Big n Bumpy

Some days it isn't about surfing so much as getting wet!  Today, the surf boats are loaded on the truck, and we are going on the search. We are hoping to find some green faces but know that good surf is going to be elusive so we throw the whitewater boats in the truck too.

It is a big day.  We scout a couple of breaks.  Some are big and beautiful and a bit out of my league while others are barely breaking.  We don't have the time to wait for the tide to change.  It is sunny and 70 degrees, and we are jonesing to get wet.  We head to a surf spot where we know we will find a mellow paddle out and waves of all sizes and shapes.  This is a spot we commonly refer to Chase- A Peak Bay because it changes so fast and the peaks are often elusive.  We know that today the likelihood of finding a clean green face is slim, but the likelihood of finding lots of bouncy, bumpy fun water is good.

We grab our whitewater kayaks and paddle out.  It is HUGE!  Waves are exploding into the headlands. It is exhilarating just to be out there on the edge of so much power and energy.

The swell is quite powerful - 8-10 feet at 20 seconds.  Needless to say, we decide to stay on the inside in our little boats.

It is quite fun.  We are catching waves on the inside that are bouncy and bumpy.  They sometimes let us get a long ride and other times just die out.  Even though the tide is coming in, we have to work to maintain position and stay inside as the longer period swell tries to suck us out into the big stuff.

The swell was so powerful that waves were rebounding off of shore.  We could catch these and surf back into the incoming waves.  My favorite wave of the day was when I was surfing toward shore and hit one of the rebounding waves straight on giving me a whoop-dee-doo on my ride.

Is this surfing?  Doesn't really matter.  It sure is fun.

For the Future . . .

For our health, the health of our planet, and the future - we need to drastically reduce our dependency on plastic.

Take the first step and eliminate "a plastic" from your life.  Single use plastic water bottles are a great first step.

The folks at CustomMade made this infographic with information on why we need to move away from plastics and with some helpful alternatives to plastics.  Share with your family and friends and let's raise our consciousness level about plastics.  If everyone starts thinking about it and eliminates one plastic from their lives, we are on our way.

To see this infographic larger - click on this link.

Put Down the Plastic

Infographic by CustomMade

What will your first step toward decreasing your dependency on plastics be?

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

High Pressure seems to have stalled out again along the Mendocino Coast.  Days have been warm and sunny.  Gorgeous and torturous for Jeff and I as we hunker down at the computer building Liquid Fusion Kayaking's new website.  Jeff's new whitewater kayak, a Jackson Kayak Zen, arrived this week and so did one of our SoCal boating buds so of course it was inevitable that we had to get both of them wet.  With dry conditions, play days on the Eel are over for awhile so off into the Whitewater of the Sea we went (aka ocean rock gardening).

Of course the afternoon that we rally - ends up being cloudy.  Mottled skies pretty much matched my mood as too much time on the computer puts me out of sorts.

I was definitely off my game.  My first ride of the day was mistimed and gave me a pretty good whack - expanding the dark cloud hanging over my head.  I slogged along as the sky reflected my confuddled mood.

The guys paddled and played and I tagged along and took photos.

The late afternoon lighting was surreal and the long period swell kept things quite interesting.

Every now and again, glimmers of sunshine peaked through. We were treated to a pastel panorama of clouds.  Sea lions, gulls, and even a brown pelican create interesting silhouettes to the landscape

The sunset eluded us but the dusky evening lighting wasn't too shabby.

My spirits were lifted when I got home and saw that I got some nice photos from the day.

2015 Game On!

2015 rang in with sunshine and surf . . . As we contemplated a noon activity, a text came in from one of our surfing posse of glassy waves at a local break.  Decision made . . .  wetsuits were donned and surf boats loaded.

As usual, it looked good from a far but was far from good.  We arrived at the water's edge, and our buddy was exiting and retracking his earlier text.  Oh well  . . . we were all dressed up with only one way to go.

It was bumpy, windy, and getting progressively dumpier with the quickly ebbing tide but we paddled out anyway.  It was New Year's Day afterall  - time to get wet.

Jeff ripped the sh!!@$# out of his first wave and scooted by me for a quick kiss and back out for more.  I was lost in the puzzle of changing conditions, but loving every minute of it.  Dropping in just to drop in . . . catching some shoulders but mostly getting big drops and then getting trashed as the wave hit the shallow sand bar.  So is the nature of days in the surf.

Some days you surf and others you get surfed . . .

But as the saying goes . . . the worst day fishing beats the best day working . . . any day playing in the surf is good.