Mysto Soup - Day Four

Departure

No surf today, which is unfortunate given that Guillermo was forecast to really start pumping the swell on this day, according to John. We pack up the food -- bags of mysto soup still untouched -- and gear and head out. The trip back goes smoothly -- I don't get sick this time -- and we have a chance to ruminate on the way the trip went.

I have never had a surf trip go like this. As it turns out, all the extensive pre-planning and savvy use of forecasting tools was for nothing. Nanawani wasn't even a surf spot any more. Canada de Aguaje didn't really break at all on the southern hemi that got us going on the trip in the first place, and proved to be a hell of a lot less accessible than we had anticipated. Then, just as we had our plans dashed and broken before our eyes, Huey relented and we got what we came for -- perfect uncrowded waves -- even though it wasn't exactly what we had planned for.

Will we go again? Perhaps. The consensus among us and the other surfers we talked to is that we essentially blundered into a classic day at a spot that never breaks. That sure sounds a lot like the ruse pulled in recent years by surf magazines, save that we saw it just two days before Guillermo landed on a good combination of southern hemi swells and it wasn't working (5 waves between us over the course of two hours and the only ones out). The hike is arduous and leaves little energy to attack the surf effectively, especially considering the hike back.

So, until I get the access more wired, this trip will remain my only surf experience for that location. But the door is open for all kinds of "secret spots" throughout Southern and Central California, where there are no real secrets, just access problems. After our death march, the hike in to Trestles or Point Dume is a cake walk, and it won't take much at all for us to get to Drake's on the Ranch this winter.

So keep your eye out for us; we'll be the feral ones lugging boards on our backpacks and carrying our lucky dehydrated packets of mysto soup.

Epilogue: Take a look at a set of shots I took at some non-mysto spots during the Guillermo swell after returning from this trip.

Santa Barbara Surfing -- Last updated 8/30/97.