South VS North

So I cheated. Sorta. Well not really.

On Saturday last weekend I chose to travel NORTH to check a surf spot I had not surfed before, all under my new Summer 2010 rule of traveling NORTH for SOUTH swells in hopes of finding some fun not too crowded waves NORTH of San Francisco. A nice alternative to traveling SOUTH toward Santa Cruz, where the surf tends to be significantly more crowded than up NORTH.

Well I actually ended up traveling SOUTH too but on Sunday. My family and I drove to a spot on the San Mateo Coast that I/we have learned to appreciate quite a bit over the past few years. We decided to go for a "hike" and I did not bring my surf stuff. I knew there was a good chance this stretch of coast would be holding up well and breaking. Why not at least be there to watch it? I did bring my camera to document.

Sure enough...OUCH... SOUTH of San Francisco... there she was sucking in the SOUTH swell perfectly... beautiful A-frame wedges... rolling in... with only... (3) people out...

Definitely took one for the Team, but technically held to my promise of only traveling NORTH this Summer to chase SOUTHS for surf.

Things are shaping up...

... although I know never to get my hopes up too high. Good solid SOUTH headed our way. Already put the call into my buddy to get ready and get early morning clearance for Sunday. I might even see if I can sneak out early on Saturday locally to a spot that likes this type of swell. The anticipation builds. Click on image to enlarge.

Graph/table courtesy of STORMSURF.

Going North this Summer

Last Summer I posted a write-up of my unfruitful pursuit of a south swell that washed ashore along the entire CA coast and beyond. My search took me south of San Francisco to an area dense with surf breaks. At the end of the post I suggested that I may decide to focus on the coastline North of San Francisco and have told many friends the same.

Well here we are, Summer 2010 and my commitment to travel North for surf has begun. A good size south is currently running so I decided to wake up early (4:30am) to get a jump start.

In general my efforts paid off even though I did not suit up or even get wet. I headed to a spot that I have been curious about for several years now. I have stopped by at least 2-3 times with never any results. This time was different.

What was valuable this time was that I actually got to see the surf break work... kinda. Turns out all the other times I had checked this spot, I now realize I had been checking the wrong point - WTF!!!? Yes I was looking in the wrong place literally around the corner from the actual spot. But this time I did a little more prowling around and actually found it and watched someone try and surf it. I use the word try because it turned out to be a minus tide and a good majority of the reef was exposed except for one section. In total I saw (3) surfers and (1) bodyboarder - a good sign.

So all in all a good bit of recon on my part I just need to get back up there with another south swell running and a higher tide. The surf forecast is hinting of another next weekend, we'll see how things shape up. At least I know where I'll be going next time.

On my drive back home I traveled through Jenner and I came across the memorial service for Noel Robinson who was a Bodega Bay local surfer who died while surfing some heavy waves down at Puerto Escondido, Mexico. Pretty poignant scene as I viewed from the bluff above. Easily 100 surfers all collected in the Russian River estuary surrounding what must have been some of his surf belongings/ashes (?). All there to celebrate his life and love of the ocean.

True Wilderness VS. Metropolis

It is really easy to get boxed into the urban fabric of the City. Sometimes it is important for us City dwellers to obtain a vantage point that takes us outside the confines of our concrete environment. There have been several vantage points I have been recently poking around to get some shots of the BIG surf showing up this Winter Season - like the shots above and below.

What I appreciate most about this vantage point is how it clearly illustrates the close proximity of true wilderness to the Sunset District's western edge. It is easy to forget that whales, dolphins, great white sharks, orcas, seals and a whole multitude of marine life not listed, ply the waters just off shore. What really separates us from the wilderness is just a Great Highway, sections of dunes, a concrete seawall, a large sandy beach and for most, cold water.

Think about it.

We live in a very unique and special place.

December Surf

Wintertime is in full effect in Northern CA and our beach is doing it's thang!!! A great weekend of shooting photos, bodyboarding, family time and some Holiday shopping wedged in between. Fall/Winter is truly my favorite time of year here in Northern CA.

I recently made a comment to a couple of buddies of mine that there is a dearth of guys out on boards that do not seem to know how to surf very well (ie: "bouys"). I can't count how many times I have seen perfect head high peaks roll in with guys perfectly positioned to paddle and drop into them and then pull back suddenly and not take the drop. Obviously a lot of beginners out which is usually not the case for our beach break.

Regardless, still fun out there and have been scoring some fun waves!

Sessions No 3 & No 4

Safe to say most of the surf community around these parts would agree this has been a pretty dismal Fall surf season. The surf and good surf conditions really have not been in alignment and shown up with much gusto until this past weekend. So it hasn't been since August that I have been out with my waterhousing to snap some water shots. Felt good to get out. The pic above was from a session of overhead + surf the biggest I've been out in so far - a bit sketchy at times. The pic below was from a session up in the far reaches of Northern California.

Summer has arrived!

This past weekend Summer arrived in the Sunset District, for San Francisco in general. I was in charge of my daughter over the weekend, my Wife declared a "staycation" weekend - a break from the family to focus on and pamper herself - she deserves it. So with all the good weather (and good waves) my daughter and I hung out around the neighborhood. We walked to the beach, did some dune climbing and snapped some pictures together. Turns out an 18 month old can be pretty handy in pointing out the good set waves as you can see below.

I took my daughter down to the Sloat parking lot. Wanting to make sure she did not either fall off the cliff edge or get run over, I kept her in the car with the windows rolled down. It actually worked well and she was content for all of 10-15 minutes. Just enough to snap off a few pics of the "Choi Wan" super typhoon swell that originated just off central Japan last week.

My wife was kind enough to let me sneak out on Sunday for a quick paddle out. Had a great time, saw a lot of good waves come through but did not connect with anything to write home about. Hung out with the dolphins/porpoise for a short time - neat to see them out there.

Summer/Fall is here and life is good.

First Pics of the Season

Had an opportunity to visit a friend down in Santa Cruz yesterday and spend the night. Had a great time connecting with these fellas, it has been awhile. Good conversation, good beverages all topped off with a great BBQ. Woke up this morning and found some surf and was able to take my first water shots of the season. Felt good to get in the water and snap a couple. Had to get back home so could not stay long unfortunately. Paid the price for not stretching out prior and my back is STIFF.

No spectacular shots with the one below being the best. Just good to get out.

I'm hoping this will be a good season for me out in the water with the camera. I feel like I have the basics down, now I just need good waves and surfers/bodyboarders to shoot.

Visitor from around New Zealand

The CA coastline was paid a visit by a very LARGE sized South West swell recently. That statement is actually a bit misleading in that this swell originated from a storm way down below New Zealand and actually paid a visit to much of Mainland Mexico, the Baja Peninsula, Southern CA, Northern CA and above into Oregon and Washington. So based on the extent of it's reach you can begin to understand the type of energy that was released by the storm that generated it.

Summertime is typically the doldrums for Northern CA surf community. We typically rely on short period local north west wind swell, or if we are lucky south swells originating from the southern hemisphere. And if you are really devoted and graced with an extra $4K you'll fly off to Indonesia for a 2 week boat trip and score enough perfect waves to forget about the darkest Summertime surf season. But from time to time we are graced with a significant south swell similar to what hit this past weekend.

Nowadays these events can be forecasted and planned around a week in advance. There are a multitude of forecast websites one can check to track these swells (I particularly like StormSurf). Technology has really lent itself well to the surf community. Log-on, read and plan accordingly. Exactly what I started doing on 07/17.

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP... BEEP, BEEP, BEEP... CLICK!

Off with the alarm clock at 5:30am saturday morning 07/24. Gotta get a jump on the day and begin scoping the coastline. My itinerary will have me traveling south toward Santa Cruz stopping every so often to check each nook and cranny the coastline has on offer for this particular swell. Oh and by the way, I've got 6.5 hours to complete this mission - remember I am a Dad. Get down south, find a good break, swim out, snap a few pics (or just paddle out and surf), hightail it back north in time to take over for my wife, have lunch with my daughter and take her to the park.

Long story short, made the trip south and scoped all the spots which resulted in absolutely zilch. Didn't get wet or snap even one pic. The swell was showing, guys were in the water but the waves were just not working that well in the spots I checked. The moral of the story, no matter how good the technology, no matter how "accurate" the forecast, you are never guaranteed that our beautiful CA coastline will cooperate. Don't get me wrong, just down the road in Santa Cruz people scored great waves. I was just not in the right place right time.

Some might think that I'd be bitter by the turn of events above, hardly. Not the first time. Don't they say it's not all about the Destination, it's about the Journey. I think so. Besides I'm already planning where my next itinerary will take me during the next BIG south swell. There is a lot of intriguing coastline north of San Francisco.

Here are some interesting links documenting the 2009 Mega South Swell:

Video footage of Santa Cruz

Mega South Swell Write-up

Video footage of the WEDGE

Article on death of body surfer at the WEDGE

Article on Puerto Escondido, Mexico