FRI AM Forecast, Sotke Potential = 5 to 6 @ Montara.

I drove back down the coast to HMB this afternoon around 6:00 p.m. and GWC,
Montara were still holding up. This is probably due to the arriving So hemi
swells, so the models and predictions seems to be right on. This should
increase toward Sat AM then go down toward Sunday. The wind did not pick up
all day so would have been a good surfing day, except for occasional
sprinkles (but then who cares, right?)

The Jetty was getting bigger this afternoon as I passed by now up to hip
high and starting to hold the shape and breaking a tiny bit further out, may
be by tomorrow AM we will get back some wedge action by the breakwater.

I will give the stoke potential (for Montara) of 5 to 6 tomorrow morning at
6 - 7 a.m.

AM Surf Report, Glassy Montara Surfing STOKE=6

As of 7:30 to 8:30 AM the condition were as following:

The Jetty: Flat only knee high waves.
Montara: Hip to Chest, glassy clean peelers. Easy out.
Gray Whale: Looked a bit bigger than Montara, perhaps up to shoulder and
also clean glassy
Linda Mar: knee high, looked flat.

Surfed at Montara and it was a lot of fun as the water looked like someone
put a Saran-Wrap over it and waves pop up and start to throw mini-tubes. The
tide was low this morning so the waves came down a bit quick. Practiced long
boarding this morning, but probably a wrong board choice. But I had several
nice long rides, and just at 8:30 when I wanted to get out another long ride
all the way to the shore to wrap things up!

THU AM Guesstimage, Significant pattern change. Sign of more S Swells Seems To be In. Level 5 STOKE possible!

I just checked the CDIP and in the last 14 hours, the principal wave
direction has changed to 300 degrees and also some more are coming from the
SW directions. It is a very interesting pattern I have not seen yet since I
started to keep track of this earlier this season, so I do not know what to
make of this yet. The swell height is not that great up to 2.3 ft, so looks
kind of small. I will swing by and do the surf check at Jetty, Montara and
Linda Mar on the way to work tomorrow, and possibly surf too at Linda Mar so
stay tuned.

A Magical Late Afternoon at Montara

We have been monitoring all day about the wave reports from various sources to see where it is going to break. Many of us have concluded that Montara was the best bet, and I am glad I did go there.

 

I headed out to the breaks in Montara at 6:30 this afternoon. Unlike the usually gnarly and unforgiving Montara, the water was warm (for our area that is), and the waves were gentle up to chest high levels.

 

There were probably a couple of dozen surfers in the entire beach, but we were all spread out and respected each others to have lots of fun. And that’s exactly what happened this late afternoon.

 

Montara is a pristine and beautiful place and when I get out and look at the beach, the green hills in the back and the cliffs with all different colors, I feel so lucky that I am here and be able to enjoy the blend of all what the nature has to offer. I am just as happy as I can be when I just sit in the water quietly and look around me. Then to top that off, I get to surf over nice gentle waves, and I just let others catch a few more than I do, but when I say, “I am going to catch that one!” then, a gentle paddle in and a few strong strokes will let me into the wave every time.

 

On one run, I trimmed to the right and as I ran, I saw a seal just duck in front of me. I also tried to steer away, but it must be just like a routine “driving on a street” for this seal, it is teasing me and so I did… a sort of communicating with the life around me. And of course, this can only be possible because I paddle around on an equal ground with them, and not buzzing around and out powering anything with an engine on my board.

 

Today is the day that I really felt that finally the ocean is starting to accept me being there, and not trying to convolve me into the rolling soup then burping me out of the bottom, instead throwing me high up in the wave and then gently catching me and let me glide on the waves.

 

This is the reason why I look forward to get into the water. During the dinner I saw an ad about Jack Welch’s book in a newspaper, but I do not know if he’d be able to experience what I have this afternoon, and more to come.  

 

It is so magical to be out there and I just wish that there are many more people who can share this pristine experience with me.

 

 

 

 

 

TUE AM Analysis, Estimated STOKE=3 to 4

Tue 0650 PDT: The overall swell sizes are continuing to go down. Presently
we are averaging 4 to 5 ft swells out in HMB. The sign of the south swells
are in 1.9 ft/ 12 sec/ 180 deg (smack from the south), and so in my opinion
it might not have enough power to break at most beaches near by HMB. The
wind is down at the moment but most likely to pick up to the normal
afternoon onshore levels in the afternoon based on the NWS report and also
looking at the buoy readings for the last 3 days.

Also thunder storms are being predicted for the next couple of days and even
a chance of rain this Friday.

I will give an estimated stoke level of 3.5/10 this afternoon.

Manabu

Tuesday Surf Guesscast Possible Stoke = 3

The wind waves from the north is weakening and even at gnarly spot like
Montara looked almost like Lake Tahoe today. At the moment the significant
swell height in our area is only about 3.0 ft. There are some talks of the
south hemi stuff arriving. Checking Pt. Reyes, there are some signs but it
is as yet into a full swing, so tomorrow I will anticipate a minimum (if
moderate) amount of stokes even for beginner surfers.

What you should do for on these flat days?

- Go out anyways, and paddle the entire length of a beach. If there are some
baby waves, try to learn how to eek them out like Clio says.
- Go out anyways, and practice duck diving moves, sinking the front,
shifting the weight to the knee, and sink the back.
- Practice flick up and placement of feet right at the stringer position.
- Practice duck diving motions on a Yoga mat.
- Forget about surfing altogether. Go ride a bike, hike
- Forget all about being active, visit your surfing mom, go to a surf store
and do some B.S.
- Go to Half Moon Bay brewery and ask them to play some Mavericks DVDs.
- Go to Well Within or Tea House in Santa Cruz and just soak and relax
- Pay bills.

Sat Manresa, Sun Linda Mar, STOKES=4

After looking at the Santa Cruz Westside, and so flat, I surfed Saturday
around noon at Manresa with the 7'6 board. The waves were chest to hip high
the best. But the place was not crowded and a lot of sun, no wind, and on
Sunday at 8 a.m. at Linda Mar. Waves were about 3 - 4 ft 8 sec NW both days
with the power significantly winded down through Saturday into Sunday, so it
was not much.

Strangely enough (as far as I am concerned), in contrast with having so much
luck earlier with bigger waves, I did not have any decent take offs on both
days. What actually happens is that I pearled on both locations, and these
are baby waves.

So I am analyzing what happens.

- It appears that in these conditions, the size of the crest is so small
that neither of the boards fit.
- The wave closes out too soon and too close to the shore that there isn't
much I can do.

One technique that seemed to have a better effect on these condition is that
I start paddling hard and longer so that by the time I am ready to take off
I have enough speed and do not need to get the help from the wave to get me
up. So a longer board is actually more effective in these kinds of
conditions.

Now I am starting to think that these very small waves are actually
difficult to learn to surf on.

Fri AM Surf Wrapup. The Linda Mar North End - Continue to Work Wonders! STOKE=8

As I approached Montara this morning, the fog was so dense, that I thought
this will be another fog surfing day in Pacifica. But Montara was breaking
fairly nicely and looked surfable, so as I always say, this indicates that
North end of Linda Mar will have some waves. As I went over the Slide, the
fog started to thin out and you can see the sun through the fog like someone
holding a flashlight in the sky. The LM was totally clear!

The waves looked rather mellow as I gotten myself ready, and I ran over to
the north.

More wind-swells are back this morning. While there were calm periods, they
were not long enough and soon a bunch of short period swells sweep in, and
making it difficult to get out, also the wind was picking up rather strong
and that made going out a bit tougher than usual. In these types of
situations, I just relax and paddle out without really thinking about when I
get to the outside. I know I will get outside if I just keep paddling
keeping the pace. I remember it used to me tire out just by looking at other
better surfers just going past me. It still happens but now I don't really
mind.

In front of the pumps the waves were going probably at hip to chest high but
holding the shape. But the current pushed me into the North so I also
paddled into that direction. There were 2 or 3 other surfers, as usually is
the situation. I was in the zone with shoulder or a bit higher breaks. I
used to be very intimidated by just looking at these waves from the shore,
but these waves are fairly gentle and the slope tend to hold and build up,
making it especially fun to take off on. By then I was put onto the next
inside reform section, executed a backside turn back into going left. This
ride was a better one than I had earlier this week because I was able to do
the turns much more smoother. The whole time of the ride it gotten so quiet
and felt like I was almost riding on a cloud. Then finally it ends with the
sound of waves crumbling onto the beach.

I was so stoked immediately paddled back for more.

THU Stoke = 1

Today, I ended up not surfing. The rain made me keep away from the water
this morning due to the concern on water quality, but planned to go on the
way back from work. I actually did surf check at, Linda Mar, GW Cove,
Montara, Jetty, Kelly, and Dunes. Pacifica was too windy but if I stayed
there I could have gotten some ridable waves. But I moved on south and as I
drove further south the condition has gotten really poor. So I looked at a
lot of beaches this afternoon but did not go out.

This morning, however, I practiced duck diving moves on a mat at home. Some
key points I was practicing were;

1) Pushing the nose down, but keep the head up so that weight won't go too
far forward.
2) Put the right toe the tail of the board and keep the shin on the board
right at the center of the board.
3) Shifting the weight to the back of the board so once the front of the
board sinks, then I can start to sink the tail of the board.
4) Raising the left leg high up to help the push down effect.

My book says that (3) is the key point because most people can do (1) fairly
easy.

Another practice I did was a bunch of flick up exercise. I have found out
that if you push up right under the shoulder I can bring myself up smoother.
So next time I will try to consciously push myself up from there.

The third practice I did, in combo with the flick up is the direction my
head during and after the flick up. I am supposed to look at where I am
going to, and not the board. I often look down too long which is not helping
the balance. The head should try to keep the horizontal regardless of which
surfing position I am in.

The last practice I did was weight shifting using knees and hip. A good part
of surfing is about how to shift weight effectively and the knees and the
hip plays an important part of how you'd shift the weight without losing the
balance.

It was actually refreshing to do this type of practice, so I am going to go
downstairs and do this again before going to bed.

First Big Rain - Bacterial Count Increase Anticipated

As we know we got dumped with quite a bit of rain through last night. This
is usually a sign that a lot of land based contamination that have
accumulated will hit the creek and down into the ocean. I will stay out of
the water at least today.

THU Stoke Cast = 6

>From the looks of the waves the waves are holding at 9 seconds with still
not much luck on south swell. So the condition should stay about the same,
but my guess would be that it will be smaller than today. I would expect
chest-high wave sets in Linda Mar and even smaller condition in Montara.

7 AM Linda Mar STOKE=7

Back at LM beach again this morning. Today was a bit more crowded in front
of the pump station. And when I reached the outside and looked back, there
were two dozen surfers waiting! I quickly got out of the line and paddled
north. The weather was clearing as the time went on and the waves were clean
chest high at the pumps and just about head high starting around the Crespi
entrance.

Not as stoky as yesterday, I got several rides focusing more on turning and
weight shifting today. Not able to execute turns as quickly as better
surfers have been something that I want to be at a similar level. No magic
long ride today.

Also, while the waves were not as big, it was a bit more tiring to get out
and paddle around. So I took it a bit easier today.

WED AM. Potential Stoke = 7

The swells have been clocking 9-second period in HMB for the last several
hours and also the general NW swell height is on the raise. This probably
means that we will have decent surfable sets tomorrow AM. However there is
some chance of isolated showers that would tend to ruin the fun a bit.
Hopefully the weather will hold up. Presently there is no rain shown on the
local radar.

Note the stoke rating is baed on me. Your stoke level will vary depending on
your skill level and attitude.

Linda Mar 0700 STOKE = 8, Rincon condition! Gliding into a 2 x OVH face, and a Success!

There was no wind and we were not fogged in. The wave direction has shifted
more westerly with dominant periods getting longer than 8 seconds, plus
medium tide. A formula for good condition.

The sets were fairly far between this morning, and the benefit of that is
that it was easy paddle out, then for every 5-10 minutes slowly growing
shoulder to OVH sets coming, especially on the north end.

I have been having excellent luck with the north end, but this morning is
one of the better yet. As I waited for the sets, what appears to be a double
over head wall coming. I just said to myself, just relax and started to
paddle in in a slow pace. Then the board started to pick up the speed. Wow!
I caught the wave, and next I am rushing into the bowl of the wave almost
straight down. I was already flicked up and dropping down so fast. Then the
front of the board started to planing up. I am up on the board and gliding
the face of the wave so fast. In front of my face is the breaking lip of the
wave. It is a left, my favorite.

The surface I was riding was smooth right under me, I have leaned to the
left and board started to curve a gentle left. A moment later, the board
slowed down indicating the usual end of the ride, but then the inside reform
started to happen, I was picked up again into a shoulder high peak then kept
going all the way to the beach. The ride seemed to have lasted forever and
when the ride was over, I was just so stoked and smiling.

There was another long boarder having a lot of fun in the break.

It was really great because everyone staying around the pump house, while
just a few braved to the North end this morning.

Linda Mar This Morning, STOKE = 6

I had a good surfing this morning at LM beach. We had unusual S wind this
morning and it was mild. The ocean was clean with good peeling sets coming
in every 5-10 minutes with ample time to get out and relax, wait for sets.
Today would have been great for long boarders while there were lots of
shorters out as well.

My 7'6 worked a magic and took off on bunch of waves continuing practicing
quicker turns during take off and drop down. Waves were up to shoulder high
with lots of chest high rollers.

This is a kind of a day where I just go stay a bit inside and pick up lots
of waves while others just wait at wrong spots. So even the place was mildly
crowded already, there was no problem practicing lots of take offs.

The sun was out and it was a great day to start a week!

Sun AM @ Rockaway and Surf Skill Progress Report

I hooked up with Nick from work this morning at 8. He has been working on
the nigh shift so this is his "afternoon" surfing. We started out doing surf
check at Montara. It looked surfable, but not holding the shape, so we
decided to move up to GWC. We did actually put the wet suit on, gone down,
then we taken a look and the breaks were just not happening, so we once
again changed to Rockaway. Initially there was nothing going on, then things
start to come, so we decided to get in.

This is the first time I go out in the water to Rockaway, so I was a bit
stoked about it, since many people told me that this location is hard to
surf as things can get big and hollow. But this is a type of day that is
fairly flat everywhere so there was not much concern... Until I got in the
water.

Paddling out was easy as Nick has already found a calm channel to the south
end so we walked down and start to paddle out. We had several head high
waves, then suddenly what appears to be a 2 x OVH waves just started to
come. I turtled the board but the board has gone out of my grips and so I
got washed, but it wasn't that bad. Then the rest of the time, there were
nice breaks holding at shoulder to head high, so I caught several of those,
and based on this week, I need to summarize some of the progresses that have
been made since last summer.

Areas that I Am Proud Of

+ Now I am able to turn the board as I stand up, allowing me to get into the
wave face more confidently. I can also cheat a bit by taking off already at
an angle.
+ Now I am starting to get a feel of using the tail of the board to make
turns. Overall this seems to be similar to executing "jet" turns on slalom
style skiing which I used to do. It feels like I am making the board slip
under me forward as the board is banked and use the centripetal force to
push the banking against the water. Definitely putting more weight on the
rear foot where I put the pad on.
+ I am now much comfortable in situations like today where a sudden bigger
swells come. I now know what (not) to do. Before the fear just taken up me
completely. I now know it will be over in 5 - 10 seconds under the water.

Areas That (really) Suck

- I feel like I am not yet completely committed (i.e., scared) to take off
and standing up right away, so I am not completely under control during the
take off phase. But I am getting better at it.
- Bottom turn still is sucky so no climbing back into the waves yet. But I
feel like I am getting a feel for when to do it. I am not just set to do it
since I have just concentrated so much on taking off, I could not take the
body to the next step sooner. Looks like it will come in another month or
two.
- Duck diving just really sucks at the moment. Success is about 10%.
Probably my 7.6, 21inch wide board is too floaty.

Pacific Wave Rider to Change The Jetty Algorithm

I had a few e-mail exchanges with Mike at Pacific Waverider as I have
indicated to him that the Jetty algorithm has been over-estimating lately.
He told me that he did change the algorithm a bit, so let's see if the
estimates get better. I will continue to feed him with my impressions on it,
so he has a better idea as to what is really going on out here.

Saturday Wrap Up, 0730 Surfing Linda Mar

There was a considerable amount of wind this morning, however the swells did
hold out fairly well this morning and there were some good 1.5 OVH breaks
out. Unfortunately the shape did not hold due to the morning low tide
condition. By this time, the condition may have improved. I had a couple of
nice drop downs this morning from these bigger waves, but ride did not
continue as the waves closed out just as I executed a take off. Getting out
was a bit easier today, but I opted to wait for calms and paddled out rather
than trying to go over them. When I showed up there were probably 50 surfers
out there, but we were spread out so not causing much problems. In about an
hour the crowd thinned as the wind wave period shortened making almost
impossible for most people to get out, also at the same time the outer
breaks started to back off.

GW cove looked promising, but would have been the same story as Thu night
given Linda Mar was a bit rough.

The Jetty was as usual rather flat to do any surfing.

The anticipated So swells, we are probably still on hold on that.

Sat AM Corrections Stoke of Greater than 5 may be exptected on Sat

As it turns out the S swells are supposed to come in from Sat through Sun
AM. So there is a good hope that Jetty can get fun for a long-board style
surfing. The wind swell components seems to be cleaning up at the moment so
overall, we will have some surfable waves especially in protected LM beach.
Other skills people can probably enjoy Montara.

Give it a shot.

Have Fun!

Friday Forecast STOKE Estimate = 5, Thuder Storm Due for Saturday

The S swells are continuing to be weak so the Jetty will not yet to be an
option this weekend. The principal NW swells are shifting more to the W, but
of short period quality of less than 8 seconds, so like yesterday, there
will be a lot of biceps burn to get out on open faced beaches. I need to go
and check but LM may have some protected areas from this and may have easier
way out. They usually have some protected areas. Given that the water was
still on lower half of 50's we were a bit cold yesterday. High for the rest
of today is about 4:00 p.m. and right now we are just getting out of today's
low. Afternoon breeze will still going to kick in, but not to the level that
will affect surf too much.

Today's Surfing Wrap-up, Gray Whale Cove at 1700 this afternoon. STOKE = 5

The sun was out, sky is clear blue and the clean sand at Gray Whale cove
invited all of us to enjoy this beautiful summer afternoon with all our
friends. The condition was a bit variable as there were period of calm with
real swells then there were period where a bunch of wind-swells prevented me
from getting out. The biceps burning factor was probably 6 or 7. This is a
kind of situation where you are paddling and paddling, and when you look
back, you have not moved an inch. Finding a good channel is the key but it
is so difficult to find it, and ride out.

We had occasional overhead waves there were actually fairly clean, and could
ride those well with shorter boards. But unless I completely master the duck
diving technique, it was nearly impossible to get to these good waves.

I was joined by Nick and Steve this afternoon, and in these kind of
conditions, having lot of friendly support is very comforting. So I must
thank them for showing up.

Some day, this wind swell stuff is going to end, and we will be blessed with
clean NW swells from the Alaskan gulf or south hemi, and I can get out and
catch every single surfable break!

WED AM Surf Report - Linda Mar at 0730, Stoke Level = 5

OK, so as I promised in my last post, I dragged my butt out to go surf at
Linda Mar this morning. Since the theme of this morning was "no matter
what", I did go out regardless of if there is anything out there.

The sun was already out in Pacifica, though HMB was still under a high fog.
There was no wind to speak of. As for the waves, there were period of quick
dampers and occasional chest high real swells were coming in. The tide was a
real minus tide this morning so even good swells damped on. I took out the
7.0 board this morning because anything longer would not just take off. I do
not use this board that often yet, but in these kind of quick breaks, the
shorter board was advantageous as I was able to take off on some of those.
But getting up on this board is another story for my skill level.

I paddled around from the Crespi end to the south end and got good exercise
on this harder to paddle board, so I think I have accomplished my mission
this morning! On a day like this the beach is empty so a few nice swells
are really nice treats for me, and make me feel glad I did take time to come
out.

Looks like the local wind swell condition will be holding up combined the
usual afternoon breeze. This trend is followed by some new arrival of
Southern hemisphere swells toward Saturday!

Possible thunderstorms this Friday through this weekend, just in time for
the So-hemi stuff.

Surfing TUE 1700 @ LM Stoke = 6.5

Have been having a bit of problem getting up early and go lately because of
our latest conditions, mainly. But you can say that is an excuse and it is.
So tomorrow I will get up and go before I get to work. How does that sound!

This afternoon at LM, I had a stoke level 6.5 experience. It was not quite 7
because I did not get into a long ride, and was a bit difficult to get out
and the waves were mixed in with a lot of local wind waves, making the
surface rather choppy. Sometimes choppy is fun, but today there were periods
that was just choppy and they were "big" choppy where we were all floating
up and down good 3-4 ft without anything breaking. Of course, in this kind
of situation the near-shore breaks are very frequent (3-4 seconds) and big
enough (to hip to chest high) so that makes getting out really a workout.

Started to surf in front of the parking area and I was hoping to see if I
can move north from this point, but then it became rather rough out there,
so I got out, and walked to the south end. The wave quality was noticeably
better here, so I got several good take-offs. By the way, I used my 8'6
mini-Malibu out today. I was almost going to take the short board out but I
kind of promised to everyone that I am going to sign up for the HMB surfing
classic with a hope of getting to the last place without looking too badly,
so I am going to practice long boarding a bit since I am sure that short
bard heats are going to be much more intense.

While we did get some OVH waves from time to time, they were all mushy and I
think I now know that local wind swells tend to cause these mushy type
waves, but were breaking further out so they were quite ridable and fun.

As for how I will estimate tomorrow, the HMB buoy indicates that whatever
out there is still holding up and are on an average "up" trend in the last
several hours, so similar conditions will be expected, but in the morning,
again, we are still in the minus tide region so it might break too quickly
on our beach breaks. The wave quality are all STEEP so expect some more
chops! I am going to go in the AM, and see if what I said is true or not.

Good night and have fun in the morning if you are going to go.

Surf's Up in Texas?

Surf's Up in TX

Is it? Looks Jetty size (lately) to me.

TUE AM Predictions, Stoke Estimate = 5, may be 6

Unfortunately I cannot verify my guesstimate against Stormsurf (on vacation
it seems), nor Pacific Wave Rider (NOAA FTP site broken) today. So you have
to bare with me with my version only. This is a bit scary isn't it!

The waves have kicked up a bit compared to yesterday and out near our shores
about 8 ft (wind) swells are kicking up at 8 seconds period. The steepness
reading in the HMB buoy has relaxed a bit indicating not quite a swell level
but average level. The swell direction is as usual from the NW angle, and
this means that both Montara and LM would catch some among other places that
I am not supposed to tell you on the web!

The wind also is NW, so we can probably expect not completely onshore
situations, but PM wind may pick up a bit, so the AM surfing would be good
but unfortunately we get a minus tide right in the morning so beach breaks
may not work in the AM. General warming trends this week, so and even in HMB
a daytime temp. of 80 may be expected! But don't expect warm water as the
buoy is reading 51-2 degrees out.

OK that's all for now. Have fun!

Monday Forecast, Stoke Estimate = 4

I have just checked a few models and forecasts on the web, and the fog
situation is under control at least through Tuesday with an warming
trend.... However, the wave does not look that promising as there appears to
be no major storms cooking further out from our coasts. The south swells has
been very disappointing so far this summer season. There are a lot of local
wind swells of low periods but that would probably not contribute to much
stokes in our area. I am still gathering more information.

As for today, the Jetty was desperately flat and I did not venture out so I
could not tell regarding Motara or other areas. From the looks of it,
looking into the South from the Jetty and also the OB cam, there simply
isn't much going on in our area.

Sat AM Montara 0900 - 1100, Waves Did Not Live Up To The Weather Stoke=5

While the beach has picked up more waves since yesterday, the ride quality
was marginal as the shape did not quite hold up. Either an immediate
overhead close out or mashed out and do not break (until hit the beach and
explode). Very once in a while I was on OVH breaks that can be taken off
from. The weather was, however, gorgeous, and there were already a lot of
beach-goers out. The wind situation is minimum. Most people were taking off
in the north zone, while there were some people by the far south end, with
couple of shifty zones in between.

The Jetty continues to be flat to knee high as it has been for the last few
days, and not wedging up by the jetty.

Friday Morning 0700 at LM, Stoke Level 7

What a wonderful morning. I got up this morning and checked the Scripps map of our area and the color has brightened up in our area significantly over night. Checking the CIDP at Bodega and also in HMB showing lots of steep swells, I was a bit worried about the waves just being junky, but there were some hopes, so I put on the gear and headed to work via the coast.

 

As I passed Montara and it was breaking solid and harder than the last couple of days, and even the Gray Whale Cove looked promising. This is a good indication that LM can become fun. After almost a couple of weeks of flat spells this was something I have been waiting.

 

We did back my favorite harder OVH breaks at LM, and they were breaking further out!  I am so stoked and happy! My last night's prediction did work and the overall swell pattern DID shift to more westerly pattern. There was a moderate side-shore wind too.

 

The beach was not crowded as the area was fog covered and freezing, but on these kinds of days, we get to enjoy catching waves and try to be a bit more radical in trying maneuvers as you can own 25 yards left and right of you with nobody to get in your way. Getting out to the outside line was a bit of work at times, especially I still don't do ducking very well, but there was a mini-channel opened up, and once I found and rode it, it was an easy out.

 

The north end of LM is becoming one of my favorite lineup as I can almost always connect the outside and inside sections, and I had a phenomenally long ride this morning on my fun board. To top this off, I had a very clean drop down from an over head break, through the speed still scares me a bit and did not turn harder, so I go way too ahead of the waves and just lose momentum. But I am now turning a bit harder and I can now, compared to just even a couple of months ago.

 

One thing I noticed is that I have been landing on the board too far forward, as today, my right foot happened to land on the pad and that made turning much more effective!  So, I am very excited.

 

The Jetty was really flat.

 

Hope this holds up in our area through Saturday!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THU - FRI Forecast and Updates STOKE = 2

Local buoy readings indicate nearly no useful (2-3 ft) swells and a moderate amount of wind (10-11 mph) is out there in HMB coast. The swell pattern is indicative of strong wind waves happening out there. The NW wind continues since the 1005 mb H off our coast and there is an 1009 mb L on northern Baja area. This is, in addition to the usual local thermals.

 

Weather-wise, we can expect a sunny daytime through Friday, but starting tonight the evening fog is coming back and this trend will continue to worsen and by next week start, we will be back into the standard summer foggy day pattern.

 

There is a 1005 mb low pressure system further west of Washington state but we also got a 1023 mb high off our coast creating a S->N fetch and I am presently keeping my eyes on the development of these systems. In the next 24 hours, we may see some W waves, and if that happens, and by Friday afternoon or Saturday AM, we might have some fun this weekend.

 

Let's see if I am right or not.

 

 

PM Surfing Wrap Up, LM @ 5:00 PM STOKE=5

Given the buoy readings this morning, I cut surfing and went straight to work. I usually tell people that when the waves are flat the company gets a deal. So I cut out the work and went back through the coast. Surf check at LM, the condition did not appear to be surprisingly better than my original stoke estimate of 2. I though that this would be a stoke estimate of 7, so I went in.

 

The waves were junky and choppy, indicative of them being locally generated. If they are mixed in with distant swells, it would be really fun to zoom left and right and connect into inside sections, but none of that was possible today. Up to chest high waves were just breaking and fizzling out right under even if you successfully taken off.

 

In addition, the line up was so crowded with people, it was a bit dangerous for me to take off since people were grouped together both inside and outside.

 

The waves continues to be on a down trend.... Better do some Yoga or some other form of keeping up the shape this week!

 

Today's Stoke Estimate 2/10

Our local buoys are sending signals to us "no good surfs today in San Mateo" In addition there is a moderate amount of wind to knock off anything left out of it.

Montara PM, Stoke Factor = 5

Due to an early morning meeting, I had to postpone my daily surfing session to this evening at 6:30. Did surf check at Rockaway, LM, Montara, JT, and Francis beaches. Essentially all of the beaches were all flat. The only place that had any chance seemed to be the Montara beach, so I drove back all the way from Kelly to surf here.

 

We had occasional sets of up to shoulder level high waves but there were all very mushy, and if you go over them they will crumble under you. So riding on them were a bit of challenge from the stand-point of taking off. I am a big amazed by myself that I am now demanding a harder and faster breaking condition. May be it is a bad sign that I am about to get a one-way ticket to a short-boarder-dom... well I wish.

 

They were breaking a bit too close to the shore and when this happens, the wave riding collides with shorebreak/backwash situations. Sets often doubled up today that made the backwash situation even worse, and I got a bit greedy and caught in a shorebreak abruptly ending otherwise a one nice ride. A bit too late in bailing, next thing I was tumbling in the water like being in a front-loading washing machine.

 

Got a few more slow rides, but mainly paddling and paddling as the break shifted. As usual the area I have just left is where it broke next.

 

There was one spot at very far north end of the beach, should I stayed there it would have been OK.

 

As I entered the water, the lineup was at slightly south of the creek, then I found the north end break, and started to paddle. Soon I heard others splashing their paddling hands behind me and they were all lined up with me.

 

In spite of the waves, the weather was just so sunny and warm that it was just relaxing and enjoyable just be in the water with the beautiful sand and mountain behind the line up.

 

It looks like this low wind-swell only pattern will continue for at least for a few more days, if not less.

 

 

audblog audio post

Better weather and wind shift middle of the week.

According to the NWS, We are going to have more clear weather this week that should continue to hold just until the weekend. Already the fog should be clear in fog-phyllic areas as I write this. The wind pattern is supposed to change to side-shore. Presently we have strong wind conditions contributing to quite a bit of chops in NW open beaches. The Jetty is protected from both the wind and NW chops, but from this morning, the breaks were just about hip to chest at best, and breaking really close to the shore.

Surf/Camp at Manresa

I just got back from Manresa and it was a lot of fun to surf, eat, sleep and get up at the crack of the dawn to go surf check and go surfing again. Even though I live very close to the ocean, it is always fun to sleep right by the beach, get up and hear the crashing waves etc. So I ended up not sending up my Audio Blog, if you were waiting for it I am so sorry.

 

The surf condition itself was OK with my stoke rating of 5 yesterday and 6 this morning. The beach breaks were a bit quick to come down due to low tides, as the time went by and the water started to fill in the breaks become more manageable. This is actually kind of condition my experience at JT/LM become useful. It is still a lot of fun to beat these dumpers, and my 7'6 hybrid has worked out really well. I also get eaten by these waves too.

 

I am now at the skill level that in this kind of conditions, I am starting to be able to take off and get into the break at an angle more consistently. Now I need to work on a stronger bottom turn more quickly sharply. The problem right now is that the angle is still not sharp enough against the break and timing not quick enough that I go too far ahead of the waves ending the ride too short. If a reform happens then I can paddle push a bit and that saves the ride, but I am still relying too much on the wave and not on my own technique to make the ride longer. Catching and riding on reforms is actually a lot of fun too because it is like taking off on a new wave but I am already standing on it, so I can do the top turn to get into the waves. If I catch a reform like that then the second section of the ride is more fun than the first and usually longer.

 

Last evening was also a lot fun with lot of "illegal" fireworks going all over the beach. Even though there are a lot of signs that say "No Fireworks" there was just tons of people bringing in a lot of fireworks and the place almost became smoggy.

 

On the way back on PCH, I saw Pomponio beach and further north getting a big gnarly but looked quite surfable. I just checked the buoy readings and we are starting to get back a lot of wind swells in our area. LM might be fun tomorrow on a higher tides.

 

Everyone enjoy the last holiday before the labor day!

 

 

 

Gone Surf Camping to Manresa. Switching to Audio Blog!

My daily wave log will go into Audio only mode until Saturday. I will be surfing and camping with my friends in Manresa this weekend... Wish us good waves out there!

 

THU PM 5:30 at LM - STOKE Level was 7

What a surprise! Amidst poor estimates from all wave models and forecasts, Linda Mar was a lot of fun this afternoon. There were nice chest high "long board" right and left breaks, very consistent near the Crespi entrance. Then there were gentle popping peaks of up to shoulder high towards the north end, where I surfed the most, and I had some of the best quality rides in Pacifica. These popping waves on the north ends are so fun as they are gentle yet pop up and steeps quickly allowing fun take off, and then if you are lucky even steeper waves will reform inside and you can connect to those. I have noticed this pattern last week, but I did not know that this occurs consistently here. Turning into these waves is a lot of fun and you can make quite long rides almost to the shore connecting to reforms. I had similar reform rides in the spring at the Jetty and these are probably one of my most favorite kind of rides as they force me to negotiate the waves make turns. It seems to happen when the waves are a bit choppier and occasional bigger sets gets mixed in with these chops.

 

There were couple of dozen people by the Crespi end but there were hardly anyone hitting the north end, which is another reason why this is fun, and most people there seemed to know what they are doing, and not getting in each others ways.

 

I also like this kind of a mild foggy afternoons, because it covers up the low western sun. Tue afternoon at Montara was brutal to my eyes as the blinding sun was shining directly into my eyes and water was reflecting it as well causing my eyes to almost hurt as I look west for the swells.

 

 

 

 

THU Afternoon, Still Weak

While we get ready for a long weekend, the chance of getting excellent waves is dismal. Local buoy data indications are starting to show more local wind wave activities but without much utility swells in our area. The fog in San Mateo beaches appears to be clearing so if anything, we can go and enjoy the beaches. The wind is picking up a bit as well.

 

 

THU AM Guesscast Stokeness Estimate = 4/10

Compared to Tue, there is an up trend of local wind swells providing some energy back into NW faced beaches. But the quality seems to low and power is not quite there. In addition, a bit moderate onshore is blowing here in HMB area. So, it will continue to be desperate time for all of us. The Stormsurf forecasts a more south coming next week, so let's hope for them. Regardless, many beaches will be mobbed this weekend. Better get those winter boards out and fix any dings up or something.

 

Need Your Help - Costa Rica Surfing and Learn Spanish

We are thinking of attending a Surf and Learn Spanish type packages in Costa Rica this winter. If anyone has a direct experience with this type of situation, I would like you to help us make the right choice;

 

+ Was it worthwhile going, or you got ripped off, how was the surf? Did you learn Spanish well?

+ How was the accommodations. We would like to have at least some motel/hotel type accommodation especially since there are some non-surfers joining. Roughing-It is no an option for us.

+ Do you (un)recommend specific operators?

+ Anything else, you want to tell me, please let me know.

 

You can write to me at Surf@CultureWave.COM

 

WED AM Guess Cast STOKE-O-Meter = 5

I am setting my Stoke-O-Meter to 5 tomorrow. The following are the reasons.

- Both North and south swells looked like coming up a bit tomorrow to later
on this week.about 4 ft from the north and 3 ft from the south.
- Sky will be nice and clear if not in the morning but by the afternoon.
Even waves are not going to be good, this will add a few stokes points up.
- Wind will not be so horrendous, well, at least in the AM

(try to) have fun tomorrow!

Tuesday PM Wave Log

So, as you have heard in my Aud Blog this morning, (if you have not tried
it, give it a shot, I call into to Aud Blog service and it records my
telephone voice and converts it into MP3!), the stoke this morning was
practically zero, so I went straight to work, and so I came back through the
coast after work to see how it was going. As I passed by LM it looked sad
and sucky (Stoke of 2), so I went onto Montara.

From the top of the cliff it looked sort of sick (given the swells) so I put
on all the gears and went down the wooden stairs. There were a couple of
more people arriving at the same moment.

I ran and splashed over the usual beach break and paddled out. The waves
were so mushy that I try to go over them and they I could almost smash down.
I caught one good ride by the creek mouth, then I went over further south
seeing that there were some more breaks. As my luck runs at this location,
wherever I go, the things start breaking just where I was. How frustrating!
But then it has been the story of my life anyways.

We started out with 4 surfers on the lineup, 3 men and one that looked kind
of like "Heidi" on MTV, then by the time I ended with my struggles, there
were only two. "Heidi" and her boyfriend was long gone. At the time I arrived
I saw at least 4 people getting ready to go, so they must have came down,
and gave up right away!

The waves were kind of a reasonable chest high but very choppy, where I
took up & down elevators but never broke and also to add to this there were
some backwashes and so even if you take off you got knocked out by them. We
were just all thrashed around without any breaking waves like a rubber ducky
mistakenly dropped into a washing machine.

So the overall stoke this afternoon was about 3. Though the sky was blue and
nice at Montara.

Also there is a significant amount of south bound and on-shore current going
through here, I was pushed back in unless I paddle harder to get out. This
seems to be a theme at this location. The paddling seems to be much harder
than the why the surface looks like!

I saw a few stoked surfers at the Jetty, but they all looked desperate to me
(like I am).

Better luck later on!

audblog audio post