March Madness

Yesterday, 3/9/05, was fun. CDIP was showing 5-7 feet in HB, but the tide was really high. So, I brought the longboard, and figured that I'd take a look. As it turned out, it was pretty inconsistent. The sets were overhead, but seldom. But, being inconsistent is a good thing at Huntington Beach north of the pier. It means that it's possible to paddle out.

I made it out, and waited for waves, which were fun when they came in. I made my three wave quota.

On one hand, I wished that I had brought one of my other boards. The 7'6" would have been perfect, with the right combination of paddling and maneuverability. I could have brought the 6'8", too. I would have had to work harder to get into the high tide mush, but there was plenty of power behind the waves to do so.

On the other hand, it was good to have the longboard on a solid day to learn how it rides. I've only had the thing since the middle of winter, and am still a bit shakey on it. It sure is different to try to maneuver a longboard around on a bigger wave. Even my 7'6" is a quick little scooter compared to the muscle it takes to make a good bottom turn with the 9 footer.

This morning 3/10/05, I brought the funboard and a camera. The funboard was for surfing, and the camera was for not surfing. CDIP's 3 a.m. report had shown spots of Huntington Beach at 9 + feet, which is too big for me. I figured that the swell was dropping, and it was high tide, so I might be able to paddle out. But, if not, I could take pictures of the big waves coming in. I could use some good photos to do some tracings of anyway.

On the freeway, I decided to drive straight to Newport, because it would be smaller. I went to the river jetties at 56th street, and walked out on the sand. The waves were chest high or a little better at the sets, but the water was really gross. It was brown and nasty, still full of shit from the rains and the sewage. It stank.

I was still pretty early, so I jumped bak in the truck and drove to 17th in Huntington. There were bigger waves, alright, but they looked like they were could be surfed, if one could make it past the inside whitewater.

20 minutes later, I left 17th street, driving my truck while still wearing my wetsuit. I had not made it past the inside whitewater. Of cause, neither had anyone else. There were a few guys trying to paddle out, but all of us were caught inside. I had drifted two lifeguard towers in 10 minutes. I made the decision that if I got our and drove south a bit, I could catch some surf without all this punishment.

I drove quickly and parked on the curb just at the south end of the Hilton hotel, hopped out, and ran straight out to the water.

A guy was getting out with a broken leash. "There's some heavy sets out there." He said. He was right, from the look of it. But, then again, the inside whitewater was significantly less menacing. I paddled around for a while. The sets were big and scary, and it took me a bit of time to round up the balls to commit to one. But I finally did, and took a straight line drop down a nice overhead set wave. The water crashed behind me, and I bent my knees to absorb the impact and continue on in to shore.