A great finish to November, and start to December. Hopefully more to come.

It is weeks like this that are the hardest.  The past few weeks, we saw swell almost daily.  Even if most of it was ram sacked by overlapping wind swell, or beat down by demon winds, swell was in the water none the less.  And a few days, it got pretty darn good.  In general, town was good through the stretch, once the south winds turned.  A few days of strong offshore flow made things interesting.  I even heard someone saw "these are the bad sort of offshores."  At 30 knots and side-cross, I think he may have been right.  Still, we got bits and pieces of waves for two weeks.

Finding protection from the bad offshores.

Another way to get out of the wind, is to go inside.

Post sunset sessions.  Things tend to get dark and rosy, and a touch less windy.

Some guys just stay on their bellies to avoid that breeze.  Its Beach delivers some wedge action.

Or you can just hug the cliff band.

Could be worse.  You could be in surfer jail.

After a disappointing start to November, it finally felt like things were set right.  I mean, we had waves.  Enough so, that I have not seen the mountain bike in quite a while.  And then, after this past weekend, it looks like things have shut off.  Sure, we have a few swells filling in this week.  And late season south or two.  The second even looking legitimately fun.  A tiny dateline swell.  If it were August, the 2'@14s would be drool worthy.  For December, it is background.  And the big news is a swell coming for the weekend.  Finally, another long period, reasonable size swell.  And some clean conditions for us to all get out of town.

North of town, the waves tend to be a bit bigger, and more warbled.  And the views, a bit wilder.

But it is far from a complete mess.

Sections like this keep the crowds plenty thick.

Nice carvable faces.

And rosy sunset action.

Town has been where most of the action has been.  Or, perhaps I should say, clean waves.  A few days in the Bay and a few up the north coast, but for the most part, we have seen little of the full days of calm wind.  For those who can find some time in the mornings, there have been more options.  But then you need to prepare for the cold.  It is days like these that the water around here actually feels warm.  But if you are like most, and prefer an afternoon or evening session, you probably have been surfing with the crowds.  Could be worse.  It could be completely flat.

It may not have been epic, but it was fun for a few weeks.

I just kind of like this one.  Not sure why.

The back of the wave is sometimes the best part.

Just enough juice for things to be fun.

And to lay an edge into it.

Dropping in.

After this next swell, it looks like things are ready to take a break for a while.  The North Pacific is clamping up for a while.  Or at least that is how things look.  It is not much better for the snow, so make the most of what you can.  Or you may want to pull out the longboard, as by next Tuesday, things are looking pretty weak out there. Of course, as we move into winter, we should see improvement in wave quality and count.  So it is just a matter of waiting.  Think back to last January.  70F, no winds and 12-18 foot days.  Yum.

With the right amount of foam, it is always fun.

And glassy is always good.

Digging in.

Just inches away for the goods.

Trying to tag in.

So don't despair.  Get out there this weekend.  Expect long long waits.  Almost like a summer south swell.  And then get some work done.  Because when winter comes into swing, the swells will start to really fill in.  And then things will go from fun, to epic.