A Mardi Gras crowd and strong, north winds made this weekend a flop for G-town surf. Although it looked on the surf reports that it might be a good weekend for waves, it didn't really develop until today (Sunday). My "live" surf report from surf dude differed slightly from what I saw on the webcam. He suggested that there might have been small but surfable waves on Saturday, but I only saw small ripples on the cam. I could see some waves starting to build, but nothing worth getting wet for, especially when it requires a 5-4 wetsuit and at least 15 minutes of bone-tingling cold when stepping out of the wetsuit. I really hate getting out of a wetsuit when the air temps are below 45 degrees. It's just not fun. I'm not sure how the California surfers can accept having to wear wetsuits all year. Granted, they don't have to get out of them in cold air temps, but the hassle of having to wear them all the time must get tiring. But, then again, they have good waves all year. They rarely have to sit out a weekend because it is flat.
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| Surfside exploration drive |
Since Mardi Gras festivities are in full swing this weekend and the next, larger than usual crowds are parked all over. Campers and RVs line the seawall. Surf dude said campers had grills out and picnic tables set up for their dining purposes. I remember seeing that during Mardi Gras the last couple of years. It makes parking at the 43rd street pier more difficult. However, both years I was able to park on the other side of the street, with the only difficult part being carrying the board across a very busy Seawall Boulevard. I have managed it though, and I am pretty sure I can manage it again this year. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that next weekend we have some waves. I just looked at the
Surfline report and it's not looking good, with a norther scheduled to cross the coast late on Thursday and still blowing through strong on Friday. Next Sunday's report hasn't been posted yet.
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| A bathing suit from Buc-ee's? |
Today, I decided to investigate a possible alternate local surf spot. Most of the surfers in this area have at one time or another surfed at Surfside near Freeport (see photo above). It's been ages since I've been down there and I've never surfed it, but I wanted to check it out and thought a Sunday afternoon would be the perfect time to do just that.(Funny note: The Buc-ee's convenient store near Surfside was having a bathing suit sale, which tickled me. I can't imagine telling someone I got my suit at Buc-ee's.) I timed the drive out and it took approximately an hour and ten minutes. It usually only takes about 30 minutes, or less than half of the time of today's drive, to get to the 43rd Street jetty. However, I think it would be fun to try Surfside and to possibly include it as a surf destination at least once or twice a month. I texted with my surf pal A., and she said that she would be willing to try it out with me. Who knows? Maybe next weekend, if there are waves, I will include a surf excursion in my surfing schedule.
