Tag: santa cruz

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Shifting Sands at Cowells


Photo by Cynthia

SURF: 1-3ft. Light winds. Warm and sunny.
Gear: 9’4 Stewart, 8’3 Petty

The winter has done some strange things here in Norther California.

A giant chunk of Sloat is missing and a new beach seems to have appeared smack in the middle of Cowells. The spot where I picked off wave after wave back in November is now occupied by families grilling up burgers and lounging in the sun.

The waves were still mellow, but the crowd is a bit more compact. I was unable to navigate 20+ people got get down the line and get the long rides of last November. But the sun was warm and it was a good day out overall.

I spent a little time picking off waves at Indicators before heading back to the pack at Cowells. Had a minor tangle up with Cynthia on a wave resulting in a broken rail on my board. She uses Protek fins so the damage was minor. I ran up the cliff, grabbed the 8’3 and went back out for a few more waves.

One highlight for the day: spotted a sea otter at Indicators. I hadn’t seen one in the wild before. They are really dang cute.

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Negative Tide at Cowells

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SURF: 3-4ft and clean. Great day for the longboard.

After 2 solid longboard days my arms were mush. Jello. I could barely sit up to answer the phone when Luke texted me at 9:30am. I knew it was going to be a negative tide at Cowells but had written Sunday off as a day of rest.

Still, it’s really hard for me to resist a good longboard spot when it’s at its best and it was certainly looking wonderful today. Cowells really shines with a low low tide. I hopped in the car and drove back down south towards Santa Cruz. This weekend has been a marathon for both my arms and my car.

The sun was shining, the waves were great, the crowd was light (for a usually crowded spot) and I got in ride after ride. Nice long rides too. I started practicing my cross stepping on some of the longer rides. I haven’t quite gotten it yet. So far I’m really good and falling off, but a few more nice long rides like today and I might just have it.

Cross stepping is when you walk the board. It’s sort of a board ballet and the first step to nose riding like a pro:

It’s been really great to have a chance to spend some quality time on my longboard. The large winter swell can make it a challenge to find a good spot for it to really shine. Being able to spend three days letting my board do what it does best has been just awesome. My Stewart is a great match for me. Easy to paddle, catches waves wonderfuly and has enough speed and control to really take advantage of these sweet little waves. What a fun holiday weekend.

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Longboard Waves in Capitola

Capitola-11-27-09

SURF: 2-4 ft knee to shoulder high. This morning’s dawn patrol: Clean, lined-up little walls.

Had a nice little mid day surf down in Capitola. Everywhere else was big, blown out, or just un fun looking today but Capitola has nice, smooth little waves. My favorite kind of waves.

I only got in a few rides. I need to be more assertive navigating crowds. The waves today were very catchable and mellow, but I missed more than a few worrying about whether or not the person near me was going to get the wave and I kept moving out of position to let folks already on the wave get by. I’m to easily pushed off a peak by crowds, something I’ll have to get over so I can get in more waves.

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One more Sunset Sesh before Daylight Savings

scsunset10_29_09

SURF: 1-3ft. Inconsistent, but clean.

Headed back down to Santa Cruz with Luke and Cynthia to get in one last sunset session before the time changes. Waves were pretty inconsistent, but the sunset was beautiful and the moonlight on the waves made the couple of waves I did catch something special. 🙂

Stealing these pics from Cynthia.
Check out her site for some video of our sesh and lots of other great NorCal wave reports.

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Sunset Surf at Santa Cruz

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Sunset in Santa Cruz

pleasurePoint_goingOff by chrisrfox
I forgot to snap a pic so I snagged one on flickr from photographer chrisrfox

SURF: 4-5 ft. shoulder to head high with occasional 6 ft. and good conditions.

PM REGIONAL OVERVIEW: Mostly-clean, good surf prevails this afternoon as WNW and SW swells ease. Average breaks have knee-waist-chest high+ surf, while top exposures are running in the overhead+ range on the better sets.

Luke talked me in to a sunset session down in Santa Cruz. The weather was warm, waves were looking pretty clean.

I’ve only been down to SC a few times. The hook is pretty different from what I’m used to: kelp forest, reef bottom, more territorial locals, so I was a little skittish getting out. I got in two nice rides. The kelp forest keeps the waves clean and the reef bottom allows a smooth break and a long ride. I was surprised how fast the rides were, the waves definitely had more energy than I’d expected. I’m used to beach breaks where the wave is either fast and breaks fast or slow and breaks slow. Fast and breaks slow was a pleasant surprise.

Best part of the evening was watching the sun go down over the water. Lots of purple and gold waves. The moon was reflecting in the waves and the weather was just fine. Nice night out.

Also check out this pic by shredderbetty for some sunset action.
Pleasure Point-Low Tide by Shredder Betty

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Surfing in Santa Cruz

Surf crew!
Ali, Kevin, Athena, Joyce and I getting ready to hit Santa Cruz. Photos by Ali

Conditions: 2-4 ft. + – knee to shoulder high and fair+ conditions.

Gear: 8’6″ NSP Epoxy.

After a year+ living in San Fran, I still hadn’t managed to get down to Santa Cruz. This weekend a nice, mellow swell and some warm weather came in so I figured it was time to try out a new beach.

Ali, Kevin, Athena and Joyce all came along. SC’s about an hour and a half south of the city on Monterrey Bay. Since I’d never been, I asked Dave at Wise what the good spots for beginners were. He made me a map.

My Map

He pointed out the good places to hit, how to get there, where to park, and what kind of waves to expect. He said he grew up surfing Pleasure Point and sent us off in that direction.

We got there to find a surf competition was going on. Not wanting to screw up the good waves (and look like fools getting smoked by high school kids), we headed to Cowell’s.

It was crowded, but the weather was great, the waves were clean, and we got in some pretty good runs. I was struggling a bit with the shorter board, but got a few solid waves using the 10′ board Ali was on. It definitely made me rethink getting an 8’6″.

I’m still agonzing about boards. 9ft, 9’6? I keep seeing boards go by on craigslist that are close, but not exactly what I want. If I can swing borrowing a friend’s board, I’ll try to do that for a little while, wait till I’m feeling more confident and then look again. I will probably drive everyone I know crazy till I decide on a board and catch a few solid waves.

All and all, a great day. Ali made us snacks and we spent our post-surfing time kicking back with some beers, fresh fruit, snacks, and mexican food. Can’t wait to get back!