Headylands
At the bottom of the Marin Headlands the coast is peppered with bends and points. The potential for a rideable wave seems high. Could the right swell/tide/wind produce a little right point? Bay Area surfers have been asking that question for decades. Access might be tough.. but.. with north winds blowing offshore and the majesty of the Golden Gate as your backdrop it seems worth an investigation. That's at least what i've casually pondered each time i drove across the bridge. Never noticed anything peeling though.. That is until I received a message last night from a guy I hardly know named Rack. I don't know if that's his real name but it's what everyone calls him. I guess he reads the surf report and is a fan of all the random characters and whatnot. He emailed and told me about a Marin County wave that would probably be working in the morning. I was skeptical but figured I'd check it out with him. We met at 5am in the parking lot near the Golden Gate bridge and he drove me across. He had one of those windowless white vans with random tools and rubber and huge metal plates strewn through the back. He talked excitedly and had a wild gleam in his eye. He also had a giant scar running from the bottom of his right eye all the way down his cheek to the top of his neck. He saw me looking at it and told me matter-of-factly that he'd gotten the scar as a Navy Seal twenty years earlier. A mission in Nicaragua went wrong and a piece of shrapnel from an explosion ripped through his face, nearly killing him. "Daaaamn!" I said.
Twenty minutes later, after driving around some of the backroads near Chronkite, Rack suddenly lurched the van off onto this wide, unpaved bike-path. Silently we bumped down the path, around a few corners and then he pulled over and parked the van. It was still dark so i couldn't really see where we were. He said, "We can walk down from here." So we grabbed our boards and suits and began walking down this steep goat-path. Rack led and used ropes that he had anchored there years ago to descend the steep cliff. It was sketchy.
We finally get to the bottom and I can see Fort Point and Lands End across the way. The city lights still glimmering in the first hints of dawn. Beautiful. We walk across a small beach and then around a few corners. He tells me we have to swim from here so we don the wetsuits and paddle around another headland. When we round the corner I see it. A small, wedgy right peeling close to the wall at the NW end of this little pocket beach. It looks like the left that the long-haired guy Caffey surfs in Stoney Baloney, only this is a right. Glassy, inconsistent, punchy, shallow, fast.
We surf it for an hour or so before the tide starts to kill it. Then we paddle back and head up the cliff to the van.
Rack tells me on the way home not to worry about secrecy as the wave only works a few times a year.
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The comments are still tweaky. My lazy ass didn't have time to get in there yesterday. Artifact emailed that he's been getting denied when trying to comment. If it keeps asking you to "sign in" just refresh the page a few times. If you're still having problems kick me an email at e@niceness.org and tell me wass happenin'.
thanks.
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the above story may or may not be a fictionalized account
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Got up early this am for a dp. Checked the beach at 5:45 and it looked like crap. South wind blowing, too low a tide, and closeouts and lots'o white water. As I'm getting ready for work, the surf cleans up. I saw some folks out there but not too much in the riding. Still kind of disorganized, but improving. Oh well. Maybe an arvo session if the winds don't kill it.
Posted by: DennisE L P O R T O
Posted by: fanboy criticWOW!
Yessssss.
Dennis-If you were watching Sloat that was me. Some decent size out there, sets were wll overhead. Started out warbly and rippy. Sun came out, wind stopped and the surface turned slick. Some long walls out there. Kind of inconsistent and had to do a lot of hunting. Fast northerly rip too.
Thanks for hangin in there e. Old guys still like to hear what the kids have to say.
Posted by: kdallefanboy critic why are you all up on El Porto's nut?
word up Kdalle. We should jam again sometime soon!
Posted by: eI love el porto. surfed it nearly every morning before work for years and years (and years). you could say I am a fan, reprehensible as it is for me to say and even tho it is not exactly the most aesthetically pleasing place in the world.
Posted by: fanboy criticnot to mention the not so subtle homage to my favorite fanboy. all in fun. wink wink nudge nudge.
Posted by: fanboy critice - Thanks for hangin' tough on getting this forum back on it's feet.
Posted by: JimmieI've been out of the water for about a month now, mostly due to work/school and crappy surf. But now I'm ready to paddle out for just about anything.
Rode a few waves this AM. Not too great, but nice enough and water wasn't too cold.
However, on this one right, some surfer didn't notice me up and riding and blew the take off.
I had thought he would make it so I had prepared myself to go high over him as he made the bottom turn, but when he fell, I had to adjust my line or my board would have nailed him in the the head.
And then his board shot out further out than I thought into the flats and I didn't react in time to avoid my board hitting his with a quick turn.
So to lessen impact, I jumped off my board, pusing it back and to the side, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw my fin hit his rail and heard a mild thunk.
He said he didn't think I was going to catch it, being so far out back and that he was concentrating on a surfer on the shoulder down the line from him.
I tell him, "I think you better check your rail as my fin hit it."
And another fellow starts in saying something about how a different spot would be better. he is looking at the two of us.
I look at him with puzzlement. Is he talking to me, or is he trying to "be on my side" and talking to the other guy? Likley the latter.
Man, I dislike 3rd parties butting in.
I just paddled away.
Later I overheard some other people talking loud, leading me to think they are discussing some perceived transgression.
Posted by: duncanhttp://www.patagonia.com/bendtobaja/index2.shtml
-then choose "California"
-then choose "North Coast Surf"
Some nice photos of Keith Malloy annihilating clean, uncrowded Fort Point.
For the cube ratz:
Posted by: Ancient Jettieshttp://www.globefiji.com/live/
I heard that yesterday in the late afternoon, Sloat was pretty good sized. Looks pretty fun out there. Too bad i'm sick.
Posted by: MSGJust testing. Paddled out this morning. Got one good one..... And a bit of a kickin.....
Posted by: limevoodoowish i could have gotten some this morning. i am left wondering if your story is true or another one of your fanciful tales, e. i am going to believe this one, just 'cause I have looked over there with curiousity and faith so many times. i think i want to get a little boat or jet ski one day. so much to explore.
globe fiji - i think the webcast has been by far the worst one yet this year. jamie brisick's announcing is just painful and that in relation to a field of other announcers that leave much to be desired. i like the aussie announcers best. they're so much funnier. like when they say things like, "he came out of that barrel with a beard."
Posted by: steamwandand they don't have any interviews.
and now i can't even get to the globe fiji site. keeps timing out.
anywho, i second the sentiments about hangin in there. keep the site alive.
I also ran someone over this morning. He was a nice guy and there were no hard feelings and admitted he was wrong. I did not have time to straighten out to avoid hitting him. He got a ding in his rail....
Posted by: toooshyi agree that brisick is a terrible announcer. I like his book "we approach our martinis with such high expectations" though. I liked how he mentioned getting tons of hate email after announcing.
I think Cote is ok.
the only american announcer i enjoy is Mike Parsons. Knowledgeable and doesn't use too much bro-speak.
The Aussies definitely rule.. except for the older guy who pronounced Teahupoo like ,"Teee aaa ho poo."
i like Nick Carroll as an announcer.
Sorry to anyone who still can't comment (SFKneelo, etc.). Try to refresh your browser window a few times and it might work.
Hopefully i'll have a session with the javascript and try to figure out what's up.
Posted by: eif i have to keep smokin' this midwestern dirtweed i'm going to lose it. kind buds anyone?
keep pimpin'
Posted by: EG PimpWell I had an epic session out there. Was like the sloat of old. Insane beating on a monster of a paddle out. Huge walls, sun, seals, dolphins, claimed sharks, and crap load of waves.
Some real monster sweepers coming through as well. I think it must have got better than the posts above a little later on.
Personally I was a happy camper - best session out at sloat in ages. Felt like decemeber.
Long my it continue!
Posted by: ankorsone refresh and i'm in. no big deal.
Cote is pretty funny and seems sincerely stoked. I think Potz and Schmoo bring some credibility to the calls and deliver drama through thier voices. I quess they only do the Quiksilver events.
How fast where some of those guys going yesterday? SIICK!
Posted by: 3to5setsof7OK! It worked!
That refresh fix was what did it...
So... anyhow, that story with Rack was great.
And, true to 'It's a Small World After All,' a surfing buddy was probably with him in Nica…
If that's not fictional, and he does read your blog, I'm wondering if it was Padilla Field. If so, Tony Duchi, my friend, was there.
He was in the second wave that went in after recon underestimated the resistance. The first wave got nailed pretty hard. He was shot while pulling out one of the guys in the first wave. The bullet went through one leg and into his other knee.
The last I saw him was when he was recuperating in Fallbrook, SD. He had six or so screws sticking out, with some contraption holding them in place. I've had one screw through my knee, and it was no fun at all. However, true to SEAL form, he overcame that and, last I heard, is a SEAL instructor.
I've since lost touch with him. We used to surf O'Side mostly, sometimes Del Mar.
Good man… good men! There probably wasn't a shark within ten miles of you this AM. Not with Rack!
Posted by: SFKkdalle, I thought it was you. I saw a long gun catch a couple rights. One pretty good one and a short shoulder a few minutes later.
Posted by: Dennisold guys remember the "Surf Rite Inn"
Posted by: snakeEl porto at 42nd and The Strand
nothing better than grilled burger with sand between the buns
anyone know of a free site that provides a graph of all the swells in the water. Surfline has one that's color-coordinated and shows the height/period/direction for each swell but i don't have a membership.
Posted by: edidn't take long for some of the old regulars to start naming. shouldn't be too long before you attract some unwanted attention again.
Posted by: anon localWere there shark sitings this morning?
There is an abundance of sea life out there. So a giant harbor seal over the weekend who surfed a couple waves.
Anyone had any recent whitey sitings?
Posted by: toooshyWere there shark sitings this morning?
There is an abundance of sea life out there. Saw a giant harbor seal over the weekend who surfed a couple waves.
Anyone had any recent whitey sitings?
Posted by: toooshysorry bout that duplicate.
Posted by: toooshyI spent the weekend plus up on the far north coast and not only was it good here it was good there. Unfortunately I was with a bunch of screaming kids, and i'm still with a bunch of screaming kids. I sense I'm missing out again... 16 days and counting...
Posted by: mexiJust testing out the new sign in thing. Niceness.
Anyway, the Fiji contest was cool yesterday, but my connection kept going out. Oh, and go Bobby!
Posted by: danoe,
Would something like this be useful to you?
It's kind of small, but shows the directions and heights of the swells hitting the buoy (Monterey Bay buoy in this case).
Posted by: danoHA! I think i figured out the javascript problem that's causing everyone to have to refresh a million times after signing in.. Might have to upgrade to moveable type 3.2... hrmmm.. stay tuned..
Dano - that spectra chart looks cool.. but.. sorrowfully for me i have no idea what it's communicating. D'oh. The thing that i'm thinking of has little colored lines that go from left to right. The X-axis is time and the Y-axis is avg. wave height.. Then you can look at a color-key to see the period of each swell and also the direction. It's pretty tight.
Posted by: eHi Ethan, glad to see the fix. Off to Rocky's place for a long weekend tomorrow. Hopefully I can remember how to surf.
Posted by: Brucee, sry... kind of confusing... took me a bit to figure it out.
From this page:
Spectra and source term are presented for selected output locations in the form of polar plots. The radial lines in the polar plots depict the directional resolution of the model. The concentric circles are plotted at 0.05 Hz intervals, where the innermost circle corresponds to 0.05 Hz and the outermost circle corresponds to 0.25 Hz. Wave energy plotted in the lower left quadrant travels in SW directions etc. The blue arrow in the center of the plots depicts wind speed and direction. Colors represent wave energy density for spectra and rates of change of energy density for source terms and are plotted at a logarithmic scale where the contours separating the colors increase by a factor of 2. For spectra, the color sequence is identical to that of the maps. For source terms a similar scaling is used where white indicates little or no change, blue indicates a decrease of spectral energy density and red an increase. Per page, all six spectra use the same contour levels, with the maximum contour level scaled to the maximum energy density in the six plots. The four source term plots per page are scaled similarly. The spectra and source term plots are presented as gif files. Numerical information corresponding to these figures can be found in the bulletins.
You can find a list of the buoys and their data here.
Posted by: danoe, forget my last post... I think it is talking about something similar. Instead, check out this tutorial. Much easier to understand.
Posted by: danoI was the guy run over by Duncan.
Total Kook Maneuver on my part. Luckily we know eachother and Duncan's board was not damaged just mine.
Third party was some fat bald dick that thought he was an enforcer or something.
He stated loudly how another spot was a good place to learn to surf. I just loudly agreed with him. Even when he repeated himself.
I could have told him to fuck off, or asked him if that was where he learned how to drop in on others since he had dropped in on me on my first wave, or that he has no idea who he is talking to, or that I had 20 years under my belt or some other stupid thing.
But instead I just agreed with what he said and kept surfing. Earlier I heard two guys arguing about some perceived transgression, and an older surfer said, "Hey! Why are you arguing with him, it is like talking to a wall. What's the point, just move on."
I took that to heart, in my dealings with grey board riding fatty.
You can tell how much I have moved on though.
Posted by: friend #1e --
Check out the downloadable WaveWatch tool:
http://www.wavewatch.com/pages/alerts_start.php
It might be what you're looking for......
Posted by: limevoodoolimevoodoo that's it! rad!
dano thanks for the links man.
Friend #1 that sounds grim. way to stay chill in the face of lameness.
Posted by: eYeah, the only real drag is that this time of year I can't just wash away that session by surfing tomorrow.
Posted by: friend #1way to stay chill in the face of lameness? that's hilarious, friend #1 drops in on someone, kooks out and causes a collision, fat and bald guy clowns him for it and he feels insulted. I think it's pretty clear who lameness is.
Posted by: anon localAh, you kids and your new toys. Um, LimeVoodoo? I'll drive and pay for gas if you can hook up that “Wave Whatcha-ma-call-it” to my “thing-a-ma-bob” after a session up north this weekend.
Posted by: SpidermanAh, you kids and your new toys. Um, LimeVoodoo? I'll drive and pay for gas if you can hook up that “Wave Whatcha-ma-call-it” to my “thing-a-ma-bob” after a session up north this weekend.
Posted by: SpidermanAh, you kids and your new toys. Um, LimeVoodoo? I'll drive and pay for gas if you can hook up that “Wave Whatcha-ma-call-it” to my “thing-a-ma-bob” after a session up north this weekend.
Posted by: SpidermanAnon Local -
I'm tempted to just agree with you, but I wonder...
Are you fat and bald and ride a grey board?
Posted by: friend #1Seriously though-
If the dude was "clowning" me, I would have laughed right along with him. He was trying to make a statement, just as he was trying to make a statement when he dropped in on me on my first wave.
Or if he was genuinely trying to be helpful, I would have politely told him I was out of practice and kooked out, but it wouldn't happen again.
The guys that know how to surf always get their share of waves. They make their statements with their surfing. Its always the burnouts with a sense of entitlement that have to bring out the vibe to get thier share.
Posted by: friend #1Bruce,
We will be seen looting right above 1st Peak. I'll give you a shout over the weekend. Should be about 10-12 of us. Drunk Canadians and everything.....
Stay tuned.
Posted by: Kaiserhmmm ... I thought it was pretty cool that Duncan maintained Friend #1's anonymity in his original post. And then it was pretty cool that Friend #1 'fessed-up to his part in his own post. Third party comments? Hell, I haven't surfed in so long, all I can comment on is what I read on this here blog.
Posted by: Jimmie