Here and There and 3-2 Wetsuits

We're in the season…not just the holiday season…the season that includes cold fronts blowing through, beautiful, "California"-like waves pushing to shore and wetsuits. I've surfed three or four times since my last post, but not on my usual surf days. When the cold fronts come through, the SSE wind-generated waves get cleaned up by the north wind. If I'm lucky and I've planned everything correctly, I'm surfing when it happens.

The first Thursday surf session (a couple of weeks ago) took place after work, right before we set the clocks back for the return of fall. I made it to G-town around 5:30 and surfed until after 7, well after dark. I was the last one out of the water, but I was having so much fun that I didn't want the sun to go down. I originally went out on the east side of the jetty with most of the other surfers, but, because of the crowd, I decided to join the one other surfer located on the west side. He seemed to be catching quite a few and once I located the sweet spot, I started catching a couple too. I stayed on the west side of the jetty for the rest of the night. The guy surfing also gave me tips. The waves were a little hard to read, but he offered advice about which ones would make it all the way to me.

Although it rarely happens,
I love when the cold
fronts come through
on the weekend.

I surfed on the wests side of the 43rd street jetty on Friday also. By then, everyone was out -- east side and west side. The waves were definitely clean and fun. One of the most fascinating things about that afternoon, was the family that was out surfing near me. Three little blond children, probably under the age of 10, on boards that were possibly 4 ft or shorter were surfing the waves next to me. And, they were doing quite well. Their father was out on a stand-up paddleboard and was also doing quite well catching waves. I had a ball watching them surf. What fun to see their entire family surfing one waver after another. The waves were definitely smaller than the night before, but they were also fun. I surfed for about three hours and loved every minute of it.

A front moved through again this past Thursday. A local weather forecaster had predicted it would come in early Thursday. I woke up with a severe headache, went back to sleep for about a half an hour,  woke up and was fine. I looked at the webcam to see the surf cleaning up nicely. I loaded a board and headed to G-town, and I'm so glad I did. I got a couple of hours of surfing in before I had to paddle in and drive back to the mainland for work. I surfed at 43rd, although when I first arrived, the best waves were at the Pleasure Pier. However, it was so crowded there, I knew I needed to surf elsewhere. By the time I was loading up to leave, approximately 6-8 surfers were out at 43rd with me. Caught a couple of marvelous waves, and felt wonderful about taking a couple of vacation hours to get in some surf time. The only unhappy part of this morning surf session was that I had to wear my 3-2 wetsuit for the first time since last spring. It seems early for me to have to wear a wetsuit because for the past couple of years, I haven't needed a full suit until December. But, I guess this year, I'll be wearing one from now until spring. Oh well, it's a small price to pay for having so much fun!