Reporter: Steve Davies SDavies@cibernet.com Date/Time: 30th March 9.00am for 2 hrs then 5.30pm for 1.5 hrs Location: Saunton Sands North Devon England Weather: Full Sunshine no clouds Air Temp: 65 to 68 f Water Temp: Cold but didnt need gloves or hat 4/3mm wetsuit was fine for 2 hrs Conditions: High over UK Low in Atlantic so offshore less than 10mph Crowd: Beach break from a point called oysters about 20 people midbeach sandbars 20 more Swell: 3ft in morning 4-5 in evening Surf: peeling right and left ideal for longboarding at this break most short boarders use the next bay with faster waves but much shorter rides Food: Of course Lunch in the pub Cornish pastie followed by ice cream Surf Vehicle: 9ft 6in custom CHAPTER for me 9ft 1in Saltrock custom for my son (age 14) Surch Distance: 4 miles choice of about 4 breaks in this area looked at them all while walking the dogs then chose Saunton Comments: Excellent Sunset! The beer was good that night as well. Reporter: Tom Tweed, Tweedt@aol.com Date/Time: 3/29/97, 6:30 a.m. Location: WindanSea, La Jolla, CA, USA Weather: Perfect, sunny sunrise Air/Water T: High 50s / Low 60s Conditions: .5' low tide @ 6:44 a.m.; glassy and calm Crowd: No one out Swell: Lumpy, crappy, 2-3' WNW windswell @ 10-12 second interval, with a 1-2' south crossing it up. Surf: Waist-to-head high, shifting, crossed-up mushburgers with extreme morning sickness, positively the worst surf in a week. Food: One cup of 180-octane java to get moving at 4:45 a.m. Surf Vehicle: '86 Ford Econoline cargo van Tunes: 3-song demo tape of "Less Than Jake" included in this month's Warp mag Surch Distance: Looked at WindanSea at first light (5:10 a.m.)- extreme disappointment! After a week of fair-to-good surf at the reefs, it looked like a beachbreak kind of swell, lacking any real lines or power. Drove the 3-4 miles to check out Black's and it didn't look any better. La Jolla Shores and Scripps were weak and very uneven also. Headed back to WindanSea to wait for the tide to bottom out. Met a couple of bro's in the lot and spent an hour picking up the usual Friday-night trash and raking up the cigar and cigarette butts, beer cans, empty bindles and used condoms off the bluffs and asphalt, hoping for a miraculous set to appear. Saxon Boucher skated down for a quick surfcheck, totally stoked at getting the cover shot this month for Surfing mag! It's been a trip watching him grow up from a tow-headed grom charging the whomp at WindanSea into an accomplished, well-traveled, new-skool pro surfer in the last 10 years. He's not a kid anymore. Comments: Brook Treas' father, Phillip, finally paddled out on a bodyboard at about 6:15 a.m., and provided some perspective on the waves. It was as bad as it looked. I would've called it a rest day if it hadn't been for WSD. I knew I had to get wet or bear the wrath of landlocked and wave-starved alt.surfers everywhere. I put on a 2 mm full suit and hit it on my 9'4" Dennis Murphy longboard, since it was just too gutless and mushy to ride a short board. Got about 5-6 waves in an hour, and only one, a left, had a bowling, zippy little section that actually got me zooming, briefly, before bogging on a totally flat shoulder. One other longboarder, whom I didn't recognize, came out after that wave. As I got out of the water, Tim Bessell and Peter Lochtefeld were paddling out, but the crowd was still nothing compared to the last 4 days, where 20 people were on it by 7:00 a.m. There was a reason for that. I'll try again tomorrow and hope for the best. Date/Time: 3/30/97, 6:30 a.m. Location: Black's Beach, La Jolla, CA, USA Weather: Overcast and low clouds, very grey dawn Air/Water T: Both low 60's F Conditions: .6' low tide @ 8:03 a.m.; glassy, w/ light, shifty offshore breeze Crowd: 20 guys out when we paddled out, spread out in two peaks, 50 guys out in 3 peaks when we left. Swell: Much improved 3-5' WNW swell, with more north in it, a longer interval and almost twice the size of yesterday morning. I heard it started coming up in the afternoon on Saturday, but didn't check it. Surf: Headhigh to 1.5 x OH, reeling, offshore A-frame barrels, rights and lefts. Just not enough of them, a little long on the lulls, which made the paddle-out cake, and maybe 3-wave sets when they came. Food: One cup of 180-octane java to get moving at 5:15 a.m. A raspberry/peach smoothie afterwards, then off to Easter brunch at the in-laws. Surf Vehicle: '86 Ford Econoline cargo van Tunes: Ten Years After- "Stonehenge" Surch Distance: Got up a little later and looked at WindanSea at about 5:45 a.m.- things are looking better- more size and power than yesterday, and more lined up. Watched Dale, a transplanted Aussie who lives up the street and does the dawn patrol regularly, get a couple of waves by himself, and could see that it had more north in it. A set barely caps over at Middles, and Simmon's is trying to break, but it's just not quite happening. A little uneven, a little mushy. Bill "don't-call-me-Pinkbod-anymore" Andrews pulls into the lot and we decide there's a chance that Black's is good. We hadn't surfed it together in quite awhile, so we make the drive around the point and check the Shores, then down to Black's about 6:30 a.m., and it is firing. The usual- about a 50/50 mix of perfect, reeling A-frames and hopelessly fast, closeout deathwalls, with 6-10' faces jacking and pitching round. Grabbed my 8'4" Roger Beal roundpin and got on it. Comments: Andrews has been surfing Black's since the late 50s. He actually had a shot by Ron Stoner of him surfing there make the cover of Surfer Mag back in 1964. He rode Pipe in the longboard era, when the equipment was archaic and ill-suited to surfing that kind of wave. The guy is 53 years old and still charges, even if he doesn't quite have all the hair he once did (both literally and figuratively). Since he's moved up to N. County, he doesn't surf La Jolla quite as much, having become a regular at Swami's, lately. Naturally, I gave him no quarter and got every good one for myself. d:-) Actually, he gave them to me. He spent a lot of time chatting up the regulars and getting his local card punched in, after being gone so long. We only had about an hour and a half in the water, and had to split. I made 3 out of the six set waves I caught, and had two lefts that were full speed barrels, and one right that stood up and pitched for a short, tapering section, then mushed into the rip. I ended up behind the other 3, despite pumping down the line ASAP after takeoff, and had to straighten off or turn out under the lip as I was outraced. We paddled out between south peak and the middle, and surfed the Middle peak at first, until the rip moved over and made the south peak happen. It was dead low tide when we left, and I can only imagine how good it got as the tide came back up. We had Easter obligations to fulfill, though and were outta there... Reporter: Justin Brown, jbrown1@kes.miracosta.cc.ca.us Date/Time: March 29/530 am-800 Location: terrimar cove, carlsbad, ca Weather: cool,clear Air/Water T: Nice / 62 F Conditions: Crowd: 10-15 Swell: south Surf: 2-4 Food: 6 mini donuts Surf Vehicle: my truck Surch Distance: 1 mile Comments: it was pretty fun after a few waves started rolling in that a bodyboarder can actually catch w/o having to be on a longboard. other than that in was a pretty awesome session. Reporter: Charles W. Cushman 3, ccushman@polymail.cpunix.calpoly.edu Date/Time: march 29 1997 6:10 am to 9:00 am Location: terramar cove Weather: clear skies Air/Water T: both low 60's Conditions: glassy with maybe a tadd bit of an offshore Crowd: went from 6 guys to 20+ Swell: chest high and down Surf: realy fun if you could get a wave Food: one cold dry mini bagel Surf Vehicle: 1985 ford ltd with flight bench front seat and an am radio Surch Distance: first place i went about ten minutes from my house. Comments: the night before i went to a ska concert but woke up early the next morning to beat the crowds, show up at 6:00 am and there was already 6 peoiple in the water, but ut was still worth it, because at first i was the nly one who would ride the rights because they were not consistent. Reporter: Das Williams, gaultwdf@assembly.ca.gov Date: Sunday, 30th Location: Fort Point San Francisco Water Temp: Fucking Cold Unless you"re wearing two wetsuits, I wasn't Air Temp: After the water you could run naked through the snow and feel positively toasty Size: Inside 4-5', Point 6-7', Outside 8-8.5' High peaks, smaller shoulders Comments: Nice day out beneath the Golden Gate with all the SF locals that bark to each other like sea lions and like to freak each other out with calls of "SHARK!" just for a laugh. Many of them wear helmets. Went out with the infamous Christo "Boardplug" Artusio-- sponger extrordenaire-- who got some good waves. First time we had surfed together for ages, I needed it. Much appreciated your company bro. Monterey was double overhead -- the waves are big, the water is never too warm for a 4, 5mm, there are no crowds, the tourists think you're insane, and their probubly right. Reporter: Jason, jason@sbst.com Date/Time: 3/29/97, 3:30 - 6:30pm Location: Leadbetter, Santa Barbara Weather: warm and sunny Air/Water T: 70-75 F / 60 F Conditions: not much wind Crowd: some, mainly inside Food: Surch Distance: 1 mile Surf Vehicle: 9'2 longboard Swell: small Surf: small, waisthigh, mushy Comments: Family day at Leads. Not the best spot to surf, but a great place to enjoy the beauty of SB. Sets ( hardly ) every 20 min or so made for fun crusing rides all the way to the beach in front of the condo developments on shoreline. Lots of beginners inside with good feelings all around. A great day to be in the water! Reporter: Brad Hall, Hensdad@AOL.com Date/Time: 3/30, Dawn patrol Location: La Conchita, CA Weather: Nice Air/Water T: Unknown Conditions: Clean Crowd: Three guys out Food: Presession coffee, postsession donuts Surch Distance: 50 Miles Surf Vehicle: 9'6" Yater, shorter board in car... Swell: NW Surf: Small, clean, knee to waist Comments: Great spot, pretty day, lots of dolphins in the water, small waves. Good fun on the log. Gold Coast is always ridable someplace -- but this was a very small day. I bet it's FANTASTIC up around point conception, but I don't have the time to get up there. Now if my helicopter wasn't in the shop... Reporter: Mike Barrera, mbarrera@amgen.com Date/Time: 3/29/97, 9:30 - 2:00 Location: Shitholes Weather: killer Air/Water T: 70s Conditions: glass Crowd: a few friends and one other guy Food: water, beer, water, beer Surch Distance: 6 miles Surf Vehicle: Longboard Swell: 6 foot from the NW (310) Surf: 1-2 foot Comments: Small but good shape. KILLER weather. I trunked it for my 3 sesh's and it felt good. Got a little sunburned. Surfed with my friends, sharing small but fun waves. What surfing is all about (except for the wave size). Split @ 2:00 when the wind came and kicked it on my couch as Arizona won again. Reporter: Vince Goetz, vgoetz@napanet.net Date/Time: 3/29/97, 8:00 Location: Bolinas, CA Weather: Sunny Air/Water T: 70+ F, 53 F Conditions: normal (wet) Crowd: 40+ Food: caffeine, beer Surch Distance: 50+miles Surf Vehicle: Ford Explorer Swell/Surf: 3ft to overhead Comments: Not great but overhead sets at the Groin. Waves satisfactory, drinks at the Mahogany Reef (Jamesons Irish Whiskey) were superb. (Thank you Laurie!) Sunday watched others surf the groin, the west wind and low tide conditions made for lousy surf but great shell collecting. Another great weekend on the North Coast! Reporter: Mike Dreebin, mdreebin@earthlink.net Dates: March 29, 11:00 - 2:00; March 30, 2:00 - 3:00 Locations: Venice handballs; Malibu Weather: Overcast, choopy seas Air / Water T: 65 F / 62 F Conditions: Choppy and windy Crowd: A few learners at Venice, 2 when I left Malibu Surch Distance: 4 miles Vehicle: Longboarded both days Swells: Weak west swell with rare south on Sunday Surf: 1 foot to occasionally 3 feet. Comments: Poor weekend surfwise, but lots of tourists at Venice (Spring Break) with great visuals from the visiting ladies. Too bad it wasn't warmer. Reporter: Scott Craigman Date/Time: March 30 1997, 10:00 to 2:00 Location: Ventura County, CA Weather: Seldomly Sunny w/ Onshore winds Air/Water T: 65 F / 56 F Conditions: Light bump worsening to bordering choppy. Crowd: Light, 8 people maximum Surch Distance: 80 miles Surf Vehicle: The Beast Swell: WNW Surf: 10 to 12 ft faces Comments: In Oxnard, Scott caught quite a few long rights mixed in with a couple lefts. Craig backed off most of the double overhead sets and worked on placement. In Ventura, Craig caught several nice sized rights, but also got pitched. Scott "Caught a few nice rights." Lest we forget the tube he caught in Oxnard, on a left. Reporter: George Franks, 6500gvf0@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu Date/Time: 3-29-97, 11AM to 1 PM Location: Hobsons, North Ventura County Weather: sunny and warm, slight onshore wind Air/Water T: 65 F / 57 F Conditions: pretty clean a little mushy Crowd: 4 longboarders, 1 short, 1 body, 1 kook Food: presurf -bagels, postsurf Javans Burgers IV CA Surch Distance: 20 mi Surf Vehicle: 72 dodge dart swinger Swell: 1 to 3 NW Surf: chest high and slightly mushy Reporter: Don Lubach, dlubach@seaside.quad.ucsb.edu Date/Time: Saturday, March 29th, 1997, 4:30 to 5:15 Location: Campus Point, Santa Barbara, CA Weather: Clear. A bit of wind Air/Water T: 68 F / 60ish F Conditions: slight bump Crowd: None Food: Easter candy! Surch Distance: 3 miles Surf Vehicle: My old semi-reliable French Wagon Swell: Wind swell -- small Surf: 1-2 foot Comments: The ONLY reason I went out was because I felt a duty to surf on WORLD SURF DAY. I had just a short time so I zipped up to "campus point" and went out into the light chop with my 9'0 Dave Johnson. I paddled from the beach stairs up to poles and rode some of those rare but fun little lefts that sneak in during a wind swell. Nothing too special, but it's always good to surf. Reporter: dmc, davismch@ix.netcom.com Date/Time: 3/29/97, 10:30 am-noon Location: El Porto, LA, CA Weather: slight haze Air/Water T: 70 F / 55 F Conditions: building onshore wind Crowd: light Food: sticky bun/pasta Surch Distance: 5 m Surf Vehicle: 6'10" scott anderson tri-fin Swell: 1-2 Surf: waist high/poor Comments: Wrong board, wrong tide. A few decent lefts but mostly mushy walls. Lousy session redeemed when a couple of young kooks on longboards were sucked into a Hyperion intake valve. Reporter: BillSurf, bshennum@centcon.com Date/Time: March 29, 1997, 2:30-4:30 Location: Rincon Parkway Weather: Hazy sun, awesome beach day Air/Water T: 70 F / 60 F Conditions: smooth then turned bumpy Crowd: 3 - 10 Food: Girl Scout Cookies/Chicken Kabobs Surch Distance: 40 Surf Vehicle: Caravan Swell: West swell 3-4 ft Surf: Waist-chest high, mushy, some faces Comments: Great family beach day. The peak looked really good when we pulled up. Three guys out, with about 8 or 10 just getting out. By the time I got out, wind was up, mushing it out. Fun overall. Wished I'd have gone earlier.