damn traffic

despite getting out of mountain view at 5:15 i didn't make it to fort point until 7:05. i knew traffic would suck, but i figured i'd make it by 6:30ish. i'd barely have time to catch one wave before having to get out, so I reluctantly didn't surf and just took a picture of a decent set wave, then went to grub on some Noriega Pizza and delicious wings. A bit of a consolation for not making it in time to get wet. Tomorrow AM should be fun though, low tide in the morning. Swell is dropping a bit, but should still be working with that low of a low. Hopefully I'll have some water pics tomorrow.
 

saturday evening session at the lane

had a busy day on saturday. went up to marin to watch jon run a 20k trail run in the morning, and totally goofed and didn't bring a board because i thought the waves would be small but the southern energy in the water filled in nicely up there. i'll post a few pics later, but for now i want to get up some pics of my evening session at Steamer Lane. It was surprisingly uncrowded, only a handful of guys fighting for waves at the slot, and then a few loggers milking the softer middle peak sets. I only had an hour to surf, so tried to maximize my wave count by sitting on the inside of the slot, catching whatever leftovers came through and the odd wave that would swing wide and run through to indicators. Got a couple of nice longish rides, but more often than not I ended up scratching into the closeouts that nobody else was going for. The backwash off of the cliff made the drops steep and bouncy, so I pearled a few times too, which is always fun in front of all the hecklers on the cliff. joanie graciously took some pics, even though I knew she was cold. I kept the session pretty brief and we headed to New Brighton to set up camp before it got too dark.

 
 
 
 

when the waves suck

i'll be carving turns on this...
 
 

this morning

 
 
 
 

one wave session

this morning sucked. was hoping for some calm before the storm, but that wasn't the case at all. really strong south wind, whitecaps, and chaotic head high sets. nobody else out, super high tide, lots of crap washed up on the beach. paddle out was not fun, lots of whitewater to battle through, and current pulling hard north. thought i was on the outside when a big set wave detonated right in front of me. tried to duckdive and was able to hold onto my board for the initial impact, but when the wave picked me up and flipped me onto my back it blasted the board out of my hands and drove me down to the bottom. i tombstoned for a few seconds and climbed my leash back to the surface. luckily that was the last wave of the set, and I scratched my way all the way out after the hold-down. sat and waited and waited, but really just shit waves. eventually i stroked into a head high right and was able to get in a few clean turns and work it through to the inside closeout. ending my session rather than paddling back out and waiting for more slop was not a tough decision. at least i got some exercise. took zero pictures, not even a pelican portrait ;(

here's some pics from a couple of previous lackluster sessions. one of those days was actually glassy and offshore, but mostly closed out.

 
 
 
 

smart dolphins

Jon sent me this video, pretty amazing...

glassy pron

still jetlagged woke up at 4am today. paddled out near judhah at 7. shoulder high peaks really clean and fun but not epic. nice to have some mellow conditions though. first day back at work and slammed. worked till 930. beat. wonder if I'll have the energy to do it all again tomorrow...