Monday, August 18, 2008

Tuesday’s tiny waves – some longboard fun

Tuesday isn’t going to be much of a surf day…there will be waves, even rideable ones (if you have the right equipment) but overall we are going to have issues with lack of swell, tides, and increasing onshore winds.

The swell mix in the water is pretty small…mostly leftover S-SW energy, some local windswell and some very background NW blips.

Most spots will be in the knee high range, maybe even going flat on the high tides and occasionally showing a waist high+ set on the low-to-high tide push.

Standout S-SW facing combo spots will be in the knee-chest high range…there may be a very rare set on the tide swing but expect to wait a while for it.

Winds will be clean early but look for building onshore bump by midmorning and W winds around 15 knots by mid-afternoon.

Personally I am not planning on much surf tomorrow. It might be good for a longboard on the lower tides, or maybe even a fish or quad if you are a lighter surfer, but overall it is going to be pretty soft, slow, and inconsistent. The beach breaks with good sandbars will be your best bet…but even those won’t be worth driving very far. I think I may stay home and surf my pillow…or go to the gym (gasp!) and work on my beefcake3000 routine.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

In the spirit of fatherhood and as a general public service announcement for parents who would like to encourage their young children to surf, may I suggest the following order?

1. Push-ins at RJs - south of the Talbert Channel. For some reason, the white-water at low tide seems to roll for around 50 yards. The water is really shallow, so when they fall off, they can easily stand up instead of getting washed around. Nothing frightens a kid more than not getting their bearings while getting pushed around in whitewater.

Btw, get one of those all foam boards at Costco & spring for a (proper fitting!) wetsuit - try your neighbors or CL for a good used one. If your kid gets cold or bopped on the head with a hard board, figure 3+ years before they're willing to try again (if that).

2. First 'green water' waves: Doheny, 'natch. Start at Bones, then move to Middles. Two things: (a) you MUST have a longboard in order to hang out, spot incoming waves & be able to give them a shove/boost as they attempt to paddle in by themselves; (b) they need an equivalent of a longboard. If your kid is 50-60 lbs, a regular 6'6" short-board works great - make sure it has a **lot** of nose rocker so that it doesn't pearl. (And don't forget to put on a nose guard!)

At first they will prone to the bottom, then stand-up. After they feel comfortable with that, try and get them to "pop up" & stand at the top. Once they get the first taste of a drop, they're usually hooked, especially if you get them properly angled so that they get a "real" ride.

3. After a summer or so @ Doheny, it's time for Sano. Dogpatch is equivalent to RJs (ie push ins), so if you've done steps #1/2, you're ready for inside Old Mans or Point. Remember, for a kid, a small waist high wave looks overhead to them, so you need to go out and help them hang in there instead of paddling for the horizon at the first sight of a set.

4. After a few summers, if they're really getting into it, you might want to finally spring for a mini-grom board, typically 5' to 5'6".

They won't be able to catch any waves at Doheny/Sano with it, so it will be time to introduce them to small Blackies, Bolsa, etc.

If there's any size at all ie over 2-3 ft faces, they'll probably revert back to whitewater take-offs. That's ok while they develop enough strength to paddle out and take off on regular waves.

Hope this helps.