Tag: the hook

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Hull in SC

2014-SCHK-01-29

Surf: 9.2 ft at 13.3 s from the WNW at 287°. High tide.

After struggling quite a bit lately, I was looking forward to a little Santa Cruz redemption (and a little hull time.) The tide was high, the wind was up, and Cg was having car troubles, but somehow things worked out.

I settled into a nice little takeoff away from the crowd. At first I was worried my crowd aversion was a mistake as I was having trouble getting in to anything. Finally things fell into place and it was a total wavefest.

There was another guy on a hull near me and we traded wave after wave. I finally managed to get into some steep ones and some bigger ones. Fun fun fun. My last wave was just perfect. Swooping, fast, long. Nice to be surfing again. 😀

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Afternoon wave

2013-HK-008-03
^This is actually from 8/3, but the conditions and crowd were about the same.

Surf: 2.3 ft at 15.4 s from the SSW at 196°. Incoming tide.

After lunch and picking up Beamer’s van from summer camp, we headed out for a few more waves.

It was crazy crowded out there. We opted for the hook to get some shortboard time in, but the place was pretty mobbed. I watched a crew of guys get wave after wave. It was kind of nice to watch the good loggers do their thing after my class this morning. Okay, there’s the left-go-right drop. Okay, now he’s right in the pocket and stepping up.

While that’s great for thinking, it was tough for actually surfing. I got a few short mushy waves that went wide, but everything else I had to pull out of to let a logger through.

Finally one of the older guys called me in to one. Wooooo. It was little, but just right for me to zip zip zip on the fish. I got around a section, I did a little bitty floater. It was enough to make it worth sticking around for the extra session. After that I bellied in and headed home.

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Sun in Santa Cruz

2013-HK-05-01

Surf: 9.5 ft at 10.8 s from WNW at 300° Low tide.

I wanted more fish time so I snuck out to Santa Cruz. Rolling up the low tide was a little too low. Like bare rock low. Beamer and I hit breakfast and the hot tub and waited for it to come back up.

The waves were slow and it was tricky to navigate the homeschooler grom stinky-eyeing up the place, but Beamer got lots of nice ones. I paddled and paddled and paddled but only managed one wave.

These one wave sessions in SC are killing me. I want to get better at this fish but it’s so frustrating driving all that way for one wave.

We hit the hot tub again to help my pride recover.

What I lacked in wave catching, I more than made up for in sunburn and hot tub time. Getting ready for Mexico!

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Kelpfish

2013-HK-04-06

Surf: 9.2 ft at 19.0 s from WNW at 282° Low Tide. Side/offshore winds.

WHEEEEEE. 😀

After surfing the fish every day this week, I wasn’t sure if I was ready for real waves or exhausted.

From the cliff I could see big barreling waves at 38th. Not quite ready for 6-8ft mayhem, I paddled out further east looking for a nice, sensible 4-6ft mayhem.

Now, every time I do something like that, I paddle out, I’m feeling good then that 8ft set I was trying to avoid comes and finds me. Aaaaa. The first few waves I paddled like a maniac (maniac on a tiny tiny board) to get over. The third was going to break to far out so I stopped, waited, and decided to test out the duck dive ability on this board. AAaaand under. Whew. Just being able to do that gave me a huge confidence boost.

When it came to catching waves, I was struggling a bit. There was so much kelp. It was thick, it was everywhere, and with the limited glide it took a lot for me to get going. I drifted further and further from the crowd, looking for a less kelp covered spot where I could go for everything without dropping in on anyone.

A few attempts in, I finally got a wave. I got a nice long face where I could practice this whole turning stuff. It was so much fun. Bottom turn, top turn, bottom turn, cutback, drop, top turn all the way over to the next break. Yeah! I was starting to feel like I was getting the hang of this.

I got a few more as the day went on. Mostly bigger ones that closed out. All and all, worth the extra paddling. Got to watch Beamer and Darren get some nice ones too.

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Summer South

Surf: 5ft @ 17s from SW 177° Very low tide. Light winds.

When it’s good in Santa Cruz, it’s really good. It’s also really crowded. I brought a longboard figuring I’d be picking off the mushier scraps for off peak that no one wanted. I certainly did plenty of that, but wow, the sets were SO long that I was able to grab my own set wave or two. Woooo.

I got three lovely shoulder high to head high waves, all to myself. Nice long rides with some swooping loggy turns. It’s been so long since I took my trifin log out that my first few turns were a little weird. Oh yeah, fins, gotta use the fins. Can’t just hang out up on the nose.

My third lovely wave, I decided to try for a little head dip on the last section. I got a bit of a splash, then went to straighten out as the wave closed out. I fell, no big deal, business as usual, then I saw a bright flash of yellow and realized my board wasn’t safely by my side and was instead bouncing up at my face. Thunk. The board hit my wrist, my wrist hit my head, and all of us went under into the kelpy shallow soup. Thankfully I was fine, just a little embarrassed and plenty sore. I paddled in and cut the session short in favor of some icepack+face time.

Still pretty stoked, all things considered.

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Eastside Tour

Surf: 5-8ft with 10ft standouts. 10ft @15s WNW 300° Little warbly and slowing with the incoming tide.

Wow.

I keep saying that, but wow. Not as clean as it has been, but solid on size.

I got probably one of the biggest waves of my life today (I keep saying that too.) I have no idea how large these waves have been during our recent SC sessions (8ft? 9ft?) but they’ve been large and beautiful to ride.

This wave I did everything right. I had a huge bottom turn to a tight top turn. I cut back exactly when I needed to, and I held on every last bit of the wave. I stalled, I snuck around sections, I blew through whitewater, and kept up on the racy inside sections. I kicked out after a nice long swooping ride with dry hair and a HUGE smile. 😀

Of course, not everything can be easy. I also got trounced. I had two savage beatdowns that actually scared me pretty good. I did everything wrong. I was too far inside and took wall after wall of whitewater. I panicked a little on the long hold downs. The second set I was thrashed by, I scrambled to the surface when my lungs were burning and foolishly sucked in a breath that was half foam, half air. I paddled like mad to get out of the way of the rest of the set before coughing up sea sludge. Uff.

After that stomping, we headed from the point down to the hook and snuck in a few more. On the way I got one wave with a big fun drop. Once there, I got a fun zippy one through sharks, kicked out, then realized I was caught in the current. Oh man. Ohhh man. I was exhausted from all the waves at the point, so getting out of this eddy and back to shore was hard. I made it in by digging my heels in and pushing my way against the current the last few feet. OOOOffff.

I did a little bit of sketching during my afternoon meeting to keep awake. Fun day, hard day.

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Big Eastside Waves

Surf: 4-8ft+ Fairly clean. A few lulls but solid 5+ waves sets. Big big. 14ft @ 15s, WNW 283

Wow.

Those were by far the biggest, longest waves I’ve ever caught. I’m floored.

Every wave was big, fast, and racing from Jack’s house to the Hook. Holy cow. So many swooping turns, steep drops, and cutbacks. Lots of waves and LOTS of paddling. Each return trip was nearly a half mile. Chris would catch a wave then be gone for ages while he paddled back.

These waves were big. Usually mellow 38th was seeing 5-8ft waves. Most certainly the largest I’ve ever ridden. I couldn’t even see Chris for most of his waves. There was a good amount of power out there two. A few waves I got the tumble around, but my last wave was something else.

I got a big one, hoping to take it all the way in to the stairs. As I’m zipping down the line, I see it start to fold. I tried to get around it and got NAILED. Ouch.

The first washing machine tumble was expected. I mean, that wave clobbered me pretty good. The second wave on the head, I kinda figured that would happen. The THIRD wave, however, was freaking HUGE.

I swam and I swam as far down as I could go, but the thing still tossed me good. It seemed like I was down there for ages. My ears were burning and I was quickly running out of breath. I opened my eyes but all I saw was green, no white foamy bits. I either got caught back in the froth or got hit by a fourth wave, I’m not sure. More tumbling and flailing, still hadn’t made it to the surface.

Finally I made it up, just in time so see a fifth(?) wave. It wasn’t very big, but at that point all I could was get a good breath before diving again.

Once I was up, I foolishly(?) bolted for the outside to catch my breath. I realized the wash and current had put me right at the peak of the Hook.

After a breather, I tried for a small wave hoping to ride it in and back to land. Nope. Blew the wave, got nailed by the next, and flailed my way into shore trying to ride the whitewater.

I think that’s the longest continuous beatdown I’ve experienced. I was draining water out of my sinuses the whole rest of the day. My board’s dinged with some kelp wedged under the glass.

All and all, it was a pretty fun day. I wound up exhausted, but very stoked with a good story for my ding repair guy.

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Memorial Day

Surf: Small, a little messy, but sunny and not too bad.

Ahh holiday surf. Normally I would NOT be trying to surf Santa Cruz, heck anywhere, on a holiday. Blam and Emily were already down there and the local surf sounded a bit ratty, so I pulled the trigger and headed down.

Not too bad, a little crowded but mostly beginners who were easily avoided. Fun little waves with lots of waiting. We camped out on a nice tiny peak with Emily to get her a few waves. She’s getting it! I love seeing new surfers super stoked about catching waves.

Bodysurfed a little bit. Surfed till my arms hurt and then met up with Matt for dinner and ice cream. Holiday shaped up pretty nice. 😀

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East Side Tour

Surf: Mellow, Waist-Chest high. Clean.

Yay for SC Thursdays. Started out at the hook. It was fun, but a little crowded on the inside. We paddled over to 38th where a fun, small little peak was breaking. Got some fun little rides in while Chris shot a little video and took some pics. 😀 Soooo stoked about the vid. Also saw a whale again. Nice!

Pics turned out pretty good, too! Here’s me on one ride. I tried to get out in front of a section in the second shot. Was hoping to get a cover up out of it or something. So close!

Thanks for the pics, Chris!

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Lazy SC Sunday

Surf: Thigh-Chest high. Inconsistent. Little Texture.

YAWN. After a busy week I >wanted< to surf but I didn't want to get up early, drive, or get worked up about the surf. Lucky me! Aaron was also lazily contemplating some surf and offered to drive. Sure, we were there over high tide, not ideal, but there was still plenty of fun to be had. It was a little crowded at the main peak so we snuck off one peak over and picked up mellow waves. I had a few super long rides including a sweet little stall to keep a wave while avoiding someone who looked determined to drop in. Afterwards, Five Guys. Nice.