30 Minutes of Surf

It’s been sometime since I last got to play in the surf and I was chaffing in getting back out. Everything came together this weekend for a great time among the waves. Everything but the weather that is, here’s a snippet of our coastal forecast from Friday:

...HIGH SURF WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 10 PM THIS EVENING TO 4 PM PST SATURDAY...

A STRONG SYSTEM OFF THE WASHINGTON COAST WILL PRODUCE SOUTHWEST TO WEST WINDS UP TO 50 TO 60 MPH THAT WILL GENERATE VERY LARGE SWELLS. SEAS WILL BUILD TO 25 TO 30 FT ACROSS THE COASTAL WATERS THIS EVENING AS THIS SYSTEM PASSES NE INTO BRITISH COLUMBIA. SEAS WILL SLOWLY DECAY TO NEAR 20 FEET LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON.

Certainly didn’t sound encouraging, but as the reservation for the yurt was paid, and the family would be joining me later in the weekend, I decided to head down and at least check out the area; I could always leave the boat on the racks if need be.

Turns out that the inner break was only 5-6’, this was due in part to a SE wind blowing offshore which suppressed some of the wave energy. The offshore wind was something to keep an eye on, but it wasn’t quite pulling the tops of the waves off so it wasn’t long before I was suited up and in the cockpit. However, it was a quick 30 minutes later that I was struggling to get my boat back on the rack and tied down. In that short time span the winds had increased to BFT 6 and I noticed that it was getting much more difficult to hold my position. As the beach was deserted I decided it was to risky to be out in those conditions without a partner.

Turns out I spent the weekend as a beachcomber, as the weather was crazy. Saturday the wind intensified, I lost count of the hail storms that came through, and we had lightening both nights of the weekend. Then to top it off Sunday morning we awoke to snow.

Still it was a good weekend to walk the beach and watch the drama offshore from the safety of the dunes.