June 1, 2002

Surfing

Water Temp: 58 degrees f

Sea fog all around the house. Hopefully it will burn off before I get to the beach.

When I pull in it is clearing up, and the breakers are gently spilling over each other. A beach launch today. I'm easily though with little more than spray on my glasses.

Once well outside the breakers I take off my helmet and stash it in the cockpit and replace it with a wide brim hat. I head south.

It looks to be clearing in front of me, but to the east it is still foggy and I make note to keep an eye on it. After a short mile it looks like the fog is moving back so I turn around and head north back to the launch. I'll play in the surf rather than risk being fog bound.

After putting my helmet back on, I probably surfed in 4 or 5 waves with nothing more than a low brace to keep me up. I'd brace hard on the down wave side to try and keep the boat running as straight as possible, and when I could no longer hold it out of a broach I'd switch sides and brace into the up wave side. Caught in the foam I'd move the brace towards the rear of the boat, and as the foam hit the bow it would spin me around and I'd be racing towards the beach again.

Rarely did any waves develop much of a curl, and I often took a wave across my back as I was waiting for a better wave to ride. But I didn't manage to make it through the morning without getting knocked over. I wet exited and dragged the boat ashore to dump it out. In hind sight I have no idea why I didn't roll up. There was no pressure - the wave quickly released me and I could have, but I reached for the grab loop instead.

After dumping the boat I headed out again to catch another 6 or 8 rides before calling it a morning. The fog was back and as I packed up my gear there were times I couldn't see my car 100 feet away. I was glad I had turned around when I did. I was glad I spent some time in the surf. And I think I should spend some time rolling in them.

Woody