Even though it was dreary and rainy all day... there
were some good waves.

I checked out 5 spots today and surfed 3 of them. The
other spots looked fine... one looked really good but
I've never been there before... and there were no bodyboar
ders.
The other had a lot of surfers but has a swift current an
d a
lot of whitewash that I don't particularly enjoy dealing
with so I skipped that one as well. I really didn't plan
to
be out all day... but... the waves were pretty good!

I started early at the same new spot from last week.
After a couple of hours... I decided to head south towards

my favorite spot and that's when I took the detour to chec
k
the other spots and decided to take a shot at this place
down by the pier. I hadn't been there before... but there
were
about a dozen guys out... all surfers.. The waves were
breaking pretty clean and there were some nice peaks.

This is where things started to get a little sketchy!
Back at the first place.... one reason that I left was tha
t
it gets REALLY deep.... REALLY close to shore. This place
seemed to have the same sort of drop off. Now... there's
something about that kind of a shoreline that I clearly am

unaware of.... because... today I was tossed about like a
ragdoll for most of the morning and well into the afternoo
n.

It got sort of frustrating... and a little scary. As I
basically got bitch slapped repeatedly just getting into
the
water. And when I had an error in judgement and rode in
too close to shore.. it was a pretty tough paddle back
out. It seems like when the wave breaks on/near shore...
it kind of... sucks up all the water leaving just sand and

gravel and then just crashes down with a really powerful w
ave.
I was unfortunate enough.. or.. maybe just stupid enough..
.
to be caught in that position more than a few times today
.
It was quite unpleasant. A few times i was trying to go
sit on the shore to rest a bit.... and I couldn't even get

out of the water. I'd get as far as the shore... but then
the
water would rush back so fast that I'd get knocked down
and not be able to stand up. And then of course.... as soo
n
as I DID stand up... the next wave coming in would just
bitch slap me down again. If somebody had a camera...
they're probably sitting at home watching and laughing
their asses off. I'm sure it looked pretty funny... but...
it
was actually a little scary.

Due to my lame performance, I banished myself to the
kiddie waves for the rest of the day and drove over to my
favorite spot. And lucky me! It was actually firing pretty
good!
So.. I was happy! I got to end the day with some nice ride
s...
and I got to shower out all the gravel before going home.< >/P

ps... if someone can fill me in about these sucking wav
es.
..I'd appreciate it. I'm not sure if I'm just not ready fo
r
that kind of a break.. or if there's something I just nee
d
to learn to be able to manage better.