*** Official 2020 Community Surf Journal ***

bluengreen

Michael Peterson status
Oct 22, 2018
1,763
4,641
113
SF x Encinitas
Fuuuck. Hope I can get a surf in Monday morning before that madness. Definitely riding the bench when it's 15 feet at 19 seconds!

Cold, cold, cold Saturday morning. Probably in the mix with Woke AF. Tried to do the opposite and sit way out the back because there was still a lot of energy in the water and my back is 85%, so I'm not in any condition to be taking late drops on pitching 12-footers. Super crowded considering the size. Saw some HORRENDOUS wipeouts by undergunned, underskilled and overballed young gentlemen, all on blown takeoffs. For instance, watched a dude freefall to faceplant on a double overhead + wave. Waited until I could get in perfect position. Caught a quick one and then sat and paddled for 45 minutes, feet and hands getting numb, and thought about getting an insider to the beach until, lo and behold, the ocean sent a few good ones my way.

I meet a lot of interesting people here.

Met a woman red board that looked about 4 inches thick and had 1 inch thick nose. Said her dad shaped it and the board is "pretty much the whole blank."

Also saw a Canadian guy I met last season who told me he was a mountaineer before moving to San Francisco and starting surfing. He's probably 6'6 and built like a Navy Seal. Paddles Mavs and all the biggest swells at the beach, but I've never seen him catch a wave. Rides, of all things, guns shaped by Matt Parker of Album Surfboards with those anti-shark stripes on the bottom.
 

CutnSnip

Phil Edwards status
Sep 11, 2018
5,738
6,046
113
Probably dropping in on you, California
brrr. cold this a.m! Same spot, same board - lots more waves this morning and alot less people at first light. Chest to shoulder and lining up really nice. Just enough tide and angle that it wasnt closing out. Got a couple short lived visions, some really great feeling turns and one of my best feeling cutbacks to rebounds that i can recently remember. In my head it looked like JJF, in reality not so much but its the thought that counts.

perfect way to start the week.
 

Mr Doof

Duke status
Jan 23, 2002
24,860
7,759
113
San Francisco, CA
Keep hearing about people who got wrecked on this swell. The coastie helicopter was still searching this morning for the guy who they couldn't find last night.
The chopper was flying around for a long time Saturday (and Sunday too).

I hope this is a case of a board washing in and then some good citizen calling in the report and then the person swimming ashore later and wondering what the commotion* is about.



* - Something like this happened to me a number of years ago. Paddled out in the dark next to a police enthusiast and when I didn't come in fast enough for her, she called in a missing surfer report. Came back to my car, open the car, start drying off and then telling the fireman that yes, this is my car, no I was never drowning, etc, etc.

PS

Thursday - Surfed
Friday - Did not
Saturday - Surfed
Sunday - Surfed
Monday - Did not

Lots of fun but man, I am so beat.

Surfed a long time on Saturday and after getting atrociously stuck inside finally made it back with that all over body cramp feeling of dehydration....it is like various muscle groups are all tightening up and both twitchy and fatigued at the same. Time for that one last wave and suddenly, "Outside!" and we scramble except for the one guy who knows better than rest of us. Back muscles aching, I duckdive through a good sized one and halfway through the thing, my right calf locks up...same foot pushing down on the tail. And there is the wave behind it a little bigger, and my shoulders/back start the cramp and I grind it out, but holy f#ck in my right calf just a rictus of agony and when I go to duck under this next one, to top of my arch is pushing down, not the ball of my foot. Third wave mercifully shifts over and I slide off the board, loop the leash around my toes and strain to get my foot to to a normal L-shaped position. Also massage my calf and it finally unlocks. Missed the next set because I'm out of position and in no shape to try for it, then a little later go on a small close-out just to get out of the zone, and it felt so good to stand up and use my weight to force my foot flat and stretch out the calf muscle.

Hurts the whole way home when I try to accelerate.

At home, Motrin please and lots of water, and then a walk up to Diamond Heights to help work the muscle some.

Next day, Sunday, go out again, and jeepers, my calf is tight. I have been loading up with water and various anti-inflammatories for the last 24 hours. Meet up with Friend #1 in the H2O, and it is good fun, small and easy and after the few days, have that sort of bravado that makes you think you can land the 1 stroke air drops (until you realize that making 1 out of 4 is a stupid poor ratio and maybe best to start surfing). Get a few hot water washes throughout the session, which I'm not a fan of but don't have any cramps. It is another marathon session with many rides making up for the lower size related thrill. More Motrin when I get home and more water all day, and a walk with Sweetie-pie to Twin Peaks this time, and then at home, score a massage from her and then take a hot bath. I fall asleep after dinner on the couch somewhere around 8:30 and then forget to put out the recycling/green/trash out after I wake to brush my teeth and slide into bed.

Monday, up at 5:30, leg is stiff and difficult to walk on without limping, and have to shuffle like a gimpy old man to get the trash out as I hear the hauler a few houses up. Pushing those bins out causes my neck, chest, and back to crackle a little like I'm some kind of geriatric ballerina doing warm-ups on the barre except in tartan jammies and slippers (that I should have tossed out 6 months back...just need to make to Christmas when I think I am getting new ones).

Gusty north winds make me wonder about the surf but I need a day off.
 
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Woke AF

Tom Curren status
Jul 29, 2009
11,439
7,754
113
Southern Tip, Norcal
The chopper was flying around for a long time Saturday (and Sunday too).

I hope this is a case of a board washing in and then some good citizen calling in the report and then the person swimming ashore later and wondering what the commotion* is about.



* - Something like this happened to me a number of years ago. Paddled out in the dark next to a police enthusiast and when I didn't come in fast enough for her, she called in a missing surfer report. Came back to my car, open the car, start drying off and then telling the fireman that yes, this is my car, no I was never drowning, etc, etc.
Don’t know for sure but I was talking to a kid, 20 something, who said he was out when it went down.
late afternoon. the guy was outside of him and had to duck dive. Broke his leash and started to panic.
the kid said he lost track of him and caught a wave in. He asked his buddies and the pho tags on the beach if they saw anyone come in. They said no so he had his friends call the fire dept. he heard later some fisherman found a board.:(

ps also said they were in a big rip and way outside where they thought the waves for breaking.
 
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Oct 26, 2016
94
120
33
Really fun day today. Oily glassy conditions running at waist to Hh. Backside foam climbs then floater on 2nd wave felt unreal. Nice carvey figure 8 safety swoops before the racetrack inside section. Had a period of 6 to 7 perfect peaks with no one within 50 yards of me. Stock beyond belief, thank you baby Jesus.
 
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Iceman

Phil Edwards status
Apr 1, 2002
6,254
1,017
113
NorCenCal
Morning check - Was hoping a certain beachbreak would be good before the big swell started filling in, but a bigger shorter period swell had come in overnight, and it looked mean. Looked around the area and didn't find anything inspiring, went home.

Afternoon - The swell hits the buoy 10.5 @24. I know where to go. The parking lot is surprisingly light for a usually crowded spot, and I see a fairly decent set, maybe DOH+ wash through with a bunch of people caught inside. Looks doable, I suit up. I see the crew of local guys at the top of the stairs, I say hi to one of the guys I know. Apparently an hour ago somebody got hit in the head with their board, got knocked out, and then drowned. One of the other guys had helped bring the guy in, lots of water leaking from his face and lungs, but they're able to get him breathing again with help from first responders. He has a good chance of pulling through. Some beginner chick walks up with a rented suit and board getting ready to go down the stairs. The guys convince her it's not a day for her to surf. Damn, eerie vibe as I get ready to paddle out.

But the session goes very well. I time the paddle out perfect, and immediately stroke into a screamer all the way through. It takes a while to get waves, as the long period is on the inconsistent side, and the lineup is shifty with the different sets, but I pick off a handful of quality 8-10'+ rights on my trusty 5'5'' Ebert Red Stripe and have a blast.

On my way in, I find a board laying on the rocks along the cliff. There isn't a leash attached, I don't see anybody swimming, so I walk it back up the stairs. I end up hanging out towards sunset, and a guy finally walks up about 40 minutes later in a wetsuit looking around. It's his board, or rather a friend's board he borrowed. He ended up coming in to the cliffs almost a mile further downcoast. The board survives with nary a scratch.
 

Aruka

Tom Curren status
Feb 23, 2010
11,990
22,531
113
PNW
Fresh swell filling in this morning. Long interval. Calm winds. Looked a bit walled up and random but my buddy talked me into trying it. SMTH 6-4. Ended up being way better than expected.

Maybe the tide hit a magic window or the glare made it look bumpier than it was but right away (well, after getting completely drilled on the paddle out) I got a nice left corner that sort of rolled along and allowed for some slashy action. It basically only got better from there. The lefts were really cornering off and there were plenty of crazy tubes anyone willing to paddle over and have a go. I worked my way into it and finally sacked up for a good one. Got a clean entry and pig dogged through the first section, came out and then pulled into the next section which crushed me. The beating wasn't as bad as I expected but when I came up I was in a bad spot and took like 5 more mutant double ups on my head before I was able to scramble over to the rip. Saw my bud make a clean one in and out. Basically standing tall with room to spare. A couple wedgy rights came through and I got one of those that was really fun but it was mostly lefts that were doing it. Some of the hold downs were pretty intense and at one point I got kinda tangled in my leash but otherwise the session was just fun. Just me and a buddy surfing right in town. Watched multiple van lifers pull into the lot, watch for a min and then flee. Surfed for a couple hours and then went to get lunch.

Came back in the mid afternoon and the swell was really bombing now. Watched an SUP guy get nearly smashed against the rocks as he tried to paddle out in the cove. He finally made it out but then seemed scared to go for a wave so he was way outside for quite a while before he decided to try for one. The wave was a nuggy right and he was in a good spot but it went terribly for him. He basically fell on the drop and skipped down the face and then got sucked over. I could see his oar poking out of the lip as the wave was doubling up on itself and unloading on the shallow bar. He was down for quite a while and both myself and my buddy started getting our suits turned right-side-out as we watched in case we needed to go save this guy. Somehow his leash didn't break but it must have stretched to twenty feet. He popped up in the impact zone and took like 6 more on the head while the rip just kept sucking him back into the zone. Finally the ocean let up and he scrambled onto his board and bellied some whitewater in.

We had our suits half on by that point so we decided to go see if we could have a little better luck. My buddy just got back from 2 weeks at OB riding his new 7-6 Parmenter so he was pretty fired up to keep the streak going. I dusted the cobwebs off my 7-10 padillac and we hit it for about an hour. I got 3 waves. Nothing spectacular but I made my drops and didn't get too flogged. I forgot how much easier it is to surf big waves on a board...designed for big waves.

Current local buoy reading 21@21.
 

Oceanslide

Kelly Slater status
Mar 5, 2008
9,698
2,321
113
Oceanside, CA
The surf was almost unrideable this am. Paddled out in th dark, joined by 3 others after about 15 min. For reference, I was the only person in the water between the two harbor jetties for almost the whole session. Ended up just paddling back and forth for excercise and to not freeze besides the few lame rights.
 

oeste858

Phil Edwards status
Sep 11, 2017
6,931
17,276
113
San Diego, CA
Any more SoCal/SD reports from this morning? Trying to get some work done before sneaking out there midday. Reefs already had OH sets when I walked the dog at 7:30am. Thinking it might even be Blackbird stepup time!