Session 5134

Another PM surfing this evening, but the wind was mellow and the swells were in. Linda Mar looked good, but after what I had to go through with the crowd, I said, "No thanks!" I was thinking of going near my house, or the Jetty. But after seeing the Gray Whale having some nice swell lines coming in, I said, "Heck, I have not been there for a while, I ought to give this a shot." This place is just plain finicky for the times I have tried, and along with Montara, it is one of these places that look good from the cliff top but once you get in there, it is just a hell to paddle out and when I'd get out, I'd better be prepared for the set that "I thought" were small. Of course, this is a beginner talking so, yeah, if you have been at it for a while, you'd say, what the heck am I talking about, and I agree. Regardless, this is kind of a spot that if you don't know what you are doing, it is best to not to hit it. It is definitely not Linda Mar or the 38th.

Lately I was thinking about this.

What separates me with a pack of good or better (technically) surfers from me? That is something that I have been contemplating lately.

While I do catch a whole lot of waves, and more than most people out there even this afternoon, my rides are of the types that start way inside and short. When I spot some of the better surfers they are on the outside look good catching waves, and this is also exactly what happens with my local bro that I surf with. But here is what I've learned;

- He's got so much more paddling power that he can easily move to where the next break occurs. I know where it happens, but it takes me a lot more effort for me to get over there, and he catches twice more waves that I can do.
- Along the same line, he can always position himself to a better spot than I can be.

A lot of this got to do with the paddling power he got that I don't have yet (still).

Another factor is this. He can rip on more waves than I can, and so he is more consistent. For me, I am starting to do this, but I have to let the wave help me. If I happened to be at the right place and the wave shape is about right then I can take long rides and making a lot of cut back turns along the way. But chance of this happening is very rare, and I am not sure if I would do it, and it usually happens when nobody is looking at me. But I know it is a part of the slow progress I am making. Since in the beginning, there was definitely a phase when I was not consistently catching the waves, and again had to rely on "good" waves to do good rides. So I am still hopeful.