One of the curses of surfing in the Adriatic and chasing windswells is that most of the time you don’t really know how the surf will be. If the forecast is not exceptional then you can more or less guesstimate the size of the waves and the amount of wind on the spot. On the other hand this curse can also be a blessing. An unexpected fun surf session tastes twice as sweet because it was…well…unexpected :). This is what happened last two times we went surfing.
That Muddy Surf Spot Before Venice
First that “brake into your car and steal your shit” surf spot with muddy water in northern Italy near Venice. It’s an endless beachbreak that even with epic conditions rarely gets good. The sea bottom is so gently sloping that waves break like 10 times before the reach the shore and they brake like gentle feathers rolling down a mellow slope. Powerless, no wall to ride, even when it’s glassy. Well this time it was different. There should be wind, but there was none. There should be shitty waves but here were sick glassy walls that could be really surfed. All that with just some average northern wind that is not really the main surf maker here in the Adriatic. So, hi5, score!
Cortelazzo, 6.9.2019
North of Albania
The next one was our local spot. Spot can get good. But the forecast did not promise a lot. Less than 1m on the forecast means only the most desperate surfers make the trip. It looks there is lots of desperation going around after a long flat summer haha. After a few good days you would probably be alone on a forecast like that. But when we arrived to the beach, surprise surprise! The waves were considerably bigger than expected.
Then the storms came. The heavy rain. The lightning strikes and thunder. The dark clouds. The before the storm squall. The rainbow. The sunset. Waves went from blown out to glassy with occasional sets that were as good as this spot can get at this size. We surfed till dark and barely escaped the mud drenched road that was about to be softened even more by another rainstorm. Such a sick day.
NOA, 8.9.2019