The Bay Area’s wind this weekend is so atypical that it made the evening news. In Southern California, still smoking from last week’s wildfires, these gusts might be called a Santa Ana. But here they’re so unusual they don’t have a name.
Driving to Linda Mar in the bright sunshine I noticed that the American flag off Rockaway Beach was flapping hard and pointing due west. Good sign. Offshore wind like this props a wave up, like a dowel holding open a steamer trunk, and gives the surfer a wide, steep surface to ride.
I met Scott and his buddies Jonah, Ethan and Sean, and we headed into the water, which was frigid, recently delivered from the depths off the Pacific shelf. But a consoling gust of warm air hit my face. I closed my eyes with pleasure. San Francisco can be windy and it can be warm, but windy and warm, now that’s something to cherish.
Unfortunately, shortly into our session the tide changed and the waves closed out. This means instead of folding on itself in a line, like a Ziploc bag closing, the whole body of water topples over as a unit. No fun for the surfer; no Ziploc trail to follow.
They were beautiful, though. The wind opposed the wave and sent a giant cockscomb of spray off the lip, sprinkling onto the glassy water behind it. Then the wave closed on itself with a BOOM.
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