Newport Flats

So, August started out auspiciously, as reflected in my post from the first weekend of the month: Summer Surprise at SCSP.  One of the best sessions of the year at the Park, with a 10-day sojourn to Newport immanent.

Well, the story since is rather different!  Here I sit, this weekend in North San Diego, Newport vacation now a memory, and barely a session worthy of reporting.  In fact, the only outing that comes close was the first morning in Newport - two weeks ago - the 10th.  The fact that it's now two weeks later and I'm only now getting around to saying anything about it will tell you most of what you need to know.

Michael Schwimer on the best wave of the week

The wave above and below may give the impression that there were decent waves.  Well, in most of my blogs, you see what I could shoot in few minutes before entering the water - not the best of the day.  These waves were, positively, as good as it got and the photos make them look better than they were.

Allan, backside right

Starting that weekend, and since, Southern California, from LA County Line in the North to Imperial Beach in the South has seen naught but an occasional dribble of weak, northwest wind swell. What made the session reported here worth the mention is, first, these are the best waves seen in over two weeks, and second, the company.

The small slop notwithstanding, it turned into a very fun session as my sons Allan (photo above) and Joe were joined by a half-dozen of their friends, starting with all three Schwimer brothers, riding an eclectic mix of long boards, short boards, soft tops and Costco specials.  What little was there, they were making the most of it, and enjoying the company on what has become a traditional outing, now longstanding.  

"Where are the waves????"

Having said that, the shot above, of Allan and Michael Schwimer, scanning a flat horizon for any hint of a bump, pretty much  wraps up the last few weeks, as far as surf is concerned.  Labor Day is around the corner...maybe it will usher in a vibrant fall.  It's due!

Summer Surprise at SCSP

There was surprising size, shape and consistency in the Park this morning.  The guy below was blowing it up when I arrived and joined South Bay denizen Paul Tordella at the rail to check it out.

Looking closely, you'll conclude that sometimes, perspective is everything!  We enjoyed watching this guy, and his diminutive buddy in the water for a bit before suiting up (66 degree water) and swimming out.

Some of the larger stick-riders were enjoying the glassy, shapely swell as well, but it appeared fairly inconsistent and maxed out at about shoulder-high.  But enough to draw us in, for sure.

The air was warm and winds calm, so I opted for the spring shorty, which was perfect for the two-hour session. 

There were only a couple of sticks out, down closer to the rocks, so we took the Main Peak for our own.  Virtually as soon as I reached the line up, a surprisingly thick right popped up, approaching head-high size, and I dropped into what was to become a wide arching tube of emerald that held open for precious seconds.  Wow!  Hadn't seen that from the shore.

  

In the ensuing two hours, Paul, Mark Ghattas and I enjoyed surprisingly consistent shoulder to head high surf, even with occasional pluses.  It was very peaky, with lots of corners from which to launch long slides to the deep inside.  The speed of the curl was perfect for bodysurfing, not to fast to keep up with, but sustained and open, and often hollow.

Through the session, the sticks kind of came & went, but it never got crowded and there was a positive vibe, unusual for summer.  It helps when there's lots to go around.  Throughout, we had our pick of waves from the rocks up to the Main Peak.

Mid-session, it was nice to get some props from the lifeguard truck as it swung by on its rounds.  Instead of the usual call for swimmers to stay away from the rocks or head south down the beach, the loudspeaker carried a respectful message, reminding the bodysurfers in the water (the three of us) to be aware of the rocks and have fun.

Compared to two weeks ago, the swell then certainly was larger and the best waves perhaps better, but today there were so many!  We expected small and inconsistent, and instead found mid-size, very consistent and great shape.  A real Park session!

So, anyway, back to the little guys...

They continued to rip for another hour or so while we were in the water ... a fun diversion between waves.

Remember ... for a bodysurfer, almost every wave is overhead...!

Sharing the Stoke ... Drainers

OK, I know that this is supposed to be a bodysurfing blog, but sometimes ya just gotta share it.  Reader, I hope you can click on the photo below to see a full-screen view of stoke just pouring off the screen as my son, Joe, screams through a heavy tube at Drainers/Westward/Drainpipes in North LA County yesterday:

Just look at that grin!! Gotta love it!

I hope I'm not stepping on any toes by "publishing" this, but if so, maybe props to the photographer, Steve Bissell, will ameliorate it!

Third Time's a Charm!

Wow! Three consecutive weekends with good to excellent surf, today the best of them.  Unfortunately, the run ends here, as next weekend I'm out of town.  But what a nice, little run!

Encountering Neil as I crossed the tracks to check out the swell under a heavy overcast, a large set rolled in, a foot or two overhead.  Quickly, I swung up the camera to capture it, but the media card was improperly set and by the time I had it fixed the set was gone.  What's below captures some of the lesser waves out there today - but I wasn't going to delay getting in the water just to prove it to you; you're going to have to believe me!

Our lovely, over-seventy, water temperature of the past few weeks had been replaced by mid-sixties, requiring at least a little rubber.  Within a few minutes, though, I was in the spring shortie and heading down to the Main Peak area, Mark and Neil close behind. 

Like last weekend, a strong current was running from the south, stringing out the lineup, so a swim-out at the rocks to the south of Main Peak made sense.  As it turned out, I remained between the rocks and Main Peak for the next 90 minutes, often having it pretty much alone, along with Casey, who was in the water, with his blue board, when we arrived.  

Overall, today was one of the best sessions this year.  Corners abounded, ranging from chest-high to the occasional overhead set.  There was a really nice left coming off the rocks on the larger sets, and I spent most my time, lingering in the hope of catching it.  

I did nab an exceptional one; one of my two best waves of the year so far.  It started head-high, and I was right at the corner.  As I drove for the take-off and started my initial slide down the face, a large clump of kelp wrapped around me and seemed to be trying to pull me back out of the wave.  Eyeing the smooth face stretching away in front of me, I frantically shook and kicked it off, pulling into that face just ahead of the lip.  For the next 50 yards, I raced against that lip, sometimes a little behind - mostly covered up - and sometimes pulling ahead.  I end up deep inside, pulling over the top of what was now a waist-high crest with a hoot.

Though it was textured, and even a little bumpy at times, early on, in about an hour it completely glassed over into a glossy surface under an even darker sky.  The dim light and smooth surface made it a challenge to see the swells coming in.  

About then, Joe's friend, Sam Abeger, arrived, and swam out, in fins, noting Joe wasn't far behind.  Mark, Neil, Sam and I continued to enjoy the full stretch around Main Peak, but I didn't see Joe.  Finally, I asked Sam where he was.  Just to the south of the rocks, but still close enough to have heard my question, there Joe was, where Sam pointed him out, beaming on his new board.  Between the new board and the shaggiest hair I've seen on him in a while, I wouldn't have picked him out of the lineup.

Shortly, I worked south of the rocks, where he'd been working a peak that he'd hitherto had all to himself!  It was as good to the south as at Main Peak.  Eventually tiring, though, well over two hours into the session, I decided to gradually drift back toward the steps.  Joe and Sam followed suit.  Joe's in the photo above, taken after I got out, of the area a bit north of Main Peak.

Two double-calf-cramps and over 2-1/2 hours after entering the water, I staggered out to join Mark on the shore with Craig, who was just preparing to go in.  The only thing to spoil an excellent session came as I was riding my "shoreboat" wave in to shore - just as I started a quick gulp of air, midway in, the waterwater hit backwash, throwing a spray of sandy froth up into my mouth and down into my lungs.  I felt a bit lame, standing in the knee-deep water, coughing to try to clear some of it out of my lungs. 

Running late, I wasn't able to get many shots after the session, but caught this of Joe on an inside right, north of Main Peak:

...also this, of Craig, testing stick's willingness to share.  :-)

Actually, in fairness, Craig pulled out.

OK, so I didn't blog last week's session.  It was quite similar to today, though a bit smaller.  The water was a balmy 71, offering the luxury of trunking, comfortably.  Also, the sun came through for much of the session.  A couple of post-session shots follow.

Joe and Sam were also there last week, along with Sam's twin, Alex and Joe's roommate, Bennett - both on their boards.  Having them there made for a very fun session.  Like today, my session extended beyond two & a half hours, with current to fight much of the time.  It made the endeavor to replenish energy, to attend my godson's wedding that night, a challenge for the afternoon!

Ah, well...three good weeks of weekend surf.  It'll hold me for a couple of weeks.  Thus far, the summer has been holding pretty true to the early promise of May: Summer Preview?

A Simple Summer Sunday in the Park

No sizzling story today; just a fun day in warm water and better-than-expected waves and conditions.  Forecasts were for onshore winds - depending where you looked, maybe 2-3 mph to 8-10 mph - and a pretty paltry swell.  The greatest draw was promise of 70+ degree water and a chance to break the dry spell of the past couple of weeks (see 6/23 post).

As is evident from the photo above and those that follow, we found quite playful, well-shaped surf and conditions approaching glassy.  Wind wasn't an issue at all today and there were scads of waist-to-shoulder high, sometimes bigger, waves for the taking.  

With maybe a half-dozen sticks out, the main peak looked a little crowded as I checked it out from the rail, but nothing at all compared to Cotton's, to the south!  What's with that - really - click on the photo below for full-rez to see scores of sticks out there, waiting to vie for what???

By the time that we got out, though, the "crowd" at the main peak had thinned, so I swam out there, followed by now-octogenerian Neil Frank.  The vibe was positive and for the next 2-1/2 hours, we all pretty much had our pick of waves at the main peak.  Mark Ghattas had arrived in the lot before we headed out, and joined us shortly.  I kept looking for (son) Joe, who had been only 5 minutes away when I was suiting up.  With all of LA county, and most of Northern Orange County, basically flat, Joe had decided to join us in the altogether reliable Park.  (As EY_\ was fond of saying..."the Park delivers!)  Unfortunately, Joe carved an extra half-hour onto his run south by missing the Calafia exit and having to find a turn-around inside the massive stretch of Camp Pendleton.

Eventually, though, Joe got there, for a couple of hours of good fun, sharing waves in temperatures that made skinning it more than comfortable.  Joe was getting a lot of good rides, inside, where he could grind out the cutbacks and work on his floaters, but didn't miss the opportunity on a few of the better formed set waves.  

As the morning wore on, the sun burned through the overcast evident above, and DaArm put in a showing - after at least a year, and maybe double that, since riding with him, he's now put in for back-to-back sessions.  Casey swam out our for a session "of the body" as well, so we had a good pod for a while.  It was good to see Neil back in the water, as well.

As I headed back up the beach, I realized - or, more honestly, my wobbly legs reminded me - that in a "smallies" session, you catch about 5 times the number of waves as when it's really firing out there. 

Change of Seasons: Beginning of a (Surf) Drought?

Summer's here...but is that a good thing?

Fall and winter were pretty disappointing for surf this year.  Wetsand's "Session Log" feature permits rating sessions from 1 to 5 stars.  From early September through late March, not a single Park session rated better than 3 stars (average), and it was only good enough for me to log an extremely paltry six sessions in the Park, altogether.  Mixed in were a couple of sessions in Del Mar (one decent, the other marginal) and one, excellent session at El Porto (see: Breaking the Drought at El Porto).  Yep, one good session in six months.

With spring came a significant change.  It started with a classic, overhead session in the Park in late March (Change of Season Brings a Classic Park Day), and in less than three months, from late March to mid-June, I logged seven sessions at the Park, of which five were four stars or better.  An exceptional run, capped by a 5-star, well overhead south swell in early June (South Swell Sweeps the Park).  That included one stretch of four sessions in five weeks, three of them 4 or 5 star.  The one week I took off would have been a solid, 3-star day.  Consistency returned to the Park with Spring.

Well, two factors go into a surf drought.  One is the combination of swell and conditions.  The other is my ability to get out.  With the advent of summer, these two are aligning the wrong way. 

Today may have been ok, but far from great.  A late return last night from near a week in the East pretty much precluded surf, anyway.  Although the surf will be pretty decent next weekend - NOT to complain!!! - I'll be fully tied up with Hilary's wedding.  Looking further out, the weekend of the 5th shows no promise of a long-range south swell, such as drives summer surf in Southern California.  We'll be lucky to have a waist-high NW windswell.  There's nothing particularly promising in the South Pacific beyond that at this point.

Hopefully, this is just a lull as we switch seasons, and the South Pac will start ginning things up by mid-July!  After all, doesn't a six-month lull justify at least a good, six-month run?

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.