I have a tradition of never working on my birthday, and today was no exception. What made it unique was this was the first time I surfed on my birthday. After several months of learning to surf, there’s rarely a day when I’m not in the mood. I used to think I could only surf in warm, beautiful conditions, but surfing NorCal has shown me that even the most overcast, chilly day or inconsistent conditions can result in spectacular stoke. There’s the joy of just being out in the ocean and the diversity of experience just 20 minutes outside the city. The landscape of Pacifica looks different every time. Sometimes it’s shrouded in deep fog and you can barely see the mountains; other times, the mountains are layered all the way into the distance and the shades of green and brown are crisp with houses dotted along the edges. The ocean can appear deep green to black on darker days or brilliant blue when the sun is out.
Today we headed out in the late afternoon with overcast skies in SF, so much so that it looked like an upstate New York whiteout. The surf forecast was calling for a western swell (one of the best conditions at LM), which I’ve yet to experience there. It was a pleasant surprise. It was clean and glassy, with hardly any wind. High tide was at 4:36 pm and we paddled out around 3:30 which was perfect. Along with about 15 or so other surfers, we stayed out as the sky slowly darkened in an indistinguishable sunset behind the clouds.
#42 / 3:30 pm
[3-4 ft + waist to shoulder high occ. 5 ft. PM REGIONAL OVERVIEW: Somewhat jumbled, mixed up surf on tap this afternoon as new WNW swell continues to fill in. Better breaks have waist-head high surf, as top exposures are in the shoulder high to overhead+ zone. It’s definitely worth a look if you have the time this afternoon.]
[Bean and rice burrito]