Malaga Cove Surfing
Sunday 9/16 Vickie, Denny Bean, and I launched at Malaga Cove and paddled to
bluff cove for some surfing. The swell was small, the tide height was very
good for the cove (1'-2'). There weren't too many board surfers and we were
able to find a nice area out of their way. Most of the waves were about 2
feet, but there were some 3+ footers to liven things up a little.
For those that haven't been to this cove - it is really a fun place for surf
practice. The waves spill gently, reform, and then break again. It's not
unusual to get rides of several hundred feet. If you broach, the wave will
soon release you so you can paddle back out. If you capsize (and can't
roll), you can stand up in many places in the cove. The water is very warm
in the afternoon.
This was Denny's first time surfing (for fun) and he enjoyed it. He capsized
about every forth run, which easily beats my performance of about every
second run when I first started. Denny said that practicing in the cove was
a big confidence builder.
As an added bonus, this cove is also a good place to practice re-entries
(assisted or unassisted) in breaking water without endangering yourself (too
much). I managed to stay upright most of the time except for once when
assisting Denny and once when I just put my paddle in the water at the wrong angle (dumb).
Vickie was the stay up champ today. She managed the whole surf session in
bluff cove without a capsize and she was catching quite a few waves.
Unfortunately, she got munched on return to Malaga cove in a little bitty
wave. That evened the score a bit.
Steve Brown
Submitted on September 16, 2001