I know I said I wouldn’t go back to Linda Mar, however, today looked like it might be a nice shortboard day there. And it was.

It’s been a very busy and intense three weeks since we got back from Oahu. We haven’t had anytime to surf at all. As of today this is going to change. We’re committed to surfing as much as we possibly can from this point forward. Anyway back to today’s sesh.

We had a sunny warm morning at Linda Mar with a rising high tide. As we pulled into the parking lot I saw many surfers with shortboards which made me glad I had brought mine today. I figured with all of those shortboards it was either the annual shortboard kookfest, or I was a good day to surf one. As it turns out maybe it was both.

I did see some shortboarders ripping some decent sized waves. This wasn’t the case for me, however, it was an excellent learning experience. I’m glad I learned the basics of duckdiving in HI as this made the whole paddle out through the wash experience much better than on the longboard. Even when I turtle rolled almost every wave I would always get pushed back in by the wash on the longboard. The shortboard was more of a direct line to the outside. Don’t get me wrong. Having not surfed in three weeks it was still a hard workout to get to the outside, but I made it.

The first two waves I went for I fell off the back. After realizing I was too far out to catch the lip – I paddled in a bit. After sitting for while I was finally in position to catch one. I paddled into it and caught a fast right. I tried to pop up (which I’ve been practicing for weeks) and it felt like I was glued to my board or something. I’m not sure what happened as I tried to stand up as soon as I was in the wave – but it was a no-go. The bonus was I caught a screaming right from the outside all the way to the beach on my stomach. It wasn’t what I wanted to do but it was awesome fun! I can’t wait to do that same thing standing up.

#64 / #22 for 2010 11:30 am
PM Regional Overview: Lightly textured, scattered peaks are on tap this afternoon as small NW windswell and S swell continue. Better breaks are good for knee-waist-chest high surf, with a few plus sets for top breaks. Onshore flow remains light with soft, scattered, workable little peaks on tap at most breaks.

This morning’s dawn patrol: Lightly textured, closed out lines with a few workable corners in the mix.

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