Session 5064: Conditions conditions and conditions!

Here is how difficult to understand the condition. I arrived at the beach, and called my local surf buddy that the condition was good. It really looked good. We paddled out then we both had some nice rides, then suddenly the waves started to come from all directions making it difficult to judge where they are coming from and which way they would break. For the next 45 minutes we were paddling up and down, or surf back to the shore and walk up north, try again to see if we can find a better breaking spot. Then there was a little seal pup with a broken hind leg resting, and as we approached it, we must have spooked it and it started to go in the water. We decided to stay a distance away and then my buddy called the Marine Mammal Center to that it will be in good hands. That basically concluded the session.

As we got out, making calls, and still looking at the ocean, the condition seemed to have improved again. Of course, it is because we are out of the water. It never seems to fail.

Later the evening, we had a Surfrider meeting with Mark Sponsler of StormSurf.COM and I showed him my new SM2005 condition gathering and reporting backend software, and he was really stoked to see this work on my Pocket PC, then he talked in front of the audience about the wave forecasting technique.

One interesting comment is why we do wave forecasting. He said that we all work and have family obligations and we use forecasting to shuffle our time appropriately to fit in surfing. So true!