August 3, 2006 - Cowell's Cove, Santa Cruz, CA

After yesterday I was actually content with not surfing anymore, but Lance was in town and Chris was coming down with his board from San Fran, so I guess it was going to be another surfing day. I can't really complain. Chris and I decided that Cowell's would be the best place to go because it is mellow. Lance and I rented NSP epoxy boards at Cowell's surf shop. I got an 8'6" and Lance got a 9'2". Based on how flat it looked on Monday, I was a bit concerned it might suck, but when we got out to the beach it was going off...one after another for a bout 10 in a row. I was actually concerned for Lance and was giving him pointers to make sure he wouldn't get caught inside. By the time we paddled out, it calmed way down. The lineup was packed as usual, but you could still score waves because it is mostly a beginners area. The timing of the sets was really stange. It would be flat for 5-10 minutes and then sets for a couple minutes, then an occasional wave. Some of the sets were chest high. I caught several real nice long rides. My best ride was on a chest high wave and I got the face of it the entire way. It was closing in on both sides of me, but I kept riding it past people all the way until it collapsed. The waves would build and build but if you were too far out you would miss them. Lance took a beating on his way in from a wave and his arms got sore. We were pretty tired from surfing for over 2 hours but the water was warm again. The others didn't get any good pictures, just flatness.