I'd been planning to hit it Monday morning since seeing the predictions of a little long interval south swell last week. But souths never usually materialize too dramatically up here, and such was the case today. I checked the buoys at 6am and saw that the interval was only reading 5-6 seconds, as compared to the 18 second pulse that was projected. The wind was supposed to be whipping by noon as well. My hopes for an epic spring session were further dashed when I looked at the cams and saw flat seas and a negative tide.
Against my better judgement, I packed my gear, filled up my car with gas, bought some coffee, and headed west. There were only a couple places that I thought might be working. The first one was tiny, but glassy. I checked another spot and saw two guys out. On queue, a set rolled through and it looked about waist to chest high (see above). It was enough to get me into my suit and down to the water. I needed to get wet, regardless. On my way to the spot where I planned to paddle out, I saw a giant bird just standing at the waterline. When I got closer, I realized it was a huge bald eagle. I was tempted to run back to the car and get a camera, but decided to get surfing instead.
The two guys paddled in pretty much immediately after I got out there. Amazingly, a couple good sets came through and I got some nice rides. I stayed out about 2 hours before the wind came up and the tide filled all the way in, causing the surf to lose any semblance of potency. I wondered if anywhere else was working so I stopped by Cannon Beach surf shop. The owner, still in his wetsuit, said he caught an hour of decent surf as well, before the tide and wind killed it.
Looks like this week is even going to be smaller. Isn't it a little early to be singing the summertime blues?
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