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.