Author Topic: And then suddenly summer is gone.  (Read 4252 times)

headmount

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And then suddenly summer is gone.
« on: October 15, 2017, 09:45:33 PM »
A walk with my granddaughters on the beach felt mellow.  Then news of yet another swimming PB by my grandson.  With the coffee and that news I was a little jacked up and then Jimmy called asking about a run.  Sounded good until I checked the cams.  N shore had surf along the whole coast.  Paddling seemed ambitious, especially since our recent housing move has had me out of the water for four weeks.  Closer to the water now, I've been hitting early morning swims but that's been just a bare minimum for exercise.  At our age you lose it all so quick especially paddling and balance but Jimmy put off my concerns, "This is much smaller than that other time we went and you and Victor thought it was too big. Remember that time?  We were fine." 

So we went.  And of course it was much bigger than we thought.  It always is.  I knew we were in for it when we encountered two foot waves breaking on the boat ramp as we launched.  At the mouth of the gulch, it was huge.    Yeah we had done bigger days before but we were in decent shape and had been going regular.  Going out green was a real heart in throat experience.

Run was crossed up considerably.  Focus was constant.  Going into the upper Kanaha reef point was disconcerting.  Dark patches in the water indicated shallows.  I turned outside further.  White water patches were everywhere.  Plotting a clean path through it all was daunting.  Jimmy went right up the middle.  I went way out and around with no mood for being trashed or swimming.  The middle route can be viable but today JL got hit twice.  He's tough so he got through but the whole area, even out where I was, was very torn up surface.  We had decided on an oil tank run in our infinite wisdom which necessitated crossing the reef.  The wind, which usually bends onshore towards the finish, didn't, so after I cleared the point on the outer point, at least a mile offshore, I had to angle hard to get to our finish point. 

But the wind strength accelerated and even going 60-70 degrees to the wind turned out to be profitable.  Finally I dropped in on a big glide that hit the shallows and morphed into a breaking wave.  I was able to ride it all the way over the reef and within a few yards of the beach, at least a half mile.  Heart was pounding at the beach.  Yep it's October.

PonoBill

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Re: And then suddenly summer is gone.
« Reply #1 on: October 15, 2017, 11:06:25 PM »
Tell me about it. With the fires and my carpal tunnel surgery, I haven't been in the water in eight weeks. My biceps went down like someone stuck a pin a balloon. I know it will mostly come back, but I'm pretty grumpy, and pretty green.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

coldsup

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Re: And then suddenly summer is gone.
« Reply #2 on: October 16, 2017, 04:07:10 AM »
Good to hear you two are not slowing down.....crazy guys! ;D

supthecreek

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Re: And then suddenly summer is gone.
« Reply #3 on: October 16, 2017, 04:57:49 AM »
Nice metaphor HM...and good on you for handling the challenge!

I went out on the biggest day of the Hurricane Maria swell..... in thick fog... only 1 other SUPster and 3 young guns on shortboards. The crowds were gone. As I paddled over the lip of the 1st big set, I looked down into the pit. It was dark, sucky and very thick.

My mind whispered:
"You turn 70 in a few months..... when do you stop doing this shit?"  ;D ;D

A few waves later, I forgot all that, the fog had thinned, and the waves were awesome.

But I know..... winter is coming.

headmount

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Re: And then suddenly summer is gone.
« Reply #4 on: October 16, 2017, 11:23:46 AM »
Nice metaphor HM...and good on you for handling the challenge!

I went out on the biggest day of the Hurricane Maria swell..... in thick fog... only 1 other SUPster and 3 young guns on shortboards. The crowds were gone. As I paddled over the lip of the 1st big set, I looked down into the pit. It was dark, sucky and very thick.

My mind whispered:
"You turn 70 in a few months..... when do you stop doing this shit?"  ;D ;D

A few waves later, I forgot all that, the fog had thinned, and the waves were awesome.

But I know..... winter is coming.
Perfect pic supthecreek.  Yep winter is coming

coldsup

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Re: And then suddenly summer is gone.
« Reply #5 on: October 16, 2017, 11:29:47 AM »
Nice metaphor HM...and good on you for handling the challenge!

I went out on the biggest day of the Hurricane Maria swell..... in thick fog... only 1 other SUPster and 3 young guns on shortboards. The crowds were gone. As I paddled over the lip of the 1st big set, I looked down into the pit. It was dark, sucky and very thick.

My mind whispered:
"You turn 70 in a few months..... when do you stop doing this shit?"  ;D ;D

A few waves later, I forgot all that, the fog had thinned, and the waves were awesome.

But I know..... winter is coming.


Lol!

covesurfer

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Re: And then suddenly summer is gone.
« Reply #6 on: October 16, 2017, 12:18:39 PM »
That picture of Pier 1 gives me the heebie jeebies. For some reason, there are people that do not seem to be that impressed with what a good sized Winter swell can be like out there.

When I'm sitting in the comfort of my living room contemplating a run this time of year, I find myself thinking, why not? It won't be THAT bad. Then I see a picture like the one HM posted above, and I remember all the yard work I need to do. Might even need to do a Costco run. No time for a downwinder, darn it.

Night Wing

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Re: And then suddenly summer is gone.
« Reply #7 on: October 16, 2017, 04:30:54 PM »
Winter may be coming, but that is just a calendar date depending on where you live in the US.

As an example, I live in southeast Texas. During my lifetime where I've lived in Texas since 1966, I've seen a Christmas Day where the high temperature for the day was 33-38 degrees F where we wearing long pants and coats to stay warm. But I've also seen lots of Christmas Days where the high temperature for the day was between 70-75 degrees F and we were wearing shorts and t-shirts.
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headmount

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Re: And then suddenly summer is gone.
« Reply #8 on: October 16, 2017, 04:55:22 PM »
Winter may be coming, but that is just a calendar date depending on where you live in the US.

As an example, I live in southeast Texas. During my lifetime where I've lived in Texas since 1966, I've seen a Christmas Day where the high temperature for the day was 33-38 degrees F where we wearing long pants and coats to stay warm. But I've also seen lots of Christmas Days where the high temperature for the day was between 70-75 degrees F and we were wearing shorts and t-shirts.
I think both Creek and I were referring to what is happening, in his case the N Atlantic and in mine the N Pacific.  Low pressures.

covesurfer

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Re: And then suddenly summer is gone.
« Reply #9 on: October 16, 2017, 05:19:52 PM »
....and, for some of us, the winter of our years is getting more in focus as well.

headmount

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Re: And then suddenly summer is gone.
« Reply #10 on: October 16, 2017, 05:33:30 PM »
....and, for some of us, the winter of our years is getting more in focus as well.
YF

covesurfer

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Re: And then suddenly summer is gone.
« Reply #11 on: October 16, 2017, 05:48:25 PM »
Hey, I'm including myself in that assessment.

Night Wing

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Re: And then suddenly summer is gone.
« Reply #12 on: October 17, 2017, 09:21:31 AM »
....and, for some of us, the winter of our years is getting more in focus as well.

That goes for me as well. I'll be 68 next February.
Blue Planet Duke: 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 Liters (2 Dukes)
Sup Sports Hammer: 8'11" x 31" x 4" @ 140 Liters
SUP Sports One World: 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 Liters
CJ Nelson Parallax: 9'3" x 23 1/2" x 3 3/16" @ 78.8 Liters (prone surfing longboard; Thunderbolt Technologies build in Red construction)

headmount

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Re: And then suddenly summer is gone.
« Reply #13 on: October 17, 2017, 09:53:53 AM »
....and, for some of us, the winter of our years is getting more in focus as well.

That goes for me as well. I'll be 68 next February.
We're in the same boat, well you got a year on me.

headmount

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Re: And then suddenly summer is gone.
« Reply #14 on: October 18, 2017, 10:40:43 AM »
Another shot at Maliko yesterday after a days rest from sunday's excursion.  There appeared to be less surf but water was torn up even worse than Sunday.  Jimmy thought the wind was stronger but he lives up around 1000 feet elevation and many times you get radical wind speed differences from the sea level.  Turned out wind was sufficient but lighter than sunday.  The three swell angles thing was still going and even though it was smaller than sunday, the counter current factor was also worse.  So it was tough going. 

Around the uppers point we were suddenly getting these relatively flat bumps pulsing outwards.  It inspired us to hammer to stay with them as our boards were finally releasing.  I had taken us up the middle route between the usual breaks as i hadn't seen anything significant looking ahead on the way down.  But this out-suck was actually water sucking into a rogue wave which I heard first, then turned my head to see an 8 foot wall of white water rolling my way.  Managed to turn board towards shore and it hit me just as it had reached deeper water.  The whitewater 'floated' me off my board but the wave's punch had already dissipated.  Didn't even stretch my leash.  But I was rather pissed at myself for not paying adequate attention.  My other friend was inside and behind me and had a birds eye view.  He was laughing.

Usually fatigue sets in after I finish a run but yesterday the last mile was on rote memorization, no zip.  One day's recovery time wasn't sufficient from Sunday's run and today isn't just fatigue but pain.  Using your body to deal with awkward situations is taxing.  Outlook for Maliko downwinders is grim in the immediate future.  More large swells on the way.  I went home and put my board in its sling.

 


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