so / cen cal round 2 may 3 - 9

[ChrisPSherwin]

Came back to CA for a few more days.
Day 1 Jalama: Waited 2 hours and rigged zephyr. Whitecaps took forever to make it from offshore. Zephyr was great, then good, then it was a crazy huck session outside the break, then it got downright hectic. I fully depowered at one point and stayed out of the break waiting for things to mellow out. Then, in my periferal vision I saw water blasting into the air. It was a blue whale about 200 feet away. I saw it once more and tried to go up wind with it but no dice. Went back to the beach, flagged out and came in. Rigged 11, kited gusty crap and 4 foot waves for a bit.

Day 2 Jalama: 11m solid wind - 4-8 foot waves for about 4 hours.

Day 3 Pismo Beach: Arrive to a total junk show. Just too many people out there. High tide isn't helping with wave shape. Two hours later the waves and wind get better and everybody leaves except me and a few others. Great 2nd half of day.

Day 4 Oxnard Insanity: Rig 11m and notice big waves already. Wait, what's that on the beach? Oh yeah I see it too. That's a 30 foot sailboat washed up on shore. Cool, ok let's kite! Wind picks up and the waves are getting bigger. Jalama was my personal record breaker for wave size last week, and today looks similar. Then things just get crazy. Wind picks up more, waves get bigger, and it looks like I'm being chased by houses. As I tow into one wave I am VERY concerned about my well being. For good reason too. The wave is now so big that the wind shadow in front of it is killing the power in my kite which is low in the window. I motor down the face of the wave wondering what I will do next, and by luck the kite goes up the window and gets some power. I ride the wave to shore, piss myself, struggle up the beach and land. Later I rig the 9 and stay away from the big stuff. I'm tired and have been lucky enough once today. A great way to end a great trip.