Session 7175

WavLOG

Day 175 (of 2007)

With the swell going at 10 ft with 16 seconds+, the local home breaks are starting to fire and beyond the Pillar Point, there are some big white top of the breaks that we could see from the lineups. It is amazing that just a few mile down is the world famous big wave spot and then us, the "regular surfers" can still take advantage of the long-period Alaskan juice.

I pulled up to the "dirt lot" across from the Jetty break. The clear sky and cold weather over night has frozen part of the ground solid and other parts starting to thaw back into mud. Even with a pair of booties on the sole of my feet starting to sting with the cold penetrating from the ground as I waited for my buddy to show up. It is definitely in the hight of the winter surfing time.

I gradually walked into the water and started to paddle out when I was shoulder deep. Even I was wrapped in a 3-mm hood, gloves and booties, the first duck dive beats any cup of coffee as far as "waking up" department is concerned. The most waking up moment comes when the water seeps through the neck into the back of the suit just as I tuck the tail end of the board into the water and the I am already deep under the wave.

When the period is taking longer than 14, 15, 16 seconds, things do get more powerful and breaks occur further out. At one of the take-offs, I messed it up, and gosh, the amount of time I was dragged on the leash almost seemed forever. The board kept tagging my right ankle for a good amount of time. This would not normally happen on smaller summer waves. Paddling out to the lineup took me a bit more effort too with the distance I had to cover and also a few waves that I had to go over or under. This is where a long boarder and stronger surfers have a better advantage.

Some bigger sets closed out a big time, I know enough now not to take off on most of them, but somewhere in between were some really fun rides where I could paddle in as the wave jacked up just in time for a take-off. When that works, and when I can just drop right into the pocket of a wave, there is nothing that's more pleasing.

With the tide being a bit too high, the size of the bouncy back-wash waves were just equally big. I caught a nice wave, kept a good line, but the ride ended up in a huge smashing bang as the incoming and bounced waves collided and I got knocked out and stumbled forward a big time. I did not see that coming, honestly. I should be more careful about that. That's when I decided to get out of the water and ran for a hot cup of double cappuccino.