Friday, August 29, 2014
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Thanks, Christobal
The spell has been broken and we are all now sore as hell.
After only having four decent days since mid-June (yes, Bob, you are right on the numbers), we FINALLY surfed in decent waves today...
Arthur, Bertha, and now Christobal (I hope I am spelling it right) helped us out, but we are entering the peak season and are only on C so, not a great year for surfing here.
But today started out, for me, about 4 a.m. when I heard the weather radio say the winds were west. WHAT? I must be dreaming, I thought.
Got up in the dark, ate breakfast to combat the fatigue I knew would set in from lack of any type of surfing related exercise lately - and I knew I had to maximize my energy levels. I did do a short bike ride on my birthday yesterday morning (Happy Birthday, Pee Wee!) just to make sure I had not aged into invalidism. After the lady at the health food store made an assumption that I was a senior this past Sunday, I needed to do a systems check.
All good. Well, for my age, I suppose.
So, off to the pier I go. GT is there waxing up, said it looked a little funky, but there were waves and if anyone is a beggar for waves it is us. I said I was thinking Mary St. and he said that was probably a good call. I think he just wanted me to go there so he could have more waves to himself, but he is a salesman and always says what he thinks you want to hear. YES, NANCY, YOU ARE ONE SMART SENIOR!
I looked at it, brown water, ugh, lumpy, no one catching anything, and it already looked fat, like high tide and it was only mid. Eh. BUT, THERE WERE WAVES LEST WE FORGET. Mark showed up, ready to go, and ended up staying. Andy called, I gave him the report and said I am coming there, where he was looking, at Mary St.
We ended up surfing there for a couple hours. The outside was breaking at first and then just stopped. I sat and sat way outside there, feeling like life was just continuing the same old bad joke on me, but then paddled inside, to where Andy was smiling.
Oh, we had some fun ones on the inside! The Double Agent felt great, and I was really finding out what it could do. He said he saw me get the best one, a big right that just sucked up sooo nice. The seas were 7 feet at 11 seconds, so it had some push today.
Then I let Andy try it and on his first wave, a left, he actually sprayed me, took off with ease like he had been riding the thing forever. He was stoked. Then he got a right that he just carved up and looked so good that I knew. He paddled back out and said, "I am getting one."
After a bit, the crowd began to swell, jockeying for position is never my favorite thing. I decided to head in, as did he, and caught one big wall, a big drop that just unloaded on the shallow sandbar and left me laughing. I decided that since this was the day I did not have to be to work until 2pm, and there were WAVES (!) that I would have to look around, maybe go to Matanzas...
When I pulled up at Summer Haven, I was shocked. Lines were pouring in over Gene Johnson way, to the point that I regretted not coming there first. Big green walls, sparkling in the sun, peeling rights... WTH? I called Andy and said,"I must be crazy, but I am seeing some good waves here." There were only four or five guys on it, rippers. He was there in fifteen minutes, ditching work was not a problem, he said, let them fire me. And then, for about an hour, we had some classic fun in the big glassy walls of green, big tarpon all around scaring the crap out of all of us. Did I mention the mullet that bitch-slapped Andy in the face at Mary St? Lots of sea life today. I saw a heck of a big fin on the inside on my first good one, and didn't stop, had waited too long for this. MOVE OUT THE WAY!
Yes, it felt good to be back in the water, back to what we live for, and it was way overdue. My back and arms are feeling it now, though. All stuff that is good for the body and soul.
Thanks, Christobal. I could not have taken much more of this waveless summer.
After only having four decent days since mid-June (yes, Bob, you are right on the numbers), we FINALLY surfed in decent waves today...
Arthur, Bertha, and now Christobal (I hope I am spelling it right) helped us out, but we are entering the peak season and are only on C so, not a great year for surfing here.
But today started out, for me, about 4 a.m. when I heard the weather radio say the winds were west. WHAT? I must be dreaming, I thought.
Got up in the dark, ate breakfast to combat the fatigue I knew would set in from lack of any type of surfing related exercise lately - and I knew I had to maximize my energy levels. I did do a short bike ride on my birthday yesterday morning (Happy Birthday, Pee Wee!) just to make sure I had not aged into invalidism. After the lady at the health food store made an assumption that I was a senior this past Sunday, I needed to do a systems check.
All good. Well, for my age, I suppose.
So, off to the pier I go. GT is there waxing up, said it looked a little funky, but there were waves and if anyone is a beggar for waves it is us. I said I was thinking Mary St. and he said that was probably a good call. I think he just wanted me to go there so he could have more waves to himself, but he is a salesman and always says what he thinks you want to hear. YES, NANCY, YOU ARE ONE SMART SENIOR!
I looked at it, brown water, ugh, lumpy, no one catching anything, and it already looked fat, like high tide and it was only mid. Eh. BUT, THERE WERE WAVES LEST WE FORGET. Mark showed up, ready to go, and ended up staying. Andy called, I gave him the report and said I am coming there, where he was looking, at Mary St.
We ended up surfing there for a couple hours. The outside was breaking at first and then just stopped. I sat and sat way outside there, feeling like life was just continuing the same old bad joke on me, but then paddled inside, to where Andy was smiling.
Oh, we had some fun ones on the inside! The Double Agent felt great, and I was really finding out what it could do. He said he saw me get the best one, a big right that just sucked up sooo nice. The seas were 7 feet at 11 seconds, so it had some push today.
Then I let Andy try it and on his first wave, a left, he actually sprayed me, took off with ease like he had been riding the thing forever. He was stoked. Then he got a right that he just carved up and looked so good that I knew. He paddled back out and said, "I am getting one."
After a bit, the crowd began to swell, jockeying for position is never my favorite thing. I decided to head in, as did he, and caught one big wall, a big drop that just unloaded on the shallow sandbar and left me laughing. I decided that since this was the day I did not have to be to work until 2pm, and there were WAVES (!) that I would have to look around, maybe go to Matanzas...
When I pulled up at Summer Haven, I was shocked. Lines were pouring in over Gene Johnson way, to the point that I regretted not coming there first. Big green walls, sparkling in the sun, peeling rights... WTH? I called Andy and said,"I must be crazy, but I am seeing some good waves here." There were only four or five guys on it, rippers. He was there in fifteen minutes, ditching work was not a problem, he said, let them fire me. And then, for about an hour, we had some classic fun in the big glassy walls of green, big tarpon all around scaring the crap out of all of us. Did I mention the mullet that bitch-slapped Andy in the face at Mary St? Lots of sea life today. I saw a heck of a big fin on the inside on my first good one, and didn't stop, had waited too long for this. MOVE OUT THE WAY!
Yes, it felt good to be back in the water, back to what we live for, and it was way overdue. My back and arms are feeling it now, though. All stuff that is good for the body and soul.
Thanks, Christobal. I could not have taken much more of this waveless summer.
Friday, August 22, 2014
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Rogue Wave
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Sunday, August 17, 2014
I ride alone
All winter I waited for spring. Surely spring would bring waves, green and cold, but with that bite that spring brings that invigorates you and makes you feel alive again.
All spring I waited for summer, recalling summers where waves came, small but clean and if you found the right sandbar you would be the happiest person on the planet just taking what you got. Now that summer is fading, the worse summer ever for waves that I can ever recall, fall has to come through... doesn't it? But, school starts tomorrow and that usually brings something tropical, the kids back in school - and being too early to skip just yet - empty line-ups... but, nothing is in the forecast.
But, it is not happening. Some kind of weather patterns with awful jet streams up in the heavens are continuing to thwart us down below.
So I went riding up A1A today. You get to the point where you realize you are spending too much time inside. It was nice, the sun was out, it wasn't too hot, and well... the surf was flat again. Although the sand bars are looking really fine, ripe, ready for something... it never comes.
No hope for us here. The rest of the surf world seems to be getting more than enough.
swell.info is flatlining into infinity and beyond.
This has me reconsidering New Zealand again. And, pondering trips to places where sanity may be found... but, if nothing else, go see "Boyhood." I did today. This is possibly one of the best films I have ever seen.
Satisfying, engrossing, and with much to say.
All spring I waited for summer, recalling summers where waves came, small but clean and if you found the right sandbar you would be the happiest person on the planet just taking what you got. Now that summer is fading, the worse summer ever for waves that I can ever recall, fall has to come through... doesn't it? But, school starts tomorrow and that usually brings something tropical, the kids back in school - and being too early to skip just yet - empty line-ups... but, nothing is in the forecast.
But, it is not happening. Some kind of weather patterns with awful jet streams up in the heavens are continuing to thwart us down below.So I went riding up A1A today. You get to the point where you realize you are spending too much time inside. It was nice, the sun was out, it wasn't too hot, and well... the surf was flat again. Although the sand bars are looking really fine, ripe, ready for something... it never comes.
No hope for us here. The rest of the surf world seems to be getting more than enough.
swell.info is flatlining into infinity and beyond.
This has me reconsidering New Zealand again. And, pondering trips to places where sanity may be found... but, if nothing else, go see "Boyhood." I did today. This is possibly one of the best films I have ever seen.
Satisfying, engrossing, and with much to say.
Monday, August 4, 2014
More of the same
Sandbars aren't working, don't understand it, summer has been the worst ever, sandbars should be groomed to perfection, and now that we have a chance of waves - the water has turned a filthy looking shade of brown. On the good side, my leg is healing nicely! Stitches are out, doc said it looked great, and I surfed (if you could call it that) the last two days with no pain or problems. The waves were horrid, but the Double Agent feels nice so far.
But, it really makes me wonder again, when so much time has gone by without any sort of decent wave, why I am still here when I love surfing more than just about anything on earth.
Bertha may produce something tomorrow. We will see. Maybe tomorrow, maybe tomorrow...
But, it really makes me wonder again, when so much time has gone by without any sort of decent wave, why I am still here when I love surfing more than just about anything on earth.
Bertha may produce something tomorrow. We will see. Maybe tomorrow, maybe tomorrow...
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