The sun has returned to Half Moon Bay this weekend, but the waves are still not cooperating to us. Probably for big wave surfers, we got enough period and height, but that usually translates to messy and closed out situations. The swell has gone up a bit since yesterday, but I think that the direction has shifted a bit more NW, making Half Moon Bay Jetty a bit more surfable than yesterday. One nice thing is that the break has been spread out so it was nice.
Linda Mar must have really been poor this morning; because there are Linda Mar local surfers that I normally see only at Linda Mar surfing here! What I thought very interesting is that this one surfer who I consider to be much advanced level than I seemed to have stayed inside breaks on a long board. She could have gone way out and could have done her usual nice take off onto a wall. I don't know, what was happening. Also, come to think of it, it is rather interesting that there must be some LM locals who only surf there basically year around, because I do not see them any where else, unless they are going to the OB. There are few out of the pack that I do see in "The East Side", but when I see them they are basically the same faces, and I know some of them personally.
As for surfing, I had some fun moments too. It is just difficult to find when and where good waves happen, because especially on a day like today, once a wave happens at one place, it does not seem to happen again for a while. So I was in a wave chase mode. As a result, my arms are more fatigued than the usual session.
I had several rides, like Friday and yesterday, that incorporated solid ups and downs, and being able to do that is starting to become consistent. The key seems to me is to execute an earlier turn at the top half of the wave. Previously, I was doing more straight down approach then a bottom turn, but often I go too far out to the bottom and stalled out. When the waves gets bigger there are more options, I would think, but for smaller waves that I like to ride, speeding down the side of the wave sooner seems to allow me keeping the wave longer. Well, I am still learning, so I will vary this a bit and see how and what makes the difference. As write this, and come to think of it, today I have a much better idea of whether I will have a good ride or not at the moment of take off. Sometime earlier in the stage, I could only know if I am going to take off or not. A good take off that I know I will have a longer ride will usually have a nice flat slope in front of me, and like an airplane landing scene from the cockpit from a movie, I'd have a very clear vista and a virtual descend line drawn on the surface of the water. If this does not happen, I'd usually mess up a take off, or even if I take off, I'd just go straight down and stall right away with either the front or tail buried in the white water.
This morning, I surfed with Laura in the longest time. Probably at least for a couple of months, we have not shared the waves! Life is a dynamic thing, and it is ever changing, nothing stays the same, but I am hoping that those people came and gone over the past years will take up surfing more frequently again. We used put any kind of "days" on the calendar be it Mother's Day, Valentines Day, even family members' birthdays on hold and gone surfing. I still do, but now seem to do more often with otters, seals and dolphins than people.
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