Surfing Waves

How many of your sessions are good vs. lousy?

I'm on an average of about every third session or so being good....

My previous 2 sessions were great... one was a nice big day and I caught a couple of nice 100 yard plus long rides on overheads, next was a small day (2-3 ft) that it seemed like I caught everything I went for.

But today?!?!? Should've been good a good day .... 4-6 ft waves. But I couldn't get anything!!! After fighting my way out through 8 second relentless waves with no pauses I finally get outside and wait through a set to catch my breath.... then a cleanup comes in and breaks on top of me and takes me to shore............Arghhhh.....Next paddle out I get a bit further out with a lull and find a rip current to help get outside. Same thing happens.... By now I'm beat from hard paddling out and I miss my popup and of course the next wave breaks early and clobbers me.... right into shore. 1 1/2 hrs in the water and I'm beat and not a decent ride........went home and

At least you were out there! I would say that most of my sessions are good these days. I like just being out there in the ocean. I do have a bad session every once in awhile. Here are a few I can remember:
1. foggy, NW winds, cold water (under 50 degrees), strong rip, and spend most of the session on the tread mill just trying to get into position for a junky wave. (great work out though)
2. Chased in by an Orca protecting its pod and the waves were fun and he would not let us surf!
3. When great white sharks are spotted around us it ususally puts an end to our session.
4. When it turns out it is 3 times bigger than you thought from shore, and lots of water moving around and not very user friendly, hard to get back out, and lots of close outs that rattle you when you duck dive.

I'd say most are good but 'good' is a very subjective term. I usually enjoy pulling into closeouts or fighting through wind chop. I've had a few bad days this summer when there's absolutely no swell but I just couldn't stop myself from going in anyways. But that doesn't measure up to being chased by an orca- no that's truly a bad day.

tony g wrote:At least you were out there! I would say that most of my sessions are good these days. I like just being out there in the ocean. I do have a bad session every once in awhile. Here are a few I can remember:
1. foggy, NW winds, cold water (under 50 degrees), strong rip, and spend most of the session on the tread mill just trying to get into position for a junky wave. (great work out though)
2. Chased in by an Orca protecting its pod and the waves were fun and he would not let us surf!
3. When great white sharks are spotted around us it ususally puts an end to our session.
4. When it turns out it is 3 times bigger than you thought from shore, and lots of water moving around and not very user friendly, hard to get back out, and lots of close outs that rattle you when you duck dive.

Chased by an ORCA? Great whites.. where are you, is this a regular occurrence?

I am in Oregon. Yes we have lots of sea life up here, but I would not call it a regualr occurance. The time my brother inlaw and I were chased in by the Orca, I think is a once in a life time event. After getting chased in, we saw a pod of orcas, and felt the big killer whale was protecting his pod. He did not fail to let us know he was there and we should not be. We paddled in quickly, and he continued to thrash around where we just were. It was actually not a bad day other than the fact we did not get to surf anymore. I am glad he did not attack us! They are awesome looking! As far as the Great Whites go you usually do not see them until they attack. I do have several friends who have been attacked or had an encounter with them. I also have been out when they were spotted several times, but never had one come after me that I can positive identify. We have lots of great whites up here, but I would say they really do not want surfers. They do however mistake surfers for seals from time to time.