Month: December 2010

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Thank You, 2010

Surf: Fun, cold, somewhat inconsistent. Waist High to Head+. Crowded. NNW 330º 6.9 Feet at 11.4 Seconds

Plenty of long rides and big drops today.

What a year. I’ve enjoyed some very bright moments (having work again, getting into a more consistent dawn patrol habit, that nice working left we’ve had all winter) and I’ve had some tough times.

I started this little surf site to share my experiences learning how to surf with my family back home, mainly my grandmother. When she passed away in June, I was very tempted to let the site go. I missed her terribly and somehow taking quick pictures of the surf felt a little empty.

Looking back on all my pictures, it’s nice to have the memories. I remember calling my grandmother and telling her about this surf day or that one. I like having the record too, even if it is silly.

I’m looking forward to a few things on 2011. I try not to be too specific, I like to enjoy the good things as they come and not get too hung up on expectations.

Here’s to all the good things, good people, and good waves of 2010. Remember them all fondly and forever. Here’s wishing many good things for 2011.

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Playa Tamarindo

Zipping along

Surf: Knee-Chest High. Light offshores. Crowded.

I’d promised my mom I’d only bug her to go down and watch me surf once on this trip. But…it’s kinda hard to stick to surfing JUST once in warm water and Wes was pretty stoked to get back out there.

We tried the next beach south, selling my mom on the idea with the promise of beachfront restaurants and shady places to site. Thankfully the van this time took the paved road. It was a beautiful drive. We could see lots of countryside all without jostling about.

Tamarindo was crowded (especially compared to the mellow Playa Grande), but had beach chairs and umbrellas for mom. She had a great lunch and a tasty milkshake while Wes and I threw ourselves at larger, more crowded waves.

Many rides were cut short by instructors pushing surf school peeps right into my line. Good practice on my cutbacks, but less than ideal. The waves I was able to pick out all to myself were plenty fun.

The board I’d rented was only waxed about halfway up so walking up the nose was an amusing challenge. There was just enough wax residue to delicately walk around with bare feet, but nothing fancy. I got a few nice long rides into the channel crossing my fingers I didn’t slip.

On a left

Wes and I at Playa Tamarindo

Pretty stoked. Mom was extra stoked to have been able to watch us from the shade this time. 😀

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Playa Grande

Knee-Waist High

Surf: Knee-Waist High. Light offshore winds. Warm! Sunny!

Yaaaay! Family vacation to Costa Rica! 😀

We haven’t taken a family trip since 2005. This year for Christmas we spent the Holiday in Costa Rica. I’ve been looking for a good excuse to get my family involved in my surf life so I arrange for some classes in Playa Grande from Point Break Surf. They set us up with surfboards (softies for Dad and Wes and a proper board for me) and made arrangements for a van to pick us up.

The road out to Playa Grande was rough. Three water crossings, steep gravel hills. We got to see a lot of nature, but wow…we were pretty relieved to be out of the van and on the HUGE beach.

At low tide the beach is massive.

Playa Grande at Low Tide

Grande indeed.

While waiting for the tide to come in, we body surfed for a while in the warm water. Got a few fun rides and a few beatings. One of those beatings took my wallet which, for no logical reason, was in my board shorts. Oh well!

Once the tides were right and the instructor had pulled up with with the boards, we hit the surf. Lots of great little waves for Wes and Dad to learn on. Dad got lots of long rides on his knees and a few stand up rides. Everyone cheered for him. Wes got some nice ones in too and is getting better at turning. The instructors were great, they kept everyone motivated, safe, and happy.

Mom braved the hot sun to take pictures of us.

Dad

Wes on a wave

I had fun picking off little corners. I got a few tips from the instructor and helped push some little groms into waves.

Me on a wave

It was a lot of fun watching the little fish scatter as I swooped in on my bottom turn. Wheeee.
All around great day.

Dad, Wes, and Me

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Short

Surf: Inconsistent 2-4ft+ waves. Lots of closeouts. 306º Northwest 7.5 ft @ 11.4 sec

Decent swell coming in, offshore winds, icy cold spray…seemed like it should have been a pretty good day. Other spots were breaking nicely, but Linda Mar just wasn’t taking it well. Got a few waves, some fun drops, but not real long rides and plenty of sloshing around. Nice to have the sun out for a change.

Had to cut things short to take at work call. Yay for mobile phones and headsets. Sat on the beach for over an hour watching things clean up a little. Saw a few people get some nice little rides and a few people get demolished.

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Friendly Shelter

Surf: Plenty unruly for most of the beach. Mellow and crumbly waist-chest high for the other part of the beach. 294º WNW 8.9 ft @ 12.1 sec

I never know what board to bring when it’s on the bigger side at Linda Mar. It could be big, clean, and racy. If it is, I’d rather have my 9. Not as much foam makes it easier to handle on the inside, but it’s still a big board to get into the waves farther out where they are softer.

If it’s unruly for most of the beach, but soft and mellow down south, my big glidey 9’4 is lots of fun. Plenty of foam to get into waves and swoosh around. Yay.

I brought my 9’4 and swooshed around in some crumbly surf. Got a few fun ones in with friendly folks tucked just out of the way of the unruliness.

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Slow Tuesday

Surf: Small, very mellow, clean. 289º WNW 4.9 Feet @ 9.1 Seconds

Brr. I wind up staying out WAY longer on slow small days. I don’t realize how much time passes while I’m bobbing about looking for waves.

I got a few, wanted a few more, and surfed till I was too cold and tired to move. Lots of other longboarders out there goofing off in the little waves. Fancy footwork, noserides, friendly chatter.

I went home and buried myself under blankets till I thawed out.

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Mid shift

Surf: Waist-Chest High. Somewhat closed out. 279º WNW 5.6 ft at 10 sec

YAWN. Slept through my alarm and missed the morning shift. I only have a few days to surf before heading back home for the holidays and the big family vacation so I went out anyway.

The usual left was plenty crowded and not doing much. I headed north to another left with a handful of shortboarders. I was happy to have the big board to get into these mushy waves, but they closed out pretty quick and the slog back out with that much foam was exhausting.

I got a few fun rides out of it though. One right I took was a big drop. I got a little bit of face and a top turn before bailing as it closed out. I paddled back to some wide eyes and compliments on what was evidently a huge swooping bottom turn. “Dang, I wish I’d had a camera!” one guy said. 😀

Big current. Whole ocean was pulling out and south. Wore myself out pretty good keeping in place and catching waves.

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Walking around

Surf: Knee-Waist high. Fairly clean, some lulls.

Snuck out for some mid-day waves. Pretty small and mellow. Spent the session goofing off on the board, practicing some walking up and standing tall. Got a few long little ones. Stayed out a bit too long and didn’t have time to grab a pic before I had to race back to the city. Ahh well.

Seems it’s time for a haircut. Got my hair wrapped around my arm on a wipeout. Ouch.

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Wednesday II: The Fridayening

Surf: 3-4ft. Not as clean, but still working well. 6.2 ft @ 13.8 sec – 316º Northwest

Friday! Much like Wednesday, but not as clean and a little unruly on the inside. And by unruly I mean “it’s totally that wave’s fault for being so fun on the inside, letting me hurl myself into the shorebreak.”

I had more than one kickout rejected by the the steeper inside. Toss! Ouch, ouch.

Got plenty of fun, loooong rides with some room to walk around. I’m a sequel fangirl now.

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Wednesday

Surf: Waist-Shoulder high, clean. 3.9 ft @ 10s, 300º WNW

I like days that I assume will be average days and turn out to be really fun. Days like Wednesdays.

Pretty crowded out there, but there were lots of nice long waves. I had plenty of time to walk around my board a bit and practice some super mellow little cutbacks.