Kiteboarding NAs at St. Francis YC

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SUPing the Big Sur River

We spent Memorial Day Weekend camping in Big Sur at Andrew Molera State Park which is home to one of the most popular surf spots in the area. The beach is situated at the mouth of the Big Sur River about 1/2 mile from the parking lot and 1/4 mile from our camp site. I wasn't looking forward to carrying a board down the trail so I decided to SUP the river.

There were some portages on the river but some really good moments standing up.

The surf wasn's great and the wind was howling just past the shielding cliffs that make this a popular surf spot. The waves were breaking in about 2ft and allowed for 2 very quick turns. Despite the less than incredible surf paddling the river was an incredible experience and catching a couple waves was a bonus.

Waddell Waves, Redwoods & Waterfalls

You could spend a lifetime driving a VW bus up and down highway 1 finding different waves to ride each day, many people have. There must be 100 hidden secrets between Pacifica and Santa Cruz alone. A couple weeks ago we checked out the American Windsurfing Tour (AWT) at the legendary Waddell Creek. All of the pros came from Maui and the spectacle of talent on the water was amazing.

Just across the street from the wind and waves of the ocean, Waddell Creek winds its way past the largest Redwoods south of the Golden Gate.

Follow the river far enough and you will find a 90ft waterfall.

Everyday is a good day

There have been so many good days recently I haven't had a chance to even think about the session from the day before. It all started 2 weeks ago (4/17) when there were 20+ knot days at 3rd ave every day until the weekend when the wind backed off just enough to make for some good racing at St. Francis where there was a fleet of 22 J105's. Don't get me wrong there were 25 knot puffs but I was thankful there weren't any 30+ puffs. During the 2 days of racing I finally made some sense of the crazy currents and wind around Crissy. Since then there has barely enough time for wetsuits to dry before the next good day.

The American Windsurfing Tour is also hosting a competition at Waddell. There is sure to be some awesome action and fun events there starting tomorrow (5/2). Here is some action from last year.

Lightning in San Fran?

When we first moved to San Francisco everyone insisted there was never lightning in the city. Last night was indeed a unique event that resulted in 750 lightning strikes around the city (reported by NOAA). From our apartment you could hear the booms of thunder rolling through the Bay and could only imagine what it looked like. Luckily Phil McGrew shared an amazing picture he took from his apartment that overlooks the Bay Bridge.

From NorthNews

Hopefully all of the rain makes its way to the mountain. When its poring rain in the city its dumping snow on the mountains.

Tahoe isn't done with winter yet!

It appears spring hasn't made its way to Lake Tahoe yet. April has been the best month for skiing all year. If only the mountains looked like this in January... it would be last year. I am getting my final day in Saturday, I might be able to squeak out one more weekend but I think this is it. All is well since the North Pacific High is strong and there should be plenty of 20+ knot days in San Francisco Bay. Hopefully the forecast below holds and I can end the winter season with a bang.

Given what the mountains looked like in the beginning of March it is amazing that the Chimney is open at squaw. Every line is a little scarier right now because of how little snow fell earlier in the season. Got to love that Sierra Cement and how it sticks to the steeps so well.

Most people are still thinking about the awesome days from April Fools weekend. It doesn't line up so perfectly that often. As you can see Squaw is also milking the good shots they got from that weekend for all they are worth.

Could it get any better?

So after an epic weekend of skiing I had just enough time for my legs to recover before the wind picked up around the Bay starting Wednesday. Sorry, I didn't take any video because I was testing new gear, the conditions were full on, and there were some issues coming in at the end of the day because of low tide. Frankly the conditions were so crazy it took me some getting used to. Here is the wind graph from the 3rd Ave. channel Wednesday.
There was giant swell all afternoon because of the ebb that was running until low tide around 6pm. I was out on a 4.1m sail and 78L Goya Quad and was pretty much overpowered the entire time. I tried sailing until 6:45 when the tide would have been high enough to make it to shore but as you can see from the graph the wind really started pumping at 6 and after feeling like the sail was getting ripped out of my hands during jibes I decided to trek through some mud to make it in. Sailing the swell is an incredible experience in these conditions. There are sections where sandbars and weird currents cause mogul chop to form but once you make it through that into the middle of the channel the swell is smooth and from my perspective mast high. The wind blew through the night into Thursday afternoon making the swell even bigger.

Thursday I got right after it so I could make it in before low tide. No practice jibes on the inside or making sure my gear was tuned right, I went straight out into the thick of it. The wind was pretty much the exact same but the swell was bigger (mast+) and more organized. When there is that much current and wind it takes some courage to turn downwind into the bowl of swell but once you do the sail pressure eases up and everything gets quiet. You can really concentrate on steering the board down the swell and enjoy yourself before turning back up onto a reach to the roaring wind. This video from Kevin of Sunset Sailboards sums up what I am talking about completely:

I had Friday off and got a little surprise when the wind filled in at Crissy and I got a nice booze cruise session on a 5.8m sail 100L board under the Golden Gate Bridge. I hope you enjoyed the write up and video from Kevin. I hope to have more to show you next time... which shouldn't be long from now.