The swell energy have shifted to NW in the last 24 hours, but continue to be consisting of a lot of local wind wave energy. Afternoon wind is blowing a lot here in the last few days making junky condition. I was surfing at LM yesterday and the waves were just all over the places making the "laundry machine" water surface. The NWS predicts that we are on a weakening trend on this very strong onshore condition.
There is a source of swell in the Alaskan region that may provide some source of NW energy in a few days. Combined with the weakening of the onshore, we may have a few better days next week. There are quite bit of storming going in the south of Australia and New Zealand, but none of the energy is crossing the equator.
Saturday, May 31, 2003
Next Week
All next week I will be on So Cal. Not necessarily for surfing, but to relax and visit with friends who are there. Computer access will probably be sporadic, so expect not much updates here. I might use my new Audio Blog to report from there.
Audio Blogging Experiment
As you have noticed, I did an audio blogging test yesterday. So you can hear my wave log. I think that this might have some advantage because of the nature of surf reporting and logging, which does not mix well with typing in text. I am hoping to audio blog just before going in the water or just after to see how this works out.
Friday, May 30, 2003
Thursday, May 29, 2003
Friday AM Prediction
There has been a significant (25+ mph) amount of onshore wind this afternoon accompanied by dense fog. A large amount of wave energy is in NW 4-6 second stuff, which is probably going to make the situation pretty junky. Wind may hold up high through the morning.
THU 8 AM Surfing at LM
My guestimate on the waves were wrong. Drove by the JT this morning and there was hardly no action, but with a lot of slushing type wind waves. On the way, Montara was closed out with 1.5 to 2x OVH waves so that usually means that we can surf in LM. Also JT and Motara were totally fogged in, with a visibility of quarter mile or less.
Upon arrival at LM, there was a Channel 4 van there. I thought they were waiting for me to show up and broadcast my hot surfing as a background picture for the AM weather news. Well, I was wrong. They were shooting some group with used cloths and people dancing around it. I did not know what this was about.
Surf at LM was actually great, it was a nice short board days with rapid but volumus 1x OVH to chest size waves coming in from NW mainly from local wind swells but not too rough yet. Some good people were having quite a good short board style runs with cut backs etc. As for myself, I felt like I was back to a beginner since I could only stand up on a few times. This is because I am now trying to catch larger waves, so essentially I am a larger wave beginner and I can now take off on those waves but because of the power and speed I get, I have hard time standing up on the board. That is the kind of thing with any skill learning. You master one level and you are a beginner at the next level. This is the challenge and fun since there are still so many levels to climb up to in this sport.
I am pleased, the board takes off even on a very steep wave, but the driver on it is not standing up. With a bit more guts and skill, I think I can get there in a few weeks time, but I am much more relaxed in these bigger conditions. I remember first time I was being tumbled in these big white washes, could not breathe and so scared. Now I know it will be over in just a few seconds, just stay calm, relax and stay under.
I have also seen many good surfers who always look very relaxed and gracefully padding out and in and catch many many waves. That is the sign of confidence and help being a lot more efficient in all kinds of conditions. In these types of situations it is only the fear that is holding you back.
Upon arrival at LM, there was a Channel 4 van there. I thought they were waiting for me to show up and broadcast my hot surfing as a background picture for the AM weather news. Well, I was wrong. They were shooting some group with used cloths and people dancing around it. I did not know what this was about.
Surf at LM was actually great, it was a nice short board days with rapid but volumus 1x OVH to chest size waves coming in from NW mainly from local wind swells but not too rough yet. Some good people were having quite a good short board style runs with cut backs etc. As for myself, I felt like I was back to a beginner since I could only stand up on a few times. This is because I am now trying to catch larger waves, so essentially I am a larger wave beginner and I can now take off on those waves but because of the power and speed I get, I have hard time standing up on the board. That is the kind of thing with any skill learning. You master one level and you are a beginner at the next level. This is the challenge and fun since there are still so many levels to climb up to in this sport.
I am pleased, the board takes off even on a very steep wave, but the driver on it is not standing up. With a bit more guts and skill, I think I can get there in a few weeks time, but I am much more relaxed in these bigger conditions. I remember first time I was being tumbled in these big white washes, could not breathe and so scared. Now I know it will be over in just a few seconds, just stay calm, relax and stay under.
I have also seen many good surfers who always look very relaxed and gracefully padding out and in and catch many many waves. That is the sign of confidence and help being a lot more efficient in all kinds of conditions. In these types of situations it is only the fear that is holding you back.
Wednesday, May 28, 2003
THU Prediction
According to the CDIP at Pt. Reyes, the most of the wave energy is on short period wind swells. However, generally the trend has shifted to South swell in last day but also it is generally on a weakning trend. It also has recorded 10 sec. swells from the South. In the last 24 hours there has not been much N activities. So my guess would be that the HMB will be a better bet tomorrow especially in the AM it will be a medium incoming tide, but should expect rough "fair" to "marginal" surfing condition and we will be surfing on a laundry machine surface. The prevailing high pressure system just west of us is holding the nice weather for sometime, but some fog may return starting tomorrow. This also will be helping the afternoon thermal gradient that will blow harder in the N Bay area locations to over 10 mph "on" wind. Combined with the wind, the PM tomorrow would likely be junky across the board in SM county.
WED 7:30 AM. HMB Jetty. Great Condition
North swell 3.0 ft 9 sec NW 302
South swell 2.8 ft 17 sec S 195
Medium oncoming tide.
This morning, I stopped by at the HMB Jetty and the condition was great. With only 5-6 people out and maximum set wave height of 1 to 1.5 OVH. I had a spectacular drop down on one of these faces, but was way too far back and wiped out at the bottom. Also I finally had a controlled take-off-at-an-angle to the right, and standing inside the cresting OVH wave face. I think that I am starting to get a hang of it and a practice with Richard Schmidt helped quite a bit.
Days like this make me really glad that I can surf in HMB. Just there is nobody around and I can try whatever moves I want into many many sets, with the sky sunny and practically no wind, I wish I could stay longer.
South swell 2.8 ft 17 sec S 195
Medium oncoming tide.
This morning, I stopped by at the HMB Jetty and the condition was great. With only 5-6 people out and maximum set wave height of 1 to 1.5 OVH. I had a spectacular drop down on one of these faces, but was way too far back and wiped out at the bottom. Also I finally had a controlled take-off-at-an-angle to the right, and standing inside the cresting OVH wave face. I think that I am starting to get a hang of it and a practice with Richard Schmidt helped quite a bit.
Days like this make me really glad that I can surf in HMB. Just there is nobody around and I can try whatever moves I want into many many sets, with the sky sunny and practically no wind, I wish I could stay longer.
First work day of a week is usually "no srufing"
I surf so much on the weekend, and also I get out and take water samples before I go to work on Mondays (and after a monday holiday that's Tue), so I did not surf. The waves were low across the No SM beaches.
Tuesday, May 27, 2003
Monday AM Prediction
Checked the CDIP at Pt. Reyes, and long-period swells are coming from both SW and W directions. If this continue to hold there will be good condition both at LM and Jetty tomorrow morning. Given the size and directions Montara will likely to close-out. Also > 22 sec swells are coming from the South that should affect the JT. I am planning to be out at the JT in the AM to check if I am correct or not on this.
Monday AM Prediction
Checked the CDIP at Pt. Reyes, and long-period swells are coming from both SW and W directions. If this continue to hold there will be good condition both at LM and Jetty tomorrow morning. Given the size and directions Montara will likely to close-out. Also > 22 sec swells are coming from the South that should affect the JT. I am planning to be out at the JT in the AM to check if I am correct or not on this.
Monday AM Prediction
Checked the CDIP at Pt. Reyes, and long-period swells are coming from both SW and W directions. If this continue to hold there will be good condition both at LM and Jetty tomorrow morning. Given the size and directions Montara will likely to close-out. Also > 22 sec swells are coming from the South that should affect the JT. I am planning to be out at the JT in the AM to check if I am correct or not on this.
Monday AM Prediction
Checked the CDIP at Pt. Reyes, and long-period swells are coming from both SW and W directions. If this continue to hold there will be good condition both at LM and Jetty tomorrow morning. Given the size and directions Montara will likely to close-out. Also > 22 sec swells are coming from the South that should affect the JT. I am planning to be out at the JT in the AM to check if I am correct or not on this.
Monday AM Prediction
Checked the CDIP at Pt. Reyes, and long-period swells are coming from both SW and W directions. If this continue to hold there will be good condition both at LM and Jetty tomorrow morning. Given the size and directions Montara will likely to close-out. Also > 22 sec swells are coming from the South that should affect the JT. I am planning to be out at the JT in the AM to check if I am correct or not on this.
Monday AM Prediction
Checked the CDIP at Pt. Reyes, and long-period swells are coming from both SW and W directions. If this continue to hold there will be good condition both at LM and Jetty tomorrow morning. Given the size and directions Montara will likely to close-out. Also > 22 sec swells are coming from the South that should affect the JT. I am planning to be out at the JT in the AM to check if I am correct or not on this.
Monday AM Prediction
Checked the CDIP at Pt. Reyes, and long-period swells are coming from both SW and W directions. If this continue to hold there will be good condition both at LM and Jetty tomorrow morning. Given the size and directions Montara will likely to close-out. Also > 22 sec swells are coming from the South that should affect the JT. I am planning to be out at the JT in the AM to check if I am correct or not on this.
Monday AM Prediction
Checked the CDIP at Pt. Reyes, and long-period swells are coming from both SW and W directions. If this continue to hold there will be good condition both at LM and Jetty tomorrow morning. Given the size and directions Montara will likely to close-out. Also > 22 sec swells are coming from the South that should affect the JT. I am planning to be out at the JT in the AM to check if I am correct or not on this.
Monday AM Prediction
Checked the CDIP at Pt. Reyes, and long-period swells are coming from both SW and W directions. If this continue to hold there will be good condition both at LM and Jetty tomorrow morning. Given the size and directions Montara will likely to close-out. Also > 22 sec swells are coming from the South that should affect the JT. I am planning to be out at the JT in the AM to check if I am correct or not on this.
Monday AM Prediction
Checked the CDIP at Pt. Reyes, and long-period swells are coming from both SW and W directions. If this continue to hold there will be good condition both at LM and Jetty tomorrow morning. Given the size and directions Montara will likely to close-out. Also > 22 sec swells are coming from the South that should affect the JT. I am planning to be out at the JT in the AM to check if I am correct or not on this.
Monday, May 26, 2003
JT, Short But Fun Breaks This AM
The NW swells worked nicely into the JT this morning where I surfed. During the medium tide period the "rights" on south end of the beach worked well with occasional OVH waves. Though all were the usual quick closing ones. Later on the morning, I saw some Jetty wedging action making 2 x OVH right breaks some good people are enjoying. Caught bunch of waves especially earlier on. Starting to catch many more quick closing types as I try to get the board into a correct take off angle (like you would do with a boogie board), and that does work was successful in taking off on some unbelievably steep faces, but I am not totally committed to stand on the board quick enough. Feel like I am getting there.
Sunday, May 25, 2003
Memorial Sunday Surfing at LM
My buddy from work Nick and I went to LM this morning. The Waverider projection was indicating 6 - 8 ft wave face with a "poor" closed out condition, but once we are in, there were lots of OVH size wave faces breaking further out than usual pretty much across the beach. There were some quiet windows to get out, but once the sets come in there were 4 to 5 sets of those 6-8 ft waves on the north end starting right around the Crespi intersection. There were some very good short boarders zipping right across the face.
I sat in the big lineup for a bit, but after having falling over the face a few times then laundered in on-coming additional sets, I have opted to go to a bit further South and also inside, and surf on a bit smaller size reforms on my 7'6 board. I caught several great ones and one of the few rides I have finally succeeded to get into the face. Since these were mainly left breaks, it even made me easier to go inside the face.
Last year in June wrote in my log. "Also, first time I sat on the board it was so wobbly that I fell off it instantly. It is interesting that after a while this became more natural.
On calmer days, I was gradually able to go out to where people are lined up, and catch a few waves, but I was still having problem catching the waves and as soon as I stand up, the front tip will dig in and tumble forward. Number of times I can stand up per day has increased from zero to one to a couple."
Look this year. I am now consistently be able to catch waves up to head-size, I am no longer wobbly to site on even on the 7'0 board, and pearling much less. So I think that today marks a fairly significant milestone in my surfing experience. It will be interesting to see what it will be in May of 2004.
I sat in the big lineup for a bit, but after having falling over the face a few times then laundered in on-coming additional sets, I have opted to go to a bit further South and also inside, and surf on a bit smaller size reforms on my 7'6 board. I caught several great ones and one of the few rides I have finally succeeded to get into the face. Since these were mainly left breaks, it even made me easier to go inside the face.
Last year in June wrote in my log. "Also, first time I sat on the board it was so wobbly that I fell off it instantly. It is interesting that after a while this became more natural.
On calmer days, I was gradually able to go out to where people are lined up, and catch a few waves, but I was still having problem catching the waves and as soon as I stand up, the front tip will dig in and tumble forward. Number of times I can stand up per day has increased from zero to one to a couple."
Look this year. I am now consistently be able to catch waves up to head-size, I am no longer wobbly to site on even on the 7'0 board, and pearling much less. So I think that today marks a fairly significant milestone in my surfing experience. It will be interesting to see what it will be in May of 2004.
Saturday, May 24, 2003
Friday PM @ 4:00 PM - LM
LM surfing was good Friday afternoon as the local wind swells mixed in from occasional larger swells that is coming from the NNW direction caused some good swells. However the conditions were rough with lots of local windswells causing double and triple ups. Combined with a period of close-outs then a period of calm. Very interesting. These double/triple ups are troublesome because when I catch a wave the previous wave sometimes pop up in front. If they are low enough they are fun to catch into the next, but often I am right behind the back of the wave digging the nose of the board and then a complete stop. Both long boarders and short boarders had a lot of fun as breaks were happening pretty much across the beach with Crespi and Taco bell area having the best up to shoulder to OVH breaks every 5-10 minutes.
I had several fun rides today and yesterday as well. On those double-ups, I discovered a fun extra paddling technique in to catch up with the inside bumps. When I am about to go over an internal bumps when the wave I am riding is fizzled out but another one is about to reform, I sit really low and give a couple of strong strokes still standing. I caught a few longer rides that way. I actually have seen other people do it.
On the way back the JT was also going a bit, probably a knee to chest high, but clean "long board" waves that could be fun to ride on my 8'6.
Again the Pacific Waverider predictions in these type of situations were wrong. I think that Point Rayes is indicating 8 second wind-swell from NNW, NW, it is often surfable out here.
I had several fun rides today and yesterday as well. On those double-ups, I discovered a fun extra paddling technique in to catch up with the inside bumps. When I am about to go over an internal bumps when the wave I am riding is fizzled out but another one is about to reform, I sit really low and give a couple of strong strokes still standing. I caught a few longer rides that way. I actually have seen other people do it.
On the way back the JT was also going a bit, probably a knee to chest high, but clean "long board" waves that could be fun to ride on my 8'6.
Again the Pacific Waverider predictions in these type of situations were wrong. I think that Point Rayes is indicating 8 second wind-swell from NNW, NW, it is often surfable out here.
Friday, May 23, 2003
Fri Morning Conditions
There has not been a sign of the South swells for entire week. There is a very small amount of long NNW waves intermixed with more NW windswell components. This is likely to be causing the very rough condition at LM with a mix of some surfable and up to 1.0 OVH size sets coming in.While the Pacific waverider conditions forecasts "Poor" condition across the board, my prediction is that there are some surfable waves out there.
Thursday, May 22, 2003
THR PM from LM
I recall this happening a lot last year, when the Pacific Waverider says that the conditions are "Poor" at Linda Mar it is still surfable and actually I had some good time. That time has returned. Since I worked late last night for software upgrade (it was not even my issue, but one of my "worker" could not even cut it, OK, I will stop at that), I decided to get out of work and get in the water before I get home.
The LM was back into this type of summer wind-swell condition where you get waves after waves after waves to get outside, then we just sit and wait for bigger sets to come in. As you may know already, I have started to surfing last May, and I am kind of happy that I do not hesitate to go out in this kind of condition, and as much as my ducking sucks pretty much at this point, I now manage to get outside. Once I get the ducking completely figured out, then these kind of conditions are no longer an issue (but today it is still a bit of an issue).
On these days, the shoulder high white waters are powerful enough that I usually sit a bit inside and just wait for waves to start breaking. With a just a few more paddle, I can usually catch on reforms and I get fun rides (and more rides than people sitting out). With these it is not that easy to steer into the waves, but I like these "rough" rides. Sometimes the reforms doubles and triples up, and if I am not fast enough they catch me, and I fall, but then sometimes I can get ahead of them and get quite fun good rides almost all the way to the shore.
Further out, some good people were riding good wave faces. I must practice a bit more to do that, or get my 8'6 out and be like most other long boarders at this beach.
I am looking forward to see how the spring and summer will bring, what they will be like now that I am a bit better than the last year. But I also know there is a lot to learn still...
Wednesday, May 21, 2003
WED AM @ LM
Drove by JT and it was all flat with only one surfer, so decided to head down to LM this morning. Condition there was actually fair to junky, but there were some surfable swells coming in. Caught a bunch of shoulder high whitewater type waves at the south end. Compared to yesterday, the place was (obviously) empty but still very sunny and it is always good to be there surfing alone without worries.
Tuesday, May 20, 2003
WED AM Forecast
The NNW swells are continuing to wind down and there is still quite a lack of S swells. While I was largely underestimating the LM situation, the wave power is continuing to lower. Given the observed condition at JT, the best bet for Wed morning will be LM and RW beaches (and may be Montara or GW. I have seen one surfer lined up in GW this afternoon with similar condition as LM). SC will also continue to have poor condition. Perhaps Manresa will be on a similar situation as LM tomorrow. Also fog is likely to return to Northern SM county beaches by tomorrow after a couple of days of sunshine, and that means more afternoon wind. now the thermal gradient will set back into place.
Major Correction on my prediction. Surf at Linda Mar at 4:30 PM. Excellent!
I have finished all work meeting obligations by 4:00 this afternoon, so I decided to stop by at LM before going home. Prior to leaving my office which is located in Brisbane (the Windsurf central) I have realized that the anticipated afternoon wind gust did not happen, so I became somewhat hopeful that there is something in LM. Sure enough by the time I arrived at LM, it was a perfect Malibu weather there with literally hundreds of people both sun bathing and surfing. I even had to wait for my parking spot.
It was a worthwhile wait since the waves are breaking all over the place (and it is just in the blink of closing out), and further out at chest to head height size (further north it was breaking stronger as usual). I got my 7'6 out and started to paddling out. The waves were phenomenally good for LM. Last time I remember the place was this good was late September or October. So I do not know what to say how my prediction was all off. I had quite a good numbers of good steep take offs on my hybrid board and it was a lot of fun. The surface was sometimes flat for good paddle out and then there were some locations and period that were so stormy. I was washed north as I paddled out, and in order to get back into the line, I had to walk south then find a channel to get back out upon each ride. By 6:00 p.m. though the pattern has changed to that regular wind-swell crap so it was the time to call quits. The 7'6 was totally cool and an effective board for this condition, I am glad I have it.
There were so many people out there this afternoon. But most surferes seemed to know what is going on, and on a day like this I felt the strong local vibes the most and I did run into a guy which I preferred that I would not share the same line with him. But then, this might be just my imagination, or have been unlucky just like having had to be nailed on Sunday.
Driving by JT, it was all flat, so my forecast wasn't that bad :-)
It was a worthwhile wait since the waves are breaking all over the place (and it is just in the blink of closing out), and further out at chest to head height size (further north it was breaking stronger as usual). I got my 7'6 out and started to paddling out. The waves were phenomenally good for LM. Last time I remember the place was this good was late September or October. So I do not know what to say how my prediction was all off. I had quite a good numbers of good steep take offs on my hybrid board and it was a lot of fun. The surface was sometimes flat for good paddle out and then there were some locations and period that were so stormy. I was washed north as I paddled out, and in order to get back into the line, I had to walk south then find a channel to get back out upon each ride. By 6:00 p.m. though the pattern has changed to that regular wind-swell crap so it was the time to call quits. The 7'6 was totally cool and an effective board for this condition, I am glad I have it.
There were so many people out there this afternoon. But most surferes seemed to know what is going on, and on a day like this I felt the strong local vibes the most and I did run into a guy which I preferred that I would not share the same line with him. But then, this might be just my imagination, or have been unlucky just like having had to be nailed on Sunday.
Driving by JT, it was all flat, so my forecast wasn't that bad :-)
Pretty Poor
Checked the weverider forecast confirm conditions and it is poor across the board at all locations with only junky wind swells slashing. It appears that the wind will going to pick up this afternoon, so pretty much today is going to be out of question.
Perhaps the best bet today is Yoga at home, catch up on some work work, or flick up practice.
Monday, May 19, 2003
Tuesday AM Forecast
According to the CDIP data at Point Rayes, the north waves are coming in from directly north with wind-swell class short period stuff. I am betting that there isn't much we can expect out of that stuff. But some south stuff is starting to pick up. So I would say that JT might be a better bet than other points north of JT tomorrow AM.
Modnay AM Forecast Corrections
At 8:30 this morning JETT - dead flat. Stopped at Montara vibrant but junky. Gray Whale, calm. LM looked poor without much breaking. RW seemed to be breaking further out. The swell angle has shifted too northerly to produce reasonable breaks, it seems. There is no significant wind at this point of writing.
Sunday, May 18, 2003
Monday AM Forecast
The CDIP@ Point Rayes is indicating a significantly more NNW 10 second level wave energy with up to 15 ft wave height. San Francisco is showing 8.5 ft. This might yield a fair surfing condition at LM and RW during medium to low tide. May, however, close out completely. I will be passing by JETT, Montara beaches, LM and RW prior to 8:30 a.m. so I will correlate my findings later on.
Morning with Richard Shcmidt
Clio and I got a 2 hour semi-private with Richard Schmidt (comes out to be $50/hr per person). We did at the Indicators just in front of the monument. It was very worthwhile the lesson because we specifically requested him to show us good take off technique. Some of the things I learned were;
- Front feet not right on the center when flicking up. Need to work on it to correct
- Work on turning technique by pushing the tail
- Stay down on good "athletic" crouching position and turn the shoulder and hip together and push the tail of the board
- Work on some cut backs especially when the last white water is about to consume the run
- Turn around as soon as finishing off the run and paddle back out right away rather than waiting
- Spot and wave selection tips
- Clio learned on how to hold on to the rail as she gets up in a low crouching position.
I have to thank Clio to talk Richard into coming out.
With a bit of start help from Richard, we had a few phenomenal rides on a face of head-high waves. Part of why this worked also is that he knows where the good break begins.
We will work on these technique tips for many of our sessions and then get some more help as we master these techniques.
- Front feet not right on the center when flicking up. Need to work on it to correct
- Work on turning technique by pushing the tail
- Stay down on good "athletic" crouching position and turn the shoulder and hip together and push the tail of the board
- Work on some cut backs especially when the last white water is about to consume the run
- Turn around as soon as finishing off the run and paddle back out right away rather than waiting
- Spot and wave selection tips
- Clio learned on how to hold on to the rail as she gets up in a low crouching position.
I have to thank Clio to talk Richard into coming out.
With a bit of start help from Richard, we had a few phenomenal rides on a face of head-high waves. Part of why this worked also is that he knows where the good break begins.
We will work on these technique tips for many of our sessions and then get some more help as we master these techniques.
Nailed 70 MPH Sunday Morning, South bound HWY 1 70 MPH Davenport Landing
HMB Surfers bound for SC be careful around driving this area.
Reason for Forecasting
Starting this year, I have found out that it is very interesting from scientific standpoint to do my own forecast and then compare that with other forecasts, and also correlate that with my experience of actually in the water. Eventually more accurate infomration about how to predict waves in beaches near HMB area will be written up on my web page. So far I think my accuracy is imporving.
Sunday Morning Forecast
Back into the late winter pattern. Now the NW waves are dominated with 10 second component, so we should start to see more fun waves all around San Mateo beaches. No South component though. There is not much wind at this point.
I am going to surf Santa Cruz this morning, so no local surf report today.
I am going to surf Santa Cruz this morning, so no local surf report today.
Saturday, May 17, 2003
Sat Morning Surf Report
The surf condition at the Jetty was fair but quite a bit more vibrant than yesterday with chest to shoulder sets coming in every 5-6 minutes with 4-5 combining per set. The wind is starting to pick up so by the afternoon, it may not be good. The tide was a bit too low and the breaks were happening too closer to the shore. Some mini-tubes were spitting out in the inside and occasional shoulder to head crasher. Shorter board people would have a better time today. Many people have started to show up around 10:00 a.m., the usual "dozen" 8:30 crowd were having a lot of fun.
Sat Morning Prediction
No South swells today, but the period of the NW swells are becoming more predominantly into 10 seconds range, making these more utility class swells. However there are still a lot of choppier energy included. Northern San Mateo beaches are all closed out and Jetty may be surfable.
Friday, May 16, 2003
Surf Log from Linda Mar 7:00 AM
I am getting better at the wave prediction now that I have incorporated both the swell and atmospheric patterns, so as predicted the Jetty was all flat, but Linda Mar was vibrant with lots of local 8 sec NW wind swells coming in.
When arrived at the beach there was one other surfer Dan. He introduced himself to me and said that he drives all the way from Sacrament a few times a week since he has moved there not long ago.
We tried to get in from around the Crespi drive area, but the break was closed out and could not get out easily, through I have managed to get out. It was too rough and 1.5 overhead explosive crusher (my wife calls it creamy waves). So after 20 minutes of struggle, decided to hit the Boat House right almost at the edge of the beach.
There were some good hip to chest high waves going. After a while another local by the name of "Tuit" and one another guy (no leash) arrived, now I feel like I am making an "in-road" into the LM local surfers. Dan told me that there is a reef at very south end where the waves pop consistently, and it was true, and that's usually where I see a lot of people lined up.
Current Condition
| North swell | 7.7 ft | 8 sec | N 325 ° |
| South swell | 1.4 ft | 15 sec | W 254 ° |
There is no major wind at the beach. By the way, the lunar eclipse was spectacular last night. A quick wave check at Surfpulse look rather junky, but that is something we need to live with sometimes.
Thursday, May 15, 2003
Tomorrow's Forecast
According to the Point Reyes buoy local wind swells with less than 8 sec from NW direction continue to dominate through Friday which should dominate already weak South swells of otherwise reasonable quality. In addition the strong > 14 MPH onshore wind condition is persisting throughout the area worsening already junky surfing condition.
"Storm Surfing" at Linda Mar
North swell 4.9 ft 8 sec NW 320 °
South swell 2.1 ft 13 sec S 194 °
Wave check this morning at 7:15 at Jetty was all flat with a moderate amount
offshore wind, which blew off whatever has left of already weakened 13 sec S
Swell. Went right over to Linda Mar and checked out there, and the condition
here was a very high offshore wind condition but it was catching the NW
swell which is believed to be windswell.
The condition was extremely stormy and junky but just for a heck of it, I
went in. Going to the beach with my 8'6 board was quite a bit of work as
high gust of wind seemingly going to 10-11 mph pushed my board in all
directions. Just leaving it on the beach flat caused the board to catch the
wind and tumble over. Could have lost another fin if I did not have the Soft
Safeco middle fin on it. The board landed on the soft fin, the fin flexed
and that was it. Going into the water was also difficult as the board
flopped in all directions.
There were two or three other people surfing this morning there. The parking
was empty like at a late evening, and the beach was deserted.
The surfing, however, was actually fun because with an added confidence, I
was able to get "outside" padding out going over and turtling under crashing
waves that were happening every 4 to 5 seconds interval. Once catching the
waves, it was also very fun to negotiate various bumps that forms in front.
It was a lot of work, but the white water break were going further out, so I
had quite a few big gnarly white water rides on my 8'6 board.
Just one hour of surfing was quite enough and it was exciting and
exhilarating!
South swell 2.1 ft 13 sec S 194 °
Wave check this morning at 7:15 at Jetty was all flat with a moderate amount
offshore wind, which blew off whatever has left of already weakened 13 sec S
Swell. Went right over to Linda Mar and checked out there, and the condition
here was a very high offshore wind condition but it was catching the NW
swell which is believed to be windswell.
The condition was extremely stormy and junky but just for a heck of it, I
went in. Going to the beach with my 8'6 board was quite a bit of work as
high gust of wind seemingly going to 10-11 mph pushed my board in all
directions. Just leaving it on the beach flat caused the board to catch the
wind and tumble over. Could have lost another fin if I did not have the Soft
Safeco middle fin on it. The board landed on the soft fin, the fin flexed
and that was it. Going into the water was also difficult as the board
flopped in all directions.
There were two or three other people surfing this morning there. The parking
was empty like at a late evening, and the beach was deserted.
The surfing, however, was actually fun because with an added confidence, I
was able to get "outside" padding out going over and turtling under crashing
waves that were happening every 4 to 5 seconds interval. Once catching the
waves, it was also very fun to negotiate various bumps that forms in front.
It was a lot of work, but the white water break were going further out, so I
had quite a few big gnarly white water rides on my 8'6 board.
Just one hour of surfing was quite enough and it was exciting and
exhilarating!
BLOG Issues Mostly Fixed
There has been many problems with BLOG (mainly internal to me), and I think most of the issues have been fixed. All of my previous posts before the upgrade was lost, so I have reposted them, that is why they have strange format.
Monday, May 12, 2003
Tomrrows Best Bet
Looks like hip to chest high waves expected tomorrow morning at the Jetty. All north facing beaches are going to be flat.
Santa Cruz - Pleasure Point
After checking out the "West Side" which seemed to be dead, we decided to surf at Pleasure Point "in front of O'Neil's House." Nice sunny and warm day with long 3-5 minutes wait between sets, but when they come, they come in 4 to 6 waves a set with chest to shoulder high. Further west at the point they were getting up to head-high waves. It is always a pleasure to surf here because of nice gentle long break line that the area creates very easy to take off and long-ride waves. This has been one of our favorite spot. As the tide came gotten lower the waves started to back off a bit, but we had a lot of good rides. At this spot, it is possible to trim the board direction well after take off that allows me to take a longer ride. Wish I can do the same with the waves here. We took a lunch break at Pleasure Pizza with our wetsuit on still, and then we went back in to the water.
Montara & Linda Mar
Tried Montara for a few minutes on 7'6 board. But the shape was too big and crashing too close to the shore. Also the shore break condition was making it difficult to get in & out of the beach. Not taking off the wetsuit, went to Linda Mar. It was 7:45 a.m. and the place was packed already. The condition here was mixed with a period of very choppy but shoulder to head high wavefaces coming. There were some long boarders getting good rides on the outside. As for me, I had a number of good take-offs on these waves, but the ride did not continue. Riding on 7'6, again is amazing that it can take off on these steep waves no problems. It was a good sunny morning, and was a lot of fun to be there to watch all levels of people.
Conditions looks promising, I am going to check out Montara (since it looked good yesterday) and the Jetty. More after surfing.
Tide 3.4 ft, falling
Winds offshore 3 mph
North swell 3.7 ft 9 sec NW 315 °
South swell 1.7 ft 20 sec S 182 °
Surfing at Jetty This Morning
The waves were very small with a max of hip to chest this morning with practially no wind, so I took out the 8'6 board. Surprisingly, this morning, I did not have very much success catching. This is in contrast with on 5/4 where I caught so many. One of the problems I was facing this morning was that I can catch it but soon enough the front of the board is digging into the water and no complete take off. I have actually been experiencing this with 8'6 lately so I need to figure out why this is. I must be standing way too far front probably. I do not know riding on a shorter board is causing this issue.
@Jetty
Tide 3.2 ft, falling
Winds sideshore 7 mph
North swell 4.8 ft 8 sec NW 307 °
South swell 1.3 ft 15 sec SW 240 °
PM Surf Report
Just checked the NOAA wave model, and looks like we have a bit more North stuff coming in. This is supposed to be the 8 second wind-swell. May try out LM tomorrow morning if the condition improves. The South stuff is also supposed to pick up toward Sunday. We will see..
Surf Report @ Jetty
Did not go, start to rain really heavy. But the now the Sun is poking through at 8:44.
Huge wind is gone all last night is at this moment. Raining now. Might hope for more waves. Linda Mar is estimated to be in poor condition.
Wind 2 MPH
North swell 4.9 ft 8 sec NW 315 °
South swell 1.8 ft 15 sec SW 242 °
Medium tide going into low.
Surf Report From HMB Jetty This Morning
Current Estimated Condition @ Jetty
North swell 1.4 ft 9 sec NW 303 °
South swell 2.8 ft 17 sec SW 216 °
Min Tide
Winds sideshore 2 mph
The condition was fair with only good waves breaking near the jetty where a dozen long board people were gathering around into a failry small take-off zone. As with yeaterday, the tide was too low and the swells were also too low to make a longer lineup. Waiting and waiting around and caught only a few this morning. When the condition becomes quiet like this, I usually paddle around to get a good exercise. The water was a bit cold and supposed to be 52 degrees. Could have used the 8'6 board in this type of situation. It appears that a lot of regular Linda Mar crowd showed up here this morning. Montara and Linda Mar were almost completely flat.
You are a Surfing Addict If You Answer YES to more than 3 of these questions
Slightly modified from California Council of Problem Gambling
1. Did you ever lose time from work or school due to surfing?
2. Has surfing ever made your home life unhappy?
3. Did surfing affect your reputation?
4. Have you ever felt remorse after surfing?
5. Did you ever surf to get money with which to pay debts or otherwise solve financial difficulties?
6. Did surfing cause a decrease in your ambition or efficiency?
7. After missing a wave did you feel you must return as soon as possible and win back your losses?
8. After a win did you have a strong urge to return and win more?
9. Did you often surf until your last dollar was gone?
10. Did you ever borrow to finance your surfing?
11. Have you ever sold anything to finance surfing?
12. Were you reluctant to use "surfing money" for normal expenditures?
13. Did surfing make you careless of the welfare of yourself or your family?
14. Did you ever surf longer than you had planned?
15. Have you ever surfed to escape worry or trouble?
16. Have you ever committed, or considered committing, an illegal act to finance surfing?
17. Did surfing cause you to have difficulty in sleeping?
18. Do arguments, disappointments or frustrations create within you an urge to surf?
19. Did you ever have an urge to celebrate any good fortune by a few hours of surfing?
20. Have you ever considered self-destruction at Lanes or surf at Mavericks as a result of your surfing?
More Update on the HMB Buoy
Got more response from NDBC this morning as following.
Thanks for your interest and desire to educate the public. I think the vandal
is a fishermen shooting at seals, and, somehow, I don't think they are the type
that reads the San Jose Mercury or San Francisco Examiner. I just don't think a
rousing good public relations campaign will do any good. We have contacted the
Coast Guard after each incident.
The NWS office in Monterrey (they produce forecast for the entire Bay area)
consulted with a group of local mariners and decided that we would move the buoy
about 5 miles west of its location. They felt that this might be enough of a
move to get it away from active fishing grounds and make it more difficult for the
vandal. The buoy is scheduled for deployment during the second week of June.
Surf Report
Surfed Jetty. Used 7'0. Rapid crasher. The jetty end was getting 1.0 - 1.5 OVH level on some sets. Some good people are getting very nice rides. I stayed on the south side where the sets were of bucket dump quality so not much surfing. I think that the tide was too low this morning to take advantage of the 20 second swell.
Current swells:
North swell 3.3 ft 9 sec NW 320 °
South swell 3.1 ft 17 sec SW 219 °
Tide 0.6 ft, falling
Winds sideshore 4 mph
Going to check out Jetty.
Why the HMB Bouy Is Broken
It has been since November when the bouy here has been out of comission. I finally aksed the people at NDBC (National Data Bouy Center) about why it has been taking so long to resume the operation of this specific bouy. I got the answer and it was ourageous to know that the reason why this is broken is not because of the nature but humans.
The answer:
Thank you for your interest in our NDBC web site. The buoy at 46012 has
failed because of gunshots. This is the sixth time
in the last four years that the buoy has failed because of gunshot punctures.
Evidently, people are firing at the seals and hitting the buoy. Not only does
it cost the government $80,000 to repair the buoy each time it is hit, it
creates a safety hazard. When water floods the buoy, the battery corrosion
creates hazardous hydrogen gas that is explosive. We have retrieved the buoy
and are not going to be placing a buoy back on that station again. We've
asked the NWS Monterey/San Francisco Bay office to work with their marine users
to recommend another location.
NDBC Webmaster
No surfing today
As usual, Mondays are Surfrider water sampling day plus a rest for my shoulder and arm muscles. This morning the waves were all blown out with a prevailing offshore wind probably 25 to 30 mph.
On the way back home, I drove by (1) to check out LM and the Jetty. I was hoping that with a 20 second swell from South the Jetty might be nice but it was essentially blown out. Nobody was getting any ride. It looked more like someone has spewed a bucket of water on a street on each set. Immediate crash downs.
Jetty Today
Surfing at Jetty this afternoon was fun. Took out the 8'6 board and it was a blast with hit to chest set waves coming in almost 20 seconds or so. Found several good breaking spots and breaks were happening further out, so there have been a potential of riding longer than usual. There were mainly two lineups, the usual jetty side group and then the "south of rip rap" group. As usual, I surfed the south side since it is less crowded and also the waves are less steeper.
The onshore wind was blowing a bit hard and also there were a quite a bit of "junky" wind swells coming in. But in these conditions, there are second the even third reforms that happen closer to the shore so it is fun to dodge these wind-swell ripples and zoom left & right to go quite a bit. At times the waves were very steep that made me wish I had shorter board on, but just wait for the next mellow set and then just take off.
In a period of about 2 hours, I have caught about 20 waves today. I am definitely now riding on a lot more waves than most people on the beach. There is one another woman who was catching just as many or more than I did, but the rest of the folks sat "way too out" and did not do much surfing. I got so many waves and paddle backs that by the time I am done, I was so exhausted, and took a good and deep nap for good 1 hour after I came home. I have not been this exhausted since the camp in December where we surfed in the morning, eat lunch, then nap, then go out again!
Clio brought back the fixed board for me today from Santa Cruz, and now I am back with all 3 boards to chose from. It would have been fun to use the 7'6 in these kind of conditions as it is easier to turn.
North swell 2.7 ft 8 sec NW 301 °
South swell 2.8 ft 20 sec SW 205 °
It appears that medium incoming tide seems to work the best at the Jetty in my experience.
Tomrrows Best Bet
Looks like hip to chest high waves expected tomorrow morning at the Jetty. All north facing beaches are going to be flat.
Sunday, May 11, 2003
Santa Cruz - Pleasure Point
After checking out the "West Side" which seemed to be dead, we decided to surf at Pleasure Point "in front of O'Neil's House." Nice sunny and warm day with long 3-5 minutes wait between sets, but when they come, they come in 4 to 6 waves a set with chest to shoulder high. Further west at the point they were getting up to head-high waves. It is always a pleasure to surf here because of nice gentle long break line that the area creates very easy to take off and long-ride waves. This has been one of our favorite spot. As the tide came gotten lower the waves started to back off a bit, but we had a lot of good rides. At this spot, it is possible to trim the board direction well after take off that allows me to take a longer ride. Wish I can do the same with the waves here. We took a lunch break at Pleasure Pizza with our wetsuit on still, and then we went back in to the water.
Saturday, May 10, 2003
Montara & Linda Mar
Tried Montara for a few minutes on 7'6 board. But the shape was too big and crashing too close to the shore. Also the shore break condition was making it difficult to get in & out of the beach. Not taking off the wetsuit, went to Linda Mar. It was 7:45 a.m. and the place was packed already. The condition here was mixed with a period of very choppy but shoulder to head high wavefaces coming. There were some long boarders getting good rides on the outside. As for me, I had a number of good take-offs on these waves, but the ride did not continue. Riding on 7'6, again is amazing that it can take off on these steep waves no problems. It was a good sunny morning, and was a lot of fun to be there to watch all levels of people.
Conditions looks promising, I am going to check out Montara (since it looked good yesterday) and the Jetty. More after surfing.
Tide 3.4 ft, falling
Winds offshore 3 mph
North swell 3.7 ft 9 sec NW 315 °
South swell 1.7 ft 20 sec S 182 °
Friday, May 09, 2003
Surfing at Jetty This Morning
The waves were very small with a max of hip to chest this morning with practially no wind, so I took out the 8'6 board. Surprisingly, this morning, I did not have very much success catching. This is in contrast with on 5/4 where I caught so many. One of the problems I was facing this morning was that I can catch it but soon enough the front of the board is digging into the water and no complete take off. I have actually been experiencing this with 8'6 lately so I need to figure out why this is. I must be standing way too far front probably. I do not know riding on a shorter board is causing this issue.
@Jetty
Tide 3.2 ft, falling
Winds sideshore 7 mph
North swell 4.8 ft 8 sec NW 307 °
South swell 1.3 ft 15 sec SW 240 °
Thursday, May 08, 2003
PM Surf Report
Just checked the NOAA wave model, and looks like we have a bit more North stuff coming in. This is supposed to be the 8 second wind-swell. May try out LM tomorrow morning if the condition improves. The South stuff is also supposed to pick up toward Sunday. We will see..
Surf Report @ Jetty
Did not go, start to rain really heavy. But the now the Sun is poking through at 8:44.
Huge wind is gone all last night is at this moment. Raining now. Might hope for more waves. Linda Mar is estimated to be in poor condition.
Wind 2 MPH
North swell 4.9 ft 8 sec NW 315 °
South swell 1.8 ft 15 sec SW 242 °
Medium tide going into low.
Wednesday, May 07, 2003
Surf Report From HMB Jetty This Morning
Current Estimated Condition @ Jetty
North swell 1.4 ft 9 sec NW 303 °
South swell 2.8 ft 17 sec SW 216 °
Min Tide
Winds sideshore 2 mph
The condition was fair with only good waves breaking near the jetty where a dozen long board people were gathering around into a failry small take-off zone. As with yeaterday, the tide was too low and the swells were also too low to make a longer lineup. Waiting and waiting around and caught only a few this morning. When the condition becomes quiet like this, I usually paddle around to get a good exercise. The water was a bit cold and supposed to be 52 degrees. Could have used the 8'6 board in this type of situation. It appears that a lot of regular Linda Mar crowd showed up here this morning. Montara and Linda Mar were almost completely flat.
Tuesday, May 06, 2003
You are a Surfing Addict If You Answer YES to more than 3 of these questions
Slightly modified from California Council of Problem Gambling
1. Did you ever lose time from work or school due to surfing?
2. Has surfing ever made your home life unhappy?
3. Did surfing affect your reputation?
4. Have you ever felt remorse after surfing?
5. Did you ever surf to get money with which to pay debts or otherwise solve financial difficulties?
6. Did surfing cause a decrease in your ambition or efficiency?
7. After missing a wave did you feel you must return as soon as possible and win back your losses?
8. After a win did you have a strong urge to return and win more?
9. Did you often surf until your last dollar was gone?
10. Did you ever borrow to finance your surfing?
11. Have you ever sold anything to finance surfing?
12. Were you reluctant to use "surfing money" for normal expenditures?
13. Did surfing make you careless of the welfare of yourself or your family?
14. Did you ever surf longer than you had planned?
15. Have you ever surfed to escape worry or trouble?
16. Have you ever committed, or considered committing, an illegal act to finance surfing?
17. Did surfing cause you to have difficulty in sleeping?
18. Do arguments, disappointments or frustrations create within you an urge to surf?
19. Did you ever have an urge to celebrate any good fortune by a few hours of surfing?
20. Have you ever considered self-destruction at Lanes or surf at Mavericks as a result of your surfing?
More Update on the HMB Buoy
Got more response from NDBC this morning as following.
Thanks for your interest and desire to educate the public. I think the vandal
is a fishermen shooting at seals, and, somehow, I don't think they are the type
that reads the San Jose Mercury or San Francisco Examiner. I just don't think a
rousing good public relations campaign will do any good. We have contacted the
Coast Guard after each incident.
The NWS office in Monterrey (they produce forecast for the entire Bay area)
consulted with a group of local mariners and decided that we would move the buoy
about 5 miles west of its location. They felt that this might be enough of a
move to get it away from active fishing grounds and make it more difficult for the
vandal. The buoy is scheduled for deployment during the second week of June.
Surf Report
Surfed Jetty. Used 7'0. Rapid crasher. The jetty end was getting 1.0 - 1.5 OVH level on some sets. Some good people are getting very nice rides. I stayed on the south side where the sets were of bucket dump quality so not much surfing. I think that the tide was too low this morning to take advantage of the 20 second swell.
Current swells:
North swell 3.3 ft 9 sec NW 320 °
South swell 3.1 ft 17 sec SW 219 °
Tide 0.6 ft, falling
Winds sideshore 4 mph
Going to check out Jetty.
Monday, May 05, 2003
Why the HMB Bouy Is Broken
It has been since November when the bouy here has been out of comission. I finally aksed the people at NDBC (National Data Bouy Center) about why it has been taking so long to resume the operation of this specific bouy. I got the answer and it was ourageous to know that the reason why this is broken is not because of the nature but humans.
The answer:
Thank you for your interest in our NDBC web site. The buoy at 46012 has
failed because of gunshots. This is the sixth time
in the last four years that the buoy has failed because of gunshot punctures.
Evidently, people are firing at the seals and hitting the buoy. Not only does
it cost the government $80,000 to repair the buoy each time it is hit, it
creates a safety hazard. When water floods the buoy, the battery corrosion
creates hazardous hydrogen gas that is explosive. We have retrieved the buoy
and are not going to be placing a buoy back on that station again. We've
asked the NWS Monterey/San Francisco Bay office to work with their marine users
to recommend another location.
NDBC Webmaster
No surfing today
As usual, Mondays are Surfrider water sampling day plus a rest for my shoulder and arm muscles. This morning the waves were all blown out with a prevailing offshore wind probably 25 to 30 mph.
On the way back home, I drove by (1) to check out LM and the Jetty. I was hoping that with a 20 second swell from South the Jetty might be nice but it was essentially blown out. Nobody was getting any ride. It looked more like someone has spewed a bucket of water on a street on each set. Immediate crash downs.
Sunday, May 04, 2003
Jetty Today
Surfing at Jetty this afternoon was fun. Took out the 8'6 board and it was a blast with hit to chest set waves coming in almost 20 seconds or so. Found several good breaking spots and breaks were happening further out, so there have been a potential of riding longer than usual. There were mainly two lineups, the usual jetty side group and then the "south of rip rap" group. As usual, I surfed the south side since it is less crowded and also the waves are less steeper.
The onshore wind was blowing a bit hard and also there were a quite a bit of "junky" wind swells coming in. But in these conditions, there are second the even third reforms that happen closer to the shore so it is fun to dodge these wind-swell ripples and zoom left & right to go quite a bit. At times the waves were very steep that made me wish I had shorter board on, but just wait for the next mellow set and then just take off.
In a period of about 2 hours, I have caught about 20 waves today. I am definitely now riding on a lot more waves than most people on the beach. There is one another woman who was catching just as many or more than I did, but the rest of the folks sat "way too out" and did not do much surfing. I got so many waves and paddle backs that by the time I am done, I was so exhausted, and took a good and deep nap for good 1 hour after I came home. I have not been this exhausted since the camp in December where we surfed in the morning, eat lunch, then nap, then go out again!
Clio brought back the fixed board for me today from Santa Cruz, and now I am back with all 3 boards to chose from. It would have been fun to use the 7'6 in these kind of conditions as it is easier to turn.
North swell 2.7 ft 8 sec NW 301 °
South swell 2.8 ft 20 sec SW 205 °
It appears that medium incoming tide seems to work the best at the Jetty in my experience.
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
Tomorrow's Prediction
According to Pacific Wave Rider's plots there we are on lowering trend on N and S swells. So things are going to get worse in terms of surfing in the northern San Mateo county beaches.
Tuesday, May 13, 2003
Monday, May 12, 2003
Sunday, May 11, 2003
Santa Cruz - Pleasure Point
After checking out the "West Side" which seemed to be dead, we decided to surf at Pleasure Point "in front of O'Neil's House." Nice sunny and warm day with long 3-5 minutes wait between sets, but when they come, they come in 4 to 6 waves a set with chest to shoulder high. Further west at the point they were getting up to head-high waves. It is always a pleasure to surf here because of nice gentle long break line that the area creates very easy to take off and long-ride waves. This has been one of our favorite spot. As the tide came gotten lower the waves started to back off a bit, but we had a lot of good rides. At this spot, it is possible to trim the board direction well after take off that allows me to take a longer ride. Wish I can do the same with the waves here. We took a lunch break at Pleasure Pizza with our wetsuit on still, and then we went back in to the water.
After checking out the "West Side" which seemed to be dead, we decided to surf at Pleasure Point "in front of O'Neil's House." Nice sunny and warm day with long 3-5 minutes wait between sets, but when they come, they come in 4 to 6 waves a set with chest to shoulder high. Further west at the point they were getting up to head-high waves. It is always a pleasure to surf here because of nice gentle long break line that the area creates very easy to take off and long-ride waves. This has been one of our favorite spot. As the tide came gotten lower the waves started to back off a bit, but we had a lot of good rides. At this spot, it is possible to trim the board direction well after take off that allows me to take a longer ride. Wish I can do the same with the waves here. We took a lunch break at Pleasure Pizza with our wetsuit on still, and then we went back in to the water.
Saturday, May 10, 2003
Montara & Linda Mar
Tried Montara for a few minutes on 7'6 board. But the shape was too big and crashing too close to the shore. Also the shore break condition was making it difficult to get in & out of the beach. Not taking off the wetsuit, went to Linda Mar. It was 7:45 a.m. and the place was packed already. The condition here was mixed with a period of very choppy but shoulder to head high wavefaces coming. There were some long boarders getting good rides on the outside. As for me, I had a number of good take-offs on these waves, but the ride did not continue. Riding on 7'6, again is amazing that it can take off on these steep waves no problems. It was a good sunny morning, and was a lot of fun to be there to watch all levels of people.
Tried Montara for a few minutes on 7'6 board. But the shape was too big and crashing too close to the shore. Also the shore break condition was making it difficult to get in & out of the beach. Not taking off the wetsuit, went to Linda Mar. It was 7:45 a.m. and the place was packed already. The condition here was mixed with a period of very choppy but shoulder to head high wavefaces coming. There were some long boarders getting good rides on the outside. As for me, I had a number of good take-offs on these waves, but the ride did not continue. Riding on 7'6, again is amazing that it can take off on these steep waves no problems. It was a good sunny morning, and was a lot of fun to be there to watch all levels of people.
Friday, May 09, 2003
Surfing at Jetty This Morning
The waves were very small with a max of hip to chest this morning with practially no wind, so I took out the 8'6 board. Surprisingly, this morning, I did not have very much success catching. This is in contrast with on 5/4 where I caught so many. One of the problems I was facing this morning was that I can catch it but soon enough the front of the board is digging into the water and no complete take off. I have actually been experiencing this with 8'6 lately so I need to figure out why this is. I must be standing way too far front probably. I do not know riding on a shorter board is causing this issue.
The waves were very small with a max of hip to chest this morning with practially no wind, so I took out the 8'6 board. Surprisingly, this morning, I did not have very much success catching. This is in contrast with on 5/4 where I caught so many. One of the problems I was facing this morning was that I can catch it but soon enough the front of the board is digging into the water and no complete take off. I have actually been experiencing this with 8'6 lately so I need to figure out why this is. I must be standing way too far front probably. I do not know riding on a shorter board is causing this issue.
Thursday, May 08, 2003
Surf Report @ Jetty
Did not go, start to rain really heavy. But the now the Sun is poking through at 8:44.
Huge wind is gone all last night is at this moment. Raining now. Might hope for more waves. Linda Mar is estimated to be in poor condition.
Wind 2 MPH
North swell 4.9 ft 8 sec NW 315 °
South swell 1.8 ft 15 sec SW 242 °
Medium tide going into low.
Did not go, start to rain really heavy. But the now the Sun is poking through at 8:44.
Huge wind is gone all last night is at this moment. Raining now. Might hope for more waves. Linda Mar is estimated to be in poor condition.
Wind 2 MPH
North swell 4.9 ft 8 sec NW 315 °
South swell 1.8 ft 15 sec SW 242 °
Medium tide going into low.
Wednesday, May 07, 2003
Surf Report From HMB Jetty This Morning
Current Estimated Condition @ Jetty
North swell 1.4 ft 9 sec NW 303 °
South swell 2.8 ft 17 sec SW 216 °
Min Tide
Winds sideshore 2 mph
The condition was fair with only good waves breaking near the jetty where a dozen long board people were gathering around into a failry small take-off zone. As with yeaterday, the tide was too low and the swells were also too low to make a longer lineup. Waiting and waiting around and caught only a few this morning. When the condition becomes quiet like this, I usually paddle around to get a good exercise. The water was a bit cold and supposed to be 52 degrees. Could have used the 8'6 board in this type of situation. It appears that a lot of regular Linda Mar crowd showed up here this morning. Montara and Linda Mar were almost completely flat.
Current Estimated Condition @ Jetty
North swell 1.4 ft 9 sec NW 303 °
South swell 2.8 ft 17 sec SW 216 °
Min Tide
Winds sideshore 2 mph
The condition was fair with only good waves breaking near the jetty where a dozen long board people were gathering around into a failry small take-off zone. As with yeaterday, the tide was too low and the swells were also too low to make a longer lineup. Waiting and waiting around and caught only a few this morning. When the condition becomes quiet like this, I usually paddle around to get a good exercise. The water was a bit cold and supposed to be 52 degrees. Could have used the 8'6 board in this type of situation. It appears that a lot of regular Linda Mar crowd showed up here this morning. Montara and Linda Mar were almost completely flat.
Tuesday, May 06, 2003
You are a Surfing Addict If You Answer YES to more than 3 of these questions
Slightly modified from California Council of Problem Gambling
1. Did you ever lose time from work or school due to surfing?
2. Has surfing ever made your home life unhappy?
3. Did surfing affect your reputation?
4. Have you ever felt remorse after surfing?
5. Did you ever surf to get money with which to pay debts or otherwise solve financial difficulties?
6. Did surfing cause a decrease in your ambition or efficiency?
7. After missing a wave did you feel you must return as soon as possible and win back your losses?
8. After a win did you have a strong urge to return and win more?
9. Did you often surf until your last dollar was gone?
10. Did you ever borrow to finance your surfing?
11. Have you ever sold anything to finance surfing?
12. Were you reluctant to use "surfing money" for normal expenditures?
13. Did surfing make you careless of the welfare of yourself or your family?
14. Did you ever surf longer than you had planned?
15. Have you ever surfed to escape worry or trouble?
16. Have you ever committed, or considered committing, an illegal act to finance surfing?
17. Did surfing cause you to have difficulty in sleeping?
18. Do arguments, disappointments or frustrations create within you an urge to surf?
19. Did you ever have an urge to celebrate any good fortune by a few hours of surfing?
20. Have you ever considered self-destruction at Lanes or surf at Mavericks as a result of your surfing?
Slightly modified from California Council of Problem Gambling
1. Did you ever lose time from work or school due to surfing?
2. Has surfing ever made your home life unhappy?
3. Did surfing affect your reputation?
4. Have you ever felt remorse after surfing?
5. Did you ever surf to get money with which to pay debts or otherwise solve financial difficulties?
6. Did surfing cause a decrease in your ambition or efficiency?
7. After missing a wave did you feel you must return as soon as possible and win back your losses?
8. After a win did you have a strong urge to return and win more?
9. Did you often surf until your last dollar was gone?
10. Did you ever borrow to finance your surfing?
11. Have you ever sold anything to finance surfing?
12. Were you reluctant to use "surfing money" for normal expenditures?
13. Did surfing make you careless of the welfare of yourself or your family?
14. Did you ever surf longer than you had planned?
15. Have you ever surfed to escape worry or trouble?
16. Have you ever committed, or considered committing, an illegal act to finance surfing?
17. Did surfing cause you to have difficulty in sleeping?
18. Do arguments, disappointments or frustrations create within you an urge to surf?
19. Did you ever have an urge to celebrate any good fortune by a few hours of surfing?
20. Have you ever considered self-destruction at Lanes or surf at Mavericks as a result of your surfing?
More Update on the HMB Buoy
Got more response from NDBC this morning as following.
Thanks for your interest and desire to educate the public. I think the vandal
is a fishermen shooting at seals, and, somehow, I don't think they are the type
that reads the San Jose Mercury or San Francisco Examiner. I just don't think a
rousing good public relations campaign will do any good. We have contacted the
Coast Guard after each incident.
The NWS office in Monterrey (they produce forecast for the entire Bay area)
consulted with a group of local mariners and decided that we would move the buoy
about 5 miles west of its location. They felt that this might be enough of a
move to get it away from active fishing grounds and make it more difficult for the
vandal. The buoy is scheduled for deployment during the second week of June.
Got more response from NDBC this morning as following.
Thanks for your interest and desire to educate the public. I think the vandal
is a fishermen shooting at seals, and, somehow, I don't think they are the type
that reads the San Jose Mercury or San Francisco Examiner. I just don't think a
rousing good public relations campaign will do any good. We have contacted the
Coast Guard after each incident.
The NWS office in Monterrey (they produce forecast for the entire Bay area)
consulted with a group of local mariners and decided that we would move the buoy
about 5 miles west of its location. They felt that this might be enough of a
move to get it away from active fishing grounds and make it more difficult for the
vandal. The buoy is scheduled for deployment during the second week of June.
Surf Report
Surfed Jetty. Used 7'0. Rapid crasher. The jetty end was getting 1.0 - 1.5 OVH level on some sets. Some good people are getting very nice rides. I stayed on the south side where the sets were of bucket dump quality so not much surfing. I think that the tide was too low this morning to take advantage of the 20 second swell.
Surfed Jetty. Used 7'0. Rapid crasher. The jetty end was getting 1.0 - 1.5 OVH level on some sets. Some good people are getting very nice rides. I stayed on the south side where the sets were of bucket dump quality so not much surfing. I think that the tide was too low this morning to take advantage of the 20 second swell.
Monday, May 05, 2003
Why the HMB Bouy Is Broken
It has been since November when the bouy here has been out of comission. I finally aksed the people at NDBC (National Data Bouy Center) about why it has been taking so long to resume the operation of this specific bouy. I got the answer and it was ourageous to know that the reason why this is broken is not because of the nature but humans.
The answer:
Thank you for your interest in our NDBC web site. The buoy at 46012 has
failed because of gunshots. This is the sixth time
in the last four years that the buoy has failed because of gunshot punctures.
Evidently, people are firing at the seals and hitting the buoy. Not only does
it cost the government $80,000 to repair the buoy each time it is hit, it
creates a safety hazard. When water floods the buoy, the battery corrosion
creates hazardous hydrogen gas that is explosive. We have retrieved the buoy
and are not going to be placing a buoy back on that station again. We've
asked the NWS Monterey/San Francisco Bay office to work with their marine users
to recommend another location.
NDBC Webmaster
It has been since November when the bouy here has been out of comission. I finally aksed the people at NDBC (National Data Bouy Center) about why it has been taking so long to resume the operation of this specific bouy. I got the answer and it was ourageous to know that the reason why this is broken is not because of the nature but humans.
The answer:
Thank you for your interest in our NDBC web site. The buoy at 46012 has
failed because of gunshots. This is the sixth time
in the last four years that the buoy has failed because of gunshot punctures.
Evidently, people are firing at the seals and hitting the buoy. Not only does
it cost the government $80,000 to repair the buoy each time it is hit, it
creates a safety hazard. When water floods the buoy, the battery corrosion
creates hazardous hydrogen gas that is explosive. We have retrieved the buoy
and are not going to be placing a buoy back on that station again. We've
asked the NWS Monterey/San Francisco Bay office to work with their marine users
to recommend another location.
NDBC Webmaster
No surfing today
As usual, Mondays are Surfrider water sampling day plus a rest for my shoulder and arm muscles. This morning the waves were all blown out with a prevailing offshore wind probably 25 to 30 mph.
On the way back home, I drove by (1) to check out LM and the Jetty. I was hoping that with a 20 second swell from South the Jetty might be nice but it was essentially blown out. Nobody was getting any ride. It looked more like someone has spewed a bucket of water on a street on each set. Immediate crash downs.
As usual, Mondays are Surfrider water sampling day plus a rest for my shoulder and arm muscles. This morning the waves were all blown out with a prevailing offshore wind probably 25 to 30 mph.
On the way back home, I drove by (1) to check out LM and the Jetty. I was hoping that with a 20 second swell from South the Jetty might be nice but it was essentially blown out. Nobody was getting any ride. It looked more like someone has spewed a bucket of water on a street on each set. Immediate crash downs.
Sunday, May 04, 2003
Jetty Today
Surfing at Jetty this afternoon was fun. Took out the 8'6 board and it was a blast with hit to chest set waves coming in almost 20 seconds or so. Found several good breaking spots and breaks were happening further out, so there have been a potential of riding longer than usual. There were mainly two lineups, the usual jetty side group and then the "south of rip rap" group. As usual, I surfed the south side since it is less crowded and also the waves are less steeper.
The onshore wind was blowing a bit hard and also there were a quite a bit of "junky" wind swells coming in. But in these conditions, there are second the even third reforms that happen closer to the shore so it is fun to dodge these wind-swell ripples and zoom left & right to go quite a bit. At times the waves were very steep that made me wish I had shorter board on, but just wait for the next mellow set and then just take off.
In a period of about 2 hours, I have caught about 20 waves today. I am definitely now riding on a lot more waves than most people on the beach. There is one another woman who was catching just as many or more than I did, but the rest of the folks sat "way too out" and did not do much surfing. I got so many waves and paddle backs that by the time I am done, I was so exhausted, and took a good and deep nap for good 1 hour after I came home. I have not been this exhausted since the camp in December where we surfed in the morning, eat lunch, then nap, then go out again!
Clio brought back the fixed board for me today from Santa Cruz, and now I am back with all 3 boards to chose from. It would have been fun to use the 7'6 in these kind of conditions as it is easier to turn.
North swell 2.7 ft 8 sec NW 301 °
South swell 2.8 ft 20 sec SW 205 °
It appears that medium incoming tide seems to work the best at the Jetty in my experience.
Surfing at Jetty this afternoon was fun. Took out the 8'6 board and it was a blast with hit to chest set waves coming in almost 20 seconds or so. Found several good breaking spots and breaks were happening further out, so there have been a potential of riding longer than usual. There were mainly two lineups, the usual jetty side group and then the "south of rip rap" group. As usual, I surfed the south side since it is less crowded and also the waves are less steeper.
The onshore wind was blowing a bit hard and also there were a quite a bit of "junky" wind swells coming in. But in these conditions, there are second the even third reforms that happen closer to the shore so it is fun to dodge these wind-swell ripples and zoom left & right to go quite a bit. At times the waves were very steep that made me wish I had shorter board on, but just wait for the next mellow set and then just take off.
In a period of about 2 hours, I have caught about 20 waves today. I am definitely now riding on a lot more waves than most people on the beach. There is one another woman who was catching just as many or more than I did, but the rest of the folks sat "way too out" and did not do much surfing. I got so many waves and paddle backs that by the time I am done, I was so exhausted, and took a good and deep nap for good 1 hour after I came home. I have not been this exhausted since the camp in December where we surfed in the morning, eat lunch, then nap, then go out again!
Clio brought back the fixed board for me today from Santa Cruz, and now I am back with all 3 boards to chose from. It would have been fun to use the 7'6 in these kind of conditions as it is easier to turn.
North swell 2.7 ft 8 sec NW 301 °
South swell 2.8 ft 20 sec SW 205 °
It appears that medium incoming tide seems to work the best at the Jetty in my experience.
Saturday, May 03, 2003
A Bit of Rest
I have decided to take a rest for a day today, though Jetty seemings to be surfable this morning. Tomorrow my surf buddy Clio is going to come up to HMB to surf and brings back my newly fixed 7'6 board. Also did some additional cosmetic work on this BLOG site to make it a bit more like a surfing site.
I have decided to take a rest for a day today, though Jetty seemings to be surfable this morning. Tomorrow my surf buddy Clio is going to come up to HMB to surf and brings back my newly fixed 7'6 board. Also did some additional cosmetic work on this BLOG site to make it a bit more like a surfing site.
Surflog for Mid to End of April
During the middle of April, I have not been updating my HMB Surfing Bookmarks Pages very much because I got very busy helping out the Surfrider San Mateo Couty Chapter's Web Site. This is largly done, and I even set up their own private blog there for their own use. Please let me know about both sites about what you think about them.
Back to surfing, April has been very sporadic. Hampered by series of rain storms that is lasting to May and also conditions have been generally "too big and junky" or nearly nothing at all beaches around here. I did still surf a lot but it is not like the fall or Feb time when beaches around here were great. Now I am starting to believe that what people say about the winter and spring is right. Though before the winter, I could not believe that Winter is the best time to surf.
Nonetheless, I had several good days in the latter half of April. On Saturdays, I usually go to Santa Cruz to surf at Pleasure Point or other areas near by, and I had several good days there. Santa Cruz surfing is always fun because there are usually periods between sets that are totally calm, can paddle out. Then a bunch of sets come in. I have, however, dinged up my 7'6 board twice in a row at Pleasure point, bothtimes hitting a rock either under the water, or falling on the rocks while getting out of the water. This is something we do not have in HMB area where I surf, but in SC, entry and exits are usually lined with rocks, so I must be especially careful in these kind of situations.
In terms of my skill level, I am now at the point where I know when and how to take off from the wave, can paddle comfortably at various conditions. The part that need a lot of work still is taking off at an angle. This has not been easy with either of my 8'6 or 7'6 boards. I am staring to like my 7'0 board especially I really like ducking with this one, and I can see a lot of turning potential with it, since I can get into turns much quicker with it in the bottom of the waves.
During the middle of April, I have not been updating my HMB Surfing Bookmarks Pages very much because I got very busy helping out the Surfrider San Mateo Couty Chapter's Web Site. This is largly done, and I even set up their own private blog there for their own use. Please let me know about both sites about what you think about them.
Back to surfing, April has been very sporadic. Hampered by series of rain storms that is lasting to May and also conditions have been generally "too big and junky" or nearly nothing at all beaches around here. I did still surf a lot but it is not like the fall or Feb time when beaches around here were great. Now I am starting to believe that what people say about the winter and spring is right. Though before the winter, I could not believe that Winter is the best time to surf.
Nonetheless, I had several good days in the latter half of April. On Saturdays, I usually go to Santa Cruz to surf at Pleasure Point or other areas near by, and I had several good days there. Santa Cruz surfing is always fun because there are usually periods between sets that are totally calm, can paddle out. Then a bunch of sets come in. I have, however, dinged up my 7'6 board twice in a row at Pleasure point, bothtimes hitting a rock either under the water, or falling on the rocks while getting out of the water. This is something we do not have in HMB area where I surf, but in SC, entry and exits are usually lined with rocks, so I must be especially careful in these kind of situations.
In terms of my skill level, I am now at the point where I know when and how to take off from the wave, can paddle comfortably at various conditions. The part that need a lot of work still is taking off at an angle. This has not been easy with either of my 8'6 or 7'6 boards. I am staring to like my 7'0 board especially I really like ducking with this one, and I can see a lot of turning potential with it, since I can get into turns much quicker with it in the bottom of the waves.
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