Exceeded Expectations: Jetty Edition

Surf: Waist high with some Shoulder high sets.

The snarly, wind whipped waves at Linda Mar set my expectations really low as we did the long form surf check this morning. Montara was also not looking like fun. Time to adjust expectations and take on the jetty. At least it was cool.

Expectations definitely exceeded. They were set pretty pretty low after everything else I’d seen on the drive there, but they were exceeded greatly by those few crazy sets. Woosh.

The mellow waist high waves were not too shabby either. Fun for logs, fish, and boogie boarder.

Sunny, Peeling, Out of the Wind

Surf: Knee-Waist high. Peeling.

Three years ago to the day I took my first surf class. 😀

I was one of those surf school kooks with the red rashguard on to warn people to keep a safe distance. Crazy to think that was 3 years ago. Thankfully those 3 years have been filled with lots of stoke, many great rides, lots of wipeouts, and fun people to surf with.

Lindy was not observing my surfbirthday and instead was a jumbled, howling wind mess. Headed down to the jetty in favor of small, fun little waves. Got some good little rides, some sunshine, and a little fun before heading to a client meeting. Yay.

Double surf check

Surf Check 1: Blech. High tide, blowing winds, no organization. Messy, mushy, crumbly, swamped.

Chris got an emergency client call and headed back to the city. Caught up with Andrew for a bit but what not at all inspired to get in that slop by myself. Fun watching the dogs run around on the beach a while.

Surf Check 2: Not much better. Low tide. I made every stop on the way down. Some places were looking slightly peely, but all around the surf was windblown. Surfed the small waves at the jetty a bit. I’m kind of in a funk, workwise, surfwise, socially… The grungy surf isn’t helping. Blew out some cutbacks and cut things a little too close with a grom. Hoping for some calm surf soon.

Jetty Social Hour

Surf: Small, clean.

LM was looking pretty sloppy so we went on a SMC break tour. Not a lot was happening out there. I was sporting some awesomely fluffy slept on hair and went for the paddle out anyway despite tiny tiny waves. Was actually pretty fun in a small wave laughing at yourself kind of way. Saw Chris steal quite a few long rides from those hungry looking knee high closeouts. He got the wave of the day for sure.

Better than Donuts

Surf: Crumbly, small and slow. 8.9 ft at 10.8 s from the NW at 322°

Today’s my Dad’s birthday! Happy Birthday, Dad!

The sun was out and beautiful, but the NW wind was blowing so we headed south. The plan was to check and if the surf was bad, go for donuts.

The Jetty was a bit more protected even if it was running on the smaller side. I hadn’t showered so getting wet was better than not as far as going into the office all funky. Lots of sparkly gold little rides. Not much oomf, but as the only people out we could goof off and paddle for every knee high little wave.

The bright sun made for some exciting times crossing the highway. Sure it’s only 2 lanes, but a little scary when you know one lane is coming at you blind.

Pregame


Photos by Luke

Surf: Inconsistent, crumbly. 7.5 ft @ 11.4 sec from the W 278º

Spent most of the weekend being a shut in, working on a bunch of projects. Managed to be pulled away for a few hours by the nice weather. Surf wasn’t as nice, but hey, can’t argue with sunshine and warm weather.

It’s great being able to change in the parking lot without keeping my coat, hat and mittens on. It’s nice to come back to a warm car.

Aaron and I picked of lots of smalls steep closeouts. Couple decent rides, mostly drop and wash followed by some bbq demolishing time while working/half watching the superbowl.

Not so bad Jetty

Surf: Inconsistent, but somewhat peeling. 6.6 ft @ 8.3 sec from NW 317º

Over drinks the night before, there were promises made of Sunday morning surf meet up. I said no no no, I couldn’t possibly. I’m tired, I’m not feeling well, excuse goes here. Well, I went anyway. The instigator of the plan didn’t show, but plenty of other folks did.

Standing in the lot I grumbled about how sloppy, small and uninspiring things looked. In the water things were much better. I got plenty of small smooth little rides. Not too shabby after all.

Afterwards we demolished some serious lunch. Good day spent with friends.

Mavericks Opening Ceremonies

Today was the opening ceremony for the Jay at Mavericks. Thomas was so kind as to bring me along on a coastal flight to check out the scene. We spent some time on the ground watching the surfers prepare to paddle out, then cruised around over the water.

Fun day. I’m excited to see how the new Mav’s organizers run the show. Change isn’t easy and they’ve certainly got their work cut out for them. Hopefully the beautiful clear weather today is a sign of good things to come.

More pics available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tracey_t/sets/72157625376358945/

Itty Bitty Jetty

Surf: Knee high on a good wave. Closed out. Beautiful weather.

Yay! A whole weekend without work!

I kicked around going to Bolinas, but waited a little too long and the declining swell made it not worth the haul. After checking Linda Mar (jumbled up, crowded, closed out mess) I met Tom down at the Jetty. It was small. So very, very small. Barely breaking, small.

Not a bad day to sit around in the water though. I managed to squeeze a few fun little rides. Lots of crouching and holding the rail, hoping to bust through a closeout. All the floating around worked up an appetite for Underdogs. Mmmmm tacos.