FL Mini-Gathering Recap

[Man O' War]

If any of you are looking to kill some time, you can read this. It was originally an email I sent to my brother about a little surf adventure with one of my sons, Luke, 16, and a few hours of beautiful surf at a place famous for sharks. The Hart I refer to belonged originally to Scoop, who out of the goodness of his heart left it in CA for me after the Santa Cruz Gathering.


Hi Scott,

It was a neat adventure, a little on the order of a Big Flat trip. As you know, Luke is playing volleyball and getting good grades as a prerequisite for surf time. This is the Sword of Damn-ocles we hang lovingly over his head. So during volleyball season--which we are halfway through--his surf time is effectively cut to zero. However, Spring Break this week meant no volleyball, an open schedule. The question was not if, but when, he was going out. And along comes a long-period NE swell in the 6-9' range, due Tues. 3/30, and expected to hold through Wed., tapering off Thurs. On top of that, winds were forecast to cease on Tues. and swing offshore on Wed. Out here, this will adrenalize your imagination.

Luke saw it all coming around Sat., so he and I planned tentatively to leave Miami early Tues. and surf upcoast glass, do an overnight at Sebastian Inlet, then enjoy Wed. offshore overhead. It was setting up to be an epic two days, well-timed for a busy highschooler.

Luke was always sure that of the many upcoast options Sebastian was the call. He feels you cannot go wrong with that deep water power, regardless of surface conditions. On Sunday evening, though, a relative of one of the families at my church was called Home. The viewing and funeral home service were set for Monday evening. That meant the funeral would "inconveniently" be right in the middle of our departure day, 1:00 pm. We would not be able to get out of Miami till probably 3:00 pm, which also meant we would never make it to Sebastian in time to surf Tues. afternoon and evening. So, to make a long, painful story short, when I arrived home at 3:00, the cooler was packed, the sleeping bags and tent were out, the boards and bags were set, the racks were slapped on, and away we went. Ruth needed the van, so I drove my beloved '86 Grand Am with the stripped third gear, top speed 55, unless you have a head wind or are going uphill or have boards on the roof. "This calls for the patience and endurance of the saints." It doesn't have AC, either, but it fortunately does have some good surf stickers, thanks to Luke, and great speakers, whose sound is enhanced by the acoustics created by the windows that won't roll down.

We drove about an hour north of Miami with the idea of surfing Delray till dark and at least logging a couple hours in the water before finishing the drive to Sebastian another 2 hours north. We could see by the flags, though, that the wind was onshore about 10-15 mph. Where was the predicted glass? We bypassed Delray because of the crowd and chose more secluded Boynton Beach just north. Conditions were a bit disappointing. Sets were in the head-plus range, though, and OK shape. We did stay out till dark and got some fun waves.

When we pulled up to the Sebastian campground around 10:00 pm, it was full. The nice lady told us about a motel about 6 mi. up the road, the Surfcaster. We drove up there, reminiscing about the time we stayed overnight in a Cocoa Beach hotel parking lot and scored great waves the next morning. Sure enough, when we got to the Surfcaster, there was no one in the Office, no one to be found. So we parked in the lot, reclined the seats, and fell wonderfully asleep. 11:30 pm.

5:30 am. Alarm. Shake off lethargy, getcha mota runnin. Drive to Sebastian, pay the $5, park, hustle out over the sand to behold a solid swell, but First and Second Peak closing out due to the direction. Walk out on the jetty, look southeast out to sea toward that famous sandbar / abyss where the 10' hammerheads and bulls patrol--Monster Hole. Eureka!

Sprint back to the car. Out to the guardhouse, leave a message for Chris (Tumak) who's coming down from Melbourne with his brand new balsa paipo, the "Mysterious Turtle." Up over the Inlet bridge, see the offshore plumes coming off empty, pointbreak swells. NOBODY OUT! It's 6:00 am.

Park on the roadside. Two other guys suiting up. Grrrrrr.... I mean, Hey, how you doin? See ya out there... We make the 1/4 mi. paddle in 10 min. The closer we get, the more our jaws drop. No way! Left after left reeling off. Surface combed by 10 mph offshores, transparent lips, almost never sectioning, just peeling and peeling.

The other two guys went all the way out to the main peak. We stayed farther in down the alluvial fan, waiting for these empty second peak walls, so gorgeous, so predictable, so forgiving. By FL standards, it was a 10. CA gets better, but this was the best I've been in out here. Tumak, who's been surfing FL faithfully since '67, said it was about the best he'd seen. It kept reminding me of something, but I couldn't put my finger on it. The way the swells approached, the way they peeled, the speed as you rode and the angle on the face. Then it clicked: Santa Cruz Rivermouth, (which is where it all started for me in 1967.)

Luke got many good waves. He was so hungry, though, that he would get suckered into smaller ones and then get trapped inside. Monster Hole has a funny current which, unlike other breaks, draws you back toward the impact area instead of sweeping you away from it. It's a hard area to get out of. You paddle and you're going backwards. The only solution is to skip the little ones and stick to the set waves. They were all overhead, Scott, and things of beauty. You would have gone crazy. You would have also ripped. I didn't do it justice.

All the running I've been doing for the last year and a half did help, though. The evening before, we'd been out in strong drift for 3 hours at Boynton, then got those few hours of sleep, then did 4 hours at Monster Hole with all that paddling, and in spite of some cramping, I was still good for another hour or two at Wabasso.

Luke's last wave was a classic. It was 7'. I was directly inside watching it. He took off deep, gracefully got his feet under him, drew a high line in a critical area, and accelerated through this green backlit pocket right under the roof. I had to duckdive at that point, but he took it all the way to the end of the bar. He had a great time out there and is reliving it hourly. Ample reward for all those afternoons of volleyball. And there's more where that came from.

The Hart thruster worked really well. I just can't get over the loss of that slingshot feeling with the deep single flex fin. (I promise I won't say that again.) After Monster Hole, we drove 7 mi. so. to Wabasso shorepound, where Eric Carson was on duty. Tumak, who describes himself as Yule Brenner from the ears up and Moses from the ears down (bald with a Fu Manchu) went out on the paipo, but it was too crunchy for that. He was going to get mixed up with the board on a closeout and either ding it (balsa) or break the fin or be impaled. Eric had sliced himself up earlier that morning on his Blast quad, which he generously let me try -- very quick and fun. He tried the Hart, because he's planning on ordering one. He got a few waves and liked it.

Eric films from the boardwalk area about 20' above the beach. If you hang around long enough, he pulls out Swedish chocolate. The three of us shot the breeze for a while and made plans for the April 17-18 Gathering, of which Eric is the host.

Luke did some filming too and got some neat frames which he will probably upload and send to you, his dear uncle to whom he is so deeply indebted and with whom he shares such an insatiable thirst for surf.

All for now. You and Pam have a great Palm Sunday and Holy Week!

A satisfied mind,
Mark

[scoop]

Mark
now you have had a taste of an almost "has been" Hart board....go and get a new one and see the difference matee
You wil once you have tried Erics new board when it arrives
Sounds like you had a 'blast' of a session...or should i8 say 'Flashpoint'
lol...its nice when it all comes together


Tony

[Man O' War]

Tony,
I think I'll just hold out for another hand-me-down. Except for those little stress fractures from your horrifying 15-foot free fall at the Bowery, Blue Bottle is still like new.

Mark

[DarcyM]

Hey Mark -

What a wonderful description of a surf trip, complete with prerequisite ups and downs. Sleeping in the car ... classic. I never got a chance to see Monster Hole breaking during my short occupancy in Florida, but I've seen pictures of it looking awesome.

Post some pics if you got some!

take care -
dm

[Scott]

Darcy,

Sorry, the pics only load when I first put them on, then the next day they're gone--I'll have to speak to Don on how to remedy this.

Scott

[DarcyM]

Scott -
thanks for trying, but the pics aren't showing up in your post.