Author: Tracey

Posted on

Back from the East Coast

2017-LM-01-31

Surf: 4.3 ft at 13.8 s from the WNW at 282°.

Whew. I had a whirlwind weekend! My little brother had a baby and I zipped out to meet him. It was fun but I was beat. I got a little sleep in and tried to fit a little surf in before the rains moved on in again.

The waves were a little funky and the only spot that was really working called for a behind-the peak take off that was tough given the crowd, but I’ll take what I can get.

Around the end of the session a guy paddled over and said “You’re getting some good ones! I’m copying your style. Not sure it’s working for me…” then a little while later I saw him get a nice one. “It’s working, it’s working!” It seems like folks were in good spirits today. I’m glad to be back.

Posted on

Aggressive Harbor Seal?



Surf: 5.6 ft at 13.8 s from the W at 270°. Outgoing tide. Light off to sideshore winds.

Day 4 in the water! I’m trying to get in all the surf I can before it starts raining again. 

Today was smaller and more mellow compared to the end of yesterday’s session. I’d hoped to get to surf my favorite corner of the beach. It looked very small but doable. Only one guy out! But very suddenly, that one guy paddled back in. He happened to be parked next to us in the lot and said “be careful out there, there’s a really aggressive harbor seal! It nipped at my feet. And chased me off the spot!”

I haven’t encountered harbor seals behaving aggressively, so I wanted the spot for a bit. I saw thrashing around in the water and seal flippers splashing above the surface. I decided to paddle out in a more crowded spot for safety in numbers.

Anyone know what was up? I couldn’t tell if there was one seal or if there were two. 

The more occupied spot was about the same as it’d been the last few days, lots of waiting and mushy waves with the occasional cleanup closeout. There were a few gems here and there that worked out, but mostly I was grateful to be out in the water and to be clear of the harbor seal kerfuffle. 

Posted on

Monday Whomp


Surf: 6.9 ft at 16.0 s from the W at 263°. Outgoing tide
After yesterday’s bigger sets and light winds, I was surprised to show up to the beach and see little crumbly waves. We decided to give it a shot anyway. 

The waves were rideable enough, with a few gems in between the closeouts. The swell started to build very quickly, however, leading to some exciting cleanup sets. By the time we got out of the water, those crumbly little waves had turned into beach long whomping closeouts. Cleaner, but slamming shut. 

Still chilly out there, too!

Posted on

Sunny weekend – Sunday


Surf: 4.3 ft at 19.0 s from the W at 279°. High tide. 

Sunday I managed to get up a little earlier. Just a little bit. I’m still beat. So beat I missed the Great Highway Gallery’s new opening. I dropped by yesterday before the big event and WOW. The new exhibit is amazing. 

Sunday I wound up surfing the same spot I wore myself out on on Saturday. It was a little bigger and cleaner, but the big highlight was Darren was out! It was so great to catch up and share some waves. 

The waves were speedy and everyone got some real nice ones. I saw both Darren and Chris catch some really beautiful looking waves. Lots of fun and so nice to catch up with Pacifica folks. <3 surfy family!

Posted on

Sunny weekend – Saturday


Surf: 4.6 ft at 14.8 s from the W at 270°. High tide. Moderate onshore winds.

I’ve been busy lately. Early meetings, evening events, and some longish days at work. My work guilt keeps me from going out when Chris can’t go out, but even when he can, I’m the lazy loaf that just wants to sleep in. I’d made some promises of “yeah, let’s surf early” for Saturday, then didn’t get up till late.

My the time we made it down to the beach, the wind had shifted and picked up. What was probably nice and glassy in the morning was pretty crumbly by 11.

But hey, with all these week-long rainstorms, finding a sunny weekend with waves has gotten pretty rare.

The waves looked rough and there were plent of people on them, but a few good ones came through here and there. It was one of those days where it’s mostly left, but there’s a nice right if you can get it without a dozen people trying to go left on it. I got a few that were a blast. I also got paid a great compliment by another surfer in the water. I was beaming. It’s a good reminder to tell people when you saw them get a good wave and share some of the stoke 😀

Later on we move more north. It was bumpy and bigger. I wore myself out pretty quick! Hopefully I have enough energy left to get out tomorrow, too!

Posted on

2017

2017-LM-01-02

Surf: 6.6 ft at 16.0 s from the WNW at 302°

The new year is off to a plenty busy start. In order to get it all one, I had to take advantage of New Year’s Day observed. Got a quick, chilly, kinda funky, overly occupied surf in. Things were a little seasick from yesterday’s winds and occassionally whomping with the incoming swell. I got a wave or two that almost worked, then headed off to do errands and get all my new year planning in before starting work tomorrow. Whew.

 

Posted on

Beach to SFO

2016-LM-12-19a

2016-LM-12-19b

Surf: 4.9 ft at 21.1 s from the W at 268°. Outgoing. Light offshore.

Still brisk out there, but not as cold. This morning I wanted to get one more surf in before heading east for the holidays. I’m so glad I did.

The buoys were suggesting swell might show, but with the exception of a cleanup wave or two, things were smaller than yesterday. Same swift current, but same punchy little left, too but with a few less people than Sunday. I got in some fun ones.

The suit kept me warm enough and, when combines with some toasty warm wool socks, I was able to go straight from the beach to SFO. Well, not straight. We stopped for donuts. But within a few hours, I’d traded cold beach for snow and weather in the teens. Glad I had these couple of surf sessions to practice being chilly.

Happy Holidays, all!

Posted on

New wetsuit!

2016-LM-12-18

Surf: 5.3 ft at 14.8 s from the WNW at 287°. Incoming. Offshore.

I picked up a new suit this week! 😀

I couldn’t wait to try it out, so naturally I was swamped with work and it rained like crazy last week. Even with the rain, I couldn’t have picked a better week to pick up a new suit. The winds were offshore bringing temps in the low 30°’s to the beach. Brr. There was still frost on the sand when I walked down to the water.

There was the same strong current from a few weeks ago so everyone was paddling and paddling to stay in place. The waves were fun once you got one, but plenty of waiting and paddling.

The suit was great. It’s pretty toasty, but I was still feeling the mid-30°’s temps. Will be interesting to see how it is in the summer. Might be a little warm. I’ll write up a little review once I get a few more surfs in.

Posted on

Brrr

2016-lm-12-07

Surf: 5.6 ft at 12.1 s from the WNW at 289°. Outgoing. Offshore.

Yeeeehew that was brisk. Offshire winds ahead of a big rainstorm + a cold spell + lots of waiting + a wetsuit with a few dozen holes = chilly chilly chilly. The wavecount today was pretty low and I was paddling and paddling to stay in place, but there were some fun ones out there. Wish I’d have gotten it on a better tide, but got at least a wave or two I thought was pretty punchy and good for zipping through the crowd.

Posted on

Thanksgiving

2016-lm-11-24a

Surf: 10.2 ft at 12.9 s from the W at 281°. Outgoing. Variable winds.

I got sick right after surfing last time and was down for a full week. Ugh. I almost didn’t paddle out today as there was some size and I wasn’t sure I was totally recovered. Thankfully things looked fine enough from the beach.

The long lulls gave me plenty of time to rest, but meant a low number of waves. Thankfully they were all fun, punchy waves with lots of room to sneak up on the board.

A little crowded, but not too bad!

Emily snapped a shot of Chris and I. So nice running into you and Max!

2016-lm-11-24b