Wind Speed: 20-25kts, 35+ gustsWind Direction: Southwest, 255 degrees
Wind Swell: 2-3'
Ground swell: 3-4'
Total Distance: 9.1 miles
Elapsed Time: 1h 5min
Max Speed on GPS: 14.6mph
The winds were howling and I couldn't have been happier. When others are sulking over the crappy surf conditions, I couldn't wait to get into the water for a downwind paddle. Winds were sustained at 25+ mph, gusts at 35+! Peter and I met at Cabrillo Beach and the plan was to start at Abalone Cove for the downwind paddle. We loaded up our Bark Stock CT's and headed to Ab Cove in my pickup truck.
Laura was nice enough to drop us off at the gate at Ab Cove, so we didn't have to jockey cars later. The wind was so strong on walk down the old asphalt road to the beach that we had a difficult time holding onto our boards. The pain and discomfort from the tiny shards of glass and tiny painful rocks on the soles of our feet from the road didn't matter anymore as soon as we caught a glimpse of the horizon from the shore... 2 to 5 foot choppy frothy downwind whitecaps, mixed in with a NW ground swell.
When we got to the waterline we noticed it was low tide and a lot of sand had eroded exposing rocks... lots of them, like land mines just waiting for you to stub a toe and ding your board. All the El Nino fueled winter storms have sent us plenty of surf this winter but while it's been a blessing, it's also a curse causing all the beach erosion in the area. After dodging the set waves and rock piles through the surf line on a normally sandy bottom, we were met with a nasty side chop coming from the west. Peter and I had to paddle straight south from the beach at least a mile and a half in order to get a nice angle on the wind waves.
As soon as we turned our back to the wind and waves, we were off flying down the faces of the waves. Runner after runner, my GPS max speed reading was getting higher and higher. I was catching bursts between 9 and 12mph.
As we got close to Whites Point I caught a bigger runner bursting up 14.6mph! Just after I caught that runner, I turned around to check out Peter and all I saw is Pete flying down the face of a 4-5' runner and barreling right towards me, with his eyes the size of saucers. I froze and Pete narrowly missed me by inches as he flew past me. We were stoked and nothing else seemed to matter in the world.
We made it to Cabrillo in 1 hr and 5 mins and covered 9 miles. When we got to shore Peter and I knew we had just had an amazing session.
Normally this is about a 7 mile trip, but we had to paddle out further from shore at the start to get the good angle on the wind. My fastest time for this course had previously been 1hr 10mins, which was at the Akolu Race last year.
Can't wait for the winds to pick up again...
