It was raining quite heavily this morning but the wave forecast looked promising. Recently we have been visiting several points looking for suitable waves. Would today be the same?
As always, the first stop was Yoshida but it had only tiny waves - almost flat. There were only 3 or 4 fisherman there. Surprisingly, they weren’t in the middle of the beach. They were at the far left part. I wonder why. It was raining so hard that I didn’t even bother to take a picture. (Sorry) The second stop was Shizunami. There were a several fishermen and a handful of surfers. It was better than Yoshida but we were hoping for better. So we continued to the third stop - Kashima. (Where we surfed on Saturday and Sunday).
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Like yesterday, the search began at Yoshida. Here’s how it looked:
Eerily similar - wouldn’t you agree? Sunny, fishermen staking out the middle part of the beach and tiny waves.
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I knew the waves probably wouldn’t be too good today but it was going to be warm and sunny. So I didn’t want to miss a nice autumn day of surfing (winter will soon be here I’m sure). I was determined to find some place with some waves!
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Today was NOT a good day for surfing. It was so bad that I didn’t even bother to take any pictures. REALLY. First, we checked out Yoshida. FLAT. Second, we stopped at Shizunami. FLAT. Finally, we visited Kashima. There were a few surfers trying to catch some small waves, but not tempting enough for us to suit up. An incredibly short day at the beach.
Like a regular Wednesday morning, I got up at around 5:30 am and tried to leave the house quickly. I knew that it was going to be a good day when I noticed that I could see Mt. Fuji. I haven’t seen it for quite some time, so I quickly took this photo.
I knew that the waves probably wouldn’t be very good, but at least it wasn’t raining!
When I arrived at the beach at 6:30, I saw 8 people surfing, 1 surfer carrying a surfboard and 1 smoker / wave watcher. It was a pretty typical weekday at Kashima.
The waves were not amazing, but at least they were surfable - a refreshing change from the past few sessions.
If you look closely, actually not that closely, you can see quite a few fishing boats. I don’t know if it was my imagination or not, but I swear I could smell diesel fumes!
I forgot to mention it in my post about June 18th so I will mention it now. Last week we saw a solitary jellyfish. One jellyfish isn’t much to worry about but I certainly don’t want to experience my first jellyfish sting. When it happens, I’m sure I will be posting of a badly swollen arm or leg!
Here’s a picture showing the lack of progress on the beach houses at Shizunami.
Although the wave forecast wasn’t particularly promising, I was hoping that this week’s session would be better than the last several outings. This was my 7th morning of surfing at Kashima (seventh consecutive Wednesday to be precise), so I was hoping that it would be a lucky day…
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After an exciting but unrewarding morning of surfing the remnants of Typhoon #5 last week, I was looking forward to a regular day at the surf office. As to be expected of rainy season, it was cloudy and drizzly. When I arrived at the beach, here is what I saw…
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In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Typhoon #5 passed Shizuoka. While walking to the car after my afternoon class finished, I could hear the waves breaking. (On normal days, you can’t hear the waves). I knew that a few surfers go out when there is a typhoon swell, so I decided to check it out. Parked on the road was a small van with some surf stickers on the back window. Also, there were two pairs of sandals underneath the van, a telltale sign that the people were either surfing or bodyboarding. As expected, there were two guys in the water. I suspect that they were the same two people I had seen before.
The waves were much bigger than Typhoon #4 and the wind was still quite strong - not that tempting for a novice such as myself. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with me and couldn’t take any pictures. I watched them for around 10 minutes and only saw one of them catch a wave. I did one of them take a nice tumble head over heels though.
Even though I had my gear in the car, I decided against going out. I knew that I’d be going out the next day at Kashima, my new home point.
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The weather forecast was for sunshine in the morning and cloudy in the afternoon, so I definitely wanted to go out surfing today. However, this was the what the wave forecast for this morning looked like:
As you can see, the forecast was for a terrifying 50cm - 99 cm swell. Not too promising, but I figured that some paddling practice could do me some good…
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On a usual Wednesday, there are 5 or 6 cars parked at the beach when I arrive at around 7 am. When I arrived at around 6:30 this morning, the narrow farmer’s road leading to Kashima was lined with cars. Here’s what the lineup looked like. Lots of surfers - there must have been at least 50 people on the beach and in the water. I was surprised - but if I expected good waves the locals must have known that good waves were in the mix. I wasn’t disappointed - the waves were a good side. Had a good session - probably my best outing of the season. Looking forward to the next session!
