since a picture is worth a thousand words and I need to get some sleep before leaving in the morning for round Santa Cruz round two I will keep my comments brief.
Monday we lucked out with a day of perfect weather and surf at Stinson. Everyone stood up that day, even those who had never surfed, and it was gorgeous. No camera that day, in fact I did not take photos all the time since I was often in the water but I did pull it out on occasion as you can see below.
Tuesday we had even better weather and waves. We ended up surfing a beach called Wydell which is at the mouth of Big Basin Park. So we would look up from the white sand beach to see huge sandstone cliffs, mountains covered with pines and valleys full of redwoods. We had super clear water, no wind (perfectly glassy conditions), and pelicans gliding by overhead.
Everyone got lots of waves, even the adults got out for a wave or two!
Lee, my great friend from Australia, who is working with us this summer, showed us all how it is done.
The pelicans weren't the only ones flying that day.
Nothing like hanging on the beach after a hard day surfing. Especially if you are lying between two cool chicks.
Toe ring with a nice peak in the distance!
a few of the original surfers
Rebecca grabbing rail on a late drop and bottom turning to set up for a nice little wave!
Wednesday we surfed at Manresa and although the weather was not perfect like it was our first two days we had a great surf nonetheless. Once again everyone was charging with huge smiles!
And of course there were the wipeouts! A part of surfing that is always more fun for the observer than the participant (although if you don't enjoy the wipeouts at least a little you will probably not stick with surfing)
Thursday the group ended up splitting up for the first half of the day. The hardcore surfers charged Scott's creek, braving the cold water, gnarly waves, onshore wind, and sharks. The sign below shows you why we have you sign a waiver before coming to camp.
This picture was actually taken while we were at Manresa and it is a lovely dolphin, not a shark, don't worry.
After lunch the second group went to paddle the famous Steamers Lane. There was absolutely no swell making it into Santa Cruz so it was perfect for a calm water paddle. We put in on the north side of the point and paddled around all the way to Cowels on the inside. We passed tons of Sea Lions of their rock off the point, saw sea otters, harbor seals, played in a sea cave, uexplored the kelp, and checked the surf museum at the point.
Back at camp we compared war stories over the traditional smore roasting production line.
Maybe feeding them sugar before bed is not such a good idea.
Our camp site at Manresa is always a nice home away from home.
Friday was a day of surprises. The swell on the coast came WAY up. We found some fun waves at the jetty at Prinston Harbor and then we watched a guy paddle out in some big waves at Montara while we ate lunch. The paddle out was exciting to watch but we had to leave before he got a wave so we could hurry up and sit in some of the worst traffic we have ever experienced getting onto the Golden Gate Bridge.
No comments:
Post a Comment