Wind, Waves and Wintry Weather

Once upon a time, a gal wanted to strengthen her surf skills so she decided to pick a couple of days week to chase waves. However, because of the beach she was forced to choose, she didn't get to hone her skills the way she had hoped. Oh well! The past few weekends have been flat. The waves have

I was forced to wear a 5-4 wetsuit. Brrr...

only made an appearance at 10 a.m. on Wednesdays when I'm at work. But this weekend was a little different. A strong south wind had sprung up by the end of last week and by Saturday, it had kicked up quite a bit of action. Surf forecasters had said that by Saturday afternoon, the waves would be head high. Several of my surf friends on Facebook were excitedly anticipating the waves and posting their surf plans. I decided I would need to wait until Sunday because of conflicting Saturday plans. And the forecast for Sunday was going to be about the same.

I was in the water by 10:30 a.m. on Sunday. Several surfers were already out, and I stood on the seawall a few minutes to see how I would go out. The waves were crazy. They looked big, but soft. I was just trying to figure out how to get out past the rough waves to the outside. And, that would be my biggest dilemma for the day. I took the rip current out the first couple of times and had no trouble, but after about 45 minutes, the waves got even rougher. The rip current even got a little rough. The tide and the wind kept pushing me into the jetty, which I hate because the barnacles and rocks cut my hands and feet. I was tired before I made it all the way out. I decided to just stay on the inside to catch re-forms or white water, which included some fun waves. However, I am a little disappointed that I couldn't make it out, and I'm angry with myself for giving up. I should have kept trying to get to the outside, forcing myself to swim past/through the waves. On hindsight, I'm worried that I gave up too soon. Although, the air temp was in the low 70s, the water rep was still quite cold. Because of that, I was forced to wear my 5-4 wetsuit, which also seems to make it more difficult to paddle because it constricts my movement a little. Can't wait until it gets warm enough to either wear a 3-2 or not even need a wetsuit. I'm definitely ready for spring/summer.

Surf reports for this weekend show another weekend of waves, with 5+ foot waves forecasted. Not sure if the report will hold, but I think there will be some sort of wave action. Right now it is FLAT, but a slight wind shift is all that is needed for the waves to be generated. I'll just have to wait and see how big the waves get.