Below the threshold but I went anyway, not wanting to get into another month-long downward spiral of not surfing. Wind was already up along Ventura as I drove down around mid-morning, trying to time the tide swing for optimal conditions. Stoked to see consistent head high sets as I pulled up and again as I paddled out!

Tide still too low right when I arrived, waves sucking out well past the 3rd reef, which was going totally dry in the trough. Got a couple of those by positioning next to the reef and waiting for people who paddled deeper to either get bogged in the kelp or freak as the rock emerged. As the tide filled in, the swell seemed to die, and we went through a long flat spell of close to 45 minutes. Lots of people out and generally pretty mellow, most of them I knew and a few I got to know during the lull.

Around 1:00 things picked up again and consistent sets started to roll across the first reef. At the end I had enough waves to feel pretty satisfied and it allowed me to play around a lot with my surfing, pushing harder and more on-edge. It paid off, didn't fall and got some really solid and smooth turns and floaters. Went in on one of those waves and the wind came up as I showered off. So tired that I couldn't muster the energy to type this report in until a day later -- that's a good session!