Zinka original

October has brought with it fine waves, enthusiastic friends and memorable travel. The San Francisco Bay Area's phenomenal weather inspired several sunny days out at Linda Mar beach in Pacifica, California, where a shifting beach break gave rise to sets of clean, waist-high, workable shoulders to provide passage through a maze of novice and veteran riders. The variability of rights and lefts ramping up from the same takeoff made for good-natured traffic directing and opportunity for high fives, party waves, and even a tandem ride with a long-boarder or two! Of course, there were plenty of new Zinka enthusiasts, including Nate, a dear friend who'd been on the sunrise patrol at Linda Mar all month. The post session brisket lunch at Gorilla BBQ, an orange caboose fashioned into a smokehouse off the Pacific Coast Highway a couple hundred yards from the beach, is not to be missed, even when the olio of eaters waiting to place an order backs up into the parking lot!

Despite the favorable forecast, the Hawaiian waters and trade winds were not to be forgotten. A quick trip to Kauai at the start of the month with my amazing girlfriend, Karen, was a mix of land and surf adventure - hiking the Napali Coast, camping under evening storm clouds on the north shore's Haena Beach, paddling out into Hanalei Bay, in Karen's case, trail running in Waimea Canyon, and of course, visiting my stomping grounds at the Waiohai point break in Poipu Beach.

Surfing in Hanalei Bay is a family friendly affair - a typical 5-7 foot swell has a contingent of groms you'd swear were out on skimboards, slashing shortboarders, older bigger dudes on noseriders, wahines on brightly colored longboards and all of the aforementioned on SUPs of all shapes and sizes. Waves are shared with smiles and arm-raising cheers at the takeoff - the experience feels celebrated by all. A break that can pump out 20-30 second rides, this is a spot where riders seem to hit their mark and connect with the surf gods themselves to turn out works of art on liquid canvas. Of all the memorable riders out, the most noticeable was a middle-aged SUPer with a little guy on his belly on the front, shrieking with delight into the lens of a GoPro camera pointed back at the duo as they took off on a fast overhead right (I've looked for the footage online, but to no avail).

Waiohai, on the south shore, is near and dear to my heart. The break where I rode my first head high wave as a 4 foot grom with big dreams, paddling out to the break is always a homecoming of sorts. The break provides ample opportunity for rights and lefts, dependent on your ability to hold position, as wind swell typically pushes riders into the left within a minute or two of setting up for the right. The break can get fairly shallow, with some unfriendly - but, as some of the more skilled riders will display on some particularly shallow sections of a long right - navigable reef on the inside. Of course, there's plenty of space to goof off in the water closer to shore, which served as the perfect spot to meet and greet a woolgathering turtle, test out underwater photography skills, and cool Karen off after a scenic run down the hill from the base in the hills of Kalaheo.

Now, it's time to dust off the skis get the quads game ready, and pray for another big winter and a few particularly nice bluebird days in the Sierras!

-Bret