Disappointing Weekend and Weeknight Surf Reports

So tonight was going to be the night for me. After finding out there were no waves on Friday and that the Saturday and Sunday surf was a small mess, I was just sure that I would go surfing one night this week. I had hoped for tonight. I looked at the surf report early this morning and it mentioned that, perhaps, the wind would lighten up this evening and even change to be a little more from the north. If that happened, the mushy, small waves would clean up a bit for the afternoon. I looked at the webcam periodically throughout the day, but it didn't look like things were going as predicted unfortunately. At 4:30, I spoke with my Galveston contact who said the wind was howling, the tide was out, the current was strong and the waves were mush. I was sure sad to hear it and even contemplated heading down to the 43rd Street jetty anyway.  I thought, "It can't be any worse than it was last Sunday...or could it?" I looked at the webcam over and over, walked outside to look at the approaching weather and, ultimately, decided that it just wasn't in the cards for me to surf tonight. Too bad! The forecast for this weekend doesn't look all that good either. I'm antsy to get back out; not sure why.

When I can't go surfing I usually
can find something else to keep
me busy: either running or cycling!

Because I didn't go surf, I decided that I had to do something to fill the time. I was a little late for spin class and the wet roads from earlier rain as well as the dark clouds made cycling unsafe. I opted for a run. I'm still recovering from my marathon a couple of weeks ago, but need to keep on my two-days-a-week plan since I have been accepted to run in the Houston Marathon coming up in January. Also, with the cloud cover, I realized it would be a little cooler tonight. And, I was right. I decided I would run six miles. I made it three miles before the clouds that had been building shook loose. I got drenched, but the rain made it a much cooler run than I have had since May. I also only had a couple of steps of knee clicking, which is good since I've been worried about that. It went away early in the run and didn't return. Thank goodness. While I had a good evening, I still would have rather been surfing!

Busy Wave-less Weekend

Swell Info is a wonderful site/app! However, sometimes looking at Swell Info can be depressing. The weather reports on the local television channels offered a dismal forecast for surfing this week and Swell Info validated their forecast. A high pressure "dome" was sitting over the area, which would prevent strong enough winds to create winds. The wind was actually blowing out of the north. I kept opening my Swell Info app and hoping, wishing, begging that the high pressure was moving and that the meteorologists on the local channels had missed the call. But, every time I opened the app, the wave forecast was either flat or 0-1 ft. swells. Yikes! Surf dude B. suggested that waves would be back by the weekend and I wanted him to be right, but Swell Info is almost always right. And that forecast coupled with the weather reports made me realize that B. was going to be wrong this time. He might have enough of a wave for a lesson on Saturday since it only takes a little ripple close to shore for him to push people into a wave, but there wouldn't be much more than that.

Thursday evening was beautiful!

My week was a little different last week. On Thursday, I spent a delightful day at a women's conference in Galveston. Not only was the conference wonderful with a wide range of informative speakers, I was in Galveston on a perfect spring day. The only downfall was that on a day that would have afforded me a great afternoon/evening of surfing, THE GULF WAS COMPLETELY FLAT just as the app/forecast said it would be. I didn't let my evening in Galveston go to waste though. I rode through Galveston on my bike and ate supper at a sandwich shop on the Seawall. 

Because this weekend was commencement weekend at the university for which I work, I had some weekend commitments including a Commencement Kick-Off event on Friday evening and two Commencement ceremonies on Saturday. The Friday evening event was going to require me to work in the afternoon instead of the morning, so I wouldn't be able to surf on Friday afternoon. I thought that I would surf in the morning instead. But, it's impossible to surf when there are no waves. So, Friday slipped by without a surf session. Although I usually ride bikes on Saturday with an occasional afternoon surf, I spent the day at Reliant Arena surrounded by anxious and excited UHCL graduates. I was working, but it didn't really feel like work. Commencement is always so fun! And, again, there were no waves anyway.

I still had Sunday for possible surf. I could tell on the webcam on Saturday that the surf was building. But, by Sunday morning, not much had changed. The ripples were still there, but none of the waves were building enough to surf. I opted to cycle Sunday morning. By the time I finished, I had a phone message from surf dude B. who said there were surf-able waves. However, within 20 minutes of the first call, I had another call from him saying he had misjudged and that the waves were NOT surf-able. So, alas, I would have a surf-less weekend. The good news is that the waves are definitely building, and, if all goes as forecasted, the waves should return midweek so I can surf.

I've had much on my mind lately, so I'm hoping I get the opportunity to clear my head while out on my board, but we'll see. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!