Winter 2022/2023 Surf Log

[smithgrind]

King tides this weekend should provide extra kookiness to the swell.

[bluesilver]

sweet

[Doc]

Caught a few in the ice cold sun today.
Saw a handful of faces I hadn't seen in a bit.
A long dry spell had me thankful it wasn't punchier than it was.
Only planned on a couple hours but got 3 hours in.
Beautiful, beautiful day to be out on the water.
Doc

[Major Lazer]

Doc I was hoping for a Baja report?!? Not cold closeouts Been a season for the books down there. Hearing sand is cleaned off all the points and they've been on the pump for months now. My trip fell through I think Buddy got sick from water in SoCal and missed a bunch of work and cant take off. Think Im opting for plan B.

1st costal creedle of 2022….. hall pass from the fam provided for change of scenery. Thought about checking on my fav wedge a ways down the coast, but figured I’d just go straight to a spot I was curious about then continue on perhaps. On arrival looked small. One peak did look serviceable but was clogged with 5-6 LBers. Went to grab my suit from my bin and realized I had forgotten it at home!!! For fuks sake Fortunately, due to burgeoning surf scene which I think there are at least 4 shops, one more seems to open every year now was able to grab a decent 24hr rental and get rinsed. Smallest surf I’d paddled out to in quite some time, WH maybe CH and was pretty much backing off after the drop with a few exceptions. Tried to lurk for the sunset and did for a while watching about 4 or 5 paddlers with not very good results, but it was cold AF.

Up pretty early yest am, puddles in the lot frozen and quite a few heads were already peeping it even some hardey soles out LP swell filled in overnight and was pulsing, but tide seemed to high. Drove across town to check another spot that apparently has a bar, but wasnt doing it. Back to where I started. Now that it was mid day was not to cold. All and all waves were walled and not the peaky goodness this spot can provide on LP swells, but managed to scratch into a handful of OH peaks on the mid which has literally been a quiver killer and keep surprising myself on what this board can handle. Surfed until it was time to return the rental and called it a trip unfortunately. Woulda liked to stick around for another day perhaps check a few other spots, but couldn't bring myself to renting it for another day even though it was only 25 bones. I will say was nice not having to rinse my suit in this cold @ss weather once I got home.

Not a bad start to the year. January was pretty consistent here and there and surfed at least once a week if not twice. Had a few good ones, a few ok ones, and one bad one that I can remember, but at least it was pretty solid and better than mid summer grovel sarf. Hopefully we get another run of offshores and maybe more mid period swell and a bit warmer. And I will not forget my wetsuit next time

[smithgrind]

Showed up for shift change down at the sands yesterday as fouloutlook and the endbro
were drying and trying to defrost in the sun on the rocks. Chatted it up for a
spell then I paddled out and took their spot north of third creek.
About as good as it gets as far as conditions go. Sunny, slight offshores, consistently HH+ with
long peeling rights and shorter, punchier lefts. Even with up to a dozen heads on that spot
at one point there were plenty to go around with good vibes shared by all.
I hadn't been wet in over six weeks so this sesh was just what I needed.

[Major Lazer]

Long peeling rights at Chartz? Wow! That's a raretey. Sounds fun, but last place on my mind given LP. Glad you killed the rot! 6wks is a harsh toke. Sultan twin for the win?

Kinda kicking myself over this wetsuit thing now. Conditions have held long than expected, today being onsite day I prob should of blown off.

[SlimVest]

I got 9 days to drive somewhere starting 2/10. Where's the spot?

[Major Lazer]

Locally looks like 3 LP pulses... starting 9th on average of 6'. 15th bumps to 12' or so for 24hrs then back down around 8'-6' down to 3' by 19th. Averaging W around 280. IDK conditions that far out, but Id say to OBSF/SC and back. Jam one way on the 5 (prob there?) and the other on the coast. Guessing it'll be sunny and warmish down there, but they have been getting weather this winter.

[Major Lazer]

Looks like a southerly tracked low Sunday the 12th in the Bay. Both ECM and GFS in agreement.

https://www.windy.com/-Rain-thunder-rain?rain,2023021300,40.463,-112.720,5

Prob blow through pretty quick and back to HP by Mon, but to far out to view models. I would assume southerlies a day before front approaches. Could be a 2 day event before winds switch back to E, NE , or NW? There are a few south wind spots between SF and SC. Kelpy reefs can also sometimes stay clean if its not over 15ktns. Still a ways out on conditions, but that is what I am seeing.

[bluesilver]

I should be down at the end of the month. February is usually pretty fruitful for cleaner waves. Of course I'm a little older now so I'll be staying in a cabin or something instead of the cold hard ground with the shite weather

[SlimVest]

Passed on waves over the weekend to hike and sip the vino tinto out east. Lots of fun blobs on the horizon, though.

http://www.stormsurfing.com/cgi/display.cgi?a=npac_height

[Major Lazer]

Pretty quiet around here..... ended Feb and started March strong on the Garden Isle. Surfed everyday but one for close to a week and a half. Waves ranged from fun onshore tradewind swell (only in HI is onshore wind swell primo) to glassy to a couple 10' 13' days on the buoy. Have not surfed in OR since Jan and havent missed it or 5 mill one bit. Hopefully put together a Mex trip this summer.

[BOX]

Got out last night for a sunset session. Second time out this year after spending months dry due to a combination of weather and minor surgery. Paddling condition needs some work but could have been worse. North wind was stiff and the current was strong making it hard to keep in position. After a slow start, however, things started to click and I ended up catching some pretty nice rides including a really long right hander that I’m still thinking about this morning. Stoke is definitely up. I’m looking forward to some consistent, favorable conditions to keep it firing. Hope you all are well and getting wet when you can. I’m going to go back to mindsurfing that wave now…

[Major Lazer]

Good on ya Box. Finally an OK window of swell and conditions! Seems the best sand bar in miles is still in your neck of the woods rn and pretty machine like for Oreygon, but man the crowd has been thhhiiiick even mid-week mid-day. Lots of surfers in that zone now, a cam, many posting on social media, and 3 or 4 surf shops and no one seems to work?

Anyways time change opened blue collar window and rare on-site day Wed had me heading west after work. Coast Range is caked in snow rn. Like feet at the summits. Never have I seen so much snow up there in March, nonetheless mid-March!!!! Got over with at least a few hrs of daylight, new swell was filling, and pretty north, but wind was kinda on it and shape was meh..... hard pass. Temps overnight were frio! Dropping to high 20s. Opted for free spot and only had my summer bag and woke up middle of the night freezing. Was kinda caught off guard and getting too old for this nonsense.

Thurs at dawn offshore. Looked like potential with a fast hollow right peeling across a shallow bar, prob to fast and body was chilled. The warm water and air of da island kinda ruined me TBH as well as the mind f@#K of putting on 5 mill for mostly mundane Oregon sarf. Thought about rolling down to that sandbar in Boxs zone, but been on teh mindset of picking a spot or zone and sticking to it. That and I don't have a ton of gas money. Worked until mid am, started to warm up, but tide was getting low fast going from 7 to a minus. Suited and booted and thew the quads into the 5’11” Synth84. Mostly closely, but the right I saw earlier was still kinda doing it although more cornered. Thumpy drops made them easy to catch to mostly shoulders, although consistently throwing little tubes. Hard to set up a good turn, so focused on pulling in. Handful of no makes with quick visions and a couple shampoos and chandeliers. Water was cold, but as clear as it gets and clean and green, a nice change from the brown turbid water of Winter. Pretty fun and felt in tune. Timing was on point and made every drop even few late ones. The work surfing every day for almost 2 weeks paid off! Always does.

Grabbed a spot, plugged my heater in, and slept like a baby until 8am or so yest not wanting to get up and going thinking it was frio. Was actually about 10 degrees warmer than day before, but was still chilly. Coffee surf check was small, but conditions were A+. Crispy and golden with light offshores. Was moving slow and after making breky didn’t hit the water until 10 Put the quads in jah mid and found some speedy peelers. Gorgeous morning, not a drop of water out of place, but to bad swell had dropped. Surfed a lonesome peak by myself until the south wind chop came up. In hindsight shoulda got out at least an hour earlier, but oh well got a sesh in.

Looks like stellar conditions again this am, but no swell? Has the N Pac turned off early? Hardly any swell last few weeks and none forecasted either? Oh well stoked on some sun and warmth after a long cold cold la nina winter. Maybe I should take up golf or tennis this spring?

[Major Lazer]

Winters officially over. Won't stand out as anything great..... Some epic days in Dec. Surfed every week in Jan. And then it got really cold and I didn't care. Feb was a bust for me locally. Skunked a few times and mostly chased white wave which was epic. Pretty crowded winter when there were waves. Maybe most crowded winter ever IME.