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tough love...

I did the complete drive this morning.. and.. got fricken SKUNKED!

OB - large, raunchy, harrowing and crazy... nobody out. I watched some beautiful, ludicrous peaks throw and barrel and churn at Sloat. Big foam-ball barrels and shit.

Rockaway - Large, poorly-shaped close-out walls.. The left at the far south end may have been working if you like that little rocky spot.

Lindy - doable.. smaller (shoulder-high semi-peelers, head-high closeouts)... nobody out. ugly but not as ugly as Lindy gets. Don't know why nobody was out??

GWC - Saw some high-performace sections coupled with high-intensity-poundings. doable for the super-surfer.

Montara - Likewise watched some incredible, glorious sections peels and barrel.. All glassy from the light offshore-wind. but.. You'd be taking some gruesome closeout death-hammers on the head to get in position for that 1 in 10 money wave.

Jetty - the tide was too high. Otherwise it might have been perfect.. There was significant swell cruising in.. but.. waves were breaking too far inside.. basically right on the rocks on the inside. Maybe when the tide goes out later it will turn on?? Many spots might turn on this afternoon.. all you work-at-homers keep an eye out and enjoy your freedom!!

soo.. i rode my bike to work and did the market street frogger game for a little excitement. yeah..

Soo.. when last i mentioned Tuesday's miraculous experience in the Vally that Time Forgot i had surfed that amazing left point-break.. then spoken with Emperor Necro in the form of that bubble-speaking orange brain coral. Then i met and copulated with that dark-skinned, green-eyed gorgeous vixen who turned out to be nothing but an amalgamation of millions of multi-colored insects.. some of whom, upon leaving the female manifestation, formed a container around my ejaculated sperm.. Others of whom reformed into the shape of a Koala.. which turned out to be Necro again.. who thanked me for contributing my genetic code.... SOOOO... I was obviously flabbergasted at this point but i knew i was dealing with forces well beyond my comprehension or control so i watched my tongue, and also my thoughts..

Necro the koala bear continued to telepathically speak to me. He said, "Ethan, I apologize for the carnal ruse.. but we hoped you would enjoy that method and reasoned it our best hope of collecting your dna without inconvenience or pain. You have served us kindly and we will now take you back to your home." Before i could utter a response or question what the fuck they planned to do with my sperm i noticed that huge stingray heading toward me from the deep sea. In a few moments it was hovering over me and had again gulped me up into its slimy, cavernous mouth. I remember again the feeling of rapid acceleration as i headed back out over the ocean. I remember again being calmed by it's gentle telepathic hum. Then it dumped me on the beach at Sloat. To my great surprise only 5 real minutes had elapsed during that whole journey. My surfboard was still sitting there on the beach where i'd left it and my car was parked above.. i went home.. then to work.. then wrote to y'all about the crazy, wacked-out happening.

Well.. i had nearly forgotten about that whole adventure until this morning.. As i rode my bike through the park i thought i noticed a koala bear hanging high above in one of the huge eucalyptus trees.. i skidded my bike to a stop and creened my neck in an attempt to see it but couldn't find it. huh? weird!! soo.. i kept riding and the next thing i know i see this cavalcade of black lincoln town-cars with tinted windows cruise down JFK boulevard. As the last car passed by the window cracked open a bit and i thought i noticed what looked exactly like me in the back seat! This doppalganger was looking strait at me.. I received an instant, primal telepathic message in my head, "Beware! Change is afoot." I was flummoxed and petrified and deeply deeply worried. Soo.. if you see what you think is me around today.. be afraid.. be VERY AFRAID!! bwahahahahh!!

(continued tomorrow)

Jake Patto won the sunset contest.. Andy got second.. soo.. i think that Slates is BARELY in the lead going into the pipe masters which starts today.. hot damn!!


Can you spell sewage? I was at the sloat lot yesterday afternoon. About 50 yards south of the shower there is a storm drain/vent. When I walked past it and got on the down-wind side, I smelled raw sewage. My wife almost gagged. I'm certain this drain/vent connects to the pieline that runs out to sea. The other night, I got tangled in the pilings out there-not related to the story.

So if you're wondering about the water quality and considering going out I would advise you to wear a space suit instead of a wetsuit.

Maybe that's why nobody was surfing Lindy. Nah, they surf in total brown outs down there. eeeeeyyyuuukkk.

Posted by: Dennis at December 8, 2003 10:26 AM

e....sorry to hear about the skunkification. bummer.

hope some of you heads found some place to score this weekend. Friendly, my lady charger, and i hit Schlindy on Saturday and, though it was one of those seshies where i just couldn't seem to get it together, there were some fun drops and workable sections to be had. then...yesterday...was just junktacular. shiet.

Ian...glad to read over the weekend that you scored sic North County! sweet.

now...as for this "change afoot"...as long as the spirit of e and his posse of niceness is involved...i'm all for it! (but you had better watch out, e. with all of that drivin' around in Lincoln Town Cars...they might try to make you wear a suit! ; )

Posted by: ck at December 8, 2003 10:30 AM

a weekend report from north SC county....
well after watching messy large and basically worthless rockaway for about 45min on saturday and going home surfless, i was determined to get in the water during this swell....after sleeping through the morning high tide, checking the wind patterns on line I packed my shit and hit the road. the first site was a horrible rockaway, then a horrible lindy, then a horrible montara, then a ...tiny shitty HMB jetty, then....a horrible waddell, ouch, was i going to have to surf the Lane with 150 of my best friends. i checked Scotts for about 15min, looked OK, about 4-5' overhead and pretty decent but odd and warably not packed around 10 guys on it....but it didnt look worth the headaches. so i motored on down to florida mile...to my surprise it was getting totally hammered by the winds but was still pretty decently walled up with some decently long rights and about 1/3 the crowd for a sunday....i decide to hit it before i was stuck in the heart of SC, in the end it was really fun albeit kinda wierd from all the wind. around 2-3' overhead and either a quick big drop or a nicely set up wall that allowed for several off the tops and cut backs. not too bad. especially for the light crowd, i surfed the inside bowl with about 6 guys on it for 2 hours and got many many good rides.....that was how i saw the NSC spots....

Posted by: dsx at December 8, 2003 10:50 AM

nice dsx.. sounds like your scored!

Posted by: e at December 8, 2003 10:54 AM

deceasedhomosapien's was fun for a bit on saturday before my closest 35 friends paddled out. one local kid took off too deep and fell into the rocks, came up with a bloodied mouth. pretty heavy.

Posted by: bbr at December 8, 2003 10:58 AM

how bout that DP moon this morning... i was kind of hoping that the waves would be on par with it, but no dice. just a couple miles of empty lineup with warbly large surf. if the weather holds maybe tomorrow will be better... ill keep my fingers crossed

heard that EastSC was firing yesterday.

cheers everyone in nicenessville.

Posted by: elias at December 8, 2003 11:01 AM

yeah.. i watched for about an hour on saturday bbr.. It looked *hella* hectic out there.. i counted 44 people at one point! I already surfed for 2 hours that morning so, luckily, i wasn't jonesing for waves and decided just to watch instead. This one guy did an impossible looking carving 360 on his backside. Also Alex Martins was out there hammering the lip.. I probably saw you get some rides bbr.. were you the only boogie?

pic in the sfgate this morning.. alaska

Posted by: e at December 8, 2003 11:22 AM

i was the only one for a while, but later on these two complete kook spongers paddled straight out past the crowd to the outside peak, totally disrespectful. i hate that.

Posted by: bbr at December 8, 2003 11:44 AM

Yeah. DHS Saturday. It was miserable. The waves were pretty good but not that good. The kid that tanked was gnarly. I saw him go over the falls- he was taking off too far into the rock to make it thanks to the crowd & came up with two smiles and a ton of blood from his wound. The best anyone in the crowd could do was, "gnarly, dude" He was requesting a paddle in escort as he was hedging toward mild shock and was ignored. I paddled him part way in and we met a friend of his who took him the rest of the way and undoubtably to the hospital for a ton of stitches and some dental work. The moral of the story: the vibe from the crowd was bad, but in a weird way- not the screaming that I have seen at Kelly's and elsewhere, not the local Hawaii vibe which makes a lot of sense, but a sick, frat boy I-me-mine thing. No Friendlies there. I love the spot and have been surfing it on and off since I moved here in '89 but Saturday was too much. what is the answer?

Sunday I checked another in the bay spot and the same deal- more people than the take off could support, not the greatest waves and heavy localism. Who is a local- someone who surfs a spot quietly and has been doing so here for years or someone who is in with the vocal, adenoidal, I'll never grow up and fuck everyone forty-somethings who dominate the water with their piss pour attitudes? Help me out. What is the solution?

It is getting bad here.

Posted by: goodmorning at December 8, 2003 11:56 AM

One solution is to have your kids play with their kids - they'll never hassle you again.

But, really, this is point breaks. And at point breaks, the surf vibe is and always has been different than at beaches. Especially on a day like Saturday when almost nothing else is working.

Chill though, the second two weeks of December are two of the lowest crowd weeks all year. Make time to surf, and ye shall be rewarded (if the storm track moves off us).

Posted by: blakestah at December 8, 2003 12:07 PM

one solution: don't surf those spots on weekends! especially when there's an overly-hyped swell coming.. I woke up early on saturday.. saw that the wind was from the south and the buoys were large.. saw that the swell was real west. I KNEW the north side would be fucking packed in the afternoon so i scooted down to lindy to see if i could get lucky and hopefully placate my wave-jones for the day without having to scratch and claw and fight for little sections all afternoon. Sure enough it was blowin' offshore hard at lindy.. and strangely not that crowded.. i saw CK out there.. i hung out on the inside and worked this consistent right-hander for about 20 solid rides.. I nabbed 6 or 7 long down-the-line, multi-turning waves and a bunch of fun drops with little sections.. Without a doubt i scored much more face-time than i would have with the throngs of hungry/angry/shreddy surfers in the afternoon in town.

Yeah.. it was lindy.. but.. it was good lindy.. and.. no vibes!!! no.. scratch that.. GOOD VIBES!

lindy to the rescue..

it is a shame what's happened to our local spots in this crowded day and age.. Even for seasoned rippers like Alex it's a grind.. I talked to him yesterday and he told me about just battling like mad for waves.. and he's the best surfer in town, imho.. crazy..

Posted by: e at December 8, 2003 12:10 PM

Almost forgot. More feedback on the UFO. The latest tester had some interesting things to say

1) Paddles and planes easily, gets into waves easily, very noticeable.

2) Did not lose the tail ever, and pushed it hard through turns

3) Great for big carves - reminded him of a longskate going downhill.

4) Felt like the line had to be smoother than on a thruster, but had no problem performing cutbacks and similar maneuvers. But, you had to be conscious of the line you took more than on a 3 fin.

Said he wants to buy a board just like it when we get to the point where we have them readily for sale, he really enjoyed riding it (and took it out for an extra day after he was done testing). I now have a list of 3 people who will get the board when the current tester is done with it. We are already getting more made, though.

Posted by: blakestah at December 8, 2003 12:13 PM

arent all spongers kooks but not all kooks spongers, kinda like all squares are rectangles, but not all.....etc.....Just kidding bbr....

on the localism vibe, what a joke, locals in SF? yeah right, those are just angry dudes with bad attitudes....I once saw a "kelly's cove local boys" bumper sticker, almost crashed my car laughing so hard. those guys arent locals

to the question what makes a local...IMHO its usually a group of guys that live/grew up on a certain break and surf it everytime its good and 99% of the time its bad and all know each other. you also need to have some sort of topography that allows it to be localized. a beach break? nope, how do you harrass people before they hit the water? a populated city break ie DMs or FPs, no WAY, too easy to reach too many people know it, not enough of the same crew year after year. A localized spot is a spot that you fear to paddle out at because of potential damage to your body/property, ie. PV in SoCal, Silver Strand in Oxnard in the 80s/early 90s, Hazards in SLO years ago, Laguna south of Main Beach, those are the real local spots in CA, not many but there are a few. the last thing i would add is that its a spot worth localizing in the first place, FPs is a decent wave some times, mostly it sucks, DMs is decent again but not all time. compare that to a great day at hazards, or lunada bay or three prong, those spots just don't match up.

just my 2 cents.

Posted by: dsx at December 8, 2003 12:15 PM

sorry if that last comment sounded all preachy.. i feel for you goodmorning and have suffered many many many similar frustrating sessions at our local spots.. i was just psyching on lindy a little bit.. i also have to admit that the sesh wasn't perfect.. i dealt with multiple poundings at the hand of the Shmlindy.. and you also had to continually paddle to stay on that peak.. and also all the biggest set waves would close-out and then rip me from my board and thrash me because i was hanging on the inside.. and it was surely polluted.. and my earplugs got ripped out but CK saw them dangling in a knot of my hair.. but.. however.. nicely-shaped, relatively uncrowded waves were on offer without the vibe!! ya just had to work for em' a bit..

Posted by: e at December 8, 2003 12:17 PM

i've heard worse dsx...

new spot my friends found

Posted by: bbr at December 8, 2003 12:33 PM

that's a cool pic bbr.. california?

doods!! i feel like surfing so bad right now! farkk!! i wish it was head-high and glassy, breaking on the inner bars at OB.. people loosely scattered and everybody getting waves.. maybe like 4ft 12seconds on the sf buoy.. sunny..

Posted by: e at December 8, 2003 12:40 PM

Hey DSX,

I was at 4-mile on Sunday from about 10:30 to 1:30, thought I recognized some other folks from OB. What were you riding? I was on a retro 6-10 squash and took out a 7-10 gun towered the end...dragged both boards down so wanted to ride them both. O’Neill suit with a hood on the whole time, gloves … mid thirties.

Posted by: Tom at December 8, 2003 12:43 PM

That Alaska shot is cool. That is Sitka, rarely breaks. I forgot the name of the dormant snow capped volcano in the background, but it's on Baranoff island, and at the southern tip of the island is a perfect right point. A few Coast Guard guys surf it. I spent a summer in Sitka and I got one day of waves and a shit load of salmon.

Posted by: at December 8, 2003 12:47 PM

cleaning up out there?

cams look cleaner...anybody check it recently? Sharkbait??
thinking about snaeking out for one...got skunked this w/e...didn't want to deal with the super crowd at the only place I saw waves....

thanks!

Posted by: toby at December 8, 2003 12:52 PM

My pal and I did the coastal run on Saturday and ended up at the Lane around high tide. Still some big/fun waves at Indicator and by noon the middle peak was firing DOH- maybe plus on some sets. The left was working and a few of the hard chargers were making some impressive drops. I counted three broken boards and saw one kid get worked by a set wave that dragged him underwater for 30 yards. I heard him talking with a friend later on. Turns out a big clump of kelp got wrapped around his board and turned it into a sea anchor. Yikes! Drove north and checked Mav's in the early afternoon. Heavy on-shore winds and no one out, but it was showing its stuff. Stopped by RockAndSway and couldn't believe my eyes. Four guys were out there in these incredibly fat, top-to-bottom, mostly closed out mackers. Another broken board, and the guy's long swim to the beach did not look fun. Ever have that sick feeling that someone could drown and there's probably nothing you can do?

You niceness guys take care. . . looks like it will be thumping again by mid-week.

Posted by: Bruce at December 8, 2003 12:57 PM

Tom, i was on a 7'2" pin tail with no logos, no hood, no gloves, but i had booties along with everyone else.... i only surfed the inside bowl never paddled up to the peak, i was there all afternoon from around 12:30-2:30. i saw a couple guys with hoods, what logos were on your board?

Posted by: dsx at December 8, 2003 01:00 PM

I have a solution for the crowded point breaks in SF. Got the idea from the movie Ben Her. Attach a paddle wheel on each side of the board. At the hub of the wheel is a six blade knife with lots of sharp points along the blade. Remember the chariot race sceen? As you paddle or surf, the paddle wheels and blades spin warding off any competitors. I think this should provide enough room for non-agro surfer.

I'll work on a prototype tonight when I get home. You will have to earn the right to use the device by making acts of kindness to your fellow surfers. Agros' need not apply.

Posted by: Dennis at December 8, 2003 01:00 PM

that would be great! im just about ready to surf again after the flu..im jonesing..i think the SF crowds right now are the worst theyve ever been..still great beach sandbar gems (there were like 4 people on my thanxgiving peak for a good time) but the little taste we have of a semi orginized points are so over populated and set up shittly for crowds it makes them almost non existent in my eyes, and just the story of dm's this weekend makes me sad..to many surfers not enough waves..i wish people thought of surfing the same as they thought of bochi ball or something..rant over..

Posted by: bagel at December 8, 2003 01:07 PM

north of point conception, south of sf

Posted by: bbr at December 8, 2003 01:10 PM

OB: No, not cleaned up...well maybe a tad cleaner since this morning but that just means the mongo monster waves of this morning have been replaced by giganto waves. Only poss. surf stuff looks like the farthest outside, and it's looking mean and crunchy and fickle as hell! Someone might find a roughshod bomb in the just right spot, but they'd have to survive the brutal paddle out too. Inside is total chaos. No takers but if anyone goes out or conditions change I'll shoutout. It's sunny and gorgeous at the beach !

Hey I paddled in a swimming pool this weekend, no locals but amused neighbors. ETA real water one-two weeks?! YAY

Posted by: s.s. sharkbait at December 8, 2003 01:18 PM

allz i have to say about the overpopulated SF surf scene is.. THANK GOD FOR OB!! seriously.. we have 3 miles of beachbreak to work with.. think if we only had the points!! or if SF was setup like Santa Cruz.. with nothing but points and reefs.. it'd be nice if there were only a few hundred surfers in the community.. but.. with current numbers.. it would get ugly..

the fact that OB is usually punishing.. and because it's a god-damned giant stretch of beach.. it can somewhat handle the crowds.. just not at Pacheco at 10am on any good day!! sucks for the mid-beach guys that the dunes don't run the whole way along the west-side of the great-highway, preventing the view.. but.. seriously.. thank god for OB!! without it we'd be seriously bumming!

Posted by: e at December 8, 2003 01:23 PM

ps. go slates...in a wonderous turn of events i am headed to the Oahu friday morning to support my girlfriend running the AIDS marathon over there (im so thoughtful)..we'll be there till monday and ill be the first guy on the sand at pipe sunday morning...OH DAMN!!...it will be good to see my boy take it live..

pss. can any heads recomend some good public transit or crowd avoiding secrets?.the marathon is on the south shoe of course..bertrand, you gonna be over there?

Posted by: bagel at December 8, 2003 01:24 PM

DSX that is new tom to the blog.

"New tom to the blog" maybe add asomething to your handle for example...."big Wave Tom" "little wave tom" "medium wave tom"...or maybe even "new tom to the blog" but...you really should get creative....."not tom curren" could be good too.

anyway...that's enough typing for one day from tom.

Posted by: tom at December 8, 2003 01:39 PM

Hola all...just to completely change the subject (all this talk about crowds just bums me out)...has anyone been on one of the charters out to the Mentawais? I got a lot of good advice from some folks awhile back about going to Indo...but unfortunately, my window of opportunity changed. Since we're having baby #2 in May the wife has given me permission for a 2 week trip in March. So I pretty much have to do the surgical strike. Anyway, if anyone has good boat/travel co. referrals send em my way. Oh, and if you feel like going to the Ments in March let me know. Right now its just me and a buddy.

gracias

Posted by: jdz at December 8, 2003 02:14 PM

damn bagel...that is unreal about the Hawaii trip. One of my dreams is be over there this time of year just to watch the show. have a great time.

Posted by: jdz at December 8, 2003 02:17 PM

speaking of crowds - was in SD this weekend and i've never (in the +3 years living in ocean beach and 12 years total in SD) never seen such a crowd at sunset cliffs. every friggin break had at least 30 people. shook my head and paddled out next to the pier with 4 others out and caught some fun +head lefts breaking between the pier and avalanches. and the water was sooo warm compared to our beloved OB.

always a challenge when it's good but there is always is a place that seems a little less crowded. may have to give up the goods but i'd rather catch 20 mediocore waves than 2 good waves.

Posted by: caveman at December 8, 2003 02:19 PM

DSX: Both boards were stock white. The retro squash had an FSC logo in a multi colored circle...maybe 8" across, third fin is red, and the gun is a SF board with just their oval shaped logo and yellow fins; the gun was only out for maybe 20 min at the end. I was sitting inside of the peak about even with that rock that people jump in from, trying to get those occasional ones that came through with more west in them than NW.

I'm starting to recognize folks I see around Sloat and would like to add some names to the faces. I drive a blue Accord with UC Davis license plate frames (I work on campus). I’m over there 2 sometimes 3 days a week.

Posted by: "new to the blog Tom" at December 8, 2003 02:41 PM

new to the blog Tom - that's friggin commitment to drive from Davis multiple times a week!! good on ya!

Bagel!! that's so sick that you're headed to the north shore in the midst of all the madness!!! crazy!

enjoy!!

Posted by: e at December 8, 2003 02:51 PM

Posted by: e at December 8, 2003 03:03 PM

Thanks, all. The Moribund Person's story is mostly fustrating and astonishing to me because of the lack of concern for someone who was on the edge of badly hurt. What does it take for people to ask a few questions, and maybe help someone in a bad spot out? Especially someone asking for help. The crowds suck to be sure but common human welfare ought to raise more than an eyebrow and a shrug. What we do has the potential to be dangerous- I have had stitches and a seperated shoulder surfing. It doesn't take much for a person loosing a lot of blood to go into shock and perhaps drown? Is that just one less in the line-up?!

Bagel- I don't know you but this is what I do know from the country. Go early. Early. Getting in the water long before sun up might be questionable but as it is rising for sure. As a kid from town I learned this quick driving across the island (it's sooo far!).

Don't expect to get waves at Pipe unless you are the first in the water. If you do hit it and you see a haole guy in the water at Pipeline without a board, back off, it is likely to be Mark Cunningham and he will burn you board or not. Super nice guy but he gets waves you won't think he'll make and rips. And email me for more details and some spots. You will have fun!

Posted by: goodmorning at December 8, 2003 03:16 PM

word.. that's a sad observation goodmorning.. I've actually witnessed a similar situation at the same spot.. it was crowded and big and intense out.. and the tide wasn't that low.. so inside waves were really bashing up against the rocks.. this dude takes off late and doesn't make it.. He surfaces a few moments later but continually bobs under the water like he can't keep himself afloat. Another wave comes and he goes under again.. and doesn't surface for a while.. a bunch of us in the lineup notice but aren't exactly sure if anything is wrong with him.. he resurfaced and looked distressed and in trouble.. someone yelled to him, "are you ok".. but.. he didn't really hear.. next thing you know he's trying to climb up on the rocks on the inside! he screams, "CRAMP!".. then another wave comes and knocks him off the rock.. Many of us in the line up were looking at each other.. thinking.. "what the fuck! let's help this guy".. we again see him struggling but he's back on his board and sort-of paddling toward the cove.. finally he made it to the cove. It was weird though.. with big, sucking waves cruising in.. it was difficult to know what to do to help this guy. In hindsight i would have paddled to the inside and tried to help. but.. it was over before we really had time to discern the situation.. but.. also.. as in your observation.. 90% of the people in the lineup seemed not to care.

Posted by: e at December 8, 2003 03:29 PM

despite the crowd i made my maiden voyage on sat to one of the controversial points being discussed today. vibe was more mellow than i expected, although i was mostly hanging on the shoulder. rides were mostly real short anyway. got in one drop and made note to try again on a weekday.

got some fun-but-tiny longboarding on sun around a certain lagoonmouth in marin. again, fairly crowded, and the water looked to be churned up from the rain, and the wind was not quite right, but there was enough peeling niceness for everyone.

Posted by: loon at December 8, 2003 03:29 PM

oh, goodmorning thanx for the tips..but i think i wrote my message to fast with out thinking, i usually do this...but i have no plans to surf the North Shore (and never plan to surf pipe) *dodging tomatoes*, if i was going to be there for more than 4 days it would be a different story, and staying in a hotel in town for my girlfriends marathon, im not even gonna pay the 120$ to get a board there and back..i just wanted to watch the contest thats going on at pipe, finals are sunday im pretty sure..hopefully ill get in the water somewhere though as my girlfriend has a friend whose married and lives over there, and her husband i guess is a local surfer. im not expecting much but theres some potential for some real happiness there..im pumped either way..

oh jdz i saw the pipe contest once a while back and it was the coolest shit ive ever seen.. have fun in the mentawais.damn.

sorry about the life story..


Posted by: bagel at December 8, 2003 04:19 PM

What a crazy swell this weekend. Saturday I tried Bobo since the swell was from the west (wasn't sure if a west could feed it?), but alas the south winds had it killed, which didn't stop a bizarre number of people from paddling out into the soup. I drove south and the best looking spot I saw was Lindy, which had offshores but wasn't getting very much swell, at least not from my limited scoping.

Then down to SC for the night, and in the morning checked Pleasure Point, which was too crowded for a not-very-big swell, but great shape as always, then down to Manresa which was oddly big and mostly closed out. Then down to a very mossy place, which was mostly blown out near sunset and didn't seem to be getting much swell.

Today drove up, hit dport, which looked great but suffered from the rawness of the swell. Hit a right to the south of the usual spot and had some great great rides, 2 or 3' overhead and just me out (3 or so were trying the left on the other side of the reef), though I wished there was someone else out since I started getting paranoid about sharks for some reason. A voice in my head kept repeating something I'd read "if you get a bad feeling, get out of the water". Managed to shut the voice up and stayed out for a good 3 hours under the blue sky sun, absolutely beautiful morning.

The rest of the drive, lots of spots that don't usually get it were surfable or at least explorable. No one out at Waddell though it was still pretty glassy, Montara was big burly slop, didn't get a good look at Lindy.

Crazy about that guy with the gash not getting any help. Yikes.

Posted by: wrybread at December 8, 2003 05:16 PM

as a daily reader, occasional contributor and fellow slider here is another two cents... well maybe three cents.

first, checked it at 6:30 this morning. No dice, really wanted to surf, but it just didn't look inviting. Opted for work. Though i had a feeling that the winds might shape it up mid day. Sooo... put in at 1:00pm. Slzote. Paddled for ever with one other dude. Made it out and we were the only ones on it. Clean waves. Big waves. Nice shoulders. Lots of paddling. Only lasted for about a hour. Started getting bumpy and crowded (ie. i could see about 8 heads!) Took one in a went back to work. So from about 1 -2pm today it was on like donkey kong! that is if you felt like paddling and paddling.

on locals, i always loved the quote that goes something like "locals are the ones without the motivation to travel" sure there are loopholes in the quote... but there's a point there too.

on crowds, good vibes start with yourself. be positive and have fun. thats what its about right? if the crowd isn't having it then let the crowd "have" it, put in somewhere else. just remember how many incredible waves you are going to have during your life as a surfer. hundreds.

hope that wasn't too positive and optimistic, but im still high from all that paddling this afternoon! whooo hoo!

cheers all!


Posted by: elias at December 8, 2003 05:36 PM

e,
Hesitation is a good thing. If you have determined that a person truely needs to be rescued, the most important question before you try to help a person in trouble is, how can I do this safely?

If you get in trouble helping another person, that makes 2 rescues and maybe no rescuers. I'm not saying don't try to help a person, but it is best to see if the person can help pull it out alone before you put yourself in harms way.

Many years ago a friend (not an experienced swimmer) jumped in the water to help his girlfriend that was caught in a rip. She made it back to shore. He drowned. He never thought about how he would bring her and hisself back to shore safely.

Posted by: Dennis at December 8, 2003 06:16 PM

oh goodness...that is a sad note to end the day on...please do think before you leap...but please think.

returning to the day's first post, i have some bizarre and disconcerting personal research to add to the discussions of water quality at lindy. i had some serious vision problems after surfing there saturday AM with ck and dr. j. i thought maybe it was just from the wind and spray, but by saturday PM i was pretty much snowblind. iit wasn't until last night (~30 hours later) that my eyes started to feel half normal again. anyone ever experience anything like this??

perhaps i should've been wearing the space suit dennis mentioned at the outset...

Posted by: friendly at December 8, 2003 08:26 PM

Hike. Check the maps, check the charts, get out of the friggin' SUV, get muddy and make personal friends with that grey form cruising somewhere below. An old habit picked up from a few trips to NZ.
Forget about 'Dumbmans' if you don't like to rub elbows with locals/tannys/bodies. And for those with access to small boats cast your eyes upon the near shore of our biggest bay island for a real shock next time the swell gets up into the westish 18ft. range.
All the secrets are bustin' out. I am getting old and crotchity and frankly if I hear one more complaint from the old gaurd or the longboard peddlers at 'Whine' surfshop about how it used to be paradise, etc. I'll take up sponging at the Patch.

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Hike. Check the maps, check the charts, get out of the friggin' SUV, get muddy and make personal friends with that grey form cruising somewhere below. An old habit picked up from a few trips to NZ.
Forget about 'Dumbmans' if you don't like to rub elbows with locals/tannys/bodies. And for those with access to small boats cast your eyes upon the near shore of our biggest bay island for a real shock next time the swell gets up into the westish 18ft. range.
All the secrets are bustin' out. I am getting old and crotchity and frankly if I hear one more complaint from the old gaurd or the longboard peddlers at 'Whine' surfshop about how it used to be paradise, etc. I'll take up sponging at the Patch.

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I was at the sloat lot yesterday afternoon. About 50 yards south of the shower there is a storm drain/vent. When I walked past it and got on the down-wind side, I smelled raw sewage. My wife almost gagged. I'm certain this drain/vent connects to the pieline that runs out to sea. The other night, I got tangled in the pilings out there-not related to the story.

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