People talk about the vibe you get in the water when things just don’t feel right. I’m sure you’ve all heard about the stories where they are sitting 100 yds offshore and they get a weird creepy vibe and then paddle in to get a glimpse of a large fin cruising the lineup or something worse.
Well, I don’t know if I have one of those stories or not cause I don’t have any proof. Let’s just say it had all the signs.
First off, tis’ the season. October and November are Shark months in Norcal…not to say that the rest of the year is shark free by any means. Anyway, I paddled out this morning for the dawn patrol and there were a couple guys and gals out off to the left of where I usually surf. The swell was about 2-3ft with a somewhat high tide. Beautiful as the sun was just coming up and the ocean was pretty glassy. I surfed for about twenty minutes paddling to stay in position as everyone else drifted south. I had a weird feeling cause the tide was high and I was solo for the most part…you always hear about early morning sightings etc. Well, just as the thought popped into my head I saw a fin about 30 yrds out to my right, followed by another that breached the surface like a dolphin. Whew…a relief.
The next set that came in I watched as the dolphin streaked along in the face of the wave and then kicked out half way through the ride. It was cool to see and thought to myself that I was just being paranoid. Ten minutes later, about 15-20 yards out to my right, I catch the tail end of a large splash/thrashing type movement under water…not right at the surface…but it did kick up a bit of spray which was what got my attention. I sat there and just watched to see if I could see anything more for ten seconds or so…nothing….a wave came and I was on it. Not a good one, so I kicked out a bit further inside and sat there looking out to sea again. A second later to my left I saw a sea lion jump out of the water once continuing south.
Now of all the stories I’ve heard, those are the signs. Dolphins present, splashing/thrashing, sea life acting erratically. I didn’t want to just paddle in, but felt that I probably should…nothing wrong with getting to work early, right? Besides the waves weren’t that good, at least thats what I told myself. I got one more wave on the inside and then was out. As I walked up on the dune I hoped to see something that would validate my paranoia, but never did get the proof.
Still not sure if what I witnessed was anything to exit the water for, but thought it was a good move to listen to that creepy vibe and respect the Ocean. I know this is not the type of stuff you want to read about necessarily, but I had to tell someone.
Bluebird Surf 