The southwest hemi swell started to fill in this afternoon which brought out the crowds. There were a lot more locals and tourists out today. Queens was fairly flat so we headed over to Canoes. The outside was filled with locals and a few tourists, and the inside was packed with instructors and beginners. The only problem with Canoes is that when it’s good the outside rolls right through the inside so if you catch an outside wave you end up having to dodge instructors and students on almost every ride. That’s fine if you have a bomber turn, but unfortunately I don’t as I’m still learning myself.

The building swell made for a great wave day. Instead of sets consisting of 3 or 4 waves they were more like 6 to 8 waves per set. Also, the sets were about 20 minutes apart instead of over 35 minutes on most days.

Emily found a great channel through the crowds and caught many awesome rides. I found myself deep in the crowd most of the day and almost all of my rides were cut off by beginners on foamies. I had to bail on at least 3 awesome waves to avoid running over someone. On one such occasion I bailed to avoid a kid and when I came up a girl on 14 foot board was coming straight at me and was only about 10 feet away. I jumped off and dove to the bottom and when I came up her board was sitting right on top of mine. Fortunately no one got hurt and my board just got some minor scratches. I never have any animosity at this break as it is a beginner break and we’re all just here to have fun.

All in all an awesome warm sunny surf day. Can’t wait to get out tomorrow as the new swell will be full on!

#40 / 11:30 am

Surfline surf report for today – 1-2 feet; Beautiful December morning with really not much surf to speak of. Most spots have tiny waves in the ankle to shin high range with a few larger sets primarily in the Diamond Head area. Light tradewinds are blowing to provide nice offshore conditions for southern shorelines and beautiful sunny weather.

Pre surf food – Tofu benedict, potatoes, wheat toast and fruit bowl.

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