Celebrating our anniversary, the first day of summer and International Surfing Day here in Santa Cruz for the next few days! Arrived around 12:45 and stopped by the Capitola Hotel for our parking pass, went by Gayle’s for some food for later, ate a sandwich and banana by the beach and checked out the waves. Looked good! Saw a woman catch a great chest-high one from the point all the way past the rocks towards the other beach. She was also wearing a bikini in spite of typical cold water and could do a headstand on her board. Impressive. Lots of kids out on boards and boogie boards. It always seems like they’re so many people from the beach but once you paddle out, it clears and you find your space.

Caught my first fun right within 5 minutes of being out. Despite some lulls between sets, there were some super fun waves today and at least three of them stand out in my mind. My favorite one was well-timed: paddled towards the approaching set for better position, swung my board around at the right time, paddled, caught it and went down the line and ended the ride by kicking out before the rocks. This break is so awesome and consistent that every time I go out I feel like I’m learning and improving. Stoked. The weather in SC is incredible too. Warm, summery and low winds.

#159 / 2ish (1.5hrs)
[2-3+ Poor to Fair. WNW swell and some SW.]