Tag: reports

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Big Nasty Swell

Chomping at Sloat

Some big waves moved in to our area Friday night. Buoys spiked to 30ft and a lot of folks were on edge wondering if the waves were going to come in clean and rideable or big and scary.

It was big and scary.

I met up with Tom in front of Wise. We walked around North Ocean Beach and the Cliff House, gawking at waves there. There were waves breaking so far out ir was unbelievable. We cruised on down to Sloat, Rockaway, and finally Linda Mar waiting for Josh to wrap up his session at Half Moon Bay.

Rockaway was, well, hurling rocks:

Seawall and Seacliff

There was one lone dude out there. He was holding his own, I didn’t see him get stomped but wow. He was a tiny dot surrounded by big angry waves.

One Guy at Rockaway

Linda Mar wasn’t as big as projected, but still looked rough. A handful of people were out getting waves.

Linda Mar Chomps

I stayed nice and dry. Had lovely brunch at the Cliff House instead.

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No surfing this Holiday

Waves

For anyone wondering if I plan to surf while I’m home…that’s a big no.

Sure the waves are peeling nicely with some good peaks, but I haven’t learned to turn sharp enough to dodge ice. I don’t think my wetsuit is rated to -3 F with -30 F windchill, either.

The water is 33 F. As the waves hit the shore, the spray turns to an ice fog and the water freezes into a thick shelf. To put things in perspective, here’s the same view back in October: http://flickr.com/photos/tracey_t/2933039910/

Chilly.

While under warm blankets by a fire, I decided to write up a Wetsuit buying guide.
Check it out!

I’m hoping to write up a few more guides when I get a little more experience. I’ll probably write a board buying guide once I’ve finally committed to a board. Maybe a packing guide once I get my surf kit set up. Any requests?

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Surfing on the Great Lakes

Sunset, Chicago and a pretty clean wave

I’m back in the Midwest visiting my folks. They recently moved from the house I grew up in to a new house about a half mile from the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. If you’ve ever seen Step Into Liquid there’s a great scene about the die hard midwesterners surfing in Sheboygan. Today’s fairly clean although small waves got me thinking it might be worth a shot next summer.

Waves throughout the day were about 1-3 ft, water temp was 64 and some of the waves breaking out on the sand bar didn’t look half bad. If I can find a real cheap junker longboard to throw in my parents garage I might just be able to try it next season.

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Yikes

6-10 foot surf with occasional 12? I think this Saturday is best left to those who can handle the big waves.

The plan for this Saturday had been to teach 5-6 of my friends how to surf, but these kind of conditions would make that dangerous if not impossible. There will be other, better days to learn. 🙂