tell me a story about your waves. the first nip of cold morning air, or the welcome warmth for those of you in the tropics. tell me about a great wave you had today, or an awesome time with your friends. it has been icy, windy and mean in oregon. someone send me some thoughts of sun and glassy days…mmmm wave dreams. nellyda
i spent 3 weeks in costa rica over the holiday. what a great place! i went out with my brother in oregon right after new years. i had to chain up the car to get over the coast range. brrrr! we had some beautiful winter golden waves, complete with near hypothermia, followed by warm up hot toddy’s in the pub. what have you all been doin’?
well, yesterday wasn’t sunny…but it sure was glassy. air temp was about 61, water temp was about 68…cold by south florida standards. surf at Singer Island (right near Palm Beach) was chest high to a foot overhead and SUPER glassy…and there when my buddy and i hit the beach there was only 2 other guys in the water…crowd never got over 6. needless to say, a good time was had by all.
joakim the osteopath from Vienna phones me up at dawn asking for clearance …
Yes I will take you surfing…
Corina wishes to surf as well
yes that will be fine
winds wsw side off at kauai sands ,cold green water,waves are wind swell driven and slow and not the best for most but just fine for this lovely happy couple
I paddled Corina out last week and pushed her into a couple offshore at Lydgate park and then subsequently way outside another day where she took a bang on the head and was the blood sacrifice to the black rocks reef
and more power to her she was rarin to surftoday…the water was river water green and refreshingly chryspe,an occasionally bigger wavenot unlike another day I paddled a young woman named Nel - the bright out and reorganised her thymking on what is surfboard size appropriate…every one I ever took surfing was out with me although I was out alone with just my elph-sport cannon waiting for the paddlers to return…still opaque water after the massive mountain rain yet a special day in hawaii nei,one much like the day you tasted kauai sands ,sleep well and dream the dream of wailua,the center of the earth…ambrose…aloha from waipouli
72 hour quarentine done, sky is tack sharp, my body is shaking for a fix. Made it through town with only one stop and no coffee spills. Used all my good luck rituals hoping they will appease the Priestess of High Pressure but my first glance of the ocean proves that the computer was right; Technology has killed righteous wishful thinking.
No matter. I’m here and the commitment has been made. I pull on the rubber, scrape the Snarol off my hull (it won’t die, Dave…I’ve done everything I can, it just won’t die). The path in is still a bit muddy. The air is cool and damp and filled with the smell of new growth. The daisys are waist high and I drag a hand along the green wall. Even the wind wracked eucalyptus sprout shiney new leaves.
A few tracer lines head to the cliffs. They jump up and form glassy peaks and walls as they pass over the reefs, tantalyzing, but backing off or crumpling weakly. Three or four desperados float just beyond the peaks, staring at the horizon, trying to will a couple more feet to the swell or a couple less feet of tide.
The water is cold but welcome. I hurridly paddle out of the shadow of the cliff and down the coast. The sun warms my back and my muscles begin to ache; it’s been almost a month. I pull up to the line-up and wait.
The gray whales huff just past the kelp with a covey of sightseeing boats providing escort. Pelican squadrons dip to a few inches above the water and transport me back 160 million years to the time when the rocks in the cliffs were mud on the ocean bottom.
The tide bottoms out and a promising line humps at the tip of the reef. Spin and go, adrenaline lubes the joints and a waist high wall builds in front of me. I roll the hull up on a rail and feel the pull, drift up the face and rock my hips as it feathers. Set the edge and follow the highline through a 20 foot section. Enough speed for a rail-about? Too much nose rail and I’m dumped on my ass. The white water grabs the board and I look back for something to bodysurf…nothing. Swimming with booties sucks…
A friend paddles out and joins me. We trade some stories, split the peak, alternating lefts and rights. Most are short with just enough speed on a drop or a section to tease. It kindles the fire…
Back at the car I realize that my funky little session was about as good as it gets. I still have a smile pasted on my face.
100 degrees…no wind…water temp 72 degrees, so … respite from the heat on land !
bodysurf into the tiny glassy tubes… no-one around because ‘no swell at all’… and the sand too hot for the 5 minute walk to get there.
or maybe I should have just posted these piccies, with no explanation whatsoever because…well…
‘pictures speak volumes’
Then , when the film ran out, I stood under the cold shower and soaked myself, fully clothed, for the 30 minute cycle ride home. I was bone dry by the time I got home.
[I didn’t know it was 100 degrees until I switched on the weather report that night…explains the empty beach and waves, at least !! I DID think it definately felt warm on the beach, but when you’re in the water, absorbed…well, it’s all good !!]
… the moral of the story [to me] ?
Even when the surf report says "there’s no surf at all today ", ALWAYS take a water camera with me, anyway… because even ‘tiny’ waves are things of BEAUTY, and worth showing … to surfers and non-surfers alike !
