Little surf

Sometimes a little surf is all it takes

After teaching a five day Instructor Certification Workshop that involved fifteen hour days, I needed a break. With no nearby rivers running, and not wanting to get back into my sea kayak right away, that left the surf. With a friend in town who's a board surfer, it seemed the perfect choice. Only problem: a flat forecast .

Technically, the forecast was for 2 foot swell. Hard to believe it ever gets that small, but that's what it said. The only hint at good news was a 1.5' southerly component with a long 19 second period. It wasn't much but it might be enough to create some rides.

We chose the most exposed beach we could find and showed up in the morning - the only time available over a busy weekend. A negative 1.3' low tide created an extra hundred feet of beach to carry across, and the shore break was indeed tiny. But there was some action out there. Sets rolled in and created possibilities.

We launched and paddled straight out, taking the breaking waves head on to test the energy. Easy enough to paddle through but there was something behind them. The normal reef on the north side created a dumping wave that lost all it's energy. The rocks on the south side that often create a wrap-around break only made for a hazard with the south swells. But in the middle good things happened.

We chased the take-off spot all over the place and occasional caught a nice shoulder to ride halfway to the beach. If you hung on and surfed the foam, you made it all the way in. Nothing spectacular. Not an epic day. But just what we all needed. There were more laughs than rides, more smiles than sunbeams. Sometimes all it takes is a little surf to make the world right again.

Party Wave!