« surfboarding is fun | Main | sessions »

Crazy super mega onshores.

Good day for the kites and windsurfers. A tough morning for regular-joe surfers. Way too much onshore wind for West-facing beaches. Not enough swell for protected spots. A teleport might get you to tropical northern Brazil for some decent head-high warm-water green funnels right now. The Mentawais and other Indian Ocean hot-spots are seeing 2 or 3 concurrent medium period swells. You might be scoring huge with pre-season lack of crowds at Lance's and Maccas. Maybe charter a boat to the Nicobars or the Andamans?

A semi-powerful low-pressure system just roared past Capetown, South Africa. So.. maybe teleport over to Port Elizabeth and sample some of the random, tucked-away goods between J-bay and Durban? Little right-point-break secrets. Maybe keep going up into Mozambique? Supposedly the shark-vibe is overblown in that beautiful, relatively crowd-free surf zone?

It also looks like a sizeable south swell is brewing for later in the week, at least for Puerto Escondito. Predicted 6ft 18second south swell for thursday down there. Juicy gyrating jackhammers. We (or at least Santa Cruz) might see traces of that 190 degree south late this week. hmm.. Beware the false-promise of the south swell.

Bells is being relocated to some more-exposed beach break 200 km. away. the contest should get underway today. Check out http://www.ripcurl.com/ripcurlpro

Some solid waves this past weekend.
Good Friday hooked it with chunky, messy speed-runs. Thanks to Bagel for coming over and getting me pumped before he went to work. First stony session in a while. NIIIIICE!!

Saturday saw some fun ramps and cylinders. One shaved-head guy near me was destroying shit!! I watched him tuck into 5 or 6 stalled-out tubes in about 40 minutes. He also punted a few solid airs. I thought he might be part of the Brigade so i kept my distance but it was highly educational to watch how he faded and then tucked himself back into those little barrels. Right spot at the right time. It was a great lesson to realize that good surfers can and do get plenty-o-barrels on the same waves were i get none, barely even see any. Guy was shredding.

Slates in Sydney (Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds)

Bells struggling

don't think that i would want to be at macca's or anywhere in the ments since an 8.2 earthquake just hit. all the areas that got wiped out by the tsunami are right not fleeing their homes.

i'm flying to Bali wed. night for the month and yes...this weeks swell reports and long term forcasts are positive for consistent surf in the 4-7 and 5-8 ft range.

Posted by: tom at March 28, 2005 10:11 AM

Slates in Sydney with only 2-fins! Forgot to screw the middle one in. See if he surfs Bells the same way. Wouldn't surprise me. I think he body surfs better then I surf.

http://www.surfline.com/video/vids/2005/mar/jsps/santacruz_dl_qt.cfm

Pretty cool video of Disneyland above. Check it out!

Too much wind out there for me today. I thought maybe our nice little oasis south of San Mateo might be worth the drive this a.m. but I didn't feel like burning the $2.50/gallon for some petrol. Looks like a lot of windswell and windy conditions this week.......Sweet.....

Posted by: Kaiser at March 28, 2005 10:14 AM

have fun in indo tom. Your surfing is going to improve so much! i'm jealous.

Hit me up if you have any indo questions.

Posted by: e at March 28, 2005 10:18 AM

blakestah, somehow stumbled on a surfer forum thing re: planing and fins... one thing that was left out of that strand was the issue with board weight... the lighter the board, the faster it can be paddled and the faster it can start to plane.... so just glass your boards with 4/4 and epoxy.

hmm.. wind.

does anyone have a backyard or some type of set up for glassing that they are willing to share? if so, let me know... elias at themainframe dot net.

Posted by: elias at March 28, 2005 10:26 AM

Agree on that second-to-last sentence about dudes ripping where i didn't even see a barrel op.

Korewin, now both our teams are home cryin'. Damn Arizona choked.

Hope everyone around Indo is doing okay.

Posted by: Hb at March 28, 2005 10:37 AM

http://www.surfline.com/video/vids/2005/mar/jsps/madness_dl_qt.cfm

Another great vid. Check out the first second of the vid and you'll see a dude gettin' tossed in the huge double up. I thought it was some seaweed at first.

Posted by: Hb at March 28, 2005 10:57 AM

Curren and right point breaks. Like bread and butter.

Posted by: curren fan at March 28, 2005 11:07 AM

wow Hb, that guy got tossed worse than a seaweed salad!!

Posted by: traut at March 28, 2005 11:10 AM

wow, that's rad dude.

Posted by: at March 28, 2005 11:22 AM

South swell rumor? Does anyone have any pics of the jetty last year when that big south swell hit?

Posted by: Chomping at the Bit at March 28, 2005 11:29 AM

neat colors and weekend experiment.

Posted by: elias at March 28, 2005 11:36 AM

Drove up from Rocky's place at O-Dark-Thirty this morning. Only thing I saw surfable was E.G. Pimp's stomping grounds. But Sunday was OK at the Lane and Saturday was better and less crowded. Fun to hang out with the other Lot Lizards.

Posted by: Bruce at March 28, 2005 11:39 AM

Hb...

yeah that was an ugly weekend for us.
i was flabbergasted by UofA...saw a ten point
lead with 3.50 or so left and then came back to
see overtime....what the fark?

oh well. go carolina.

wsp shows available online.....YEAH!!

Posted by: korewin at March 28, 2005 11:40 AM

very cool Elias!

what's the deal with Phillip Island? Beachbreaks? Who's gonna take it in head-high cold-water beachbreak surf? It would be crazy if Wardo blitzed through his heats again.

Posted by: e at March 28, 2005 11:41 AM

shiit.. phillip island

Posted by: e at March 28, 2005 11:47 AM

elias, any bigger pics?? looks like the shaping thing is progressing nicely for you!

Posted by: j at March 28, 2005 11:49 AM

Posted by: phillip island at March 28, 2005 11:50 AM

j, I'll post more when the sanding is done and the board is all clean...

as for progressing... pictures are can be a little misleading..
i'm learning a ton and getting better... but i have lots to learn...
time...

Posted by: elias at March 28, 2005 11:55 AM

I've ridden two of Elias' boards and can vouch for their shreddability. Not that i could actually shred on them.. but they felt smooth and solid and performed well (for me) plus they looked stylie! I've also seen Bagel rip on his 5'11" fish thing. Elias has skillz!

Posted by: e at March 28, 2005 11:57 AM

Elias, out of curiosity, what cloth weights are you glassing your boards with? say 6/4oz on deck and 6oz on bottom?

Posted by: cadaver at March 28, 2005 12:01 PM

depends, cadeaver.... the green one is 6/4 deck and 4 bottom..
others have been heavier... thinking that my shortboards now will be 4/4 deck and 4 bottom? dunno though..

aight back to work... too many distractions here...

Posted by: elias at March 28, 2005 12:13 PM

NEXPA
thinking about driving up to Nexpa from Ixtapa next month.
anybody been?
any horror stories?
i've heard a lot of crime in that general area, robberies, even rapes of tourists, etc. full on banditos.
my info is somewhat dated though...
just wondering if anyone has had any first hand knowledge of the point area.

thanks!
you can send me an email if you want to be 'vague is vogue'.

-j

Posted by: judahpeak at March 28, 2005 12:22 PM

whoops.
judahpeak at yahoo dot com

Posted by: judahpeak at March 28, 2005 12:24 PM

Thought I might make a comment on the South Swell rumor... "back in the old days" (yeah, I know, a very tiresome phrase) when all we had was the weather radio and our own eyes,(no computer, no internet) the radio mostly missed the souths. Maybe because they were so long period the buoys did not really pick them up? Mayber because no buoys south of diego? Anyway, the summer souths were usually a "suprise" unless a friend down south would give you a call. So come July or so, you just had to check every day, or maybe miss it. Which was pretty easy because back then no one in my crew worked during the day anyway.. But back to my point: Last summer was the first summer I really followed online surf reports, because it was the first summer that I worked a desk job in my life, and thus sat at a computer and fugured out how to use it. So the online site that I watch called a big south to hit on a Tuesday or something. I took that day off and hit the spot I like to go to for summer souths a few minutes down the road from my house. The spot is a fairly long reefy beach with a creek that drains out of a large watershed into it. Usually it is easy to find a peak with only a few guys, or none. But that day, there were , without exageration, around 100 guys in, or getting in, the water. This spot is pretty far any major town, except mine,(i.e. no one is looking out their window at it, and you have to make the decision to drive there) and my town is not major.It was the internet. Everyone saw the same thing I did, and took the day off like I had. So I was just as guilty of being a computer loser as the rest, but it was an eye opener to say the least. I guess when people get on here and rant about the damage that a site like this does, I do not think that this , or any other one site matters, so much as the avaiability of the information. Because, why wouldnt you use it? It is there. Everyone else does, and just because I decided not to would not lessen a crowd in any way.(except by maybe one, me) So.. as I am starting to think "south swell" again this year, I remember that experience, and get a little sad at the lack of adventure and suprise that is gone from my own experience. Both my own fault and the "fault" of progress. Anyway, just a comment on my experience. I would be interested to know what the age is of the younger guys on this blog, and if the excitement of adventure is as great with them as it was for us when we were 17, 18, 19. I am sure it is...I hope it is. FYI- that very crowed day, I still got a handful of really good set waves, and did not witness any bad vibes. So I did not leave bitter, just really shocked at the reality of the 2000's.

Posted by: web at March 28, 2005 12:24 PM

judahpeak - i've heard from many folks that Nexpa is ridiculously chock full of gringo surfers. I saw a photo with about 50 or 60 guys out. the wave looks killer though.

Posted by: Nexpa nexus at March 28, 2005 12:36 PM

hey cadaver, have you read that book STIFF by mary roach?

Posted by: Toad at March 28, 2005 12:36 PM

yes, i will testify to elias's shaping prowess. glassing sounds fun and toxic.

Posted by: bagel at March 28, 2005 12:59 PM

I heard the phrase in question was "Brigade fucks shit up"....

Two Charged for Forcibly Tattooing Boy
-
Monday, March 28, 2005

A man and a teenager have been charged with forcibly tattooing an obscenity on the forehead of a 17-year-old boy, police said Monday.


Officer Craig Berry declined to describe the tattoo, except to say it was a phrase.


"It's just ludicrous that someone would do something like this to another person," Berry said.


Kenneth D. Peer, 23, and a 17-year-old boy were charged with assault and unlawful imprisonment. Police were withholding the name of the 17-year-old, who was charged as a youthful offender, Berry said.


The two were in jail in lieu of $25,000 bail. A court hearing was scheduled for Tuesday in the the upstate New York town.


The victim — whose name also was withheld by police — walked into the police station Friday to file a complaint against his attackers. The victim told officers he had been held down by a man and another teen at a Norwich residence while they forcibly tattooed the vulgarity.


Police have not established a motive for the attack, Berry said.


Berry said the attackers used a homemade tattooing instrument. Berry said it was likely the victim would require plastic surgery or a laser process to remove the ink.


Posted by: at March 28, 2005 01:13 PM

Posted by: at March 28, 2005 01:14 PM

web,
consider yourself lucky that it took you so long before succumbing to a day desk job.

i'm not so sure the spirit of adventure is around like us old guys had. (i'm 41) when i was 13-16 we walked down to the beach every day in the morning to surf and at dusk to check it, if we hadn't surfed in the afternoon/eve. that's how we could theorize and guess over what the next day would bring.

we had a mile walk to the beach through a coastal canyon, and tuned into the sound of the surf. over time we could tell certain sounds meant certain conditions, that to this day i still use.

technology makes things easier. if i was living in my same house as a grom today, sure thing i'd check the cams and reports online before heading out the door.

sneaker souths rule!

Posted by: 3to5setsof7 at March 28, 2005 01:20 PM

I've heard some pretty dismal Nexpa travel stories. My friend got his rental car broken into there and his girfriend got hassled pretty bad while he was in the water. They actually cut their trip short and drove back to Ixtapa. Waves were fun though he said but the vibe in the water was brutal.

Posted by: fin box at March 28, 2005 01:22 PM

haha kimball is a dead man walking

Posted by: :) at March 28, 2005 01:23 PM

The Brigade Takes Over County, ya!
The Brigade hit County, and hit it hard! schulie, pops, knucks and ron took over the slop that was and made it look respectable. Ranger Bob didn't like the fact that The Brigade had Lucky Snaps, our team dog, loose on the beach. Bob whipped out his ticket book but schulie took him aside and told him who we are and what we do. No ticket and an apology from Ranger Bob. Bob saw it in Black and White -- we are The Brigade, don't become black and blue!
We paddled down from the north and around the point like the Huns. we had gome to boost airs, shred lips, surf circles around the turds clogging the line-up. Chicks came out of parked trucks up in the dirt lot to get a closer look. schulie replied by snapping off a fin under extreme torque circumstances and a collision with a slow boogie boarding grandma. The old lady had no respect and schulie made her spill some cash for the repair when he cornered her in the lot over at 'The Net' later. Heads were turning, ya. Typical dirtbag crap about tatoos. The Brigade owns NY to NJ, everyone knows it, no need to boast, ya.

Posted by: johnnie at March 28, 2005 01:40 PM

No Toad, I didn't. Did you read Amphibian by Barry Clarke?

Posted by: cadaver at March 28, 2005 01:47 PM

Posted by: i love mexico at March 28, 2005 02:05 PM

wow, that's awesome Jonnie.

Posted by: at March 28, 2005 02:07 PM

Don't know if it got mentioned on here but a great died. True reggae ska. Respect.

Posted by: Justin Hinds at March 28, 2005 02:15 PM

Johnnie,

Sigmund asked I follow up with you. Sorry it took so long, seems I dozed off reviewing your material.

In short, dream on!

Posted by: Dr. Jung at March 28, 2005 02:20 PM

I went down to Huntington Beach this weekend and caught some glassy waist high waves next to the pier. I just got a new Al Merrick Flyer that was pretty much right on for windswell. The weather was sooo nice. Water temp around 59 so the 3/2 was perfect. A few folks trunked it but I'm sure they were cold. Wish the waves had a bit more juice but it was a nice getaway.

On the way back we stopped in Santa Barbara and cruised the art show along the beach. Artist were showing off paintings, photos, glass, woven crafts and pretty much everything else imaginable. Life seems to be different down there. Quieter I guess. I can't help feeling it's time for a change of scenery, but it's just not in the cards right now.

Dang though, I coulda saved $75 if I bought the board down there at the Channel Islands shop. I did snag a 3/2 Excel Infinity while I in HB for 30% off at Jacks.

Posted by: Dennis at March 28, 2005 03:28 PM

Rip Curl Pro is on, heat #4 right now. Audio/Video is pretty weak and the live scoring is not working. But, it is on.

Dennis, what was the average cost of the CI boards at the shop? $450 or so? That is a freakin candy store.....

Posted by: Kaiser at March 28, 2005 03:37 PM

Yesterday afternoon Redondee La Casa was mindbending. Stiff offshores with unusually goodlooking sets rolling through....completely empty. I was stuck in the rain for 2 hours with a birdseye view from my car with a dead battery and no surf gear. Thanks to the guy who finally gave me a jump.

This seems so long ago.

Posted by: at March 28, 2005 03:47 PM

Kaiser, the CI shortboads are about $440 to $475, basically the cost savings is shipping. CI's in Huntington were about $30 less than here. Not worth the trip to save (even to Santa Barbara) but it's a good idea to plan a trip when you're ready to buy. The other nicety is the selection of colors. All the pretty colors that candy comes in.

Posted by: Dennis at March 28, 2005 03:56 PM

man these onshores are killing me! I went on a hike in the headlands and recieved a panoramic view of whitecapped froth...beautiful asthetically but hell for the surfer. As for board colors I'm often baffled by the paucity of colored boards, especially at our local surf establishment in the city. Why are all the fucking boards white? When I was in brazil there was no such thing as a white board! They all had such wonderful colors, bright starburst purples oranges and yellows! Lastly Rio N is very crowded and aggro, why travel 1500 miles only to get crowded waves full of expat psychos and hardened locals? Still the water is very warm!
peace

Posted by: antman at March 28, 2005 04:04 PM

BTW, all the peeps I spoke to were envious of the winter we had this year at OB. Didn't hear a word about Santa Cruz. A couple old timers - around my age - said they wanted to come up but were afraid of the big sharks. So I told them the story of the whitey that bit my head clean off and had it sewn back on by Blakestah at UCSF. I had my pick of waves after that story.

Posted by: Dennis at March 28, 2005 04:05 PM

KISS. Clear board. Black suit.

Posted by: at March 28, 2005 04:21 PM

KISS my ass. Just kidding. I'm actually a bit tired of black and white. Why not have a bit of color. Besides, I'm thinking about turning pro next year and the photogs will see me better if I'm wearing a nice neon suit.

Posted by: Dennis at March 28, 2005 04:31 PM

parasymptatic cronies scuttle
blorglesburgian dialects vex
Linguistic vibration blurred
Periodic absurdity reacts tranquilly
Lark

Posted by: e at March 28, 2005 04:32 PM

Uhhh. hehe. uhhh. Shur. Whatever you say bEavis.

Posted by: Dennis at March 28, 2005 04:52 PM

dennis - i'm with you on the bright wetties.. still on the lookout for a forest-green and bright yellow wetsuit!

Posted by: e at March 28, 2005 05:05 PM

Posted by: at March 28, 2005 05:09 PM

sweeet

Posted by: Dennis at March 28, 2005 05:12 PM

Posted by: Phillip island at March 28, 2005 05:21 PM

First off, sorry for the over-posting. I'm sitting at home studying for a statistics mid-term but I suffer from AADD. So this is my outlet.

E - There is a person in Santa Cruz that will custom make a wetsuit to exact fit and with color options-so I've heard. Cost is a bit higher than off-the-rack but the fit is much better, which translates into performance perhaps. Standout or standback!

Posted by: Dennis at March 28, 2005 05:32 PM

Posted by: Kaiser at March 28, 2005 05:38 PM

Lid of fade, metallic soot, emit Garret-simple, help mister ragtime to oscillate me, daffodil.

Posted by: cosmo at March 28, 2005 05:39 PM

That's pretty Radical man!

Posted by: at March 28, 2005 05:43 PM

No. 8

Posted by: Dennis at March 28, 2005 06:11 PM

.

Posted by: . at March 29, 2005 06:04 PM

It's been mentioned in this blog before, but Dion at Heatwave Wetsuits in SC can set you up in whatever kind of suit floats your board.

Posted by: at March 29, 2005 08:46 PM
Post a comment

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)


Remember me?