Another almost flat morning at Yoshida.  Actually, on the 21st I also went to Yoshida, Shizunami, Kashima and Katahama – all no good.  So I was looking forward to getting in the water.  I haven’t really been able to use my new suit much yet. 

How would Shizunami be?

Not much better, but it was better than nothing.  It was relatively crowded considering the surf conditions.  Caught a few waves but wasn’t too satisfied.  After a short break, we decided to surf to the left of the pier instead of the right.  (There were about 30 or so surfers on the left, but 4 or 5 on the right).  It was a great decision – caught plenty of waves.  Only a surfer knows the feeling!

Better than last time, but not that great so we moved down to Shizunami.

A little bit better.  Played here for about an hour and half until the wind really picked up.  Hard to believe that it is the middle of November!

Not too bad.  I caught a fair number of waves.  At around 9 am, some more surfers arrived and that Shizunami was even better…

Here’s how Shizunami looked:

A lot smoother than Yoshida.  These photos are a little misleading.  When the sets came in, the waves were quite good.  Surfed here for an hour or so more…  Just another day at the surf office!

Not exactly what we were looking for.  We decided to look for better waves.  Recently, Shizunami has been better than Yoshida.  Here’s how it looked:

Not exactly great either.  With it being a national holiday and all, we decided to get in the water before it got really crowded.  The waves did get better as the tide rose, but unfortunately the current was quite strong and I spent most of my time paddling instead of surfing.  Oh well.

A familiar sight at Yoshida – rainy, small waves and a couple of fishermen.  Next stop – Shizunami.

Choppy waves – but certainly better than Yoshida.

The rain stopped and the skies cleared up.

Too bad it was time to go to work.

Shizunami was a little better than Yoshida so we decided to wait.  While we waited, we talked to the locals about other nearby points and heard that Shizunami was the best place to be today.

Eventually the rain stopped and the waves got bigger.  Surfed until the wind picked up.  It was so strong that I had to hold my board with both hands while walking across the beach!

I only took one picture today – I thought I took more.  Anyways, here is that one picture:

A rare appearance by Mr. Fuji – minus the layer of snow.  I guess that there will be snow there in the next month or so.  This is my first year in Shizuoka so that is mere speculation on my part.

I finished class at 12:10 and arrived at the beach just before 2:00.  I had no idea what to expect because I have never been there in the afternoon yet…

Wow.  One surfer.  Next stop, Shizunami.

A little blurry – but you get the picture.  No pun intended.

Here are a couple more pictures:

It was a refreshing change go surfing in the afternoon – I will have to try it again.  Perhaps Friday??

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).

Unfortunately, Kashima was worse than Shizunami.  One surfer was coming back to his car and one was sitting in his car thinking about going in or not.   Needless to say, we went back to Shizunami.

Here’s how it looked:

Further to the left (towards the old jetty):

Challenging, but definitely surfable.  For the first 30 minutes or so, several sets of heavy waves came in.  It was quite a workout!  I could certainly feel it when I was writing on the blackboard later in the day!

While walking along the beach, I came across these rather strangely dressed guys.

Don’t know what they are supposed to be.  Any ideas loyal readers??

The Shizuoka Longboard Classic seems to be quite a big local event (IHMO).  I talked to a couple of the locals that were volunteering at the event and got at the necessary 411.  The Shizuoka Longboard Class is 2 days long – the first day had 40? heats – 5 surfers per 12-minute heat.  That’s right – it would take over 8 hours for all the heats.  Crazy!

Without further ado, here are some pictures from one of the heats:

Who am I to judge?  But to my untrained eyes, I think that the red surfer won the heat.

I didn’t hang around too long actually.  Perhaps if I knew some of the people in the contest it would be a lot more interesting!

First stop – Yoshida:

The fishermen had already staked out the middle part of the beach.  It didn’t really matter because the waves were tiny.  To the right, there were a few surfers…

on to the second stop – Shizunami!

Certainly a lot more promising than Yoshida.  Here’s another picture:

Small waves and an unusually high number of longboarders.  From my casual observations, I thought that mostly shortboarders surfed here.  Strange…

I quickly found out the reason.  Can you see the large clump of surfers down the beach?  The 20th annual Shizuoka Longboard Classic was being held.  We decided to move on…

Third stop – Kashima.

I haven’t surfed here since the end of June.  Today was much better than the last time we checked it out!

We surfed here for a couple hours until the wind picked up and the crowds came.