Stentor of Stoke: The EY_\ Sessions, Day 1

On occasion, I have referred in prior posts to Eric EY_\ Yeisley, the King of the Smalllies, founding member of San Clemente State Park's Golden Triangle Bodysurfing, creator of the Southern California Bodysurfing Championships held during the San Clemente Ocean Festival - the Park's own Stentor of Stoke.

During my first years of discovering the Park and its pod of bodysurfing denizens, EY_\ was the one always ready to catch some waves, always making the best of any swell, ready to proclaim, "the Park delivers!"  Spinmaster extraordinaire, it was with EY that I spent more hours in the water than anyone.  It was EY who had the insatiable appetite to "feast at the trough of stoke."  Two years ago, EY moved to Colorado.  Two months later, he returned in reprise visit to the Park but has not bodysurfed since.  Until now!  Today, for EY, the Park delivered!

On my arrival, I found peaky shoulder and head high sets consistently pushing in on a glossy surface.  Craig was already suiting up at his truck, and Neil greeted me as I walked out to check it out, "there are WAVES out there!"  There were, indeed.  In the photo above, the shiny head in the foreground is Brent Crawdaddy Crawford's ill-hirsute pate. 

There were a half-dozen surfers out, sharing the peak with three bodysurfers (see below).  I caught EY's head in one shot (above) before my patience to suit up and swim out ran thin.

Not only head high, plus, peaks were showing, but some nice, long, peeling lefts (below) and rights.

The water had got up to 65 yesterday, but dropped back to 61 by early morning.  Nonetheless, the air was warm, the sun sparkled off a glossy surface under a cloudless sky...and there were nice waves! 

As a true local patrolled the break (above), I quickly donned the 3:2 and headed up the beach.  The sticks had started filling in, and Crawdaddy and EY had exited the water for a short break.  Jeff JPL Lashbrook had been in with them, but was headed back to the lot.  Hugh was ashore with his camera gear.

There was a relatively narrow "X" (take off zone) at the Main Peak, and too many sticks had settled in there, so we headed further South to LG1, where we could spread out from the south edge of the rocks and pick off the scattered peaks.  Mark Ghattas arrived shortly to join in.  It stayed glassy and fun, save for a lull as the tide bottomed out around 9:20, with plenty of rides for all.  Over the two hours, though, it appeared that word had gotten out that the Park was working today, as more & more sticks filled in from the steps through LG 1.  Eventually, scratching for waves became a little too much.  Gradually, the pod gathered ashore.

As we left for breakfast at Pipes, to discuss tomorrow, which should be a repeat of today with even a little more size, I counted 30 (!) boards out at the main peak, and that doesn't include another dozen or so spread out around LG1 or North of the peak.  Don't recall ever seeing so many clumped at the Peak, except during summer.  I just hope we can stake out a peak for those of the body, tomorrow!

Today, though: the Park delivers!

A Grey Earth Day

This is a late, and short, blog entry from Sunday...in anticipation of better things this weekend.  Sunday, Earth Day, wasn't bad, but nothing special, either.

 

As the title suggests, it was a gray morning.  A string of sizzling days inland had left the coast in deep overcast and fog, drizzling off and on throughout the morning.  Hopefully, not a preview that June gloom has set in early!

A hope of warmer water lead us to don lighter suits - I was in the 3/2 for the first time since Decembers - but it felt pretty chilly getting in.  Although, as the pictures show, the size was sufficient to ride and it was typically peaky, Mark Ghattas and I found that we had the Main Peak area all to ourselves through the 90 minute session, with an occasional stick joining us. 

Crumbly at first, it actually got quite fun - even a few waves hollow enough for a decent tube ride - about halfway into the session.   As we surfed, a team of younger locals, including one who often joins us bodysurfing, picked the sand clean of trash in honor of Earth Day.

It was a decent session, especially since we didn't have to scratch against a band of sticks and sponges for our waves.  Always good to get wet!  

But Colorado refugee and former Park regular, Eric "EY_\" Yeisley, is on his way to SoCal for a rare immersion, arriving tomorrow.  A modest swell is on its way to meet the King of the Smallies, spinmaster EY_\, and back-to-back sessions are planned for Saturday & Sunday.  

Can't wait.

Half and Half

I last surfed four weeks ago. 

It was ok, but far from great.  Then, the next two weekends, swell and conditions were poor. 

Last weekend, the biggest swell of Spring arrived with some stellar days, especially Monday.  Just check out Hugh's Smug Mug Album how the Park can look when it's really firing!  Unfortunately, I was looking at the Gulf of Mexico from Southwest Florida.

What a difference a few days can make.  The swell backed off through the week with meager projections for today.  But I'm gone again next weekend, no wind was forecast and a warm, sunny day was in the offing.  After a bit of debate, I persuaded Mark to join me and committed to the drive.

On arrival, it looked ok - waist, even chest, high peaks and a smooth surface.  A passel of sticks were out at the Peak, a good sign.  But look a little closer, at the shot below.  The peak above turns very fat on either side - after the middle breaks, the sides just slide to shore without breaking.  Fun, perhaps, for a longboard or standup, but not much for bodysurfing.

Undeterred, we suited up to swim out.  Casey, a local friend of Hugh, who has been out bodysurfing with increasing frequency, came up the stairs from the beach, insufficiently inspired to go out.  Understandable, when just a few day ago, he was enjoying, fast, perfectly-formed, "DOH" (double-overhead) waves right here. 

When I first swam out, hands aching in the 56 degree water but the rest of me warmed by my 4-3, I immediately caught a wave.  Kind of.  As soon as I dropped in, it turned fat (see above), and most of the ride was a lot of kicking on my part.  Oh, well, there will be others...right?

Yes, but not for 25 minutes!  25 minutes as swells came in, not quite big enough to break over the sand bar, but enticingly close.  It's frustrating to look at what should be a nice, three to three and a half foot face that humps up and then just flattens out without breaking.  25 minutes can be a long time in 56 degree water, even if it it sunny and windless. 

Then, even though the tide was still rising, the swell started catching the bars and we had waves - small, but decent, some quite fun - for an hour.  Lefts and rights, even a tube or two.  Hugh came by on his SUP (stand up paddle) and started catching them with us.  Another of the local bodysurfers, also on SUP, paddled up and caught a few.  Yes, their surf mode of choice still was far more appropriate than ours, but we all were having some fun.

After an hour, I told Mark I was going in after one more wave.  I waited for the wave, and waited, and waited.  And waited.  Really.  After an hour where we were getting waves every 2 - 3 minutes.  But the code says you finish with a wave.  So I moved in.  Further in.  And yet further in.  Nothing. 

During our hour of waves, the pod of sticks gradually dissipated, leaving the Peak to just the four of us, while a gaggle of Easter visitors to the campgrounds above LG 1 floundered on their boards to the South of us.  During our lull, incomprehensibly, six or seven new sticks paddled out to wait it out with us. 

After 25 minutes, I was at the shore.  25 minutes without a wave. Again.  The morning was a tale of two halves.  The first and last 25 minutes each with literally, absolutely, nothing to ride.  No stars on a scale of four.  The middle hour, fun and playful surf...a weak 3 stars. 

But, again, it was a morning in the water, on a beautiful Spring day.  Beats about anything else.

Chillin' at the Park

Even though it had been three weeks since there had been anything to surf on a weekend, and shoulder-high peaks were presenting on a glossy surface, the Park was oddly uninviting as I checked it out from the rail.

The sky was grey, the air cool and the water looked even colder.  The sticks were nabbing rides but nothing impressive.  Usually, I'd be just itching to get in, but I was slow, suiting up as I awaited Mark's arrival.  Maybe that run of sparkling winter mornings with head high surf and little competition for waves in the water has jaded me?  I remember years past when something like this would have me jumping.

Even with the 4-3, the water was cold getting in.  Not as cold as some prior years, but at least the equal of the coldest of the 2011-12 season.  55-56 degrees.  It was a thankfully easy swim out and a nice set promptly arrived.  A soft right shoulder evolved gradually into a steeper face and, eventually, a nice open tube.  Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.... There were others over the next hour-plus, making the morning well worthwhile. 

Pickings were a bit slim, and there were more sticks out than would have been expected for the conditions, but the vibe in the water was mellow; good chatter & respect.  However,there were some long lulls during which the chill of the water, unbroken by a warming sun, would seep in.  Though the swell was forecast to be increasing and the tide was coming in, after the first half-hour, the sets were missing the sandbars and we moved inside to the inner shorebreak.  Smaller, it was actually playfully fun surf and, thankfully, more frequent.  Nonetheless, after a short, 90 minute session, it seemed enough.

We exited, grateful for something to surf but thinking of some earlier sessions of this exceptional season.  Now I write, mid-week, looking at forecasts for blown-out conditions next weekend, wishing I'd appreciated the opportunity more, whilst it was here.

President's Day Dispatch

Between an 8:00 high tide, uncertain winds and conflicting swell forecasts, it was difficult to know what to expect for President's Day.  No call went out, but Ghattas and I agreed to meet at 9:00.  

However, even as I was crossing the tracks from the lot, there was definite promise.  A breeze from the SE was combing a shoulder-high set.

Textured outside, the surface was glassy, glossy in the hazy sunlight, inside.  A couple of sticks shared the Main Peak with Casey, who is floating on the right below.

The tide was keeping it a bit fat, but there was a bit of size and the sandbar at the Peak was creating corners to ride.

Check the picture below - best in high-rez by clicking on it.  The bowling effect of the sand bar at the main peak is clear, as the ridge of the swell snakes out in the middle, then back in further south, with another bar jutting out just beyond.  Part of what makes SCSP so consistent.

Mark had arrived and we quickly suited and entered, north of the Peak, with the intent of drifting south as we caught the rights coming in off the NW swell.  It was surprisingly chilly at first, sharpened by the chill wind.  But sets were coming in pretty regularly, chest to head high, and for a while there was little competition in the water.  

Gradually, though, the sticks filled in .  This day, there was a fairly narrow take off zone, so for those of us who are less mobile, sans floatation devices, the pickings were growing slim.  So, after an hour or so, we moved south of the rocks and Mark worked the area in front of LG stand 1, while I roamed between the rocks and Mark.  Perhaps a tad less ideal shape than back at the Peak, that was compensated by the opportunity to pick & chose any wave.

The sun never really broke through the thin cloud cover, and the breeze gradually shifted to the south, but conditions, and swell, held up pretty well through 1-3/4 hours of another more than decent day at the Park.  Afterwards, surf scouts still lingered atop the bluffs above the parking lot as more & more fiberglass joined the growing crowd in the water.

Superbowl Sunday Summery Session

A chilly 40 degrees as Sunday dawned in Pasadena, there wasn't a cloud to be seen, following a series of summer-like days in the dead of winter.  Often, I'll commence the 72-mile drive in very different conditions than I find in San Clemente, but today I was hoping for sun and a rapidly warming day.  I was not disappointed as I navigated the access to SCSP Califia parking:

Not a single surfer was out - stick, sponge or body - which made the first few waves I saw a surprise. Shoulder-high, glassy peaks were combed by an offshore breeze, with a fun-looking bowl at Main Peak.  None of the crew had arrived, but within a minute or two, Brent "Crawdaddy" Crawford appeared, to validate my conclusion that we should waste no time getting out to enjoy fun-looking wave in solitude. 

Before we were suited, Hugh Berenger had appeared with a ken to actually swim out & bodysurf with us, rather than lugging the camera.  Shortly, we were in the chilling water, still in the mid-50's.  While the peak shown above would show occasionally, and there was a left here and there, mostly it was sweeping rights from the Northwest, like these two:

A little closed out, an occasional set, aspiring to head-high, would pop up, but chest to shoulder high crests regularly arrived over the next two hours.  Over time, a smattering of sticks came out, succeeded by a handful of sponges, but the Park was basically left to the five of us - Mark "Sailfish" Ghattas joined Hugh, Brent, a local, Casey, and me, about a half hour into the session. 

By the time we exited, a full, summery day had blossomed in Southern Orange County.

Sets were still lining up, cleanly.

And the fast right in front of the steps still peeling.

Brent, Mark and Hugh joined me at the steps, for post-session documentation, before dispersing.

A little better than last week, an altogether decent way to prepare for the Superbowl.  Wonder what it's like in Indianapolis?

Published in Water Sport Magazine

Check it - two of my photos from 2007 World Bodysurfing Championships - one of Krista Johnson and the other, I think, of Pat Castinelli, the women's & men's champions - published in Spain's Water Sport Magazine!  Click this link: WSM or open below & go to page 60:

Open publication - Free publishing - More kite