E's Surf Report

e, maybe a few of these on the beach for your ideal OB conditions.

Ah, what a nice pic that is above! Gotta love Hawaii.

E, great "year end summary" and a great positive note to leave on for the end of '03. Tis the Holiday Season and once again, thanks for the stoke on the site and all the vibe you have created in 2003. May it only continue in the same ways in 2004 (of course with the influence of the new Brown Turd).

On to today: Cold, blistery morning out there. OB once again trying to do its best to allow some action. I guess if you are one of those types E described today, you most likely could paddle out at Sloat or the like and sit and wait for a nice set or two. I declined and went south even though the paddle would have been a piece of cake. Pulled into the swamp-like parking lot at Lindy to have a look-see. Winds blowing much harder there then the 5-10 mph reported. More like 15-20+ but at least offshore/sideshore. A couple of easy peaks to choose from. I sat on a left for 20 minutes that proved to be fools gold. Nice rights working on both sides of me about 200 yards away. Went to one, caught a few, headed in after about 45 minutes as I wasn't really feeling it this a.m. with the rain, wind, cold, etc. Wanted to give a shout to the dude on the red Coffey out there, he snagged some sweet rights. I had to take a few notes from the beach on my way out.

Anyway, some waves to be had if you can deal with the elements. I get cranky if I don't surf for like 3 days. Given the upcoming stormy conditions, I made myself go.

Wish y'all a Merry Christmas, Happy Festivus, Nappy Kwanza, or whatever you freakin celebrate.

More butt shots please. Sorry ladies.

E, you got your days in! I lost count after we moved out of 1950 21st Ave. I'm guessing that I got close to 200 days. What was your record from last year?

Didn't bother checking it either this morning. I'm heading down to Orange Country to visit family for a few days and will probably try to surf San Clemente and maybe some places in San Diego County.

Happy Holidays Niceness Crew!

Hey E, you described my perfect day, except I enjoy the sea otters down south. Of course, it might get a little crowded with the whales, dolphins and seals. If it's OK with you, could the Who be the warm-up band before Jimi comes on? (I know I'm showing my age but it's good pre-surf music.)

Kasier- are you sometimes surprised how the S/SE winds groom Lindy when the rest of the coast is trashed? I've got my fingers crossed for the next few rainy days. The Lane looks like junk on the cams right now. Maybe I'll see ya down there.

Thanks for the site, Ethan.

yeah.. the who can open for Jimi, Bruce.. no probs.. Maybe a little Jane's Addiction from '95 after Jimi.

The sun is the answer to your high tide/moon question
Full and new moon means the Sun, earth and moon are (roughly)on line, so you got the both their attraction (Sun and Moon) on the ocean in the same direction, which make the tide even higher...

Thanks for the reports and pictures
Happy holidays!

you're the man Clem!! thanks!

The tide swing today is ridiculous. over 7 feet to a negative 2 around sunset.

I just like going to OB. I take what I can get. A lot of it is sloppy crap. Sometimes the challenge is the slop, sometimes it is size, sometimes it is currents, sometimes winds, sometimes crowds. Perks my day up to meet each new, often unexpected challenge, and walk away with a wave or two (or more). I don't like driving for surf much, and increasingly have less free time for surfing. I go to the beach, alone, or with others, and meditate on life while I chase waves.

Happy holidays to all.

About the full/new moon causing greater tide variations. Basically, when the moon is full, the Sun, the Earth and the moon are "in line". That is the Earth is experiencing a gravitational pull by the Sun and Moon on exactly opposite sides of itself. This causes the Earth to bulge slightly in the areas influenced by the gravitation pull. Now land (continents) doesn't bend (bulge)much from gravity, but water is very condusive to bulging and is acutually "pulled up" by the gravitional force of Moon/Sun and causes the Sea Surface to form a giant hill. As the moon orbits earth the continents "run into" this hill and experience high tide. Low tide is the depression (in the ocean) on the other side of the gravity hill. During a new or full moon, this process is amplified. Why? Angle of gravitional forces between Sun and Moon on the Earth. The full moon pulls on exactly the opposite side the Sun pulls. Because the earth spins, a centripital force amplifies these bulges and the result is higher and lower tides simultaneously. The case is slightly different with a new moon, however. A new moon (not visible from Earth) is in line with the Earth and Sun, but this time it is on the same side with the Sun. So you've got the Sun and moon exerting a combined gravitional force on only one side of the Earth. But the laws of physics say b/c the earth spins and is influenced by the centripital force an equal bulge must exist on the opposite side of the Earth. Thus, we get higher highs and lower lows.

In short, when the Moon and Sun are in line with the Earth, we experience a new or full moon. The Moon/Sun alignment amplifies the gravitional force and the result is greater tidal fluctuations.

yeah, e... thanks for all of the yearly stoke. you and the rest of the niceness crew are an inspiration. happy holidays!!!!

I find your explaination of OB slightly condesending and disrespectful. Those that put in the effort to surf OB on those larger days are not mascohistic, macho egoists but surfers who not only feel the same way you do about 4ft glassy offshore waves but maintain the ssame stoke for 12ft bombs.

The surfers enjoying the beach whenever surfable have the vision, ability, knowledge, resolve, determination and commitment which enables them to enjoy OB in it's 3ft carress and 15ft rage. Its fine if you are not in this group but to peg them as one wave glory seekers is just sad and disrespectful.

I am inspired by the likes of Judith and those crusty older guys that rip the beach or p-town @ DOH. Oddly enough, until this post I was also inspired by your joy of surfing, but now I know that your just another yuppie poser surfer snob who is not true to the game. Please stay back east as NORCAL may be a little too scary and marginal for you.

ha ha! nice roberto "pez" lopez.. right on! keep chargin.. and sorry if you thought my post disrespectful.. i didn't mean it to be.. I have nothing but respect for those that take up the daily OB challenge (described eloquently by blakestah above)

mas·och·ism - A willingness or tendency to subject oneself to unpleasant or trying experiences.

parts OB: gadzooks the inside isn't too big but it's an unholy gawdawful mess, there's water being pushed around in every direction. Until recently saw some cleaner overhead beasties breaking on the outside, but they looked so fickle and just like the kind of lumpy wave that would start out mushy and then throw out a ton of foam directly on your head. Would also need a helicopter to reach them, at least in the mid sections of the beach. Seen about 2 people w/ surfboards today. No, didn't see them actually surfing, but never say never... Currently off and on squaky I mean squally Charlie Brown weather.

Happy travelling, surfing, chowing down...!

roberto is one of those overly agressive types who is always paddling around you to get priority position. you know who you are. you see a set coming and paddle your ass off to get 2 feet deeper than the guy who has been patiently waiting for the last 15min. and then you blow the take off but the next wave was even better.

Learn how to spell and go buy a dictionary, "Pez".

also.. roberto - thanks for expressing your opinion and being strait up! very cool..

I wrote some of the OB observations this morning mostly in response to some of the posts yesterday about surfing OB and labeling this report an "OB report." I just wanted to put it out there that i am, NOT, in fact, one of the crazy (in my opinion) every-day, DOH+ OB chargers. I tip my hat to those guys..

e,

Thanks for another year of the daily report and for sharing your stoke throughout the year. Have fun back east!

i've got nothing but good things to say about e's commentary and this site...well, except maybe all the ass shots. but it would be silly to take something off a surf blog personally.

an amiga and i are headed south tonight and will be nestled in san elijo SP by sun-up. yeeheehee! it looks like things could go either way after christmas, but i'm sooo excited...i've never been down to san diego and i'm kind of stoked to check out the whole socal scene. just curious, i guess.

anyway: happy day-after-the-solstice, niceness. thanks e for the 2003 goodies, honest enthusiasm and midday heads-ups. merry christmas to all!

friendly.. feel free to post any male posterior shots you'd like.. this is SF, afterall!

but.. something about that female bubble-butt bosom!! Deeaaammnn!!!!!! Possibly THE most finely raught piece of God's divine creation or evolutionary advancement, or gift to us lowly males i have ever encountered. I am spellbound!!

thanks for the good vibes friendly!

hee hee

hey e,

didn't know you had roots in philly, hope you have time to stop at Tony Lukes or one of the other great cheesesteak joints back there.

thanks so much for your writing, pics, facilitation and for creating/hosting the niceness space. despite surfing alone a lot in 2003, i feel better-connected to the surf community than ever before, and that has made the experience and learning much richer for me.

and thanks to the rest of the crew for your contributions and inspiration. seasons greetings!

i would like to thank E for the yearly stoke and helping me earn that Christmas bonus, I don’t know what I would do if I actually had to work all day....i was thinking about the differences actually this morning beetween the “chargers” and the “not chargers”, like me!.. basically everyone has their own stoke that they get out of whatever it is they do, people long board, people short board, peope boogie board peoply play bochi ball..pretty obvious but it has a Christmas message..i like surfing because i go out and get wet and compete a little and meditate and connect with the ocean and waves, and try to get barreled and go as fast as I can, and try to wrap a cut back all the way around with one turn..at the moment I don’t think I have the mental capacity to look at a 20 foot wall about to break on my head and think about fuzzy kittens and counting to 20 or 40 or whatever,..i would be happy if ob maxed out at thanksgiving size..but than it wouldn’t be ob, and it wouldn’t be ob without the guys that charge those days, also the guys you see who you know don’t really know any better and you see them paddling out and sometimes they get worked and sometimes they don’t, that’s ob too...ok...have a niceness holiday everybody..(sorry for stealing Christian’s hook) HO HO HO have fun back east e..and many waves for the new year for the crew...

Right on, e and niceness peeps! Keep up the great vibes...

Now could someone drum up something more than ankle-slappers on the gulf side of Florida for my Christmas trip down to see my pops?!

Cheers!

-- Matt

Thanks too ethan for your hard work on this site. Seeing OB through relatively new eyes keeps the stoke for this old guy. Regardless of the size or conditions you prefer its all about the spirit of joy out there in the liquid wilderness. Keep surfing no matter what.

Mmmmm... real Philly cheese steaks! At one of my old jobs one of the guys from Philly FedExed us some to sample. Awesome.

e, right on keeping the stoke flowing with the knitting report, and good on ya for getting so many sessions in. That's not easy living in the City. And to everyone happy holidays.

P.S. I'm going to hang one of my surfboard socks as a stocking. Think folks will get the idea??

thanks for the scoop on tides, ratita & clem!

one follow-up question: my impression is that the further you go from the equator, the more dramatic the tide swings. is this true? if so, what factors account for that?

I noticed last night at Kelly's, in front of the 5th staircase to the beach, a footing from the old pier standing about 3 feet high. Kinda like the ones south of the second lot. Careful there!

I'm following E to Philly. The 49'ers beat the Eagles in OT last night.

I might have a camcorder or wetsuit or a new board in my stocking this year... Good to have really big feet.

Have a great holiday all.

Friendly – I grew up down there (Solana Beach), and might be down there around new years if I finish up some writing.

If you want some good surf away from all the hyper kids, try “table tops” at the north end of Solana Beach, behind the bluffs – it needs some swell to work. The paddle is long enough and the reef dramatic enough that the kids tend to avoid it. There is a slot / channel over the center of the reef that works but most people paddle in from the cove to the south or from Sea Side to the north.

thanks, newtotheblog Tom! right now i'm worried about the angle of the swell after thursday...it's looking really steep and i don't know how "forgiving" the breaks are down there. blakestah? any thoughts?? this is made more complicated by the fact that my friend is JUST learning so we need to stick to places where she can surf somewhere sorta near my kooking-out self. and socal is all totally new to me. so, we'll see. but we'll definitely give solano a look. gracias!

and, e...don't think i haven't thought about it. but it's a quid pro quo i don't think i'd be able to win... :)

The cove to the south of table tops has all of the north swell bloked by the reef so you might want to try that for your friend. go at low tide -- waves hit the blufs at high tide.

OB: well it's officially farkolated...utter chaos. Leave work early anyway, eat some chocolate cake, and snuggle up with somebody.

and Super Thanks e for inspiring the surf community! Cheers,

Yo E et al, the site is the best, the vibe is the best. Thanks for all of it. Happy Holidays everyone!

PS Pez -- what the fuck?

Merry Christmas to all of ya and thanks e for the countless hours of enjoyment and reprieve you've given me from dull days at work.

Heading to Cabo and hope to score some good stuff on the Pacific side. The south may work as it looks like there's some potential small SSW.

"Pez" - my mama taught me to never take anyone seriously who includes their nickname in quotes alongside their full name. Lighten up, it's fucking Christmas.

Oh, and thanks to Blakestah for the killa surf reports!

friendly, steep angles bypass SoCal. 300 hits the most exposed spots, with 290 it opens up a lot more.

However, this changes if winds blow near the Channel Islands.

For steep angles, go near the Mex border, or South Bay. If the swell hits from 270, all heck breaks loose. Have a good trip.

Happy holidays to all, and to all a good nite.

anticipating nothingness for the next few days, I dragged my sorry ass out in front of Wise, where two lefts have been working lately. Timed a lull, raced outside, well almost outside, but when I looked inside the beach was just flying by. Bum air. Had to hop the first propulsive surge to the beach, made it in the last 100 feet or so of sand. Sooo, gave it a go and found the current a freak scene. But I said hi to the lady and she only slapped me around a bit. No saying what she'd a done if she'd gotten me around the corner. Deadman's from the south? The next few days seem shut down. But with e sacrificing his possibles the next few, maybe??? E, way cool site, thanks for karma-mastering. Like someone said, I do feel more connected to the ocean vibe and less to the maggot bites. Thank god OB keeps things a bit separated. Hasta

Bad news about Tongass. Logging okayed. Check this PDF: www.seacc.org/Issues/seisfinalfactsheet.pdf
for good info and let's see what can be done about things gone so bad at the federal level. They are going to give it all away. Actions like these can only be taken as evidence of precedence for giveaways elswhere along the coast.

Happy Holidays.

fyi OB Dec 24: are we at hurricane defcon 1 yet? I got my ass kicked this morning just trying to walk the dog down the block! NO for surf. YES for overindulgence in the vice of your choosing.

Happy Whateveryousubscribeto...!

I would like to thank e for creating this sight as well as subjecting his perspective to public commentary, which, I think is both genrous and brave. I personally surf OB alot and I have a lot of respect for the mysterious beach. Maybe I don't surf other spots that often because I am too lazy to get in my car to find a cleaner breaking spot or that I enjoy observing the same spot under different conditions and the challenges that such a commitment holds. I also think we all have our own levels of tollerance or comfort and it is important that we know these levels and abilities within ourselves. We do not want to endanger our own life but we don't want to wrongly accuse others as well. I really like what blakestah had to say about surfing OB. I think we are in the same boat.

I also would like to thank ratita for the discription of the workings of the tides. It was a well written description that was easy to visualize and it helped me to remember a few things I had forgotten and was trying to remember.

Seasons greetings.

Ratita, what was the question?
No NJ, surfing locals with the locals on the new flame board. Come on up if you are not working, I'm off until Tuesday and Meg-0 is sick as a limpit.
S.

What a picture:

Just did some research on that pic, turns out it's a dolphin. Really looks like a shark though, what a moment that must have been for that surfer. Shot in Malibu by the way. More info:

http://www.surfshooter.com/DolphinInfo.html

OK, I'm surprised how quiet it is in here. IMO, this morning was one of the three best days of the year. Blakestah called it. Offshore, big, sunny, relatively easy paddle, uncrowded, really, really consistent. Between 10 and 12 it just never stopped. By sunset it was much smaller but still looked very good. Hope you all got some and much thanks to those who are travelling : )

Shifty and a bit disorganized in Santa Cruz yesterday (Fri), but we had some fun waves- 8' faces with some 10' sets at Pleasure Point even on a highish tide. Surfed Lindy this morning (Sat) and it was bitter cold and closed out at first. Then the tide filled in and the sun came out. Not bad until the crowds got out of control.

Satuday, checked OB around 1 and it was a bit meaty for my tastes, one man's consistent is another man's relentless, so I went down to Rockaway, which at first looked inviting and mellow, holding up, not doing its usual closeout into the channel, and only 3 people out. We paddled out, got super fast takeoff after super fast takeoff, and then the swell picked up significantly (odd that OB tapered...) and so did the crowd, and the rip in the paddle channel got unbelievably strong. I counted 15 people at one point, and Rockaway on a big day cannot handle a crowd, very narrow takeoff zone. And to make matters much worse 3 of them were good boogie boarders, it seemed like every time I'd be in position one of them would drop in way late and make it and I'd have to pull out. Ugh. But great surf for sure, solid 3 foot overhead and heavy. Wish I had a camera to record some of the beautiful maneuvers I saw.

The problem with Rockaway is that when it's working everyone can tell, so you don't get long.

kdalle i'm with you, definitely one of the best days of the year. i got 4 or 5 heaving tube rides saturday morning from like 10:30-12:30, not too bad of a paddle, no one on my peak until the last half hour of my session. fark yeah. heading back out right now.

bbr-
Looks like its just you and me. Got out a little while ago from a 3 hour surf. Sloat was smaller but still really clean. While not as heavy as yesterday I did get one genuine barrel which is pretty rare for me. I mean the kind where you see the entire almond eye in front of you and you're in there long enough to realize it. Doing that on a 9-8 gun is a trip.
Anyone else out there, get it or forever hold your peace.

Yes, Sloat was happening. Paddle out was a bit of a drag over the inside bar, but outside made up for it. Nice to see some niceness...

just a utility session for me this morning out at cron...was nice to get back in the water after being out of town for the last five days with my crazy family!

Sounds like Sloat was the spot...

Hey Wrybread, I was out there with you at Rockaway. It was one of the better days that I have surfed it. I was having a lot of fun and so I was out until sunset. I know what you mean about the crowd but it was worth it. I felt bad for the guy who broke his board.

Saturday @ Sloat. Pumping. :-O Today @ Lindamar. Small.

Anyone see that sunset Sat. evening?

Mcswivel - agreed, definitely one of the best Rockaway days for me too. And yeah, felt bad for the guy who broke his board too, I talked to him about it, he said it was already cracked and he'd been meaning to fix it. D'oh! He gave me the pieces though, planning on making a table out of them.

kdalle- are you goofy foot? If so, I may have nabbed your barrel on Sunday (third row down on Photos 5 page). What a beautiful day!

http://www.surfhumor.com/Photos%205.htm

Hi Bruce- I'm a regular foot. I wasn't sure if that was you shooting. I stopped by on my way through the lot to see if you got my right barrel. The one on your page is really nice...but it's not me. The board's not big enough : )

BTW, Saturday was substantially bigger and thicker with similar shape. Would have been interesting to see how it compared to Big Wednesday on "film".

Anyhow, it was good to connect briefly and I'm sure I'll see you again.

OB was sooo nice yesterday. Haven't surfed in 3 months, so it was doubly good. Yo e, thanks for a great year of niceness, had hoped to bump into you on my vacation out here-have fun in Philly
SS, are you back in the water?

Can you say Killer Dana?

http://www.sfexaminer.com/templates/story.cfm?displaystory=1&storyname=122903n_erosion

kdalle- too bad. I shot a ton of pics, so I probably caught you at some point. If you want to browse though the shots, email me your address and I'll dump the shots to a CD and send them off.

There is no way they will breakwater the beach. There are thousands of surfers who will have a cow.

A friend of mine is working on the best suggestion I've heard so far. He wants the dredging of the channel done every year to be dumped in front of the Sloat south lot.

Unfortunately, this requires approval and coordination of multiple disjointed agencies, which is why it is fun.

I'm back, at least for a few waves yesterday. My muscles are sore, but my shoulder feels OK. I rode one of the rotating fin boards, and it feels good. Just got my latest tester feedback.

He said that it does feel like a longskate or snowboard (relative to a thruster, anyway). The turning is powerful, but he was uncertain how far he could push it. He was still "Getting used to" the feel of the fin after 2 sessions, and really wanted to ride it more until he got to know it better. However, it was clear it has loads of drive, and is a very fast system, and he said he's interested in getting one in a board when we get to selling them. He also said that his thruster felt really weird when he went back to riding it - foreign and sluggish.

My next goal is putting one in a board big enough for kdalle to test ;)

got back last night from a trip south with the wife & dog. rented a vw van, 1st time doing that, what a great way to travel. here's my surf log:
- xmas day late afternoon: longboarded clean waist-high 41st ave in capitola, mellow crowd, thank you santa.
- NW winds blowing out most of santa barbara/ventura (as far as i could tell). shortboarded in the shorebreak at the pier at gaviota state beach on friday sunset. almost got stuck in SB for the night with a flat tire, luckily sears tire center was open late!
- tarantulas at jalama was inconsistent but offshore and shoulder-high+ on sat morning, my first time there, very cool setup. cayucos and san simeon were working sat pm too, offshore and waist-chest high.
- by sun the size had dropped to barely-surfable, and winds were onshore by midday, so we went to hearst castle.

Over the years the complication with the dredge spoils has been the toxicity. Nasty stuff. Don't think I would want that dumped in the surf zone and eventually the beach. Also, SF Board of Supervisors passed an advisory resolution that it be included in any dredging plans in the Bay as a result of the SFO runway expansion fiasco. Now, because the area outside of the goldent Gate is not part of the Monterey Bay Sanctuary one of the obstacles is removed. Of course the real issue is whether we can "fool mother nature". I don't think any schemes short of a Jetty (groin) at CHole or concrete barriers will succeed. And we've seen the effects of the riprap deposited between the lots (I was blasted in that shorepound yesterday). I'm for letting the cycle continue. Let 'em move the road or single lane the Great Highway at the zoo.

Bring back the pier!!!

just wanted to say "hola" to the niceness crew. got back from my almost 2-weeks away (in non-slurf loc's...d'oh!) late last nite and it's SOOOO good to be back...even if any chances of a hoped-for welcome-back dp were obliterated by rain and wind this morning! maybe manana? (fingers crossed!)

blakestah...congrats on gettin' back in the water!! you must be so psyched after the injury-induced sabatical. thanks for continuing to share your water/wind/sandbar/general ob knowledge to help all us heads better understand the beach in all of her moods. one question....what's this about breakwatering the beach?! i couldn't find the reference in the postings and am muy curious!

e...scanning through the postings above, i know it's been said a bunch...but i just wanted to add my thanks for your dedication to maintaining this site...for your endless stoke...and for your occasional creative-writing tales! what ever did happen in the "Valley Beyond Time"? i guess i'll have to browse through the archives to find out!

all...thanks for the stoke, the pos vibes, and all the tales that sustain me when i'm cramped in my cube at werk!

oh...and thanks for the butt-shots! (sorry, friendly ; )

OB: ahoy, all hands on deck, it's blowing a freaking gale out here! Should have put on the wetsuit to walk my dog. Absolutely and utterly no way for surf. However, it's excellent weather to watch one of my holiday gifts : a dvd of 'Blue Crush'! Bwah hahaha yuck arg no!! Bonus: I don't even have a dvd player. If there are any takers for this fine piece of surf theater, speak now and its yours! Come one, you know you can't resist Kate Bosthworth charging Pipeline!

Biggest storm in months today my fault: was planning on going in today or tomorrow. D'oh.

kdalle is a better reference than I, but not as much of a loudmouth (on the net, in the water is another story).

The Examiner has a story he cited today about erosion south of Sloat. Some crackpot wants to turn the whole beach into a lagoon, thinking that will re-vitalize the beach community. This would require an amazingly large jetty for a breakwater, and would kill surfing as we know it. But, doubt it will ever happen.

There is a need to do something about Highway One south of Sloat, before it falls in the Ocean. Or, maybe, it should be allowed to fall in....

thanx for the explanation, blakestah.

hmmm....a $2.8 million study? sounds like the niceness heads should form a "sub-committee". we would research the issue thoroughly (through day-after-day seshies) and, of course, determine that the best plan is to let Mother Ocean do her thing in a manner that maximizes surf potential!. $2.8 million buys a lot of boards, wetties, and wax! ; )

Combined sewer overflows at Ocean Beach Monday. Think about that before you decide to get wet.

Some incredible waves this am at Sloat. I'm surprised it is so clean after such an intense storm. Pefect peaks in the DOH+ range with no one out. looks like a good pain/pleasure ratio for the paddle. I have to work dammit..

GO GET IT!!!

mid OBish: bubbly messy inside, very inconsistent outside peaks topping out at shoulder to a couple of feet overhead. Hard to tell, no one out. The bigger waves look shifty but strong - lumber in..then throw out a narrow section pretty hard, then immediately mush out to the sides Looks doable in sections but so wiley it also looks like a good day to get a tad pounded. Calm and chilly at the coast, rain clouds hanging around...

Saw s. OB from afar - looked like it was throwing some big ones but it's got to be hella polluted!!

ss: thanks for the continued postings during e's absence...hope you get back in the water soon!

did anyone surf today? i'm gonna make an attempt tomorrow morning, surfpulse's update makes it sound pretty hectic out there right now....

OB: typing now because it's looking fun! Head high/2 foot overhead here and there, shifty but not nearly as shifty as yesterday, paddle doesn't look too bad at all, peaks scattered up and down the beach, current calm conditions , and while the closeouts and wipeouts are still typical OB, they don't look NEARLY so pounding as they have the past couple of weeks. Peeps coming out of the woodwork. Get some if you can - and bring your Hazmat suit - the water is still posted.

Thanks for the shoutout Loon...one of these days I aim to actually technically SURF what I see instead of just staring! Or flailing haha

Right s.s.! Good fun this am at Sloat. Smallish but hollow & punchy on one particular sandbar. Tide seemed too low as I left and many of the waves were just dumping on the bar. Interesting double-ups. Water seemed fine.

Go get it!!!

Happy New Year to all of you! Slurfed the Captain Kirkham area this am and had a very fun time. Later went out at the ramp and had more fun. Then had some guy lecture me about the bacteria counts and contracting Hep and damn that kind freaked me out. I will be interested in hearing if anyone does get sick. Too fun to pass up a surf though.

Cheers to all of you and thanks s.s. for the reports. I will hold good thoughts for your re-immersion into the surfing realm. Hopefully mother ocean won't punish you too badly for being away for so long!

jdz

went out at midbeach this afternoon just as the winds switched to sw. pretty mixed up on the inside but certainly feasible if you were willing to pay the price. outside bars also starting to come alive, the next swell's early arrivers are filling-in. but overall, conditions seemed to be deteriorating. did hear that south ob was good yesterday evening, maybe the winds will hold off for anyone scrambling to get in one more session in 2003...

almost happy new year, nicenessers!

i'm just back from a christmas trip to san diego and gotta say i'm stoked to see just one reference to "the best day ever" during this past week. :) soCal was a combination of mellow surf and elemental combat: mudslides in san bern county, tornado winds a few miles north in oceanside, and us camping in a tent in the middle! t'was a kiteboarder's paradise on 12/26...

but then the winds changed. and some glassy little waves found their way to encinitas. and the sessions count went from 1 on christmas morning to 7 three days later. sunrise, sunset...warmer water, great friends, delectable taquerias...a stoked-out happy holidays.

thanks to newTom and blakestah for your pre-departure posts. and to ss and kdalle for today's updates. gracias, gracias. that is some icky news about the water quality and the OB jetty sounds downright idiotic. incredibly so!

anyway: happy new year! here's to many fine days of surf in 2004.

Bloat was again happening. Of course, with the highway shut down early am and SC looking tadpolish there was a bit more crowd than usual. What the hell, got some good ones. So the water was posted eh? You know, a lot can change in 24 hours. Still, glad I was oblivious (as usual). Hey ho, the interval is jumping up to 18+ seconds. Could be epic if the storm holds off just a little... it looks like its going to get ugly soon. Crack o' dawn patrol before the south causes turmoil?

christian, well done! on the first '04 posting and the Legoland stop. we passed that sign on our way home and i have to admit that the little architect in me really wanted to give it a look... :)

i saw the strangest thing at OB tonight: i run from my house to the water a lot, but when i got there the dogpile of waves literally looked to be washing NORTH, past the shore and towards marin. i'm guessing it was just some weird optical illusion with the wind, sunset and tide--but it was still a pretty bizarre sight. it looked like a giant raging river, not the pacific.

OB is still hungover. Stormy yesterday and today. Also big head's up:

http://www.sanmateocountytimes.com/Stories/0,1413,87~11268~1864720,00.html

Ugh!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, Niceness crew!!! Hopefully some of you are sniffin' out waves...someplace.

I'm jonesin', but haven't hit it since my "welcome back" sesh on the 31st. I hit mid beach with Kaiser for DP. The inside was a sloppy mesh and the inner bars were shifty, but if you were patient, there were some sweet peaks...mostly in the headhigh range. Kaiser absolutely charged it on some gnarly late drops and I managed to score three stoke-filled rides (amongst a handful of other waves that didn't work out too well). Then the regular mid-beach crew started showing up and absolutely killed it! It might have been the highest concentration of high-caliber small(ish) wave surfing I've seen at the beach! Frankly, it made gettin' a wave pretty frickin' tough, but with dudes boostin' airs, gettin' pitted, and rippin' the lips to shreds it was kewl just being out there. All-in-all, it was a great sesh after a 2-week absence. Now if this weather would just move on so that we could get more o' that!

Friendly...welcome back! Sounds like you had a killah trip. Can't wait to hear more about it.

Peace.

List of closures/advistory postings for San Mateo:

BEACHES

Gazos Creek Access near the intersection of Gazos Creek Road and Highway 1. (4,106 Total Coliform, 364 E. coli, 782 Enterococcus).

Surfer's Beach located near the southern breakwater for Pillar Harbor in Half Moon Bay. (17328 Total Coliform, 1334 E. coli , >2005 Enterococcus)

Pacifica State Beach at Linda Mar. The whole beach. (North at Crespi Ave Total Coliform 14,136, E. coli 1650, Enterococcus >2005; south adjacent to Taco Bell >24,192 Total Coliform, 7270 E. coli, > 2005 Enterococcus)

Roosevelt State Beach located in Half Moon Bay. (17328 Total Coliform , 703 E. coli, 1652 Enterococcus)

Pillar Point Harbor located in Princeton. (Westpoint Ave >24192 Total Coliform,1956 E. coli, 1652 Enterococcus; Capistrano Beach Total Coliform, 12,996 E. coli, >2005 Enterococcus)

Francis State Beach located in Half Moon Bay. (99 Enterococcus)

CREEKS

Gazos Creek . (2,359 E. coli)

San Pedro Creek located in the Linda Mar section of Pacifica. (90208 E.coli)

Frenchman's Creek located at Venice State Beach in Half Moon Bay. (7701 E. coli)

Pilarcitos Creek at Venice State Beach in Half Moon Bay. (>24192 E.coli)

Martini Creek at the north end of Montara State Beach. (3448 e coli)

Calera Creek located at the north end of Rockaway Beach in Pacifica.(2247 E. coli)

San Vicente Creek at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve Moss Beach Access. (10462 E coli)

STORM DRAIN

The storm drain at Capistrano Boulevard in Princeton. (4106 E. coli)

DITCH

Roosevelt Ditch at Roosevelt State Beach in Half Moon Bay. (2481 E. coli - North: 3873 E. coli South)

> San Pedro Creek located in the Linda Mar section of Pacifica. (90208 E.coli)

I always knew the creek was highly polluted but this is one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen. Scary...

hey grant,
i hate to sound my ignorance, but how does one translate those figures you posted in terms of safety? is there some sort of "safe for surfing" baseline you might turn me on to? thanks for any help. peace, positivity and wave prosperity to all this new year. welcome back friendly.

Readings for enterococcus and e.coli in the thousands per ml, are really high -- enough to make someone sick if they get a mouthful of it, possibly(?).

According to our pals at the EPA, the guidelines for marine water quality testing indicate that:

"... The minimum advisory level protective bacteriological standards for marine recreational beaches used for primary contact recreation shall be as follows:

(1) Based on a single sample [ and the results you see posted locally are usually single sample results ] the density of bacteria in water from each sampling station [ a sampling station is either a beach, or a creek, typically ] shall not exceed:

(a) 104 enterococci bacteria colonies per milliliter
(b) 200 fecal coliform bacteria colonies per milliliter

..."

The standards for weekly averages/means are a bit stricter, at 34 ec/ml and 100 fc/ml.

The samples surfrider volunteers take from local beaches are tested for ec, fc, and tc (total coliform). I think they test for other stuff too -- the actual testing is done by the county -- but I dunno any more about that.

Anyway, those are just guidelines. The baseline thresholds vary from state to state -- I couldn't find ours, but based on the historical reports I've seen relative to the number of beach closures, I believe ours might be a bit higher than the EPA guidelines.

Either way, it's pretty dirty out there right now... I surfed four times in the past week, in between storm fronts -- all at relatively clean locations -- and still came up with a slightly upset stomach... which really, truly, I swear, wasn't because of the tequila and wine and beer and champagne we mixed on new year's eve...

whoops. correction on the scale -- those density guidelines are per _100_ milliliters, not per milliliter.

If you are wondering what will happen from swimming in dirty water - the most likely negative effect is a GI tract infection from a gnar bacteria - diarrhea, vomiting, etc. These are largely GI tract buggers - not likely to lead to a respiratory tract infection like the flu or a cold.

Also means you mostly need to get it in your stomach to get it bad....I had it bad, once, and I didn't surf after rain for several years...

Happy New Year's Niceness!!!!

Hope everyone had a great holiday, and good luck in 2004 for lots of barrels, offshores, swell, clean water, good vibes, soul centering, Love, Oneness, and Eternal moments!!!

Keep it stoked!!

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