Two weekends
Two favorite surf spots
Two sessions
Seeking a south swell remnants of a tropical storm at 15th Street on the Newport peninsula last weekend. Looking for a bit of energy from reliable San Clemente State Park on an off-weekend this weekend.
Success with both!
On the peninsula, we look for meaty, hollow, steamroller lines when the South comes in, long period. In the park, we look for peaks and corners pitched up by the sandbars. While last weekend was substantially larger, as to be expected, the sessions weren't as different as might be expected.
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| Glassy Newport |
Newport was surprisingly peaky. It appears that some sandbars have developed through spring and early summer, morphing the shoulder and head high lines into hollow rights amongst the peeling lefts.
At SCSP, we were just hoping for something to ride, and it was surprisingly fun, with the small mix of south and west swells periodically aligning over the sand bars for nice corners running in both directions.
There was little crowding in either spot. In both, we headed to the south of the better-known sections, to 15th, rather than 17th-19th in Newport, and beyond LG1, rather than Main Peak in the Park. At the Park, to our North there was a steady string of summer groms struggling on their sticks, with only a few locals mixed it. In both places, we had the area that Mark and I were working all to ourselves throughout the session.
At Newport, I decided to try out a new GoPro Hero Session camera. The camera is great - downsized from prior GoPros and waterproof itself, rather than needing housing. But, as with most equipment, it takes getting used to. One button push turns the camera on and starts filming ... but with about a two-second delay, something I didn't realize until reviewing what I had shot. Pretty much missed most of the action that I was going after, unfortunately.
At SCSP, the deep overcast combined with the smaller waves lead me to stash the camera for the session.
As a result, from Newport, there are only some GoPro stills, while at SCSP, I've got the usual "rail"shots.
Though Newport is always a couple of degrees colder than San Clemente, despite the fact that it was the end of July, it was completely comfortable "skinning" it through both sessions. So continues a run of record warm water that's stretched over a year, with no end in sight.
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| Sailfish Slides Right at Newport |
At SCSP, we were just hoping for something to ride, and it was surprisingly fun, with the small mix of south and west swells periodically aligning over the sand bars for nice corners running in both directions.
 |
| Chest High Peaks in the Park |
There was little crowding in either spot. In both, we headed to the south of the better-known sections, to 15th, rather than 17th-19th in Newport, and beyond LG1, rather than Main Peak in the Park. At the Park, to our North there was a steady string of summer groms struggling on their sticks, with only a few locals mixed it. In both places, we had the area that Mark and I were working all to ourselves throughout the session.
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| Some Lines in the Park |
At Newport, I decided to try out a new GoPro Hero Session camera. The camera is great - downsized from prior GoPros and waterproof itself, rather than needing housing. But, as with most equipment, it takes getting used to. One button push turns the camera on and starts filming ... but with about a two-second delay, something I didn't realize until reviewing what I had shot. Pretty much missed most of the action that I was going after, unfortunately.
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| GoPro Selfie, Mid-slide in Newport |
At SCSP, the deep overcast combined with the smaller waves lead me to stash the camera for the session.
As a result, from Newport, there are only some GoPro stills, while at SCSP, I've got the usual "rail"shots.
 |
| Hugh and Mark at the SCSP Rail |
Though Newport is always a couple of degrees colder than San Clemente, despite the fact that it was the end of July, it was completely comfortable "skinning" it through both sessions. So continues a run of record warm water that's stretched over a year, with no end in sight.
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