The Green Room

It’s not often you get a south swell in Northern California accompanied by rain–drizzly summertime fog, sure–but that’s what happened Wednesday, April 2. One of the first clean south pulses of the year began to poke it’s head up along the coast under grey skies and scattered showers. Here are some shots taken from around Nor-Cal during this last fun-sized south swell.

The angle on this early season south swell was steep. Some reports even claimed it had some East in it, if that makes any sense. Only a select few spots really like that steep direction. This was one of them.

Early morning in Big Sur.

No one was complaining about the rain because it kept the normally howling springtime winds at bay, with oil slick, glassy conditions prevailing all day Wednesday and into Thursday morning, when the swell really began to show. Speedin’ down the line on a 5′6″ Hogfish.

Deep afternoon low tides also helped the south swell pick up in town and by Thursday afternoon we we’re seeing head-high sets at standout breaks. These guys decided to split the peak.

A foamy pit. If you don’t make it out of this tube, you’re guaranteed to eat sand.

Unfortunately, as the clouds cleared out the winds moved back in. By Thursday afternoon many breaks in town were blown out. Friday morning saw west winds that had the Westside whitecapped by 10 am. This Santa Cruz surfer grabs a rail, trying not to get tripped up by the chop. 

South swell waves just have more pop per square foot. Photo: Sam Henderson.

Dropping in backside about to pull into a dark cavern north of town. Swimming around with a water camera out here was kinda creepy, especially with the ominous dark clouds and grey water. You keep wondering, “What’s underneath all this murky water looking up at my swim fins?” Next time I think I’ll surf instead.