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Thursday, September 12, 2013

9.12.13 Good-Sized but STEEP South Swell Rolls Through

Rumors of an incoming swell were percolating through the coconut wireless.  It was to have arrived yesterday, filling in overnight.

I am pleased to report that there is in fact fresh swell in the water!  It is a little jarring to see it first-hand, after nearly two weeks of lackluster waves.

The problem, and there's almost always a problem, wasn't the size.  It wasn't the period; the waves were spread out fine.  No, the wind wasn't an issue.  I thought the tide might be a bit low, but it wasn't affecting the waves negatively.  Yeah, it was a little crowded, but not so much so that it affected my wave count.

The problem was the steep (180-210) angle of the swell.  It arrives at an angle and so it breaks at an angle.  It combines this unfortunate detail with the lack of sandbars, making it spill over every five or ten yards almost every time.

My first wave was a left that immediately snapped shut on me.

My next wave was a bigger, throatier wave.  It did the same, so I pulled through the wall.

A couple more repeats of the above and I got my decent wave.  It got nice and steep right where I was.  I did two very stylish (or so they felt) pumps and then smacked the oncoming spill-over whitewash.  My fins lost just a wee bit of traction, and I pulled it.  NICE!

After another half-hour of getting excited, paddling, then pulling back from closing out shoulder-high waves, I got a little frustrated.  It's akin to when you're a little kid and you see a big package with your name on it on Christmas morning thinking it's that rad present you've been lusting after for weeks, when in fact it's a winter coat or something similarly boner-bending.

Eventually, I caught another wave that had somewhat of a line, though it was much weaker.  I smacked it ok and made it.  I thought about going in, but I wanted a shot at one more.

Twenty minutes later, I paddled into a wave which had some size, maybe head-high, but it too closed out.

I did see some cool wildlife stuff.  I saw some seagulls harassing a small pod of dolphins and a decent-sized school of sardines.  I saw seagulls fly in after a fish was floundering on and over the water's surface, being chased by God knows what, only to have a pelican swoop in and snag it in an unceremonious gulp.  There were plenty of long-necked duck looking creatures also.  All of this fauna leads me to believe that fall is here, at least for the animal world, which means differently angled swell and BETTER WAVES!

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