DP and South of R's

DP, LS, far north.

I’d really been banging myself up about sleeping in. Right now I work remotely, and it’s technically really easy for me to get out for dawn patrol. This week I really committed to starting to wake up in the wee hours so I can drink my coffee slowly, which is a must for me, and be in my car by first light. I got rewarded for that on Friday with this beautiful sunrise:

Northern side, LS. (C) Sara Dyer

The tide was filling in really fast and it was small, ankle biters, but it’s always fun and I was so happy about that light. Nubble looked so beautiful and the colors were just like the sky was on fire. Everyone on the sidewalk was beside themselves with how beautiful it was.

Yesterday (Saturday) I went out just south of R’s. It was just me for an hour or so, then a longboarder rolled out. It was tough for me to catch anything at first but an hour or two later, it got more surfable and cleaned up. I met a guy name JP from Quebec who told me H——--s is best right before or after HT. He also said I gotta try to surf leashless, or at the very least start grabbing my board or wedging it back over the wave. He vocalized what I’ve been really trying to work on and I need to get better. Really need to have more control of the board. Fairly certain I understand why I jacked up my shoulder and it’s from the way I’ve been grabbing my board at the end of the ride. Gotta fix that because I do NOT want that to be getting in my way

Went to the Halloween paddle out with SPC from Peirce Island. All the folks were super nice and there were some hilarious costumes. The current was so strong we turned back after a really quick lap.

I think I’m leaning toward building a log, 9’0? Single fin (do you even ride a log with more than that?). I’m clearly at the very beginning of the process. But, I do have two thoughts 1) I should learn the generally held rules so that I know when I want to break them for building surfboards 2) I’d prefer to go the long way / do whatever I need to have a fairly in-depth understanding of the process, rather than taking lots of short cuts. We’ll see what these decisions translate into. Maddie and I are going to check out Dale’s scene, and get a little intel about building our boards soon—I’m pumped.

BIG.WAVES.

South of BH (LS). Yesterday the waves were huge. I’m going to say overhead-double overhead. Not every wave, but enough.

I could hardly paddle out and I 100% threw up in my mouth from how hard the paddle was for me. That has definitely never happened to me.

The first ride I got was so sweet. I had this sick drop and I was so amped that I made that wave. It made me feel so good. I was surprised I went on it, and so were the dudes around me. I had a couple other sweet waves but I spent a lot of time too far outside. I was just charging yesterday. I was totally scared. I had the jitters. I haven’t felt that way in a while. I took a left like a total kook and by the grace of god the ocean spared me. It was not pretty but I just kept whispering thankyouthankyouthankyou.

I’m slightly concerned about my left shoulder but I asked a friend for some advice and now I’m rolling out my shoulder and it actually feels a little better. The theory is it’s just overuse.

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South of R’s (LS). I went out today but it wasn’t my scene. Someone else coulda done something magical I’m sure but I was having a really hard time reading the waves and most of them I got a bad feeling on. it was so disorganized. They were breaking all over the place and drawing like curtains.

I slept through DP today and I vowed never again. 5am wake up calls from now on.

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I really want to understand why the shape of the waves at SS is the way it is. It’s so dramatic. It’s like a little kid drew a wave, or like the cap part of a sombrero. Not all the time but when it’s firing. It was so much cleaner at SS then LS today.
FOLLOW UP TO THIS POST 10.26.19: I asked my friend whose surfed here a bunch this question last night. It relates to the swell direction—under certain conditions, the swell wraps around, reverbs off the rocks on the left if you’re looking out from shore and forms “teepees”. The weird-shaped waves. Ahah! This explains why it’s not all the time it’s doing this…depends on which wave the waves are coming.

I am beat.

I found my spot to skate—the high school. It’s perfect. Some real gentle declines too.

La vie est belle

What a beautiful surprise awaited me on my stoop when I got home from working in the city today, from one of my most favorite surfers of all time, the one who welcomed me into this surfing community and shared so much stoke. The sweet floral surprise just washed a beautiful wave of water and light over my heart and gave me such peace and joy. Life is so beautiful. I have been missing this beautiful surfer, and thinking so much about them, it just lit me up.