I forgot to snap a pic so I snagged one on flickr from photographer chrisrfox
SURF: 4-5 ft. shoulder to head high with occasional 6 ft. and good conditions.
PM REGIONAL OVERVIEW: Mostly-clean, good surf prevails this afternoon as WNW and SW swells ease. Average breaks have knee-waist-chest high+ surf, while top exposures are running in the overhead+ range on the better sets.
Luke talked me in to a sunset session down in Santa Cruz. The weather was warm, waves were looking pretty clean.
I’ve only been down to SC a few times. The hook is pretty different from what I’m used to: kelp forest, reef bottom, more territorial locals, so I was a little skittish getting out. I got in two nice rides. The kelp forest keeps the waves clean and the reef bottom allows a smooth break and a long ride. I was surprised how fast the rides were, the waves definitely had more energy than I’d expected. I’m used to beach breaks where the wave is either fast and breaks fast or slow and breaks slow. Fast and breaks slow was a pleasant surprise.
Best part of the evening was watching the sun go down over the water. Lots of purple and gold waves. The moon was reflecting in the waves and the weather was just fine. Nice night out.
Also check out this pic by shredderbetty for some sunset action.
Reef breaks always terrify me. I get nervous when I can see the rocks/coral zipping by underneath me when I’m riding down the line. And when I eat it (and I do eat it) I always do a belly flop to make sure I don’t sink into the reef.
Yeah, sandy bottoms have a much kinder feel. I wasn’t too hung up on the shallow rocky part as the kelp was a more immediate weird sensation. The THUMP THUMP THUMP zipping down the line on top of it was pretty funny, took the edge off the whole reef thing a little.
Thanks for the credit on the snap–nice site, will link it to friends learning to surf!
You’re welcome!