Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Fluid Fireworks Fizzle on the Fourth ... 'cept at the Wedge

I was pretty discouraged by the prospect of a great swell coming through, on a holiday weekend no less, and being sidelined with the ankle sprain from last Saturday. 

Improving, but nowhere near where I would it need to be to be out swimming in 10 foot surf, during the week I had visions of a long, warm, sunny weekend with large waves sweeping up the coast and the pod all coming up with "best of summer" experiences. 

Then, unrelated to the swell, the cold & damp sweeps in and really messed it all up: cool, overcast, even drizzling.  What were supposed to be calm mornings with mild offshores instead were characterized by steady onshore winds, the morning ocean surface already pocked with whitecaps. 

When everything – swell size, direction & interval – is “right” for the Wedge, conditions don’t matter that much…it’s powerful enough to just push through it.  And so it did on Saturday, as evidenced by the LA Times story, and photos by Hugh (at SmugMug and Flickr)  and others. [click the links]

But elsewhere, it was pretty consistent reports of jumbled up, messy surf.  Some found a few protected breaks, and reports from San Diego were much better, but my haunts - the Park, the peninsula - were just big, closed out, and choppy.

I guess I avoided the disappointment of  scouring the coast, especially Monday morning, in anticipation of an epic session and finding slop instead!

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