Month: January 2015

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Waikiki Tuesday

2015-HIWKQC-01-27

Surf: 2.3 ft at 11.8 s from the W at 275°

I snuck out for a little more surf. Since I’m walking down there and it’s too far for a surf check first, I wasn’t entirely sure what was in store. I figured it was totally flat, I’d at least get a nice paddle around the bay and check out the spots.

Thankfully there were some fun little thigh high cruisers out there. I started at Canoes because it was a bit more frequent and shaped oh so nice for working on my steps. After a few waves, I paddled back to Queens for less crowded waves and a bit more oomfh. Sadly I didn’t have time to try a few of the other spots. I had to take a conference call. I listened in the park for a bit, then hung out by the pool to listen a little longer. Pretended to noseride on the edge of the pool.

2015-HIWKQC01-27b

Massages, malasadas, and lunch after.

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Waikiki Sunday

2015-HIWKQ-01-25

Surf: 7.9 ft at 14.3 s from the NW at 313°

Yay! Hawaii! I’m out here for a friends birthday and, while she isn’t a big ocean fan, I’m still trying to sneak in a bit of surf. Today I caught some waves while waiting for her flight to get in.

Many thanks to Blam, for lending me both his house and his surfboard.

There were some smooth, mellow, small waves thanks to big swell wrapping around from the NW. I got plenty of cruising time in and even a little cross stepping.

After surf (and after wolfing down a plate lunch,) I swam a few laps at Kaimana. I didn’t get out too far, there were lots of surfers and outriggers out, but I did get to see a sea turtle and so many many fish. What a nice little morning!

Wound up late to pick up my friend, but snuck in a little bit of time to pick up a lei.

Screen Shot 2015-01-26 at 6.32.51 PM

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Closeouts

2015-LM-01-23

Surf: 6.2 ft at 21.1 s WNW at 290°

While still on the smallish side, this long period energy was doing my favorite corners no favors. Maybe it was the wrong angle? Maybe there isn’t enough sediment to make for a decent bar or fill in around the rocks? Not sure, but the little spot I was hoping would shine in these conditions wasn’t really working. But hey, I’ve surfed worse. Had plenty of fun throwing myself into closeouts and trying to hang on till the last possible moment. Not so bad.

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Mellow

2015-LM-01-22

Surf: 3.6 ft at 11.4 s from the WNW at 289°

All the forecasts suggested big waves on the way, but the morning stayed pretty mellow. When I first rolled up, the whole ocean was practically flat. I was not expecting that.

Thankfully the early morning window was pretty clean and there were some fun ones mixed in with the waiting. I worked on sticking the rail right in, all the way up to the last bit of wave. It was pretty fun, nice and chill.

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Friday

2015-LM-01-16

Surf: 4.9 ft at 12.9 s from the WNW at 297°

Sure feels good to get a 4 session run in. Yew. Sure, it’s small waves and yeah it’s been a little crowded, but just being able to get up 4 days in a row and surf without doing my shoulders in has been a real treat. Lots of good cruising, lots of swooping and swooshing. Pretty stoked on my little week.

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Thursday

2015-LM-01-15

Surf: 5.6 ft at 14.8 s from the WNW at 284°

Wheee, another fun, cruisey morning. Still small, but nice seeing friendly folks and less crowd. Swooping and swooshing along. Watched Chris paddle the beach and back, too. I’m not up for that just yet, but it was fun watching him blast around. The guy can paddle, that’s for sure!

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Tuesday

2015-LM-01-13

Surf: 4.3 ft at 12.1 s from the WSW at 253°

The surf was pretty small and lumpy this morning, but man, this board can really make the most of it. I worked on some cutbacks and hunted down quite a few small mushy ones. Hoping to take another class with Ashley some time to really learn how to use this board.

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Friday

2015-LM-01-09a

2015-LM-01-09b

Surf: 5.6 ft at 16.0 s from the WNW 286°. Low tide.

I spent the better part of last week sick in bed so when Friday rolled around I was pretty excited to get out of the house and get into the water. Really excited. Like, sit in the dark and wait for enough light to see if the surf is even rideable excited. 😀

It looked right up my alley: small, mellow, and peeling(-ish, I mean, it’s still Pacifica.)

Yup, fun. Lots of cruising, turning, working on some moves. Lots of wishing everyone a happy new year. Lots of catching up with folks I haven’t seen in ages.

And yes, I stretched before and after, just like I’d resolved to.

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Unresolved

2015-OBP-01-05

Surf: 3.9 ft at 16.0 s from the WNW at 289°.

I might have gotten a little over ambitious with the new years resolutions. Yes, I want to get back into the swing of things, but taking out my fish (which I’ve barely ridden since getting hurt) in conditions I knew would be bigger (not huge, but still not the gentle softies of NYD) may have been unwise. Oh, and I’ve got a mean barking cough, too.

The first tip off probably should have been taking my board out of the bag to find the glassing around the fin cracked. Damn. I taped it up.

Second tip off probably should have been the shooting pain on a duckdive halfway out to the lineup. I turned around, I bellied in and tried to stretch it out.

I paddled back out, made it this time (with surprisingly little pain when diving), but was just not feeling it. I wasn’t trusting my board (mostly because I didn’t want to damage it further,) not trusting my body (both ability to dive or keep a good breath,) and really, I just wasn’t up for this.

I still wanted to try so I went for one. I blew the take off and got wrecked. I started coughing. Oh man. It was embarrassing and actually pretty scary. I could see the next wave in the set right there but could not stop coughing long enough to get a good breath. Fuck. I was panicking. I went under, did the best I could, came up and tried to calm down and stop coughing before the next wave.

If there’s anything I’m proud of in this disaster, it’s that I did regain my composure and I used that next wave to belly in.

It was frustrating and embarrassing, but a good reminder that: while it’s great I want to get back out there, it’s not something I can stubbornly force. I have to be gentle in the right places, and tough in the right places.

Oh and stretch more. I need to stretch more.