***Official 2021 Community Surf Journal***

[jkb]

Wow! What a clusterfvck 2020 was.

Beach closures, unprecedented crowds, shapers refusing orders because of too much demand, sold out wetsuits, fins, ect.....

Here's to hoping things normalize a bit in 2021.

 

[sdsrfr]

dear @r32 , my wish for 2021 is making this thread the sticky and letting the 2020 journal drift off into the abyss... before June.

 

[silentbutdeadly]

Fell asleep last night at 10 with my kids making fun of me. Oh well , in the water at 6:40. Fun ledgy rights into fat sections into who knows.... you know that high tide winter chit.

felt undergunned on the gx cause it was bigger than it looked. fun waves with one buddy. Got semi busy at the end but not bad.

Not a bad way to start out 2021. Get some.

 

[santacruzin]

Hello 2021! So apparently high tide is still a thing even in 2021!

Got a few wonky ones and then one that ledged up and let me get a micro almondy barrel . Called it after that and now it’s time to wait out the tide again.

 

[need 4 speed]

Quickly rising tide and nuking offshore winds managed to glide along a couple of the bigger ones, Joker twinzer
3-5' range, wonky from the tide W/NW wind swell . The level of incompetence at Donkyland can get annoying. saw half man pick off couple of the best waves of the day All in all good start to 2021, more on the way

 

[sdsrfr]

should have gone before the high tide not after. Instead watched the good ones go by while the dog took a dump.

still, first session and waves of 2021 in the bag and not complaining.

Happy New Years, folks.

 

[Northern_Shores]

I surfed also on the first day of the year. It was craptacular!

 

[potato-nator]

my ny's revolution is to be more realistic in assessing my ability
with respect to boars.

 

[b.r.]

mid day waited for the tide to drop some. The spot I wanted to surf was packed but the easiest to get to spot wasn’t. 5 10 SK twinzer felt a little loose on the first couple waves but I sat under the pack and got 4 or 5 and sorted it out. Finally set up out the back to wait for some sets and a bunch of closeouts rolled through. Finally got a slingshot drop in on a set and stood in the sweet spot and reeled off a ton of turns and hooted off some interlopers paddling head down trying to grab this my best fucking wave of the year looked too deep but section after section kept connecting and i beached it. 2021 !

 

[Kento]

Did a bit of a family drive up the coast today but threw the board in the car also. Man, the roads and lots were packed, although no one in the water. Stopped on the way back down to catch a few. Solid OH and very consistent. Dropping tide did not help the cause. Lot of paddling just to get out and got a few. Foolishly took early wave in a set, got eaten by rip chop, and then just brutally caught inside for the next 50 waves of the set or so. Joy. Was pretty much done after that, got a semi-closed out left and called it from there. But nothing like a day of dodging bombs to bring in the new year.

 

[Tarab_ish]

Goddamnnnnnit, hurt myself again.

Had just gotten back in the water this past week after cracking a rib. I've always had the superstition thing that I need to surf on Jan first. thought OBSF was gonna be good after the tide turned around, but it looked ugly. frantically drove like a dick through insane traffic down to an obvious/well known reef (but wrong tide) with just a bit of sunlight left. paddled out and immediately spun around on a late one everyone had missed, but had to jump off. seemingly no big deal, easy pencil dive, but as soon as I hit the water my rib was hurting again. caught a few waves basically paddling with one arm then went in. doesn't hurt as bad as when I first injured it -- it was completely debilitating for a week then -- but it hurts now. definitely not gonna try to surf for a week or so. god I'm so bummed, it's just going to keep doing this for the rest of the winter I feel like. This was the first winter I've been really on it and in shape in a while, was feeling and surfing so good right before it happened.

 

[santacruzin]

Did a bit of a family drive up the coast today but threw the board in the car also. Man, the roads and lots were packed, although no one in the water. Stopped on the way back down to catch a few. Solid OH and very consistent. Dropping tide did not help the cause. Lot of paddling just to get out and got a few. Foolishly took early wave in a set, got eaten by rip chop, and then just brutally caught inside for the next 50 waves of the set or so. Joy. Was pretty much done after that, got a semi-closed out left and called it from there. But nothing like a day of dodging bombs to bring in the new year.

I love how you move and your session reports seem the same

 

[bluengreen]

Good to be back in Norcal, where the swells never cease. Tuesday session thought I'd ease back into things by surfing the VFWs instead of middle beach. Had a 6'8 and a 7'6 in the car. Tide just dropping enough to start lining things up and smoothing them out. Opted for the 6'8. Wrong! Current was brutal. By the time I got out I had already been swept a city block south. Biggest sets were a little out of my reach on the 6'8. Tried to paddle against the current to stay on a crazy horshoeing right but wasn't happening. Continued drifting south, taking (but making!) late drops. Highlight was a head dip on a slabbing right. Went for one more and my hands slipped while I was popping up. Somehow ended up on my back looking up at the lip as it descended on me. I imagined myself standing on the dune, thinking what the fuck is that kook doing? Got crushed to the bottom. Sand bar felt hard-packed under my feet. Took a few more on the head and decided I couldn't go out like that, so I paddled back and got a left that closed out on me

NY day, I also headed south to a somewhat fickle cove that has one of those circular currents that zips you out on the south end and pulls you north as you get outside. South end was, as it usually is, ripped the fuck up and full of groms trying to grab the beach's smallest corners. Two guys that didn't know what they were doing were sitting near the good peak in the middle of the cove but dodging sets and unsuccessfully shoulder hoping. So I paddled right out to the spot and proceeded to get some! After an hour another guy paddled out. Still some bigger sets pulsing through despite the dying swell, so I got caught inside a couple times. Instead of paddling in and jumping on the current loop, I sacked up and paddled straight back out. It's that time in the season where I actually enjoy a good pounding. Good, empty waves and feeling strong. Meanwhile, society and politics continue to be one massive closeout.

 

[Kento]

I love how you move and your session reports seem the same

The waves are much bigger and the paddle-outs more brutal and I get fewer waves per session as the ocean is a lot more unforgiving with a much larger playing field but yeah, I guess not too much changes. Still mostly solo sessions too.

 

[doc_flavonoid]

Still mostly solo sessions too.

got to make you wonder after a while...

 

[Kento]

got to make you wonder after a while...

It has crossed my mind out there, especially mid-p|ss.

 

[potato-nator]

First swell of new year; things not yet icebound, might be a bit warmer
than other Januarys.

 

[Kento]

First swell of new year; things not yet icebound, might be a bit warmer
than other Januarys.

I was actually quite warm yesterday in a 4/3 and boots. Especially after getting caught inside for what seemed like an eternal set.

 

[sdsrfr]

paddled out into a saturday morning pack of folks not surfing. few territorial pissings when things got slow but multi wave sets eventually came and everyone surfing was happy and the non-surfing crowd washed in and elected to head home.

snagged my share of fun ones. went for a big hit on a closing section, disconnected and got sent flying. good times.

starting to feel surfed out. been a while since I had that sensation. stocked.

 

[ZZ Soft Top]

Solid OH and very consistent. Dropping tide did not help the cause. Lot of paddling just to get out and got a few. Foolishly took early wave in a set, got eaten by rip chop, and then just brutally caught inside for the next 50 waves of the set or so. Joy. Was pretty much done after that, got a semi-closed out left and called it from there. But nothing like a day of dodging bombs to bring in the new year.

This was almost my exact experience a couple days ago on the 31st. Scored later in the morning yesterday and especially today with some backside fun on a left that was coming through.