I have mixed feelings towards summer. I always look forward to summer’s embrace about halfway through spring. Here on the Central Coast of California, spring means incessant onshore winds and subsequent cold-water upwelling. By the time May rolls around, I’m more than ready for summer’s warmer demeanor. I love the long days and relatively warm water temperatures. I love south swells and the punchy lefts they produce at our beach breaks.
But summer is a double-edged sword here on the Central Coast. With summer comes crowds; everyone from beginners learning on soft-tops to tourists playing in the shore break. There is nothing quite as frustrating as taking off on a wave, struggling through flat spots, finally making it to the end section (which is the only decent part of the wave), only to have to kick out because there is a pack of tourists frolicking in the shore break.
Summer often means fog here as well. It could be sunny and 80 degrees five-minutes inland, but here on the coast it’s a blanket of fog. And somehow there always seems to be a weird ghost wind that comes with summertime fog. Which is why, for all the sunny beach days that our neighbors in Southern California get to enjoy, up here we often have to find other activities to keep us occupied through the summer doldrums. Some take to the nearby lakes and mountains and others use summer as their time to travel. But for those willing to stick out all the obstacles that summer presents, occasionally we get rewarded. It is quite magical when the sun finally does make an appearance and it coincides with a pulse of south swell; I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world.
But I think the best part about summer here is that it means one thing: fall is only ninety days away.
All photos by Colin Nearman
