Surfing Waves

So I often surf this peak that's uncrowded and has a nice rip current that acts like a conveyor belt to the outside. I've been surfing this place long enough to get to know some of the characters who hang out there. One of them is a seal that likes to fish in that channel I use to get outside. Anyway, she seems to take great pleasure in scaring the crap out of me. I first met her in waist deep water one day while i was out practicing my popups and she plunked her head out of the water about 7 feet away from me and stared at me. I figured she might have been trying to tell me to get out of her fishing zone so I moved over and out of the fishing trough. I see her pretty often now when I surf there and she always pops up out of the water when I least expect it.

Anyway, so today was an absolutely beautiful day for beginner surfing and I stayed out for about 4 hours. There was almost no paddle-out to the lineup and the waves were small (2-4 feet), but nicely shaped. I actually got tired from taking off on waves instead of from paddling out to the takeoff zone. Anyway, I got caught inside on one of the biggest sets of the day. As I paddled toward the biggest wave of the day (5 foot), I was watching the lip just about to topple over and come down in front of me when, suddenly, my neighborhood seal pops her head out at the top of the wave and looks directly at me. I was completely startled by it and then realized she was taking off down the face directly toward me. So she took off down the incline of the wave and just before she reached me she darted right and disappeared into the depths. This is the second time she's done this to me so I don't think it's a coincidence. I think she might be showing off and I have to say that it's an amazing display.

I guess she likes you since she didn't run you over.

Did she drop in or did she have priority?

Big H wrote:Did she drop in or did she have priority?

When she first popped out, I thought it was a body boarder that had somehow gotten right in front of me. I actually think she positioned herself directly in front of me to make 100% sure that I saw her surf on that wave. When she popped her head out of the water it looked like she was trying to locate me and make sure I saw her. There was another time when she popped her head up right in front of me while I was riding down the face of a wave.

oldmansurfer wrote:I guess she likes you since she didn't run you over.

I think she might. Maybe there's something to those legends about Selkies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selkie

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the-sec ... roan-inish

great story!

I only saw a seal once , popped up near the lineup.

Then a guy puked.

That was during the Ebola scare of 2014.

We have friendly seals that love to ride the tide out of Bolinas lagoon. They bob and look around as someone might while floating in a river current.

Dolphins usually scare the bajeesus out of me because I'm not good at seeing the difference between them and sharks! I need "surf glasses."

pmcaero wrote:great story!

I only saw a seal once , popped up near the lineup.

Then a guy puked.

That was during the Ebola scare of 2014.

Thanks! I wouldn't normally write about it, but I find it kind of amazing. It's like I'm surfing in my own episode of Flipper (old TV show).

BoMan wrote:Dolphins usually scare the bajeesus out of me because I'm not good at seeing the difference between them and sharks! I need "surf glasses."

dolphin.jpg

shark_fin_water.jpg

Yep, they do that to me too. There were some what looked like dolphin fins poking out of the water the other day near me, along with lots of flapping and thrashing in the water, and that was enough to get me to head to shore. I'm pretty sure it was a dolphin, but not entirely sure. Of course, just when I want to exit I find myself sitting in the doldrums with not a wave in sight.

At least you arent in Australia where there really are sharks all over the place...

Where I surf there is a pod of local dolphins, so I see them all the time. There are very big and heavy looking, I'm sometimes worried that they will jump out and hit my by mistake, or even get spooked by my board and flap around with their giant tails. Although its a bit of a false fear in that I have never had one come closer than about 10ft.

There is a seal at one beach but I only ever seem to see it when I'm fishing and s/he scares all the fish away. I think that is the cause of my failures