On my way to China Peak this morning, I decided to make a surgical strike to Kelly Slater's Wave Pool. Here is what happened.
I didn't want to leave the CC this morning as the waves were glassy and smooth despite the wet storm conditions. Wind was non-existent though and it looked doable in some spots. But I made other plans, so out of town I went. I had my surfboard and wetsuit with me, just in case.
It rained the entire way there. Miserable driving conditions. Cruising along on 41, I almost blew past the turn-off. It comes up fast if you're not paying attention. Not long after I turned off the highway, my anticipation started to build. In the distance, I couldn't see a thing. Solid rain continued to fall and an almost mystical haze filled the air. Finally after about 20 seconds, I could see a lake. Was this the wave pool?! Nope. It was the ski-boat place next to Kelly's property. I slowed to a crawl and admired the view. Nice little piece of land with a white fence and you could see the lake with a small dock and boat along the right edge.
As I drove past the skiboat place, I got my first look at Kelly's property. My first impression "holy sh!t that's a long fence." It was the longest redwood fence I've ever seen. The fence appeared to go around the entire property of the wave pool. The fence is 8' tall in front, and down the line it looked like it was 10' or 12' where the actual pool is at. The fence looked very new and the boards were so close together, you could hardly see anything inside. The immediate sense was that they don't want anyone from the public to see this thing. I cruised by really slow just looking the place over from from my vehicle on the the road. Directly across the street is a trailer looking home and a dirt driveway to another home in the back, complete with no-tresspassing signs. The entire area is sparsely populated with mostly dirt fields between a house here and there. On all the surrounding properties with the exception of the golf course, there were no-tresspassing signs.
The steady rain had turned everything in the area turned to mud. I drove by the entrance really slow and went past to the golf course area looking for a turn-around. I engaged my 4WD because the shoulder was a big mud pit. I turned around and pulled to the edge of the road next to Kelly's place. I sat there wondering what to do. The redwood gates were bigger than the fence line.
As I crawled at 1mph on the empty road, I peered through the fence planks. I could see a few trucks at first, and a tall warehouse looking building. Then some bulldozer type equipment and a couple of shipping containers. Then the home on the property. I stopped and hit the reverse. I backed up a few car lengths and looked more closely. I could see another fence line on the inside, but there was a slight opening. What's that I see in the distance? It was the wave pool! My eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. I put my vehicle in park and got out in the rain and stood on top of my vehicle. Unfortunately I had no good angle to see over the fence, but raised my arm anyway with my phone getting soaked from the rain and snapped some random shots from the road. There were also trees just inside the fence line that further obscured the view through the planks. Meanwhile, one of few neighbors across the street walks out to his driveway and is taking a look in my direction.
I didn't care though. My curiosity was insatiable, but I've always wondered 'whats around that corner' since I was a little kid. I felt like Charlie and on the other side of that redwood fence was Wonka's Chocolate Factory! I had high hopes for the King himself to be there with his friends, but it was not to be.
After snapping a few shots, I decided to drive around the block. It's a big country block and as google earth indicates, there is no access to Kelly's property on three sides. Not even a view of the place except from a really far distance.
I pulled back around the block and pulled up to the front gate to take a closer look at power poles going to the property and some big (power?) box in front that was 10x10x10.
Not wanting to accidentally lock myself out of my vehicle, I turned off my car, got out to take a quick look at the power poles and stuff. The power poles looked new, and some of the hardware on them looked like stuff you don't normally see running into a single property out in the country. I'm guessing they had it installed by the power company just for this project. (anyone know what this hardware is on pic below?) There are two other main power poles right next to the gate that both look like they have some transformers on it, so there is probably some serious power going into the facility. You can see these on the pic above.
Getting soaked, I got back in my vehicle and put the keys in and turned the ignition. "Click, click, click, click, click". You have got to be *&$^!!!! kidding me. Full battery power, but my vehicle won't start and I'm blocking the entrance! Talk about kooking it!
So I get out and pop the hood to check the battery terminal. It starts raining harder as I'm checking my terminals and wondering if it's the starter or solenoid going bad. Without a hammer or jumper cables, I was SOL. All of a sudden I hear something and look over at the gate. I see a guy creeping quietly behind the fence with an umbrella. I pretend not to see him, but out of the corner of my eye, I can see him creeping up the fence quietly. He puts his eye to the planks to look out and is staring at me while I look at my engine.
Now I'm like f!!! I gotta move this thing. What if Wonka pulled up right now? He'd never let me in the factory just based on the fact I'm kooking it! F!!!!. So I hop back in and pop it in neutral, then get back in front and start pushing my SUV through the mud. At this point I'm pretty soaked. I got it rolling just enough to get down this very subtle slope off Kelly's drive way and maybe my front bumper was still on his property. The guy continues to stare at me through the fence.
I got back in my vehicle and started looking up auto places in Lemoore. I'm at least four miles from the nearest AutoZone. I got back out and pushed my vehicle back further using every ounce of strength not to lose my footing. Finally I get it pushed back far enough where I'm on the golf course. I figure while I'm stuck there, I might as well take some more pics. So I snapped some more photos.
As I was about to call a tow service, I see in my rear view mirror a truck coming down the road. He's going really slow. Unusually slow for that country road. As he drives really slow by me, I notice he has a surfboard in the back of his truck! YES! This is my ticket out of this mess! I watch him as he pulls up really slow along the fence line just as I had driven past earlier. I see his truck go pull up to the gate for the skiboat place next door. He stays there for a couple minutes and the end of his truck disappears into that entrance. Did he go in there? The gate was shut when I drove by it.
After a few minutes, he reappears from behind Kelly's side fence, backing up onto the road. He backs out onto the road and starts crawling slowly back towards me. As he gets close, I roll down my window and he pulls across the road. It's a guy and a girl. "Hey hows it going?" the driver asks. He's a local Lemoore surfer named Carl and he is wondering if Kelly's Wave Pool is going to be open for biz. I tell him I was there to also check it out but that my SUV wouldn't start. As luck would have it, he's a mechanic. I pop my hood again and we we take a look under the hood and he also thought it was probably a solenoid wiring problem. But he didn't have jumper cables with him.
As we're standing there looking at my engine, I turn around and see this private security guard standing behind us. Young looking kid, maybe 25 at the most came out from the gate. "Having car trouble?" Um, no, we just like to stand in the rain and mud looking at engines on the weekend. That's what I felt like saying. Carl immediately starts asking him questions on Kelly's Wave Pool. The kid didn't have a clue. He just kept reminding us that it's private property. He had no idea who Kelly Slater is. He watches us until Carl offers to drive me into town. I locked up my vehicle, hopped in his truck and off we went as the security guy went back into the secret compound.
Four miles or so into Lemoore and we hit up an Autozone. On the way there I realize this guy is as amped as I am to see this thing. He had his wetsuit and board with him as well. We borrowed jumper cables in exchange for my DL and drive back to my vehicle. Starts up right away! I'm back in business!
By now I knew my dream of seeing the wave pool up close on this day was crushed, and I was getting hungry, so I hightailed it out of there and went on my way. I gave it my best but I guess it was not meant to be.
I drove away with the sense that not only did Kelly's team do their homework on location to save money, they clearly chose that location for seclusion. The huge fence he was able to build, all of the tall pre-existing trees, and the additional internal fence to keep his secrets from prying eyes really made the place feel like a top secret military compound or something along those lines. Swap the underpaid security guard for military guys and there you go.
I also thought about this spot being a viable business and it seemed clear this location is just for testing the prototype and proof of concept. It's far away from the nearest big city of Fresno (600k+), there is zero room for parking, no extra room for facilities like bathrooms, check-in counters, etc. and it's in an area probably zoned for ag or industrial or housing, not commercial stuff like a water park.
Thank you Carl for your service (Army vet) and for taking this kook all the way to AutoZone and back. Greatly appreciated!!! The next time you come over to surf, dinner and beer is on me.
And Kelly, if you read this, please let me know if there is any way I could get in to see this thing in action next time you are there. I'll bring Cerny, along with some beer for your team and jamba juice for whatever healthy kick you're on these days. Would be amped to see the chocolate factory.
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