a year to get halfway decent at it, and still, anything waist high and up, is dicey. I can punch through almost anything from knee high down, but above that and my odds get slimmer with the increasing size of the white water.

But today's peaks were generally soft, with quick, short walls that flattened out right into a channel. For the first hour I felt like I was at a reef break. Take-off, turn, charge the wall, cutback on the shoulder, kick out into the channel. Simple. After a while though, I got caught inside a couple times and that was much more anaerobic than aerobic, another change from the casual paddle back out to the peak at the reef or point break.

All in all I think this is going to work out well. I'll be spending more time surfing when town is weak, and getting a better workout too. Along with that, my skills should improve in areas that need more work (which is really ALL of them). Pics will be a bit harder to come by as there isn't as often a safe place to take them from my board. I'll have to figure that out as I go.
Nov 23, 2008 (Su)
In: 0945
Out: 1130
AT= 60F to 59F
WT= 54F
Wx: Sunny and clear with some light haze
Tide: 3.6' Falling to 1.7' (approx.)
Wind: Light southwesterlies
Sea Surface: Light wind chopped
10-2 Angulo SUP with Infinity Ottertail paddle
Fin set-up: Thruster with K2D2 4.75" center fin and Future FJC1
Bathymetry: Sand bottom

CDIP: Deep Water Swell (NOTE: CDIP is OOS)
CDIP: Wave Face Heights (NOTE: CDIP is OOS)

Buoy: NWS (Nearshore)
0900: 3.6 feet @ 11 WNW
1000: 3.0 feet @ 11.8 WNW
1100: 3.6 feet @ 11 WNW
1200: 2.6 feet @ 11.1 WNW

WNW - Waist to Chest

Picture perfect Fall weather and conditions, and a sweet little WNW wind swell too. Who could ask for more?

What a day! Paddled out into a line-up of three guys: me, Andy and a longboarder on a tight schedule. The tide was a wee bit high but dropping. Sets were a touch inconsistent but not bad. I knew it was going to get better and it did. John paddled out on his 10-10 Angulo SUP and the four of us surfed for the next hour in plenty of waves for everyone to get good rides. As the tide dropped, the waves gained in size and speed across the reef. With a lot of west in the swell, second bowl was working on select waves, making for a nice racy finish to the inside. The best waves put up clean but somewhat full walls into the nudie beach.

At 10 o'clock it went from four out, to 14 in about fifteen minutes. The pre-weekend warriors finally woke up, looked at their computers, said "Holy shizizit," and beat feet for the beach. They weren't disappointed. The surfing was fun and the weather was warm (almost hot in a good wetsuit) all day, even as the swell began it's descent around 2PM. Waves from this swell will hang in there for the next few days, albeit a lot smaller. Everybody went surfing and I saw a bunch of guys I hadn't seen in a while. Jamie, long back from Ireland; John Mel, back from the Islands after a well deserved vacation with his family (yep, his son is Peter); Calvin (aren't' you retired yet!?) my long time firefighting brother; Big John out on his 11'6" longboard (and they say my SUP is big at 10-2); Tim on his longboard (I'll get that pic to you) and Dave C. and his young son, who both picked up a couple bombs at Casa's.

Got some decent pics of the Angulo Boyz. Sam, Andy and John all out on their 2009 models. Rumor has it that a couple more board sizes and shapes are going to be added to the Angulo line for 2010. More on that when I learn more myself, but...can I pre-order the 9-8 now please! (And I haven't even mentioned the 10' Angulo Noserider available in custom epoxy and production in 2010.)
Nov 21, 2008 (F)
In: 0845
Out: 1130
AT= 55F to 58F
WT= 55F
Wx: Sunny
Tide: 3.4' Falling to 1.5'
Wind: Calm to light variable winds
Sea Surface: Glassy, with some roll
10-2 Angulo SUP with Infinity Ottertail paddle
Fin set-up: Thruster with K2D2 4.75" center fin and Future FJC1
Bathymetry: Rock reefs
CDIP: Deep Water Swell (NOTE: CDIP went out of service after 0600 hours)
0400: 11.8 feet @ 12 W (275 degrees-NPAC) and 0.0 @ 0.0 (000 degrees-SPAC)
0500: 12.1 feet @ 14 WNW (295 degrees-NPAC) and 0.0 @ 0.0 (000 degrees-SPAC)
0600: 11.2 feet @ 14 W (275 degrees-NPAC) and 0.0 @ 0.0 (000 degrees-SPAC)
CDIP: Wave Face Heights
0400: 4-8 feet
0500: 4-8 feet
0600: 4-8 feet