Reporter: Doug Frick Date/Time: 29 Mar 97, 3-5pm Location: Bellows, Oahu, Hawaii Weather: sunny, strong onshores Air/Water T: mid 80's F / upper 70's F Conditions: blown out shorebreak with tiny little dumpers Crowd: just some kids and tourists Swell: tradewind fetch Surf: one foot max (backs) Food: L&L Drive In teri beef plate Surch Distance: As far as you can get from Makaha: 45 miles Surf Vehicle: none; one Toobs Bluntcut fin Comments: Sister-in-law and family visiting and wanted to learn to bodyboard, so I took them to Bellows. Had to drive by Sandy Beach and Makapu'u which were fairly clean and in the 2-3 foot range; I was sick with envy. I did manage to have a good time, though. They were really stoked to catch some waves, and it was contagious. Reporter: Shawn "Taz" Smith, sws@dsc.com Date/Time: Saturday, March 29th, 5:45 am - Location: Mussel Shoals, Ventura Cty, CA Crowd: Not a soul out but the three of us Surch Distance: ~80 mi from C Street to Rincon and back Surf: Decent, though smallish and not very consistent Comments: We got up and hit the road around 5:45 AM with Soy having to prod the slow moving Muse and Taz into action. As soon as he was fully awake, Da Muse morphed into a wave connoisseur - insisting that we visit each and every break between Ventura and Carp. C street was looking small, so we headed north. Several of the breaks along the Rincon Parkway were rideable, and Soy and Taz almost got Da Muse to finish his wave quest, but in the end we pressed on. Upon reaching Rincon, our survey was complete and we elected to return to Mussel Shoals which seemed the best wave and crowd combination in the area. The tide was low, and MS was showing its "fangs". Taz let Muse and Soy paddle out first whilst he snapped a few pics from shore. One good one came out of Soy on a chest-high right looking pretty good. There are pretty much three "fangs" at the base of the MS bay break. The last of the three is the worst, since the surf line tends to break right over it, and it's slightly lower than the others - often lurking just under the water. Both Soy and Taz managed to examine the contours of fang3 by pressing their deformable bodies against it. The resulting pattern of black and blue marks allows one to take home a wealth of fang3 contour data. Each Ryder managed one good long ride, with Taz taking honors for coming within inches of hitting fang3 while fully trimmed and committed on his best wave. Reporter: Cam Scott, surfer@mail.island.net Dates: March 29 & 30 Location: West Coast of Vancouver Island Weather: stormy, rain, hail, blowing 20 to 50 kt Air/Water T: 47F / 48F Crowd: about a dozen, three out, rest of us in the shorline soup Food: excelent brunch at one of the resorts Surch Distance: 900 km Surf Vehicle: Ford Aerostar Swell: 10' to 17' Surf: 2X overhead fast and wild. few surfers getting out Comments: make it a week or even a fortnight(sp?) next year Reporter: Ronald F. Lagerquist, surf4life@compuserve.com Date/Time: Saturday March 29, 6:30am - 8:30 am Location: Ventura Fairgrounds Weather: Beautiful, first day w/o am marine layer in weeks Conditions: Picture Perfect Air/Water T: 65-70 F / Low 60s? warming up nicely Swell: Dinky WNW with some WSW influence Crowd: Found a peak to myself Surch Distance: 22.1 miles Surf Vehicle: 9'6" Longboard shaped in Jeff Schulz's garage in Goleta Airbrushed by me. Transported by '95 Plymouth Voyager Food: Coffee pre surf Tuna Sandwich and a Sam Adams after mowing the lawn. Comments: On a scale of one to ten, weather wise we are talking 10. Perfect conditions with off-shore canyon breeze making the small waves look perfect. Checked the Fairgrounds first and drove up to the Con just to see but, pretty dismal... Jetted back to the Fairgrounds and settled for small knee to waist high waves at a peak between the semi crowded C Street and Stables lineups. Most days, I would have passed and started in on the yardwork. Today I had to surf on principle!! Waited out the flat lulls by visualizing other members of alt.surfing and quietly singing "Kum by Ya" :-) I actually had fun and was reminded how we need to stoke each other to keep it alive. I went out without a leash and ended up doing a swim with one nice little bodysurf wave to pledge allegiance to our purist colleagues (not quite a Wedge experience, sorry Ric). Practiced doing the Quisimoto and other classic hood ornament style poses. After about an hour of a peak to myself, I was joined by about 6 gremmies and a surfmom, fun to see the stoke in the kids just happy to be getting wet. If you surf, you are one blessed individual, I know that I am. Reporter: Richard Schmidt, http://www.primitive.com/schmidt/ Date/Time: March 29th, 11:30 am Location: Cowells / Middle Peak, Santa Cruz, CA Crowd: Surf school students Swell: 16' - 17' at 17 seconds Surf: Cowells had head high sets The Lane was Hawaiian ten feet with thick lined up lefts Comments: I was astonished when I first looked at the buoy readings that morning: Eel river #46022 was repeating 17.4 feet every 17 seconds, Point Arena #46014 was 16.4 every 17 seconds, and unfortunately, S.F. south had only an 11 second interval. A quick pedal down the street to s-town confirmed the swell was just beginning to come up. Having surfed Cowell's the day before with Jeff Clark and his son, he informed me about this swell having a 1400 mile fetch. I contemplated rescheduling my 11:30 lessons when I heard that, but unfortunately it was a little late for that. I stopped by the lane to check out the action at the Santa Cruz Coast Surf League interschool competition. The wind was south and bumpy, but the kids were giving it a good go. It looks like the next young generation may become as good as the current elite surfers from Santa Cruz. It helps their development to see such a high local standard every day in the water. I met up with my brother Dave and the students at Cowell's, one of the students came down highway 1 and informed me the ocean was glassy all the way. Watching Cowell's pump non-stop sets I could only imagine how good up the coast must have been. The lesson went well. The surf was cranking so I kept the class in the "holding zone" in the channel, while Dave and I rotated them through the surf zone. For how big the surf was with Cowell's having head high sets and our system, the students got some epic rides without getting munched. I think everyone left pretty stoked. After class I went to surf the lane. It was the biggest I'd seen out there all year. Apparently before I arrived the boys were going off. I heard Shawn "Barney" Barron did a cutback into the tube, redirected and rode along with a foam ball doing a reverse rail grab and almost came out! The wave penalized him for not making it out and snapped his board. Earlier Josh Loya broke his board when he snapped under a big lip and got engulfed. Waiting for a lull I saw Vince Broglio get a beauty, making a total vertical critical take-off into a sweeping bottom turn into a big bowl. The waits were long but plenty of waves in a set. It was powerful surf so my 7'10'' usually stiff in California felt alive and responsive. Having a bigger canvas to draw lines on was a blast. Reporter: Leonardo Dagum, dagum@barrel.asd.sgi.com Date/Time: Sun, March 30, 8:30am - 11:30am Location: reef/point break north of Santa Cruz Weather: overcast, light winds from north Air/Water T: 60's F / low 50's Conditions: glassy on inside, a little bumpy outside Crowd: light at first, more crowded as morning wore on Swell: 10'/14sec from 310 Surf: head high to 2x on occasional bomb sets Comments: Hooked up with Jason Foat and Chris, a visiting Aussie post doc (from Newcastle "100 mi north of Sydney, mate") for an international WSD. Surf was quite fun though a little crowded at times. Surfed a 3 hour session, finally going in when I couldn't feel my feet any more. Chris is loving the cold norcal waters (yeah, right), he went in a little early, leaving Jason and I to take turns dropping in on each other (what else are friends for :-)). Overall a great day for late March. A little more west in the swell would've helped, but hey, I'm not complaining! Funniest comment (overheard): "If I can't surf this place, I certainly won't be able to surf Maverick's." [Ya got that right!] Funniest comment (related): After being told we like to surf the reefs around here at low tide, Chris: "But won't they be dry?" [It ain't Avalon mate.] Gnarliest drop: Chris, going way late on a bomb, and still fading left. Me: "You sure like those late drops, Chris." Chris: "Well mate, it's the only way I can get in on this little board." Reporter: Jeff Thompson, fiveover@SoCA.com Date/Time: March 29th, 11:00 am - 3:00 pm Location: Seal Beach Pier Weather: Upper 60's, a little wind, tons of sun! Air/Water T: upper 60's and 70's in the air warm enough to ditch the wettie for an hour both days. Conditions: Got blown out by 2:00 Crowd: Just me myself and I. Food: quesadillas and Dinty Moore beef stew out of the can, mixed with some Malibu and Coke. Surch Distance: About 55 miles and an overnight camping trip at the plant Surf Vehicle: 9'8" Robert August Swell: 3-4-5 Surf: fun fun fun Date/Time: March 30th, 6:30am - 9:30am Location: San Onofre (Old Man's) Conditions: Nice and smooth Surf: Some beautiful waist to shoulder high peaks rolling in. Comments: Made all of my pilgrimages last week: hit the 'Con on Tuesday, Malibu on Wednesday, Seal on Friday (I do work at least one day a week!) and San O' on Saturday. The style is starting to flow and the tip times are getting longer. Nothing like a big log to smooth out a trip. Give me another week and I'm ready to hit it again -- Trestles is the last stop. Reporter: Sam Vuchinich, vuchinis@ccmail.orst.edu Date/Time: March 29, 10:30 am Location: Agate Beach, Newport, Oregon Weather: 5-10 kt. S. Wind. Sunny. Well-nigh tropical for these parts. Air/Water T: 50 F / 55 F Conditions: Clean but no barrels. A few bumps. Crowd: 3 tourists inside, 2 locals outside. Food: Oatmeal-raisin Power Bar. Surch Distance: 3 Miles Surf Vehicle: Old Volvo Station Wagon Swell: Solid 6'-7'. West. Nice set every 8 minutes. Surf: Sturdy, meaty, peeling rights, occasional lefts. Comments: Breaking at different spots. Did catch one just right. Walled up nicely with a surprise re-form treat. Road it to the beach. 200 yd. in 10 sec. Reporter: "Dana" Date/Time: Saturday, March 29th, out for 3 1/2 hours Location: Sand bar break, Santa Cruz, CA Weather: 80+ degrees, little to no wind Surch Distance: From Sacramento to S.C. and back Surf: 5'+, 10'-16' around the corner at Steamers Comments: Drove down Friday after work, rolled out of bed and drove to find 3'-4's on my favorite break. Went out with a fun group and got some great rides. Swell filled in just when things should have been getting flat and soon 5'+' were coming in. Since it was my first out since last fall I figured I would only be out about an hour, three and a half hours later I came to shore - I definitely hurt on Sunday but a smile is still on my face... Reporter: Scott Gould, Scott.g@stanford.edu Date/Time: 3/29/97, 7:40 am to 10 am Location: Cowells Cove, Santa Cruz Weather: Sunny, calm, clear Air/Water T: ?? / 53 F Conditions: light wind, small ripples Crowd: busy Food: Frosted Flakes and coffee before, Rebecca's Muffins in Santa Cruz after Vehicle: 9'4" Pierson Arrow, Wingnut model Swell: 3 ft, 9 seconds on Santa Cruz buoy, NNW w/ some SSW Surf: Small but fun, with larger set waves, Steamers looked nice for those so inclined. Comments: Low tide at 7:59 am of 0.4. Beautiful morning. Someone was out in just board shorts, several in Spring shorties. I had my full 3/3 though. Cowells is different than last year. The winter storms have caused the sand to shift and the break is further out towards the statue. You can stand up in areas that used to be too deep. By ten o'clock there were foam and boogie boarders near the beach break. Club Ed was set up in front of the Dream Inn with his rental stuff. Did we just skip spring and go directly to summer? Reporter: Robert Rainwater, b.rainwater@worldnet.att.net Date/Time: 3/29/97, 0930 - 1200 Location: Santa Barbara, CA Weather: Sunny, a bit of haze; wind west 3 mph Air/Water T: 62 F / 56 F Conditions: smooth but lumpy Crowd: About 10 -- all mellow; 2 yakkers moved on after I showed up Food: rice mixed with scrambled eggs w/ hot sauce and heavy coffee. splurged on veggie hero from Italian deli post-session Surch Distance: 2 mi Surf Vehicle: '87 Mercury Grand Marquis station wagon on land '97 Blue Shade 9'0" on water. Swell: a few feet from NW with windchop Surf: Very sloppy. Smaller waves were badly sectioned and lumpy with widely variable size and takeoff location. Larger sets closed out. There were a few really good waves but others got them. Comments: There was a great quantity of tarry lumps in the water, along with an oil sheen covering much of it. I got it in my hair, and even some in my wetsuit. It was hard to find a clean spot to sit in, so I gave up and spent 1/2 hour rubbing the tar off the bottom of my board afterward. Funky. One of the least satisfying sessions in memory. Reporter: John Rowell, cmartin_@makani.k12.hi.us Date/Time: Saturday, March 29, 11:00 to 2:00 Location: SW, left reef break, island of Kaua'i. Weather: East side blowing rain, overcast, 30 mph trades out of the east. SW side mostly sunny skies and vigorous offshore winds. Air/Water T: 80+ F / 78 F pleasant Conditions: Slight chop from heavy offshore winds. Crowd: Moderate -- there were 3 out as I paddled between the channel markers. When I reached the lineup, the bodyboarder had come in. Later the crowd grew to a manageable 10. Food: Pre- yogurt,wheat toast and coffee. Post- cheese sandwhich, milk and a piece of chess pie eaten in the truck as I surf dreamed my way home. Surch Distance: Thirty miles one way. Motor Vehicle: To get there-an '87 Dodge Ram rusted crud mobile. (my wife's description. She prefers to walk rather than ride in such "Disgusting filth.") Surf Vehicle: This day, and all days for the last year since I made the age-induced switch to a longboard, my 9'0 Rick Holt Outerisland Underground thruster longboard. Swell: About 6'0 at 9 seconds. Surf: Varied from a pitiful ankle high to sets of head high zippered perfection. Shape: Low tide hollow. Comments: Took a chance driving to the west side this time of the year. This place will go unnamed here, but if anyone is familiar with Kaua'i,you know to what potential, "infinite" perfection I was heading. Classic it was not -- the swell was too small for that. But the shape and total lack of people made for fun and (forgot my hat) a sunburning session. Tubes were had, lips were respectfully bashed and I was politely reprimanded by a large local male for taking off in front of one of his small, young sons. I apologized humbly, truthfully pleading ignorance of his presence on the wave. Felt bad about that. In Hawai'i you learn to never take off in front of anyone. Unless you are surfing small Hanalea, in the Pine Treees area, where the ages can range from 5 years to 70 years, and the surf tool from short boards to outrigger canoes and Kayaks. Its a fun filled free-for-all. As the size increases, proper surf etiquette is usually restored. Back to the spot of the day. It has a reputation of being heavily and locally protected. This reputation is well earned. But, good manners, respect, and above all patience has rewarded me with many sessions that shall, mercifully, go undescribed here. As many say, "Lucky you live Kaua'i." Reporter: Jeremy, jrisher@sdd.hp.com Date/Time: March 30, afternnoon Location: Mission Beach, San Diego Weather: cloudy Air/Water T: 72 F / 61 F Conditions: decent, no wind, almost high tide Crowd: 3, spaced at 100 yards Food: carne asada burrito Surch Distance: 1 mile Surf Vehicle: 9' longboard Surf: 2-5', kinda mushy Comments: Promised to give a little surf lesson with my longboard to my bros friend from Sweden so I met them down at his place in Mission Beach and took the Swedish grom out in the whitewash for a little fun. He got a couple short rides and pictures to show his girlfriend... he was really stoked and I got to laugh at his newbie kookiness. Cool guy though, he promised to give me a good tour of Stockholm nightlife when I'm there this summer. Grom tired out and I paddled the longboard out to catch a few. I've only had the longboard out one other time in the last few months since I bought my first shortboard. Sure was easy to paddle and I got to turtle under waves instead of exhibiting my poor duck-diving skills. I got a few good rides and found it easier to turn the longboard than I remembered. Also gave my first tandem ride -- to a kelp leaf that I slapped onto the nose. It seemed stoked when it jumped off into the whitewash... I'm just full of generosity today. I got pounded by a big closeout wave and had the longboard smack me across the back... another reason to spend more time with the shortboard -- it doesn't bruise as bad. Overall a fun session. Reporter: Stuart Gimber, gimber@puffin.dsr.com Date/Time: March 29th, All morning Location: E.M., Mexico Weather: Bright, clear morning Surch Distance: From La Jolla to Mex and back Surf: Clean rivermouth rights peeling over the cobblestone reef. Comments: Small lines at the Slough, Spitters, and A Frames. It took us only a few moments to get across the slippery rocks which occasionally hid small purple sea urchins. I'd forgotten my booties so it took me a bit longer. Paddling out, dark blue lines moved in on the shallow reef and unloaded. The takeoffs were ledgy doubleups and provided plenty of speed. There were a few slots and barrels. Later two stoked Mexican kids paddled out, one without a wetsuit. He made weird noises to keep warm but his stoke was infectious. We shared fun shoulder high waves for most of the morning. Our favorite taco stand on the outskirts of Tijuana was closed (Holy Saturday) so we doubled back to Playas Tijuana for a plate of motulenos at an oceanfront restaurant. Near the bullring by the sea we noticed a huge new mansion with a backyard that ran right to the border's steel fence. What a sight. Reporter: Neal Miyake, sponge@iav.com Date/Time: Easter Sunday, 3/30/97, 0840-0925 Location: Queens, Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii Weather: Sunny, clear skies, light side/offshore winds Air/Water T: 78 F / 74 F Conditions: Smooth and fairly glassy with clear water Crowd: About eight or ten people out, with about 50 at neighboring Canoes Food: Pre: portuguese sausage, eggs and rice; Post: Coke, manapua and pork hash Surch Distance: 50 miles round trip Motor Vehicle: Honda Civic 4dr Surf Vehicle: 10' Tuberider Surfboards longboard rental Swell: small windswell wrap Surf: The radio called it flat to a foot, waist-high peeling rights on the infrequent sets. Comments: Woke up late on Easter Sunday. My wifey cooked up a great portuguese sausauge-eggs-and-rice breakfast -- a Hawaiian staple. We were going to go to the beach as a family, but my daughter had a touch of the cold. So I gave myself two hours to drive out, surf, and get home, just to participate in World Surf Day '97. I called the surf report and found that all shores were running at three feet or less. So I decided to do something unique and go to the place where our sport got started--Waikiki Beach. Although the North Shore has garnered all the attention of the surfing world, the real roots of surfing began on the beaches of Waikiki. That's where the beach boys (no, not the musical group) introduced the sport to the wealthy visitors and celebrities. That's where the legendary Duke Kahanamoku made his incredible mile-long ride from Outside Castles to Canoes. That's where I was going to surf on World Surf Day '97. I blasted out there through the light holiday traffic in my Honda Civic--the perfect surfmobile. Made a few loops around the block in search of free roadside parking before I relented and parked in a pay garage. I jogged past the surfboard lockers, the satellite police station, the statue of the Duke, and right onto the beach. At 8:30 am, there already was a fair amount of tourist on the sand. I wanted to go authentic and ride a longboard, but I don't own one right now. Fortunately, the beach boy rentals were open for business on the holiday. I chose one vendor out of the blue and rented a board for $8/hour--a 10' Tuberider Surfboards tanker. That thing must've had 100 oz glass on both sides; it weighed a ton! Recognized one of the beach boys at the stand. It was Glenn Kalakukui, a renegade surfer from Kauai. I had him take a picture of me, just like a Japanese tourist (!). Conditions were excellent, with clear, sunny skies. The winds were light, with a side/offshore flow. The surf, however, was a meager flat-to-one foot. Didn't matter--just the idea of sharing a global surf was worth getting wet for. Anyway, it's not the size that matters (or so I'm told). :-) I paddled out to Queens, a popular spot among the locals. The four guys sitting outside were definitely "da bulls" of the lineup--they caught all the waist-high sets. One guy looked like Jamma Kekai, Rabbit's brother. I stayed just inside them, catching their scraps. Still, I managed to snag a lot of waves in the short time I was out there. Most waves barely peeled, with lot of them were just peaking and flattening without breaking. My wave of the day came as I was paddling back out from a ride. A really nice, wedging right, maybe waist-high, came through, with a couple of guys coming up short from catching it. I swung the tanker around just in time to take off with the lip. As I rode ahead of the whitewater, I tried bringing the board back into the soup. Unfortunately, you can't turn a longboard if you're standing right smack in the middle. My body just fell off, but I tried to maintain my feet on the board and recover ala Kelly Slater. Somehow, my body ended up right under the board and I inadvertently did the old "dead cockroach." I sat up and finished the ride sitting on my butt, laughing. The long lulls between sets gave me a chance to reflect on my personal memories of surfing in Waikiki. I rarely surf there during free surfs (too many tourists), but competed there regularly during my long, and not-so-illustrious amatuer bodyboarding career. I had one of my best contest results surfing that very spot about seven years ago. It was during the Local Motion Surf Into Summer contest, one of the biggest amateur events in the world. I managed a third against a huge field of bodyboarding contestants. Didn't feel too bad about not winning, because the two guys ahead of me (Joey Vieira and Ray McCloud) were rippers who eventually turned pro. A couple years later, I was doing a free surf on my friend's 10' tanker. Lance Hookano (of Malibu punch-out fame), paddled over, and asked to use my friend's board for his contest heat. We swapped boards, and and I ended up dinging his cherry T&C longboard on a tourist's board (he was in the way!). Lance was pissed, and wanted to beat up the tourist. I didn't have the heart to admit that it was partly my fault. A year later, I was stuck in Waikiki (a long story in itself) without my bodyboarding gear during a huge souths swell. I decided to rent a longboard and give it a try, even though I was still a kook at riding surfboards. Caught some of the biggest waves I ever surfed up until that time--way overhead. I remember having no problem getting into the wave, but had a hell of a time trying to turn the stupid board. I guess some things never change. Recovering from my daydreaming, I realized that my water time was running short. I ended up paddling in after 45 minutes of riding the mini wavelets. On my way back, I stopped to fill gas and grabbed a Big Gulp, manapua and pork hash (I bet Hawaii has the only 7-11s that sell Chinese dim sum). Zipped home just after 10 am to be greeted by my beautiful wife and daughter. Total elapsed time: 1 hour, 58 minutes. I hope the rest of the alt.surfing crew scored some good waves. Even though I didn't, I still had a great time participating in the event. Being at the source made it extra-special. Sometimes when you go surfing, you make memories. This time, I was satisfied just to relive a few of them.