Another Surprise

[stoneaxe]

I'm finding some nice surprises locally now that I'm getting to the water more frequently. Had time for a paddle Saturday mid afternoon. There was a slight bump in the forecast but I wasn't expecting any waves. Went down to Long beach (1 mile north of my house) tiny knee high wave deep in the corner in about 1' of water. Drove a couple miles along the beach and found just gray gloomy water with some minor chop that made it look even colder and more uninviting. So I decided to head over to Whitehorse beach (1 mile south) to get a look at the bottom for future reference when there are waves.

I've realized that I strangely haven't paddled Whitehorse much in all the years of SUP. It's not as nice a beach, has very limited parking, especially for non-residents, and unlike Long beach has no amenities. It mostly used by the cottage community around it. I've also always figured it wouldn't be much different than Long beach and need a NE swell. I'm finding that I was completely wrong. I walked over the dune to find a long peeling thigh high wave. I had no friggin idea! It was breaking in a dozen spots all the way over to the rocks 200 yards to the left. It was just local windswell, a bit mushy, but some fun decently long rides. I surfed for a couple hours until my hands got numb...need some new gloves. We were going out with friends or I would have just gone home and warmed up a bit and gone back out. I hope this wasn't just some freak. Those weather conditions aren't infrequent and if it generates that wave often....

[surfercook]

Yay!! Love those hidden/stumble on gems. I would have preferred a picture of the wave though, not a google map!    Sounds like a fun day. Bracing for the warm up this week. 70s here in NJ on Wed!

[stoneaxe]

Yea...I need to start bringing the camera. the wave wasn't all that pic worthy but still surprising to see anything. Had my phone in the truck but my hands were hardly working by the time I got my board strapped down. Home and a hot shower over pics at that point. I checked on Ventusky to see what was happening in the hours before I went out. It was blowing from the N for hours and just about when I went out shifted and came from the SE. Long beach gets blocked from N swell...needs NE or ENE. Whitehorse was getting the N swell and SE is actually slightly offshore there. I included the map thinking how weird one had waves while the other had nothing. The reason why is clear now that I look at it. The shadow of Gurnett point keeps any N swell from the bay but Whitehorse is exposed. Bigger map makes it clear.