Surf Ranch (*Warning: This is long*)
A little too deep on a CT2 wave
I recently had the extremely good fortune to be invited to surf at the Surf Ranch (SR) in Lemoore, CA. It’s not an invitation I accepted blindly; I knew just how lucky I was, given that the SR rents out at $60,000 per day… and is completely booked EVERY DAY of the year. (I asked: it’s booked for 352 days a year, closed 4 days for upkeep and maintenance.) This was a bit of a golden ticket.
Before going, I read up on everything I could find about the wave. The very best article I found was from Stab magazine: Click here.
Going to a new wave, and what everyone said is a fast one at that, I knew I needed boards I knew and were fast. As you all know, I chose my RNV4 and twin fin V4 both from Daniel Thomson. I also brought my Tomo shaped GMM2, although I never used it. Cleaned them all and waxed them with base and tropical wax, as the water was 85 degrees!
5'7" GMM2, 5'9" RNV4, 5'10" Twin V4
Quad plus trailer, Thruster, Twin
Lemoore and Hanford (which it’s next to) are not the cosmopolitan hubs of California living. They’re small towns in the central valley with not a lot on offer. Upon exiting the freeway, I drove some side roads until I saw a fenced in property off the side of the road. There it was.
Hmmm... what's this?
Heaven's gates?
I checked in on Thursday, September 2 in the afternoon, showing my COVID negative status, and the place just opened up. It’s not just the wave pool, but a water ski lake next to it, beautiful Air Stream trailers for guests, and a Mexican style palapa for eating and entertaining. From there, I parked and walked over to watch the wave. It was beyond my expectations. I have a video of me watching the first ever wave I saw in person there and could not contain my excitations - I swear it sounded like I was in the throws of passion, but what a sight! (If I knew how to post videos, I would. I have a few.)
There was a group of complete beginners being ushered into amazing waves by Raimana V.B. These were folks apparently somewhat well to do who wanted to get barreled. With Raimana’s help, I saw it happen. They did - it wasn’t pretty, but it was effective. They were constantly falling, but when they did Raimana took advantage on his 9’ soft top!
Raimana, not wasting a single wave - I've got this on video, too.
So after that, it was eating (amazing food there, all organic and gluten and dairy free) and wake surfing.
Homemade carnitas with black beans, red pepper hummus, rice, corn, beets, and tortillas. Gourmet all the way.
Washing off the road with a quick wake surf session.
Then off to bed early. I didn’t stay in the trailers as I was a last minute addition. I stayed in beautiful Hanford at the rather swanky Holiday Inn.
These were full on luxury Airstreams, with A/C. Key when it's 95* outside.
On Friday, September 3, it was up early and back to the SR. Breakfast was followed by a 30 minute orientation video and discussion, then off to surf the waves.
We broke into 3 groups of 4 people. The idea is that everyone is guaranteed 4 waves every hour, with a wave every four minutes. The surfers each line up about 100 yards apart, so if someone falls someone else can catch the wave and take advantage. It’s called “poaching” and it’s completely accepted and encouraged. They don’t want waves being wasted just as much as we don’t want waves being wasted.
As I said, you do NOT want to waste these waves.
... end of part one. See part two below.
A little too deep on a CT2 wave
I recently had the extremely good fortune to be invited to surf at the Surf Ranch (SR) in Lemoore, CA. It’s not an invitation I accepted blindly; I knew just how lucky I was, given that the SR rents out at $60,000 per day… and is completely booked EVERY DAY of the year. (I asked: it’s booked for 352 days a year, closed 4 days for upkeep and maintenance.) This was a bit of a golden ticket.
Before going, I read up on everything I could find about the wave. The very best article I found was from Stab magazine: Click here.
Going to a new wave, and what everyone said is a fast one at that, I knew I needed boards I knew and were fast. As you all know, I chose my RNV4 and twin fin V4 both from Daniel Thomson. I also brought my Tomo shaped GMM2, although I never used it. Cleaned them all and waxed them with base and tropical wax, as the water was 85 degrees!
5'7" GMM2, 5'9" RNV4, 5'10" Twin V4
Quad plus trailer, Thruster, Twin
Lemoore and Hanford (which it’s next to) are not the cosmopolitan hubs of California living. They’re small towns in the central valley with not a lot on offer. Upon exiting the freeway, I drove some side roads until I saw a fenced in property off the side of the road. There it was.
Hmmm... what's this?
Heaven's gates?
I checked in on Thursday, September 2 in the afternoon, showing my COVID negative status, and the place just opened up. It’s not just the wave pool, but a water ski lake next to it, beautiful Air Stream trailers for guests, and a Mexican style palapa for eating and entertaining. From there, I parked and walked over to watch the wave. It was beyond my expectations. I have a video of me watching the first ever wave I saw in person there and could not contain my excitations - I swear it sounded like I was in the throws of passion, but what a sight! (If I knew how to post videos, I would. I have a few.)
There was a group of complete beginners being ushered into amazing waves by Raimana V.B. These were folks apparently somewhat well to do who wanted to get barreled. With Raimana’s help, I saw it happen. They did - it wasn’t pretty, but it was effective. They were constantly falling, but when they did Raimana took advantage on his 9’ soft top!
Raimana, not wasting a single wave - I've got this on video, too.
So after that, it was eating (amazing food there, all organic and gluten and dairy free) and wake surfing.
Homemade carnitas with black beans, red pepper hummus, rice, corn, beets, and tortillas. Gourmet all the way.
Washing off the road with a quick wake surf session.
Then off to bed early. I didn’t stay in the trailers as I was a last minute addition. I stayed in beautiful Hanford at the rather swanky Holiday Inn.
These were full on luxury Airstreams, with A/C. Key when it's 95* outside.
On Friday, September 3, it was up early and back to the SR. Breakfast was followed by a 30 minute orientation video and discussion, then off to surf the waves.
We broke into 3 groups of 4 people. The idea is that everyone is guaranteed 4 waves every hour, with a wave every four minutes. The surfers each line up about 100 yards apart, so if someone falls someone else can catch the wave and take advantage. It’s called “poaching” and it’s completely accepted and encouraged. They don’t want waves being wasted just as much as we don’t want waves being wasted.
As I said, you do NOT want to waste these waves.
... end of part one. See part two below.