How was your surf today?....share your stoke!

[mightyrime]

They were there last Sunday (Dec 27) as well helping someone at the Fairgrounds lot. When I got out around 8:30 am on Saturday morning, there were a lot of people in the water on foamies and other ill-suited sticks that looked a bit shell-shocked with how strong the waves were. It seems like good conditions have turned into a magnet for folks that shouldn't be out, and it's been hard to distance myself in the lineup from these surfers to try and get a couple safe waves. I've started telling people (in polite fashion) to head up the road a little bit to Mondos, but it seems to fall on deaf ears because I keep seeing these same people back in the lineup.

I am curious how these people are having any fun. I know i am in good shape and have decent knowledge of the conditions, and i have a decent level of fear when the ocean comes alive ( i think thats the best term).

If i was in lesser shape and had lesser knowledge and was caught inside in the conditions we had i would be really scared out there. Oh well hope some learn and stay safe.

 

[SeniorGrom]

“Ignorance is bliss” the contemporary joy of surfing mandated by the redistribution of intellect.

 

[Bummer Dude]

Very sadly yesterday late afternoon there were lifeguards and paramedics administering CPR to a surfer on the beach at C St when I was getting out of the water. I don't know the circumstances or who it was. Just a stark reminder for me of the power of our ocean. I don't know if he made it but I pray that he did.

I was out at C st. yesterday - lifeguards were on ski patrol directing people away from the pier and to paddle out at the top of the cove. In addition to the drowning event, I was told that the current had pulled a lot of people into the pier and were breaking boards, needing rescue.

It's nothing to compared to what some people here surf, but for my out-of-shape two-kids under 3 ass it felt heavy for sure. Got a couple of good ones outside, then bucked off one and got sucked over the falls paddling back out. At some point I lost one of my contacts. As I paddled back in with my tail between my legs, I overheard two guys bonding over their recent move from Texas and taking up surfing in the last year. Crazy stuff.

Had a lot more fun at sundown Saturday at a much less crowded, semi-protected cove up north. My second son was born the beginning of November, so maybe the 4th and 5th surf respectively in a few months and first back to back days. Last night felt so tired and sore in the best possible ways. Great weekend!

 

[Tenfooter]

Just took a small Fuji camera and got into water to check on my daughters progress. And they kick asses!!
Of course, at the best of it, camera battery died. Well, at least I got a couple of
ones. The perspective from the water is a whole different game. No more huge expensive lenses. I am seriously thinking of getting a casing.
That was yesterday at Marias, Rincon, PR

o

 

[pintail]

El Porto this AM. I'm happy on the beach.

 

[Doggyfizzle]

“Ignorance is bliss” the contemporary joy of surfing mandated by the redistribution of intellect.

At C Street this is especially true. Most people in the water don't realize C Street is an artificial point - created from seashore armoring due to sediment starvation of the embayment (Pierpont) immediately to the south of the Ventura River due to the Matillija Dam upstream in Ojai. You don't notice the effects of the artificial seafloor topography (rip-rap) as much at the Point, but the subtle inflection in seashore orientation at the Cove/Drain serves to create a truly incredible longboard wave during waist-head N-NW or S swells with cooperative tides with several sections lining up for the taking. HOWEVER, right now with the extreme ebb/flood tides we're experiencing, at high tide the Cove gets really heavy, especially on the inside due to the makeup of the seafloor and the reflection of swell energy off the promenade seawall. This reflection effect is much more pronounced in the Cove than at the Point due to the steepness of the barrier (seawall) incoming waves encounter as the terminate onto the shore. Locally, this swell effect isn't nearly as significant at County Line or Rincon, so unless you surf Pitas/Faria or Little Rincon, it isn't something you regularly encounter.

People don't understand that the best place to paddle in/out is right by the water pipe (and sandbar) near Middles during big swells, and that unless you're what I would term an "advanced" surfer, the reverberation you experience on the face of the waves in the Cove right now and the churn in the inside doesn't make for a really safe or enjoyable session despite the lure of the OH waves from shore. I think too many people head for the Cove expecting it to be a manageable wave under all circumstances, and that just isn't the case.

On a more positive note, I was out at the Point around lunchtime today for an hour and a half, and I was proud? - overjoyed?- surprised?- that not a single foamie was in sight and the lineup was moving like a pretty well oiled machine (only saw a couple egregious drop-ins). Managed to catch several excellent rights as the tide was starting to recede while it was still clean. Sorry for the long post, but it felt good to get off my chest. #deardiary.

 

[DJR]

Last 45 minutes of daylight Slack low tide knee deep no wind no people super glass gorgeous colors in the sky and the water with little thigh runners on the Stepchild I laughed a lot cruising on the stepdeck

 

[tuskedbeast]

Just took a small Fuji camera and got into water to check on my daughters progress. And they kick asses!!
Of course, at the best of it, camera battery died. Well, at least I got a couple of
ones. The perspective from the water is a whole different game. No more huge expensive lenses. I am seriously thinking of getting a casing.
That was yesterday at Marias, Rincon, PR
View attachment 26504 View attachment 26505 View attachment 26506 o

That water...

 

[Tenfooter]

Last Winter was the first I remember seeing what looked like surfers trying to paddle out in groups for their first surf ever. In some decent sized semi powerful waves. Totally clueless getting pummeled and dragged down the beach by current. Some fun huh!

That’s awesome . Nature will take over and clean them up . Darwin was right .

 

[Driftwood]

Beautiful afternoon - dead glass, waist high peelers with an occasional shoulder high set, air in the high thirties but with the sun and no wind it felt nice. Surfed with two friends on a low-tide sand point, traded boards and got to try out a 10'1" Skip glider as well as a longboard that I shaped back in '08. Just one of those easy, super fun sessions with tons of long waves. Like summer surfing can be but... a heck of a lot colder.