At least a little bit of surf

I took advantage of a few small waves on Friday (Oct. 29), which seemed to be the last of the waves for the weekend. By Saturday, it was pretty small and, on Sunday, it was flat. I got a couple of decent rides, but had a little trouble judging the "fall" waves. I wore a springsuit, but found myself getting chilly as the afternoon progressed. It wasn't the water making me cold, it was me wet, outside in the air that caused me to be cool. I know that I'm only a few weeks (possibly only one) week away from the thicker 3-2 full wetsuit. I don't necessarily dread the wetsuit, but I do dread the cold I'll feel when I get out of the water and shed the suit to drive home.

I was planning to go surfing one night this week since it is the last week that I'll be able to do it after work. (Daylight Savings Time ends this weekend.) By next week, it will be way too dark to surf after work. I just won't have enough time for it. However, those plans were dashed because of strong north winds, which has made the beach seem like a lake. I've been monitoring the swellinfo ap that I have on my phone and, according to swellinfo, Galveston and Freeport is forecasting flat. The Ohana Surf Classic has been rescheduled for this Saturday, but it doesn't even look like they will be able to hold that event either. This will be the fourth or fifth time it has been rescheduled because of flatness. I'm keeping my fingers that swellinfo is wrong! I want to surf this weekend.

Rough winds and seas

Finally, the waves return with a vengeance only the wind is blowing so hard that they are a mess! Even taking the rip out was tough. Because of the horrendous road construction taking place on Seawall Blvd., I decided to surf at 36th street. A handful of other surfers had found their way to 36th also. I had some great rides though; enough for me to think the trip was very worthwhile on Friday (10/22). Friday afternoons are the times I really look forward to for surfing. I can often get to the beach before many people are off of work and get in a couple of good hours of surfing. I took my 9'6", which was good for me in the rough stuff, but not so good for hauling the surfboard in and out of the water. When the wind is blowing so strong, I'm forced to carry my board parallel to the ground, which really stretches out my arm and eventually makes it seem much heavier. If I carry it perpendicular to the ground, which is much more manageable to control, the wind will catch it and blow me around on the seawall. It's almost like having a sail except that I can't use the wind to propel me forward. All in all, Friday was a good surf day -- good rides and, finally, some waves.

By Sunday, the winds had calmed a little and the waves were big enough for me to use my 7'2". However, although the winds had calmed, it was still rough and what was left of the prevailing winds sent us east. This meant that I had to surf on the east side of the 37th street pier, my new surfing hangout since the road resurfacing project is still taking place near 43rd. (I hate parking near 43rd when the lines have been eliminated. I feel vulnerable parking without the lines.) I only had a couple of rides on Sunday, but I got a lot of practice paddling thourgh strong currents on my shorter board, which is a good thing. I still need a lot of practice though!

Whirlwind, but no wind really

What a whirlwind the last three weeks have been. Things have just been crazy! I tried to blame it on a full moon a few weeks ago, but I can't do that really. Sometimes, life is like the waves I try to surf...just so unpredictable. I know that often the waves look perfect from shore, but once I paddle out, I just can't seem to find them. I mean I'll sit on my board, look back, think I know when it's coming only to get into position and, somehow, miss the wave. And, such is life. All the planning in the world can't prepare a person for what's just beyond the next corner.

I started surfing at 37th street pier a couple of weeks ago for a change. Of course, I should say that I've only surfed there once because during the past couple of weeks, the waves have disappeared. I enjoyed surfing there though, and met some of the surfers who routinely surf at that pier. Not sure why the waves are so bad this fall. Last year, I surfed just about every weekend. When looking back at posts, I noticed that I also started to wear a springsuit by this time. When I surfed at the 37th street pier, I wore my 2m short-sleeved rash guard with just a bathing suit. I was fine in the water, but was quite chilly sitting outside of the water. I noticed on g-townsurf.com that the water temperature is in the 70s, which means fall is definitely upon us.

I'm bummed that I didn't have any waves to surf this weekend, but I think that, maybe, the lack of waves offers me an opportunity to re-assess life and to realize that I don't really know what's happening next even if I do plan.