September 13, 2006 Session Report

Date: 2006-09-13

Location: Playa La Zurriola, San Sebastian, Spain

Tide: Falling

Swell: I don't know, almost non-existent

Ok, so I went on vacation with my girlfriend this fall. She likes art, culture, good restaurants, fancy hotels, funky neighborhoods, discos, going for walks, holding hands and that kind of stuff. I like surfing, so naturally I booked our big vacation this year in northeast Spain and southwest France. Mundaka and Hossegor. Biarritz and San Sebastian. It seemed so perfect. Plenty of opportunities for basking in the old world culture and refinement plus gnarly beach break barrels and firing reefs. I was going to kill about 3 birds with one stone! So stoked!!

Well, it didn't really work out that way. Rained a bunch, not much swell, and when a swell finally did start to show, it came with 30 knot plus onshores and rain squalls that kept the shutters rattling and most of the surfers out of the water. I guess I learned a lesson. We'll see.

I did take to the line up for a couple of hours in San Sebastian, at a beach called Zurriola on the north side of town. Similar in set up and wave quality to Linda Mar in good old Pacifica, California, I had a pretty marginal session chasing knee slappers amidst a highly varied pack of about 30-40 surfers.

Oh well, the water was warm and the beach scenery was a little different than Linda Mar. Closer to Gray Whale, without the gay dudes.