Well, I committed to blogging on Newport irrespective of whether it was epic or flat. What a difference a year makes! As expected, it's been much closer to flat than epic, whilst a year ago it was, quite literally epic: a strong south swell generated by Lowell followed by the region's biggest summer surf in 25 years generated by Marie.
Allan on a mini-left - from our bedroom balcony
Fortunately, though, it's not been completely flat. When the wind hasn't been too much onshore and the tide hasn't been too high, there have been waves that could be ridden. Knee to waist high, sometimes encroaching into the stomach to chest range, has been the rule for the last four days. Too crumbly when the tide gets to its afternoon peak, and sometimes troubled by "morning sickness" - a phenomenon of choppy, jumbled surface early the in the day resulting from onshore winds in the late night and early morning hours - there also have intervals of clean surf, smooth surfaces and hollow mini-tubes.
Kevin Schwimer right / Allan left - not a bad bedroom view!
Combine that with the clearest water I've ever seen in Newport, where the bottom six feet below is crystal clear through a warm blue-green water tone seeming more like Hawaii than SoCal/Newport, tropical water temperatures in the low 70's and an abundance of sun after mid-morning, and there can be little cause for complaint.
Then cap that with a perfect, beachfront location between 17th & 18th Streets (the middle of the stretch from 14th to 19th that is my preferred surfing haunt in Newport) sporting an unbeaten view of that sweep of beach ... a bit of heaven!
Meanwhile, the forecast is for some swell to start to show Thursday, so we might even get some real surf before our departure Friday morning. And, of course, I can always come back down for the day Saturday or Sunday.
However, here's a glimpse of how 17th Street looked - right in front of the house that we're in - a year ago:
The Marie photo/blogs are here:
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