Was surprised to see no one else out when I entered the water around 6 am and had a couple of nice rides until the incoming tide wiped out the outside. My boss showed up and we moved farther South, where we were able to get into some really big waves, but no long rides because as soon as you did your bottom turn...CLOSE OUT! There was a nice offshore that looked nice, but really had no effect in hallowing out the faces, as most were simply too full and not very easy to get into early, hence the short rides.I always get anxious in conditions like this because I just hate it when I get too far inside after riding a big one...as the paddle back out can get quite complicated and no fun at all, while battling the elements of the oncoming foamy closed-out chaos combined with the ever present muscle burning pain of my constant survival paddling motions. Anyways, I caught some really big ones but had the wisdom to pull out of them before they took me too far on the inside.
Here be some pics of those that dared:
I'm with you about the rough paddling back. You seem pretty lucky crowd wise in NOCAL but here, not only you have to battle against the upcoming set but also try to avoid the surfers riding it. That is why I prefer big swell with long periods which is not the case today ;(
ReplyDeletePabs I love that your posts always have pictures of seclusion. Never really seem to be as crowded as it is down here.. makes me a bit jealous...BUT I dont know about those cold and Sharky waters up there. I give you Kudos for surfing in that!
ReplyDeleteThere is a old saying that goes something like this: if you learn how to surf in NORCAL, you can surf anywhere...which means that given the conditions, the water temp and the man in the grey suit...everything else seems easy. :-)
ReplyDelete"man in the grey suit".. LOVE IT!
ReplyDelete