Stentor of Stoke Stopover at State Park

Once the leading denizen of San Clemente State Park's Golden Triangle bodysurfing regulars, the visits now are rare.  Having traded Orange County's beach life for the mile high mountains and lakes of the Denver suburbs, Eric EY_\ Yeisley now has to satisfy himself with one or two trips a year to his old break.  But, he makes the most of it!

 

After last weekend's near-epic swell, the forecasts through the week were disturbingly bleak: even yesterday, Surfline was predicting 1-2 feet with "poor" conditions.  Notwithstanding, plans stood for an early expression session in the Park to be followed by pancake breakfast at Crawdaddy's.

Pulling into the Calafia lot, I caught a glimpse of a faded, tan pickup, I'd not seen in a long time - Derrik MuDsHaRk Sciarra's wheels.  We walked out for an early check and found a surprising set coming in.  The lip was ruffled by the south wind, but not messed up and it was a lot more than the paltry 1-2 forecast.

 

Admittedly, a far cry from last Saturday, the Main Peak was nonetheless working, along with peaks further south.  Meanwhile, the forecast had left the break pretty empty.

 

Gradually, a pod of the old regulars gathered at the rail, to greet the beaming Yeisley on his arrival (top photo).  Chuck Kahuna Herpick and Brent Crawdaddy Crawford join with Derrik to welcome EY, below.

 

The swell was holding, the water a warm 67 and the south breeze steady but mild.  Shortly, we were in the water for a throw-back session of SCSP smallies.  Stoke permeated every ride, large and small, as our small pod - Sailfish joined Kahuna, Crawdaddy, EY_\ and me in the water as Derrik and Hugh remained ashore - enjoyed Main Peak, essentially all to ourselves, for 90 minutes.  Crawdaddy brought out the new water camera for the latter half...hoping to see some in-water video clips soon.

Afterward, the tribe filtered up to Crawdaddy's house in Laguna, where Brent and the ever-gracious Una served up one of their signature pancake (plain, blueberry& apple) and bacon & sausage breakfasts.  Steve Too Tall Short was there when I got there; Kahuna and Sailfish were joined by their brides and Mark Scruds Johnson of Huntington Chubascos came by.  Sailfish brewed up some thick Egyptian espresso, sweetened with citrus honey as story and stoke flowed over the tasty repast, capped by incomparable homemade flan brought by Kahuna's bride.

The leisurely, late morning gathering eventually broke off, with one contingent headed down to Oak Street for a local reprise to the morning session.

PS - realize I forgot to include Dave DaArm Armenta, a late arrival in the water and participant at breakfast...sorry Dave!  Good to see you.

South Swell Sweeps the Park

Kee-rack! Barrrrummmble …(12 seconds)…  Kee-rack!  BarrRUMmmble….  What a beautiful sound to hear as I turned off the car and opened my door in the Calafia lot at 7:30.

I didn't read it until I got home, hours later, but the Surfline "dawn patrol" had it spot on:

4-7 ft. - shoulder high to 2 ft. overhead occ. 8 ft.  This morning's dawn patrol: A little on the inconsistent side, but there are some solid overhead SSW sets pushing in. Looking a bit walled (especially on the bigger waves) with scattered pick-n-choose corners/sections. Clean surface conditions, incoming tide.

 

As I joined Hugh at the rail, a trio of sticks were struggling to maintain position in the Main Peak area against the strong current running South to North, and one of Bret Belyea's crew was just entering in the distance to join a pair of bodysurfers that appeared to have the "LG1" area south of the rocks to themselves.  The current was strong, and the deep groundswell waves were clearly packing a punch.  Maybe the same size as El Porto had been in January, but much more powerful.

 

Truth be told, I was hesitant to surf today.  I'd be up since 3:00 and wondered if I was up to the swell.  But I'd told Bret that I'd meet him and there he was, with a couple of buddies.  Gotta swim out.

 

It was about twenty minutes before I caught my first wave.  Not wanting to be caught inside, I was hanging outside but where ever I was, when a set appeared, it was pretty walled up.  I didn't really want to start my session getting trashed in a 9-foot face closeout. 

  

Eventually, though, the third wave of a 7-foot set offered a small right corner and the morning was started.  Patience was important this morning, but paid off handsomely.

 

The corners were there, both lefts and rights, with some long, fast rides.

Bret was there with two of his buddies from San Diego, taking the best that the Park had to offer.  Hugh was dominating, as usual.  For an hour, we worked the LG 1 area, all to ourselves.  While you really had to pick your waves, I came to the conclusion that it's much better to have your choice of waves on day where you need to be picky than it is to have to compete with a pack of surfers, even when there's much more to chose from.

Occasionally, a board would float through, paddling up against the current or sliding along with it.  The was one guy on a board, accompanied by two other bodysurfers, between us and the rocks...plenty of room.

I finally tired of fighting the current and allowed the current to carry me into, and beyond the Main Peak, catching three good waves along the way.  The last was a steep, long right - a duplicate of the last photo above, that dumped me way inside and well north of the peak.  Satisfied and tired, I joined Hugh ashore.  Bret's friends had already exited and Bret was following me. 

Then, Mark Ghattas appears!  Just the motivation I needed to get in for a few more waves.  Mark, Hugh & I walked back south of LG1 again, and swam out.  The filling tide was offering those corners more often now, and a few waves turned into another full hour.  In the water, Mark & I debated whether this was a "high" 4 or a "low" 5 on the WetSand 5-star scale.  By this time, I had had four or five waves that equalled the best of any session I've had in 2013, and certainly the size was the best of the year.  Maybe not quite the equal, for consistency, with other days that I've logged as 5 star.  But the vibe in the water was great - that's what happens when the swell chases off those that don't belong out - and a number of memorable waves.

It was great to see Bret and his buddies, and a leisurely breakfast at Adele's with Mark and Hugh pushed it over the line...first 5 star day of 2013.

Oh, and the title today?  It's a dual reference to the strong current and the fact that the deep groundswell kept the lineup thin and clear of kooks.

Oceanside Beach Safety- Need Blackball up by 9am

The following email from Bruce Robbins should draw the attention of all Southern California bodysurfers:

From: Bruce Robbins MD [mailto:barobbins14@gmail.com]
Subject: Fwd: Oceanside Beach Safety- Need Blackball up by 9am PLEASE READ THIS

Hi Fellow Bodysurfers-  I know you are all partial to Del Mar, but this is an important issue for all bodysurfers who want to go to Oceanside, and for water safety in general.  With increased crowds of board surfers and tourist surfers in Oceanside, conditions are getting dangerous in the morning for bodysurfers, swimmers,  and other non-hard board surfers.  We need Oceanside to catch up with the rest of San Diego County beaches and get the blacbkball up in one section of beach by 9am.  Their current policy of 11am blackball and light enforcement is not good, and people are going to get hurt. 

 

See the email below I sent to Bill Curtiss, the Chief Lifeguard at Oceanside.  Please  send Bill Curtiss an email of support.  (You could mention something like you don't go to Oceanside because they don't have a good blackball policy like Del Mar; or you could tell the story of our DM Bodysurfing Club that could only have formed because of Del Mar's blackball policy- you get what I mean....)  Also, feel free to send this along to any other bodysurfers you know who would be supportive that aren't on the Del Mar list.

 

thanks a lot!! 

Bruce

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Bruce Robbins MD <barobbins14@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, May 30, 2013 at 7:11 AM
Subject: Re: Beach Safety
To: Bill Curtis <BCurtis@ci.oceanside.ca.us>


Hi Bill-  Thanks for getting in touch with me. 

I have a serious concern regarding water safety that I want to communicate with you.

I am a resident of Oceanside and a very experienced bodysurfer; I have been bodysurfing at Oceanside for over 28 years, you have probably seen me and my friends bodysurfing on the north or south sides of the pier.  We like to go out in the morning when the conditions are good.  Up until the recent redevelopment of downtown Oceanside, the water was never that crowded with boards, and being experienced in the water, we always felt safe.  Also, traditionally, Oceanside board surfers were generally experienced and good surfers.  However, in recent years, especially last summer, and now this spring, the water in the morning is getting ridiculously crowded with boards, and especially with surfers who are beginners.  These inexperienced surfers are creating DANGEROUS conditions for us, as they don't know how to control their boards, and they don't know how to get out of the way for a bodysurfer (or bodyboarder).  Many are not perceptive enough to even see a bodysurfer on a wave.  This is creating hazardous conditions for bodysurfers and bodyboarders who have no designated swim zone. 

I know that Oceanside has had a policy to put up the blackball flags at 11:00 am, but there are MANY non-board surfers who want to go in the water before 11am, and who are now at risk of injury from the crowded conditions with hard surfboards and people who don't know how to control them.  Every other beach I am aware of in San Diego County has a section of beach that is blackballed at 9:00 am - this includes Del Mar, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach (which has a 24hr. blackball zone), to name some examples.  And these blackball zones are strongly enforced by the lifeguards all year long.

It appears to me that Oceanside Lifeguards have not examined policies that were put in place many years ago, and were appropriate at the time.  However, times have changed. Oceanside downtown is totally different, there is a big new hotel going up, there are more tourists in the water.  My concern is not just for the safety of myself and my friends without hard boards, but for the increasing number of tourist visitors to Oceanside beaches, many of whom will want to go for a swim before 11am this summer.  I am concerned that someone will be seriously injured from an out-of-control surfboard. (I have had many close calls myself, and one time suffered broken ribs by running over the back of a longboard at Oceanside)  I am concerned for the City of Oceanside that is at risk for a lawsuit from someone who is injured because there is no safe place to swim before 9am.

So, I am writing this letter to ask you to PLEASE seriously consider changing your blackball policy to have at least one section of beach blackballed for no board surfing at 9:00 am, and to vigorously enforce this policy.  It doesn't have to be the whole beach.  In Del Mar, they blackball one section of beach which is approximately 100 yards wide, in front of the lifeguard tower at 17th street, with flags on the beach.  My son was a lifeguard at Del Mar for several years, and I know all the head lifeguards there.  Pat Vergne is the Lifeguard Chief, Mark Rathsam is second in charge, I'm sure they would be happy to talk with you about their policies.  I know that board surfers have an attitude about blackball zones, and a change in policy like this will be unpopular with board surfers; but like I said above, times have changed, and this is important for safety of swimmers, bodysurfers and bodyboards, who will be in the water whether you change your policy or not.

Thank you very much for your attention to my request.  I would appreciate a response.  If there is anything else I can do to help make this change happen, please tell me what I need to do.

Thank you,

Bruce Robbins MD

500 North The Strand #47

Oceanside CA

On Wed, May 29, 2013 at 11:07 AM, Bill Curtis <BCurtis@ci.oceanside.ca.us> wrote:

Mr. Robbins,

Lifeguard Sergeant Masson Turvey forwarded me your e-mail regarding your concern for Beach Safety.

Please feel free to correspond directly with me regarding any ideas or concerns regarding our city beaches and their safety.

Thank you,

Bill Curtis

Lifeguard Captain

Oceanside Fire Department

1(760)435-4017

“All email and voicemail to and from the City may be considered public information and may be disclosed upon request.”

Old Timers Day at the Park ?

Fears that two consecutive weekends of good surf was too much to ask evaporated with first view today, as crossing the tracks offered an enticing glimpse of the Main Peak at the Park doin' exactly what keeps us coming back.

Under a hazy sun, the texture on the water evidenced a side-shore breeze that apparently kept the crowds away but left the peaky swell unruffled.  Kahuna (Chuck Herpick, left) and Crawdaddy (Brent Crawford) were all smiles, just returning from checking it out at the rail/steps.

There was little competition for the waves at the Main Peak, and guys skinnin' it in the early morning promised warm water.

Further south, beyond the Rock area (which was exposed by the low tide in the foreground), it was firing at LG1, as well, with little of the holiday weekend crowd we would have expected.  However, there were plenty out at Cottons, which can be seen in the background in full screen view (click on the photo).

Meanwhile though, peaky sets kept rolling through at the Main Peak with only a few sticks in evidence.  Hard to hang around shooting pictures while waves like this (below) are going unridden!

Through an ensuing 2-1/2 hour session in 69 degree water, we shared the area from the Rocks to the northside Main Peak with no more than four or five sticks.  Especially for the first hour, pretty consistent sets running head high, and sometimes over, were coming in.  There were some walls, but plenty of peaks and some fun tubes.  The shot below shows the way that the Park can "bowl" when the swell and tide are right.

Early on, I had maybe my best - definitely one of my two best - rides of the year so far.  A head-high right that came on like a wall but - despite the predominantly south swell today - at about a 30 degree angle to the shore.  Like a slow freight train, the wall just peeled from outside to shore as I slipped along the face. 

Mark (Sailfish) Ghattas joined us about a half hour in, with his handboard.  Meanwhile, peaks like the one above (yes, that's a leg sticking out) went unridden.  A couple of other handboarders eventually joined us, and set up with Mark to the north while I hung out, outside the Rocks, waiting for one of the overhead lefts that occasionally rolled through.

Kahuna put in a good hour.  Don't want to tell any tales, but the guy, well, he's well past double-nickles, and Route 66 is also in the rear view mirror.  If you follow that progression to the next number, you'll get the idea.  Yeah, that's right - check the photo above - that's what a lifetime of bodysurfing can do for you!  And he still rips, for sure.

Crawdaddy put in 90 good minutes, focusing on his fetish for lefts.  Having faced death by heart attack on the beach during a bodysurfing competition five years ago, Crawdaddy is enjoying his second life.

I pushin' 60 and Crawdaddy is well into that decade...guess the three of us made it old timers day in the Park!

These two guys are an inspiration ... and it was great to ride with them again!

Summer Preview in the Park ... I hope!

Water hit 70 degrees at the Park yesterday, and forecasts for today were for a new, long period south swell to join a small northwest wind swell.  Wind forecasts were questionable, but the Park gets good with that mix.  Add a little sunshine for an ideal day.

 

As shown in the shot above, it was almost glassy and definitely peaky on our arrival, but under a dull gray sky.  Five surfers were camped on the Main Peak.  An equal number were scattered through the LG 1 area, but not many out for a day like this.

As I was finning up on the beach, Shawn O'Gorman came up the beach with Heather and their dog, prepared to "skin it" for the first time this year.  With water at 67 and a cool morning, I'd gone for the spring shortie, but even that's a luxury after full wetsuits since October!  It felt a little cool getting in, but was very comfortable through the ensuing, two-hour session.  

For the first hour-plus, our bodysurfing pod of Shawn, Craig Thomson, Mark Ghattas and I had the main peak area virtually to ourselves.  With shoulder and head-high, peaky waves, warm water, near glassy surface and sun starting to peak through, we wondered where everyone was!

 

Eventually, the sun broke through for good, lighting up a summery day.  Kids played in shallows, lifeguard stands were opened, and cones set for their jeep.  Inevitably, the lineup filled in, though today a little oddly: having enjoyed the main peak for bodysurfing while a few surfers worked further south, we were surprised when a group of about a dozen surfers, all together, arrived and paddled out precisely where we were set up.   Really?  Not like there wasn't a lot to work elsewhere!

 

By the time we exited, Riviera (above) had filled in pretty well, too.  Mark and I went south of the rocks to the area between the rocks and LG1 and worked that for about 45 minutes, getting some of the best rides of the day.  Inevitably, a pod eventually broke off the concentration at Main Peak and invaded the peaks we'd brought to their attention.

 

While the northwest was peaky, the south starting to fill in had a greater tendency to close out.  That, though, made a good opportunity for some tube time ... and some tube photography (above).

 

The bowling wrap that the Main Peak can get in this swell mix is evident above.

 

As seen above, the sun brought with it a little texture-generating onshore breeze, but the size held up while getting a little crumbly.

But there were still good ones coming in ... and, as so often, many left unridden.

Only the third reasonably good session of the year so far, I hope this is a promise of what summer '13 holds, after a sub-standard fall and winter!

Little is Better than Nothing at All!

It was one of those days/weekends when, as it approaches, you wonder whether it's even worth the drive.  Depending on where you look, the forecast was for knee to waist or perhaps waist to shoulder high waves.  What swell there was didn't project to have a lot of energy and, though it had been warm, heavy fog or overcast was the coastal forecast.  

On the other side, the last two weekends were even smaller.  This at least looked surf-able.  So I determined to hit the Park late-ish (9:00) to allow a -1 foot, negative low tide, a little time to fill in.

The surprise of the morning on arrival was how many people were in the water.  Maybe eight sticks hanging out at the Main Peak area, with another dozen spread out to the south through the "LG 1" area below the campground atop the cliffs.  Straight out, four teens hung out on sponges.  The Calafia parking lot was as crowded as on a pumping swell or sunny summer morning.  

Under deeply overcast, gray skies, Sailfish and I watched a decent set come in - over waist high, certainly.  Note the bodysurfer, swimming out, on the left side of the photo above.  Looking north, the normally jammed Riviera break was empty.  Was this one of those days where it's pretty meager everywhere but the Park does it's thing as the most consistent of breaks?  I headed back to the lot to suit up, thinking of EY_\'s refrain ... the Park DELIVERS!

Maybe the gloom exaggerates it, but the water was supposed to be 64 yet felt a lot more like  60/61 getting in.  Over a two hour session, marred by long lulls, some fun waves, like those pictured and even a few larger, did show.  

During a long, early lull, I was questioning whether to rate day over 2 stars on the SwellWatch, 5-star scale.  Later, though, sitting alone on at the center of the Main Peak area, I snagged the corner of a shoulder-high right for a 40-yard slide to deep inside.  A solid 3-star day.

There was one bodysurfer in the water when we arrive (first photo).  My best guess was that it was Casey, as I caught him launching on what would prove to be a small, but very long, left slide above. We swam out well north of the Main Peak and he exited before we drifted south into the area.  As he walked back north to the steps, blue/yellow Churchills in hand, it did appear to be Casey.

So, the day was far from epic.  The sun never appeared and even the waist-to-shoulder-high swell was very inconsistent.  But it was marked with spurts of swell energy that made it fully rewarding.  A solid break to the "fast" of the last two weekends.

A Weekend Split ... with photos from Hugh! (fixed)

This weekend was a Tale of Two Breaks ... I won't dwell on the first, Del Mar on Friday morning, and will largely allow Hugh's photos to speak for the second, SCSP this (Sunday) morning. 

Having spent a couple of nights in Del Mar, a few minutes on foot from the 17th St. LG headquarters, with a building swell, I thought an early session would be fun.  While there was swell - shoulder high and sometimes head high - it was pretty crumbly overall.  I wore the 3/2 suit, and was chilled during a 90 minute session characterized by long lulls.  Directly in front of the guard station, I had the peak there to myself, with nobody within a block, either direction.

More interesting to talk about was this morning's session at the Park, as evidenced below!

(Remember to click on photo for full resolution.)  As is shown, the Park was serving up some good size hollowness, ranging shoulder to head high, with a few plusses.  

Mark (Sailfish) Ghattas was out with his handplane, getting his share of the steep ones, between some very long slides on the peaky waves created by the multiple swells.

About mid-session, we were joined by a younger, local guy by the name of Jesse, also with handplane.  I thought Jesse might have been a holdover from yesterday's "Handplane Hoedown," but he's a UCSD student from San Clemente who was out on his board yesterday at Black's.  It's all too rare, but so welcome, to encounter younger surfers that still practice the fading art of bodysurfing.

A pod of dophin were cruising outside, through the morning, as we enjoyed the smooth, glassy tubes.  Late in the session, a few moved inside, and a couple joined us surfing.  Hugh caught this guy in a backside, airborne entry.  I am barely offscreen to the right on this.

The ride commenced above, which I watched close-up in the water as Hugh shot from shore, continued with a slide under the glossy surface, punctuated several times' breaking the surface. 

The immediately following wave was nearly identical, and I did my best to emulate the master that preceded me (below).

Sailfish had to leave after an hour.  I completed a 90 minute session - lots of waves between a few long lulls.  We stayed throughout the session at the secondary peak just north of the Main Peak, directly out from the slide area.  Not a single incursion from the gaggle of sticks camped out on the Main Peak nor the pod of sponges that were directly in front of the steps when we first swam out.

Just Mark, and me, and Jesse and the friend from Washington that he was introducing to bodysurfing, and some very fun waves.