Big Wednesday's storm rolls in early into Central California and pumps the preceding weekend.
Sunday, December 10, 1995Here go the Buoys
Oregon, 22 feet
Eureka, 17 feet
Mendocino, 17 feetIts getting dark in Northern Cali and its only 2:30 in the afternoon. Here comes the first macking storm of the winter accompanied by 46 knot winds. Fine with me, I'm surfed out.
Camped East of Santa Cruz on Friday watching the first signs of the Westerly swell. 6am Saturday looked pretty weak but it was obviously building by 9; on the high tide, instead of softening it was definitely getting fine.
I don't remember much of that surf, out 3-4 hours, stoked, clean glassy waves at 2nd Peak, met John Hastings at Jacks house, who had flown in from Maryland and not coincidently was camped 5 spaces away at my winter headquarters after adhering to excellent email tips from yours truly.Saturday was a warm and groovy surf, but I credit John for today's surf: the good screamin freezin adrenaline pumpin stuff that ya dream about.At 6 this am, John was already there peering into the darkness. Some white lines showing but maybe just low tide reef ripples, couldn't tell. Then as it started to get light, it looked small but hard to tell from a 1/2 mile away...cold as hell, I thought, thoroughly sore and cactus from the day before.
People in Maryland would kill for this, John said. There's no point breaks and there's snow on the ground.Ya get jaded in California. Then I took a clearer look and maybe it was freezin and inconsistent but I could see a board go full vertical trying to get over a set wave. Jackson took a good look and related the forecast called for 18 foot by the end of the day. Promises, promises.The best way to check out the surf is get your butt out there, and we did. I started getting cleaned up immediately ...everybody's paddling for China and yelling, its building.
Ya, and it looks like a building from water level, hahaha.After a bit John paddles over and says its getting better! Shit it was the best! Nothing like a little roughhouse on the Point with no crowd on a Sunday (49er's Football game at 9:30, hahaha).Not big big, but some decent 6 footers...and the crowd thinned out to about 6-10, pretty much everybody knew exactly everybody else out by then and there was a bit of you go! no yours, ya chicken! Go!
Waves going unclaimed and plenty cleanup sets. I came up whining about the whacks in the head and one jolly fellow quipped "that'll knock the snot out of you!".
As hypothermia and muscle cramps set in, and the next guy over yelled go! no! too much for ya? waste it, too much for me! i waited for a closeout and took the e-ticket no brainer takeoff and borrowed the wave half way home.
Now the swell is up to 17 foot, got outa there jest in time. Man I love winter, let it rain. My Pleasure!