The Jetty Gets Angry

Surf: Shoulder High to Well Overhead waves. Jumbled up, short period surf. Angry.

I’ll admit it, I’m a little out of shape. 20 days between surf session is killer for surfing fitness. I’ve tried to do at least 20 pushups a day (made it to 40! yay!) but there’s no substitute for water time. That said, the Jetty was seriously unruly today. Waves were double and tripple stacked with little time in between sets to paddle out. With most sets being well over head high it was not the day to be on a longboard at the Jetty.

About the third or fourth time I was pushed back I thought to myself “Am I really about to get denied at the JETTY?”
I fought for a while, but I love my board and that pounding break was not looking exciting. I didn’t want to snap my board or fight that hard so I rode some white water like a kook, called it a day. Sigh.

After some pizza, a little surf shop browsing, I headed home. My friend Frankie had a new loaner board waiting for me. Yay! Nothing rounds off a seriously punishing session like having a new board to wax. It’s a 7’4, with a pretty mellow rocker. I’m hoping it will help me get used to riding a shorter board since it does not require the steeper waves my 6’8 requires. It is still plenty thick so I will most likely not be duck diving any time soon, but hopefully will help me get the feel of less float and more turning ability.

More Snow!

Laura and I in Tahoe

Surf: Still stormy and angry. But it’s 50 and sunny in Tahoe! Go Snow!

While everyone else was watching Mavericks, I was off skiing. The weather was pretty beautiful. I spent the weekend trying to work on my technique and get my comfort level for speed back up. I figure if I can get more comfortable going fast on skis, maybe facing a head high drop on a short board won’t be so intimidating. Having learned to ski when I was a little kid, it’s coming back pretty easy. I wish I had those skills to apply to surfing. Too bad I didn’t get the chance to learn when I was a little grom. 🙂

Mellow Morning at Lindy

Surf: Knee to Waist High. Clean, but inconsistent.

Lovely morning. The moon was setting over the ocean, lighting up the water like a big ole painting. I watched the little waves for a while waiting for Chuck arrive. We paddled out to small waves, great for a longboard but a little trickier for Chuck on the shortboard.

I got a few mellow rides. The best wave of the morning went to Chuck. He’d called me into the wave, but it was the first good sized wave all morning so I called him into it instead. He got a nice little ride out of it.

I love calm mornings.