OB, the hook, steamer's

 
Lot's of surfing this weekend, and lots of time in transit looking for waves. Saturday AM I woke up around 8 and suited up, still feeling a bit dehydrated from the previous evening's festivities. i also made the mistake of eating a slice of leftover pizza for breakfast...it always seems like a good idea until i'm paddling and getting heartburn. OB was mixed up and blown out and warbly, but still cleaner than it's been recently. the paddle out sucked. i didn't have my hood on yet, and got an ice cream headache after 3 successive duck-dives. sitting in the impact zone on the inside, i straddled my board and pulled my hood on. only at that point, i realized that there was something stuffed into my hood...my gloves! i don't remember putting them in there, but hey, at least i realized it before i lost my gloves. pulled on the gloves, hood, and battled endless walls of whitewater to make it outside. once i was out there i waited patiently, bobbing around in the stormy surf. there was one other guy out, but i didn't see him catch anything. i was pretty sure it was going to suck and i was gonna get skunked, but i actually ended up catching 3 or 4 decent rides. one long ride that kept reforming, and another punchy wave where i bashed the lip pretty good and actually rode out clean. shitty waves, but nice out and good to burn off some of the pizza and beer and applesauce.

sunday i was determined to find some protected surf, even if it was small. we packed the car and headed south down hwy 1. everywhere was blown to bits, the jetty being the only rideable spot but looking pretty weak. the jetty is always a last resort for me, and we had plenty of daylight left so i kept driving. steamer lane had some size, but the high tide was making it really fat and soft, so i ended up heading to the hook. it was getting smaller as the tide dropped, but was really clean and nice. i shouldve had a log or a fish, but i made due with my 6'5" and caught a few little ones. it's nice to ride such friendly clean waves after getting battered by OB all the time. it made me really crave more point break waves, so i checked the reports when i got home and set my alarm for 5am.

snoozed a bit, and got up at 5:30 this AM. loaded my wetsuit and board and work stuff all onto the motorcycle and headed out a little after 6. no traffic, so i made good time and got to steamer lane at 7:15. it paid off too, the surf was 3-5 and glassy, and middle peak was wrapping through pretty nice on the sets. there were only 6 other guys out at first, and i caught pretty much one wave each set, which is pretty amazing at the lane, even for middle peak. lot of opportunities to practice my frontside hacks, and low effort paddling. i just wish Santa Cruz was closer to SF...I'm tempted to get up at 5 again and go tomorrow. i snapped a few pictures of a kneeboarder ripping at the slot, i'll upload them when i get home tonight.

steamer lane dawn patrol