El Primer Viaje
~California Norte~

And then, just like that, there were only five of us.  The other ten had drifted far up the beach either unaware or not caring about the rip (and drift) that had formed, and kept growing, after the last set.  I had no intention of leaving the spot where I caught my last set wave, hoping for another to arrive quickly.  It was “good” out there in my opinion, overhead and offshore, and my first two waves gave me a sense of hope that this would be a stand out session.  This is because for years I have heard that “it’s no good anymore”, or “we’re not sure what happened out there”, to “we don’t even check it anymore”, at a spot that once, years ago, was as reliable as any along this wild stretch of coast.  I wanted to let my old buddies, the locals, know that I was able to actually surf it “good.”  But my hope began to fade after 30 minutes when no more good waves had come through. The lineup looked quite a bit different than how it looked when my session began, quite a bit worse.  I got tired of slowly drifting north despite my lazy kicking and paddling, and after two more lefts decided to head in and look for some lunch.

 Leaving the water, I noticed many of The Ten walking back down the beach, single file, about 100 yards apart.  I had no choice, of course, but to take my place in line as I began my own trek back to my car, counting down the staircases as I went.  As I made my way along the shore I met up with a nice, older stand up surfer who began to ask me about kneeboarding.  As we walked along, he confided in me the difficulty he was having popping up to his feet on some of the steeper drops and was wondering what it would be like to kneeride.  Maybe the waves hadn’t been as perfect as back in the day, but that was cool.

This road trip was the fulfillment of years of dreaming.  When I lived in NorCal, I once marked the days on my calendar during the month of December and noted that for 3 weeks straight I wrote “offshore.”  Now in 2017, I had the opportunity to look for a similar weather pattern to develop, pack the car, and head up.  Getaway day was Friday, December 8th and I was ready to go, I thought, as I got to bed too late the night before.  On the road at 4:30 AM was later than planned, but would probably still get me through LA before traffic was too bad.  Twenty minutes into the trip my heart sunk as I realized I left my neatly packed camera gear in the dark on the floor of my office.  Back and forth my mind spun as I approached the next freeway offramp, “do I go back” or “do I just keep powering north to get through LA???”  Next thing I knew I was on the offramp, turned around, and heading south!  To have gone to NorCal without my camera gear would have eaten at me, driven me crazy for the whole, hopefully long, trip.  Maybe if I was younger and able to surf all day it wouldn’t have been an issue — “no time to take pics, it’s still good out here!”  But that’s just not my reality anymore.

Approaching the ocean that same afternoon after hours on the road, the sky was bright and the winds just light from the north.  That first surf check confirmed that it was glassy, and had been all day.  Only five guys out, head-high, clean, lined-up, and fun looking.  I was on it!  No hood necessary; a new 3/2 front zip TRUE fullsuit, along with the afternoon sun bearing down, made for a perfect first session.  A couple of sets hinted at more power for the morning session, just like the forecast predicted.  Said forecast also called for waves the entire next week: a swell filling in Monday and peaking on Tuesday into Wednesday morning and then a larger, longer period swell Thursday late afternoon holding all day Friday with waves throughout Saturday…. all with stable high pressure for all-day offshores!

After my first surf back in NorCal I was able to enjoy a wonderful dinner with old friends Jon and Nora Manss in Santa Cruz but, unfortunately, the evening flew by too quickly.  The conversation started before my first step inside their front door and barely stopped as the evening transpired.  Their home is filled with multiple pieces of furniture designed and created by Jon, and those who are familiar with Jon’s work can attest to his superb craftsmanship.  A highlight was having Jon show me around his art studio and describe the history behind many of his watercolor projects.

The next morning, I met up with recent SoCal transplant Sam Coyne for another session at the same fun beach from the day before, and scored offshore, clean, lined up peaks about 1-2 feet overhead.  Three local kneeriders were out (Mike, Dave, and Roger) picking off the best ones as I happily chased down several good ones myself.  As always, Sam was driving and pulling in every chance he got.  Part of why I was excited about this trip was a chance to capture some more of Sam’s surfing while I could.  That the weather and surf had come together had me beyond stoked.  That afternoon, after lunch, Sam and I checked his local and it looked super fun.  Consistent, head high and barreling on the inside, and I knew that it would be worth shooting given the spectacular late afternoon conditions, as long as the incoming tide didn’t hurt it too much.  Sam caught a ton of waves and I had a blast watching him and hanging on the beach. 

The mother of a young surfer asked if I was just shooting one specific surfer.  She explained that they had no images of their son, also named Sam, as he walked up to us after finishing his session.  Since I was only shooting my Sam, I immediately told Little Sam (age 14), to “get back out there!” so I could get one of his waves.  It didn’t take long for Little Sam to snag another wave and for me to capture ~30 images of him.  Mom asked if she could pay me for the images.  I graciously declined any payment but simply turned to Little Sam smiling, and just said “Sam, if you ever surf with a kneeboarder be sure to give him a shout out or thumbs up!”

Working my way up the coast I met up with “Bob” for a Monday mid-day session, just the two of us with offshore, groomed peaks that were slightly overhead.  Having arrived as he was wrapping up his earlier morning session, I had the opportunity to drive around, check the surf, and capture a few images.  I loved the memories that flooded my mind and was stoked for the anticipation of what the next 3 days would bring.  San Diego certainly has some size in the fall and winter, but not as often as NorCal.  Plus, you don’t get nearly as many “warm up days,” where the power starts to show, the drops are longer, and you are reminded of the need to get your butt in better shape so you’re ready for the coming winter.  Fortunately, I had been surfing a lot recently and felt pretty good for this trip.  As I kept waiting for Bob (“hurry UP Bob!”), to show up, I marveled at the beauty surrounding me.  It seemed like everywhere I looked I saw a nice shoulder peeling off or lazy peaks breaking with either-way options, all dressed up with tall, wind-driven plumes of spray arching seaward from every lip.  Late afternoon I enjoyed a unique sunset, dramatically offered up courtesy of the Thomas Fire in Ventura-Santa Barbara some 300 miles south. 

The next day was the climax of this surf trip.  I met up early with my big-wave charger kneeboard friend Tom; he was already in the water and got a couple of clean ones.  Unfortunately, not long after I paddled out the surf was getting a bit mixed up with the rising swell and higher tide.  Spending the rest of the morning checking out the surf and relaxing I eventually had lunch and was able to capture some images as I “waited for it to get good.”  Locals know what this means, and I chuckled to myself over the irony of maybe posting an image with that caption!  Over the years I’ve told many friends about how many great waves we wasted waiting for it to get good, where if those same waves happened in San Diego we’d be all over it.  Of course, it’s all relative, and when you have time, a rising swell, and persistent offshores, you can choose to be choosy.

In relating that afternoon session to my friends, I just simply sum it up as “well, it was DOH, and pretty much perfect”!  Large peaks rolled through all afternoon that were easy to track down if you were under them enough, given the offshores were on the strong side.  I got caught inside just enough by one wave that, upon ditching my board, my new leash broke.  “What?!” I wondered.  But, it was the old loop that had given way.  It’s taken 47 years, but I’ve learned my lesson on this one!  Making the long swim in I gained new respect for the bodysurfing crew at Blacks who charge the large days, and who get worked on pretty much every wave.  With so much water moving around I was worrying if I’d even find my board.  My fears vanished as I finally made it in and found my board on the beach, directly in front where I had lost it!  Switching to the F2K was a good change as it nicely handled the wind chop on the wide-open faces.

“Did you see this?” the message I received from Joe Coyne the following morning said.  He sent me a short video clip from a surfer who was surfing a bit north of me that same afternoon, during the same time that I was surfing.  He was using a GoPro with a mouth mount, and as he looked over his left shoulder to start paddling for a wave, in the bottom left of the view a dorsal fin surfaces, cutting through the water at a rapid speed, and disappears as fast as it appeared….and the surfer missed the next wave!  During my years at this spot I never saw a shark or heard of any sightings.  But I never paddled out and didn’t think about them either, and this trip was no different.  Up here, being solo with larger surf and the elevated chance of an undesirable encounter, I was eager to be friendly with those I met.  I was really struck at how sparse the crowds were, but I met so many friendly surfers who were more than willing to engage and who seemed stoked for my trip.  Along the way three different locals told me that I was there for the best week of weather and surf in two years.  I knew it was good but was still so stoked to hear these words! 

Meeting up with Scott and Pam Wessling for the tail-end of the trip allowed Scott and I to finally chase some NorCal waves together for the first time since my last trip here in 2010.  Friday morning the long period swell had filled in, and as we headed north of Santa Cruz to his favorite spot we could see many cars parked along Highway 1, and a good-sized pack of guys sitting outside.  I knew it would be hard to compete with that tough NorCal crew, on their big wave boards, so I told Scott to try and catch a couple and I’d man the bluff with my camera.  The tide must have been right as I saw many beautiful lined-up, long-period glassy walls as the sets rolled through.  One of those days that you wish you could have with just a handful of friends, but must settle for the experience of being out on one of the best days of the year getting scraps, or sitting on the bluff with a camera.

As I began to feel the call of home stirring deep within me, I knew I wanted to surf Pleasure Point and The Lane before heading south.  From 2003-2009 one of these breaks served as the venue for the KSUSA Titles-and the 2007 World Titles-of which I have many awesome memories.  You don’t get many chances to make memories, or, every day is an opportunity to make memories…. whatever!  My visits to Santa Cruz rank high on my “All Time” list of great surf memories and, looking back over the years I’ve been stoked that I was able to make those trips.  The session at Pleasure was good with a moderate-sized crowd. I got a couple of waves from the top through much of Second Point — really long rides –as did Scott.

On Saturday, my getaway day from NorCal, Scott had another commitment, so I went solo to the Lane with plans to meet up with Sam again.  He was earlier than me, as I had waited for the tide to drop a bit before leaving Scott’s, which provided the opportunity to capture a few more images of him.  Pulling up to a prime parking spot I had easy access to my gear, and the break, and easily found Sam.  He was getting a nice wave count and drawing some nice lines.  The day was marked with very strong offshores at The Lane so that there was some light-moderate chop on the wave faces.  With the tide being a little full still (during Sam’s session and mine that followed), we were able to sit under Middle Peak on the sets because many surfers on the Peak were not quite able to paddle in, allowing us to spin and drop.  I got 9 waves in an hour with four working their way into Indicators and two all the way through to Cowles!  I then realized, again, that this trip rivaled what I had dreamt about for years.  Here I was at Quality Lane, non-stop waves for an hour, feeling like I could actually paddle in and finally “head south,” the surfing part of my road trip complete, feeling alive and full, and blessed. Yes, I’ll return next year with expectations for a great trip, but somehow knowing it won’t be as good as El Primer Viaje!