Blog Oct 06 to July 08

30 June 08, SF and beyondSome fun 2-4ft waves at Ocean Beach today but with lots of waiting time. Jellyfish all over the place. The past month for me has mostly consisted of medioce Linda Mar surf..not much to blog (is that term stupid?) about.

16 May 08 Pacifica, SF, HMB Nice heat wave this week. I didn't get the best waves earlier this week but today I surfed a beach in Half Moon Bay with glassy conditions, some fun waves, and a very light crowd. Waves were in the 3-6ft range and a mix of closeouts, fun rights, and a few lefts. Weather was fantastic, people were cool. There was definitely a spot somewhere in Pacifica that was working better, but I don't have any complaints since it also had more people on it.

8 May 08 Pacifica, CA Winds were still staying sideshore at the south end so I was there most of the time. Some fun 2-4ft waves to start with and then the winds switched onshore and it went downhill form there.

5 May 08 Pacifica, CA Nice sunny, 3-5ft waves, offshorish wind at Linda Mar. Lot's of fun rides made a very efficient post daycare/prework session. Felt good after two dud sessions. Last friday at Ocean Beach I was interviewed by KTVU for the 5 O'Clock news. It was the day of the San Diego shark attack so they wanted to know about sharks. I "knowledged" them for about 2 minutes which was turned into a 5 second sound bite. So althought the session pretty much sucked at least I made the news.

23 April 08 Pacifica, CA 2-4ft surf at LM. Kinda crowded but manageable peak that ended up being more fun that I thought it would be. Waves were fairly consistent for most of the time. Fairly quick drop with quick bottom turn and a short fast section.....that quickly turned into a gutless shoulder that barely moved the surfboard forward. Sunshine was on and off. Session gave me a quick fix that hit the spot.

13 April 08 Moss Landing, CA Stayed at the KOA with the family near Manresa beach. Surf was on the very small side so we headed off to Moss Landing instead. Waves were still small, mostly 1-3ft, with an occasional 4 footer. Some open shoulders between small closeouts and waves backing off. What made the day was the weather, which was perfect. Warm, sunny, and uberglass. The water was so clear I could see the bottom the whole time. I could see the wife and kids on the beach the whole time and they loved it as well. All in all it was about as great as I could expect for a family outing.

11 April 08 Ocean Beach again Fun, sunny day at Ocean Beach. 3-5ft waves, a little punchy with the low tide so I went with my heavier, more narrow "fish". Some fast drops and fast walls, moderate-light crowds, nice weather. Another very efficent pre-work session. Talked to some Longboarder just breaking out of the LM shell...good for him he just need something smaller for the day.

3 April 08 San Francisco, Ocean Beach Third OB session this week. Yesterday was overcast and fairly clean with 2-4ft waves. Today was anywhere from 2-5ft and sunny. Clean conditions again. Overall a fun week with some good waves and easy paddle outs. A couple of guys nearby said a grey whale surfaced very close to them, about 10ft, and did a little tail splashing.

31 March 08 San Francisco, Ocean Beach Quite a few LM sessions lately, but today was a return to Ocean Beach. North sideshore winds, sunshine, and 3-4ft waves. Some fun rides in between the closeouts heading toward low tide. A little on the sloppy side, especially as the wind turned onshore NW. Managed to squeeze an efficient hour of surfing in before my time was up. Conditions were pretty poor by the time I left.

4 March 08 San Francisco, Ocean Beach A few fun sessions recently in Pacifica, Half Moon Bay, and OB. Surfed Ocean Beach today with sunny skies and fairly light onshore winds. 3-5ft waves, semi-clean, and some open shoulders. More closeouts towards the second half (low tide) part of the session but overall a fun time, especially with the sunny weather. I used the bigger epoxy quad which is part of the reason it was harder to get into the waves later on.

19 Feb 08 San Francisco, Ocean Beach Drizzly skies at the North end of OB with 2-4ft waves, occasionally 5ft. Fairly clean. Pretty fun and rather empty. Much more crowded toward the middle of the beach which had bigger waves. Waves deteriorated by the end of the session as the surface got more textured. Didn't matter, I got what I came for and my time was up anyway.

11 Feb 08 I haven't bothered with entries much lately, but the last few months consisted of many super fun OB days and a few ok LM and Jetty sessions. Last thur/fri I surfed LM and despite the marginal conditions it turned out to be fun. Mostly consisted of connecting weak sections with the fishboard. I was mostly just itching for some decent sunny surf so I was happy with the 2-5ft waves that I got.

Late Oct 07 SF Bay Area Some nice days recently at Ocean Beach. Nice head high waves yesterday, sunny with offshore wind. Took out the Mandala. Floundered for awhile between the current/crowds and then hit my stride. Second half of the session was excellent, nice lefts and rights with some decent duration to rides and good power.

San Mateo/San Franicsco County 2 Oct 07 Drove down to the HMB Jetty hoping to catch some wrap from the NW swell. Some was coming in but shape was lacking. A little swamped from the tide. Went for nice run along the beach path instead...figured that way my drive wasn't a waste. Had two nice sunny fairly clean days at OB last weak. That was nice, hadn't been there in awhile. Before that I had a couple a medioce but nice weather days south of Pacifica. No big surf or epic days, just some fun sunny sessions midweek and not overcrowded.

San Mateo County, Sept 07 Got a few more fun days this past month but I am presently going through a lull. The forces of nature are not coming together when I have free time...that would be midweek, midday, for a quick session. Weekends have been family time so hopefully next week (last week of Sept) there will be something. Weather looks good for clean conditions! Keeping my fingers crossed. Also mulling over getting a new quad fish.

SF Bay Area, August 07 Despite the smallish waves lately have had three fun sessions in a row. Two of those including sunny weather! I won't say where I was yesterday but the water was friggin crystal clear, the waves were nice, and the beach was not crowded at all. Thank God for mid-week sessions.

Pacifica, 9 July 07 Not much to say about the past month as far as my surfing goes. Got out a few times at LM and they waves mostly sucked. A few fun rides here and there but not much else to report.

Pacifica, 9 June 07 2-4ft waves with sunny skies close to sunset. Wave quality not great but not crowded for a Saturday. Worth getting wet but nothing to brag about. One of those sessions that keeps you "tuned" for better days.

South of Pacifica, 4 June 07 Surf was pretty fun. Fairly clean and about 3-4ft, up to 5ft sets. Overcast but no wind. Took the frontside friendly twinzer out.

Pacifica, 28 May 07 Finally some decent waves. Waited till sunset and saw the winds switch southish..sideshore-offshore and went to LM. People leaving so crowds not too bad and got a few fun waves. Certainly better than the last couple of times. Those sessions were so bad I couldn't even bring myself to blog them...waste of family time.

Ocean Beach, San Francisco - 7 May 07 Sunny, warm, offshore wind day. Nice 3-5ft waves. Only drifted about 1 block from my car...not bad for OB current. Some crowded sandbars but there were empty fun waves scattered up and down the beach.

Pacifica - 21 April 07 Rainy south offshore wind day. Went out toward sunset and everything started to "grey out". Waves were a little slow and crowded at first, but then I started to get some fun, uncrowded, 3-4ft rights as people started to clear out.

Sands Beach - Santa Barbara, CA 14 April 07 Went to a nice beach wedding in SB and had a chance to go surfing on Sat. Sands Beach was definately picking up more swell than other nearby spots. Wave were 2-4ft and fairly clean. Kelp forests just offshore helped clean the waves up....wish we had more of that around here. People out but there was room to spread out and there were some nice rights at times. Sunny weather.

Bolinas-Bodega Bay 10 April 07 Jumped on the grenade and took the day off to go surfing. Started at Bolinas with some 2-4ft waves. Sideshore wind and sunny. Nice fish waves when I first got out. Lagoon was crowded so I ended up at the patch wishing I had a longboard. Drove from there to Drakes Beach and stared at 2-4ft closeouts. Went from there to Bodega Bay in time to surf the last 1 hour before sunset. Offshore wind with overcast skies and many closeouts, but some nice fast rides in between. More driving than I want to do for a long time but the day still felt like a good surf day.

Pacifica 9 April 07 Not great, but worth getting out for a sunset session at OB. 3-5ft waves and on the junky side, but some rideable shoulders. Felt good to get in.

Pacifica 14 March 07 Nice weather and 3-4ft waves. Surf was mostly raw and closing out but I got a few rides. Worth it just for the weather and light crowds.

Pacifica 11 March 07 Some fun waves at sunset. 3-6ft and nice sunny weather. Mostly rights and a couple of lefts. Surfed until it got too dark to see.

Pacifica 10 March 07 Nice weather but the waves sucked. Just a bunch of close-outs. I deciced to pack it in after about 30 minutes.

South of Pacifica 3 March 07 Went surfing south of Pacifica, decent beachbreak 2-4ft waves. Not crowded at all and sunny out with no wind, fairly clean conditions. Felt good to get some decent waves.

Pacifica 2 March 07 Surfed 3-4ft waves, sometimes bigger with light onshore wind. Not the greatest waves but I caught a few ok ones. Good enough, considering that I haven't surfed for a while.

Nowhere 23 Feb 07 I just wanted to take the oppurtunity to tell you how much the surf has sucked lately. It looked really bad today. I am really feeling the urge to get a couple of at least so-so waves, but I'm just not desperate enough yet considering these conditions. I'm looking forward to the day when I can go camping again, when the little ones are little older. I don't care if the waves are epic on those trips, just a few uncrowded decent ones are enough to make it a successful camping-surf trip.

Pacifica 5 Feb 07 Fun waves "at some beachbreak" nearby. Light offshore wind and partly sunnty skies. Set waves of 4-6ft coming through occassionaly and some smaller waves were rideable as well. Mostly easy paddles back out. I only hit for about an hour because my shoulders feel shot from trying to paddle into closeouts the past two days. Still fun, just wish I have saved more juice for today. Guys were on it but crowds not too bad.

South of Pacifica 4 feb Surfing south of Pacifica. Wave were anywhere from 3-7ft. I think the superbowl cut down the crowds a little. A few fun rides but mostly closeouts. Sunny out and the water was fairly glassy by late afternoon when I went out. Ocean Beach was probably going off.

Pacifica 3 Feb Surfed some beachbreak nearby, there weres some rides out there for sure but not many for me. Mosty closeout city.

San Francisco 27 Jan 07 Some set waves up to 7ft, got a couple of waves after a decent amount of paddling, partly cloudy and no wind.

Pacifica - 29 Jan 07 Quick session at LM before picking up daughter from preschool. Mostly closeouts but a few quick rides with shortboard, sunny, nice weather.

Pacifica - 25 Jan 07 3-5ft sunny waves at Linda Mar. A fair amount of closeouts with a few decent rides for me. Fairly crowded as to be expected on a sunny offshore day..even midweek, midday. Better than going for a run.

Ocean Beach - 15 Jan 07 4-6ft waves at San Francisco. Unfortunately it was mostly just doubling up and slamming on the inside. Outside was mushy. There were a few more crowded sandbars working in and around town, but my session sucked. Got one good wave at OB and that was about it. Felt good to excercise, been at the computer/work too much.

Half Moon Bay Jetty - 5 Jan 07 Some 3-5ft waves, a few fun rides. Got swamped with the high tide later. Very chilly, windy (sideshore-offshore) going on made it hard to get in my wetsuit. Glad I did, not that it was great, but a few sunny waves are always worth it.

San Francisco - 30 Dec 06 Bigger than yesterday (3-6ft) but not quite as clean. Light offshore wind turned into moderate sideshore wind. Lots of closeouts, crowds, crumbly waves, and few short sections. Not my best day but sunny out.

San Francisco - 29 Dec 06 Some fun small waves at Ocean Beach towards Sloat. Mostly caught 2-4ft waves but some rare 5 footers would come through. Nice and sunny with light offshore wind. Good sandbars crowded but found a decent empty one.

Pacifica - 19 Dec 06 Mostly closeout surf for me AGAIN. A couple of very short rides and some nice sunny weather, but 3-5 ft closeout surf left me thinking about all the other things I should be doing instead of sitting in the water.

Half Moon Bay Jetty - 17 Dec 06 Sunny out with easy paddle and no current. That's the good part, the bad part was it was mostly 2-4ft closeouts at low tide. Caught a few shoulders and the exercise felt good, but nothing special in terms of surf. Even the main peak looked poor. Offshore-sideshore wind and big closeouts at most other spots from good size WNW swell.

Ocean Beach, San Francisco - 6 Dec 06 Brought the gun board, not because the waves were that big but just to deal with the current. Some fun waves out there and got a few 7ft "bombs" on the outside. After some fun rides I drifted south with the current and caught some decent rides there as well. Nice weather again.

South of Pacifica, 3 Dec 06 Went surfing during an uber-low tide. Lots of closeouts but but a few shoulders opened up. Waves were small most of the time but some 5ft closeout sets would come through once in a while. OB was probably much better but also much more crowded. Only a few people out. Nice scenery even thought the waves weren't that happening. Pretty sunset.

Half Moon Bay, 2 Dec 06 Took some poking around but with the offshore wind I settled on one of the Half Moon Bay beaches. Surf was about 2-3ft but sometimes 5ft sets would come through. Fast dropping tide made the waves suck back alot and there were a fair amount of closeouts. Overall there were some fun rides, I just had to work for them. A few guys were getting some nice microbarrels. Nice, clear, sunny day.

Ocean Beach - San Francisco 30 Nov 06 Some fun waves out there, just not for me. Surf was about 3-5ft and I tried to find an empty sandbar. Should have stuck with the crowded ones, the other bars just weren't happening despite the offshore wind. Sunny out, started out a bit chilly though so I wore my booties AND hood. A rare occurrence. Here is something new I am trying at Technorati Profile.

Pacifica, 26 Nov 06 Surf was smaller, about 1-3ft but cleaner with rainy offshore winds. On the weak side, but better than yesterday. Less crowded too, probably because the heavy rain coming through. Session started out boring and ended boring but somewhere in the middle I caught a few funnish small waves.

Pacifica, 25 Nov 06 UGG! The surf sucked! Sunny, onshore wind, and crowded. The one spot that looked barely OK had a sizable longboard contingency on it. Waves were a blown out 3-5ft. Total waste of time.it.

Pacifica, 21 Nov 06 Felt good to get out after a couple of weeks. Conflicting schedule and house hunting conspired to keep my out of the water but today the sun was out and the waves at LM were about 3-4ft, sometimes 5ft. Not the best shape, with a fair amount of closeouts but I got some fun rights.

Ocean Beach, San Francisco 1 Nov 06 2-3ft my butt. The waves up to 6ft out there on the bigger sets. I stupidly took my thin leash and busted it after 45 minutes. Mostly clean, overcast waves with some power on the bigger sets. I had fun while it lasted.

Ocean Beach, San Francisco 28 Oct 06 Another nice day at OB. Still sunny out with nice waves, although shape is not quite as good as yesterday but still fun. Took out the 8ft gun even though waves were only 3-6ft. My sore shoulders were thanking me. Easy paddle and I just picked off some outside waves. I did absolutely nothing with that board other than go straight down the line but I didn't care, at least I was catching waves without tearing my shoulders.

Ocean Beach, San Francisco 27 Oct 06 Great beach day! Offshore wind all day. Waves up to about 6ft, I raced to the beach trying to beat the sun. People surfing up and down the whole thing, porpoises swimming on the outside, very nice. I didn't get a ton of waves but I got some nice ones right around sunset. A little crowded but that's to expected on a day like this. Saw some outside sets bigger than 6ft when I was leaving. Maybe about 8ft.

Half Moon Bay Jetty 25 Oct 06 Sunny 2-4ft waves. Main peak not working too good but NW swell wrapping in enough to give a few fast shorebreak waves. A worthwile session.

Pacifica, 18 Oct 06 Linda Mar was very sunny but closeout city...mostly 4ft closeouts even though the tide was high.

Pacifica, 9 Oct 06 LM fairly fun despite crowds. Went to north end, less crowded, a bit of a wait but a few fun 3-5ft rights coming through in front of the community center and very nice, sunny weather. Very little wind.

Pacifica, 8 Oct 06 4-6ft waves, raw and lousy, mostly closing out. Got two waves at larger north end including one where I blew the take off and just rode it oafishly like a bodyboard. Not worth it, but nice beach day. Large dead seal on beach.

Ocean Beach, SF 3 Oct 06 Partly overcast and smooth 2-4ft around Sloat. Onshore wind picked up a 1:00PM and it got pretty crumbly but at least half my session was OK. Still contemplating the epoxy fish board..might be nice for paddling around at OB. Maybe I will try that surftech quad...or the KG epoxy.