A fun May Day south swell rolled into Northern California on Thursday, peaking Friday and hanging around through the weekend. According to Surfline.com, the angle of this swell (210-214 degrees) resulted in a lot of energy being blocked by the Polynesian islands, translating to somewhat smaller surf. Overall conditions weren’t exactly epic, but we’ll certainly take what we can get at this point. Where is that one epic south we always get in April/May? I hope this wasn’t it.
This swell had been hyped up for over a week since it first spun off of New Zealand and sent huge waves to Tahiti on April 26th. This was the same swell responsible for halting the trials of the WCT contest at Teahupoo and producing all those crazy photos from Tahiti in the final days of April. Then the swell continued to march northeast through the Pacific where it slammed the south shores of Hawaii. I spoke to a couple of friends out there who said they had solid waves for almost a week. Check out video of fun tubes at Ala Moana Bowls during the swell. although the tradewinds were howling for a number of days during the swell, rendering some spots barely surfable. On the peak of the swell most south shore spots on Oahu were closed out, with only a select few spots able to handle the swell. Meanwhile over on Maui things were more manageable…
By the time this swell filled into Northern California word had spread like brushfire, and the Eastside was doing its full on Malibu impression, with seemingly the entire town taking off work and school in order to go surfing. The Westside meanwhile didn’t seem to be picking it up as well, with most of the action concentrating at the Lane. Friday morning saw the Point at the Lane packed with about 25+ heads by sunrise! Meanwhile, up north heavy winds over the last several days had spots looking pretty bumpy and uninviting with hungover shape even for the dawn patrol from all the wind the night before. A pesky short period and steeply angled NW windswell didn’t help matters, chopping up the south lines.
Here are a few amateur shots from around Northern and Central California during this last swell…
Small early morning lines started to show in town by Thursday.
Yours truly finds a Sewer Peak section to carve into Friday afternoon. What you can’t see in this picture are the thirty other heads behind the foamball packing the bowl and stretching onto the shoulder of the rights. Pretty hilarious. It looked like the crowd on a small day at Pipe, except that the waves sucked in comparison. photo: Megs
While it wasn’t a macker, this south swell still had enough energy to make it all the way up to the far northern reaches of California. These three surfers enjoyed the unusually clean springtime lines at a Sonoma Coast reef break. I was told the water temp up there is about 49 degrees right now. Ouch! photo: Henderson
Even if the waves aren’t big, being caught inside by those juicy long-period south swell sets is never much fun. photo: JS
Me again, trying to float over a section that I should have pulled into. I didn’t get high enough above the lip line on my floater and wound up getting picked up by the feathering lip and slammed on my back. I guess that’s what I get for trying to surf from behind the section like Kelly Slater. photo: Megs
This beachbreak south of town saw sparkling clear water and punchy little barrels on Thursday and Friday. You can tell by the color of the water where it is. photo: JS
An ugly-looking little wave slips undeneath two surfers over the weekend. These guys had been waiting around in the fog for a wave to roll through for like fifteen minutes. The cold onshore breeze was blowing in their faces and you could tell they were over it. Then this little bouncy wedge somehow managed to slip passed them. Bummer.
It’s starting to feel like summer. The fog has been creeping in off the ocean, up through the canyons and into the valleys overnight lately. Even though this generally means a pattern of small, junky windswell and cold, damp days at the beach, there are still moments of beauty. Early morning mist retreats from a north coast canyon.
By Sunday the fog had rolled into Santa Cruz along with funky winds and it looked like June gloom. Shane Desmond still managed to get a few cracks in at this little reef before the waves completely died out.
Damn, where was everybody on this one? Empty beachie dishes out the goods. photo: JS
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.
Still in Hawaii, but I’ve heard from folks back home that the weather has been pretty wet and stormy there lately. Instead of teasing everyone with highlights of the perfect surf and sunny weather on the North Shore for the last week and a half, here’s some more pics of the nice run of swell and clean conditions NorCal saw in the beginning of February.
How’s this for irony? Just a day after Sunday’s column in which I harped all about how the recent stretch of cold, rain and south winds had me dreaming of a tropical escape, the clouds magically cleared, the sun beamed, and the waves began to pump with offshore winds to boot.
I ended Sunday’s column with these prophetic words:
…Once I do buy a plane ticket, that’s often when the sun decides to finally come out and the waves begin to turn on. But at that point I’m usually too preoccupied with planning the perfect surf trip to notice that the very thing I’m chasing is dancing by right in my own backyard.
Sure enough, I just bought a ticket to Hawaii a few days ago. I leave in less than two weeks. So as your sacrificial lamb, I say: you’re welcome everyone. The waves will probably continue to fire while I’m gone and it will probably be flat in the islands.
All joking aside, we hadn’t seen conditions this good since the weekend of the Maverick’s contest back in mid January. Here, for your viewing pleasure, is a photo smorgasbord of some of the beautiful waves that graced Santa Cruz on February 4, 2008.
Offshore winds, long period swell, and a nice afternoon low tide. Who needs an exotic surf trip?
See the direction that flag is blowing? That’s a good thing…a very good thing.
A stoked solitary surfer enjoys the view north of town.
The howling offshore winds not only cleaned up the surf, they also made the visibility squeaky clean as well. Here Middle Peak fires with the razor sharp Santa Lucia Mountains in the background.
The tide hit a negative low at around 3 o’clock, transforming all of town into one big surfing amusement park just in time for the groms to get out of school. Not that groms in Santa Cruz even go to school when the waves are good.
If you look up “rooster tails” in the surfer’s dictionary, you will find this picture.
After enduring a couple weeks of junky surf–granted, there were some windows between storms, but nothing epic–many of us were getting a little delirious. Perfect point lines, or is it a mirage?
The silver lining of all that rain we’ve had over the past two weeks is that entire dumptrucks worth of sediment have been deposited on beaches up and down the coast, forming some sick sandbars if you know where to look. This filthy bar was serving up some machine-like barrels on Monday.
Filthy sandbar, take two. Better bring along a spare board if you plan on tackling this sand-sucking pit.
What’s rarer than a perfect wave going by unridden in Santa Cruz? Nothing that I know of. Enjoy mindsurfing this beautiful, statistical anomaly…
Gigantic Ghost Tree, claims of “biggest Maverick’s ever.” It’s safe to say that the west swell that hit Northern California on Tuesday, December 4th was by far the biggest swell of 2007.
Up in SF, the beach was a washing machine of white water. Because of the thick mist and lack of visibility, one could only guess exactly how big the waves were detonating on the farthest outside bars. In Santa Cruz, Middle Peak was completely washed out with massive burgers capping out on third reef. The Harbor was grinding out frothy, bucking barrels for a few while the Eastside had some rideable waves with packs of surfers scoring head high waves at the little southeast facing nooks that are usually flat as a lake.
Top and bottom: Harbor going top to bottom.
Meanwhile, on the Westside one stretch of westcliff was providing the best and biggest waves around for the non-tow-in minded. Legitimate Outside Swift came roaring back to life after a long slumber, dishing up double and triple overhead screamers for anyone who could make it out past the Zambezi river-like current sucking most surfers southeast into Mitchell’s and then trying to slam them against Finger Bowl. Lifeguards had to work throughout the day–and into the evening–fishing surfers out of the current sucking into Mitchell’s and towards the rocks with their PWCs.
For the few who were able to to make it outside, there were some serious waves. Fifteen foot faces, some possibly bigger. One dude even claimed he had seen a 20 ft. (face) wave rumble through from out of the evening mist as the swell peaked.
Above and below: One of the only reefs in town that could hold the size. These shots were taken on Wednesday, after the mist had cleared and the swell had dropped significantly.
While there were certainly larger waves ridden in Northern California on Tuesday, for sheer novelty, Nacho Lopez’s epic ride from outside Swift St. clear through to the sand at Mitchell’s will be remembered by local surfers probably as well as any of the insane tow-in spectacles that went down the same day. By linking the extremely rare Westside version of J-Bay, Lopez scored close to a mile-long ride and joins an exclusive club that includes Josh Loya–who did it back in the El Nino winter of 97/98– and the legendary Richard Schmidt.
Mysto slab. Bigger than it looks.
And then there was Flea’s wipeout at Maverick’s. Yet another incredible display of confidence and bravado in the face of death by the man at Maverick’s. You know it’s a bad wipeout when the guys from Powerlines Productions, who have been on it to document every rideable day at Mav’s since ‘94, are freaking out in the background as they film it. How anyone could survive that, I don’t know. But even more amazing, Flea heads right back out for more. Awesome.
The summer season is officially over. The air is starting to get a little cooler, the light is shifting to that golden fall hue, and the first NW groundswell of the season–albeit a junky one, what’s up with this wind?–hit Tuesday with another shot coming in right behind it on Friday (Check back on Monday for a full recap of the opening week of fall swell–while it wasn’t epic by any stretch, there were some spoils to be had, especially on Tuesday). But before we let the forgettable surf of summer ‘07 fade into oblivion, here’s a little story that I think sums up the spirit of summertime surfing around here.
While most folks were complaining about the seemingly endless flat spell in town this summer, a few crafty individuals were actually scoring fun little waves. If you’re willing to devote some time and effort and know where to start sniffing around, you can often find some place offering a ride along the Northern California coast. There are always those special little spots that can muster up a small surfable wave even when the rest of the coast looks like Lake Tahoe.
You usually never even notice these spots because they’re normally buried under closeouts. Most of us drive right by on our regular wave hunts without ever thinking twice. But when everywhere else goes flat, it’s these unique nooks that really turn on. The only trade off is you usually have to put in some miles, make a bit of a hike, and you’ll often find yourself surfing alone with the theme song from Jaws pounding in your head. But, hey, you’re surfing. Take this example…
A couple weeks ago in mid September Santa Cruz’s Adam Replogle woke up and felt like going surfing, despite the placid state of the North Pacific. So he loaded up his truck and hit the highway, taking advantage of the silky smooth conditions, nice late morning low tide and beautiful sunny day. He began scouring the coast. Stalling for a micro barrel in the dead of summer. photo: Sam Henderson
After a lot of driving and spot checks, Replogle was rewarded for his efforts when he came upon a beautiful NorCal summertime setup–glassy, green little skate ramps peeling left and right onto a clean, empty beach. It was probably only knee-to-waist high, but it was rippable and coming in consistently. Occasionally there was even a chest-high little bowl that would roll through. Replogle was stoked.
He was met by fellow Billabonger Alistair Craft along Highway 1 and the two of them suited up and proceeded to rip the peeling little waves apart for more than two hours. The rights were shorter and had a little more punch, while the lefts were soft but rippable enough and peeled almost all the way to the shore. The left was almost working like a little sand-bottomed point, than a true beachbreak and Replogle scored the wave of the day–a long, peeling left that allowed him to fit in six seperate maneuvers, throwing little buckets of spray until it dropped him off in knee deep water.
You’d be surprised what you can sometimes find on a “flat” day. photo: Sam Henderson
“I’ll go check out ———- a lot in the summer,” Replogle said of his lucky find. “There’s usually some little waves to ride ———- there.”
When asked if he would have gone surfing in such notoriously sharky waters by himself, Replogle just shrugged his shoulders.
“When the waves are so small, you’re in such shallow water,” he said. “I’m not too worried about getting picked off.”
So just where did Replogle and Craft find the little miracle waves? Here’s a couple hints:
1) It’s within a 50 mile radius of Santa Cruz.
2) There was a well-publicized shark attack near here this summer. Tiny waves really don’t stand a chance against Adam Replogle’s aggressive style. With this vicious hack, AR takes this little wave’s lunch money, gives it an atomic wedgie, and sends it limping to shore. What a bully.
But whether you find the spot or not is really a moot point now that we’re into October. The first NW groundswell of the season hit on Tuesday bringing 6 to 8 foot waves out at Ocean Beach–honestly, it was pretty torn up, not too pretty–and fun head high waves to Santa Cruz and we’ve got another solid one scheduled to hit Friday. In fact we’ve seen fun waves from both south ground and north windswell since the last week or so of September. Those secret nooks that always offer up a little wave in the most dire of wave droughts will once again be buried under swell and have their inside sandbars torn apart until next summer.
But the next time the ocean does go into a hopeless hibernation, and you’re still itching to get some little rides anyway, just remember that somewhere out there is a micro barrel or a baby ramp breaking close to the sand with your name on it. It just takes a little time, effort, and creativity–and plenty of gas money. But if you want it bad enough, it’s out there…
Before the summer of 2007 was even halfway over, grumbling claims of “worst summer ever” were already beginning to echo around town. “Worst summer ever” is a tricky claim since hardly any summer ever delivers much in the way of consistent surf around these parts. Every year when the North Pacific goes into hibernation and tiny junky little windswell is all that can be found, it often feels like the present situation is more hopeless than any on record. But even the old timers were backing this summer’s claim.
Oil slick glass, A-frame peaks, and just a few friends…the ingredients for a perfect California surf session. photo: Megs
Ironically, the southern hemi season actually started off with a bang in early April, dishing out back-to-back-to-back solid SW swells that were perfectly angled (in the 200-210 degree range) to reach Northern California and fill into all the little nooks and crannies that just love a south. Unfortunately as June and July played themselves out, it became clear that the summer surf climaxed a little, um, prematurely. After the early April craziness, things really shut down. A brief, over-hyped swell hit around the 4th of July weekend providing minimal relief for the ravenous holiday crowds, and then the ocean went pretty much dead flat in town again until recently.
With the “WSE” coming on the heels of what was by all accounts a lackluster–and freezing!–winter it makes a NorCal surfer wonder if the surf gods are taking revenge on us for some terrible mistake. Might they have taken offense at some unintended insult or insolence on our part? Perhaps it’s all the trash we’re dumping into the oceans, or maybe it’s a late collection on dues we still owed for that epic 97/98 El Nino winter.
Most folks in town resorted to other ocean related exercise this summer, with the lake-like conditions in Santa Cruz being perfect for long distance paddle boarding and everyone trying to learn how to ride their brand new Laird Hamilton signature stand-up paddle board. The stand-up boards in particular seemed to multiply in the Santa Cruz lineup over the course of the summer.
If you wanted to stay in surfing shape this summer, paddleboards were the call. photo: Boots McGhee
Not to say that it was completely flat. There’s always something to ride if your willing to spend enough time and gas money scouring the coast. It seemed as though every pro in Santa Cruz was making the drive north at least a couple times a week to surf a sharky little patch of sand somewhere between Natural Bridges and Maverick’s, notorious for always producing some type of punchy, ridable wave–even the odd little tube. Was all that driving time and gas money–you’r average SC pro drives a gas guzzler with at least a V8, and raised a minimum of 4″ from the ground–worth it to keep up the sea legs in two foot shorebreak? It depends on who you ask. Reports of rideable little longboard waves at the beachbreaks south of town were also verified.
And then there’s our most recent run of south swell relief, which has been pushing up fun, consistent waves for over a week now. Once again the peak of the swell coincided with a holiday weekend. Reports of 300 guys out along Pleasure Point over the Labor Day swell were only slightly exaggerated. Again, makes you wonder if King Neptune might just be laughing himself silly deep at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, trying to see how much anarchy he can create in the surf-starved lineups of Santa Cruz. After this winter, his antics already had many anxious NorCal surfers on edge.
As far as worst summer ever, it’s all relative to who you talk to, how long they’ve been surfing and how far they we’re willing to go to find some waves. What’s your claim for worst summer ever?
But we’re not complaining. There have been fun waves for almost two weeks now and the fall season is just around the corner. Here’s a little slide show of the action from the past week of swell, with a couple of shots tossed in from that epic April 11 swell, just for fun. Enjoy…
The North-Central Coast loves a south photo: Megs
The lack of any real low tides during the most recent run of south swell–the low tide during daylight hours hovered around 3 feet during the peak of the swell between Sep. 4-6th–made for some bouncy, backwash conditions at many spots in town. This guy managed not to get bucked off by the backwash and found himself inside the tube of a warbly one on the West Side. photo: JS
We’ve had reports of dead seals washing up on multiple beaches north of town, all with big chunks bitten out of them. It’s getting close to “Sharktober,” the month when your chances of encountering whitey are at their highest, according to Santa Cruz superstitions. When you’re bobbing out in a murky north coast lineup by yourself and the theme song from the movie Jaws is pounding in your head, glassy little barrels like this are always a welcome distraction. photo: Herman
A frothy one rolls through Mitchell’s Cove on that April 11 swell. photo: Bob Island
Another Westside reef goes richter back in early April. photo: Bob Island.
