Sunday, February 20, 2005

Session 5036: Paddle Out Hell

Montara, Paddle Out Hell!

Should have admitted my own limits and headed to Linda Mar or Santa Cruz this morning. After finding out that the Jetty was just a jumble of messy surface without any surfable looking stuff, I headed north to Linda Mar, and saw Montara not looking too badly. I actually went past there, then turned around and looked.

Again, it is deceptive from the top of the cliff. As soon as I paddled out, then I realized how strong these sets are. I tried to paddle and paddle and paddle and I was not making any progress, and also the current was so strong too that traveling hundreds of yards was just in no time.

It is kind of interesting though, it was exactly what I felt at Linda Mar waves when I started out surfing a few years ago. Now I can almost always get myself out at Linda Mar, but not here. So it was actually good to be humbled by being reflected back by these waves. It just goes to tell me there still is a lot more to learn and gain more strength and better duck diving skills.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Manabu,
I still very much enjoy reading your surf log and look forward to the Montara entries. I'm a Montara local and have yet to say hi to you in the line up. Montara is renowned for it's hellish inside, you sort of learn after awhile what can be paddled into, and what can't. We get some VERY heavy waves here and this break should never be underestimated, a surfer drowned here a few months back after paddling out alone into a heavy storm break. But, when conditions are right it's a great break, especially for bodyboarding (my prefered ride). Cheers! Kevin