- Date/Time:
- Saturday, February 15th, 7:00 am - 12:00 noon
- Location:
- North County
- Weather:
- Strong, cool, offshore breezes early, shifting to sideshore later. Overcast skies and cool air temperatures.
- Conditions:
- Perfection, combing peaks and a beautiful morning.
- Swell:
- Punchy out of the WNW, head high to nearly double overhead.
- Comments:
- Big-time hassles for "trespassing" (more on that later) and a ticket from a member of the CHP. Only two guys out when Surfer Bob and I checked it, but by the time we paddled out there were nearly twenty.
So, this glorified meter maid with a blue tie and an attitude lectures us for half an hour on how he could throw us into jail for trespassing. Trespassing, across unmarked property, on a trail that has been used for decades, every day, and on a trail that I argued had already been given an implied dedication thanks to Save Our Coast. I plan to check into the facts on this and report back by Tuesday.
All the hassles made the waves that much better. I hooted twice as loud at all the big drops, laughed twice as hard as people took off deep and late and got nailed by the lip and taken deep down by watery hands. Totally stoked by every wave I got. Even stoked by the poundings...
... of which the best was a pretty solid wash all the way through the lineup and to the inside by a 6-wave set. Caught way inside, I could only watch it shoal upwards as everyone else just barely scratched over it. The utter calm I felt as the wave approached amazed me (I was even calm enough to notice how calm I was), and I concentrated hard on conserving energy and keeping my breath while the water did its thing. The second and third waves didn't hit me so much as pick me up and accelerate me all the way to the inside.
Paddled back out, got a fun overhead one all the way in, to find Surfer Bob surfing a rock that had recently fallen down the cliff. He was about 100 yards inside of me when the big set hit, and didn't make it back out.