Riding Little Giants

Early morning. The Cliffs went from head high to 2-overhead in just few hours.


Grey clouds and a fine drizzle discouraged many folks from going surfing on Sunday morning. I almost thought of not even checking, given the forecasted rain/winds conditions, but deep inside I knew I would have felt grumpy for not even trying; besides, my little inner voice kept whispering "the tide is gonna be just right....Just right...."

Sunday morning local report:
Today we have a hefty amount of WNW swell along the California coast accompanied by some precipitation and onshore winds. Size will drop dramatically by midweek, but it looks like we'll be seeing some good-sized NW swell by the weekend. More NW is being tracked for the 22nd as well. Condition-wise, weather will flip-flop a bit over the next couple of days, but we could see an offshore event by the end of the week. Tide though will be an issue as the week progresses.
Overall, the swell energy in the water shows westerly periods averaging 14-17 seconds from 285 degrees, with wind swell coming in from 270 with 11-second periods.
In SoCal, wave heights on the sets are running head high + at most west facing breaks with some DOH sets coming through at standouts.

I decided to check the local beach break first to have an idea of what board to use. I was surprised by the glassy conditions. It's rare to have a storm approaching the coast without on-shore winds. Wave size was impressive: 7/8 foot sets closing out on a light off-shore wind. I went back home to get my gear. A 6'10 (early 80's) pintail Brewer was my pick. The Cliffs were showing 10 foot faces with occasional double-overhead sets looming on the horizon. It was quite big for San Diego standards. The channel was closing out on the bigger sets but conditions were fairly clean for the size. I guess the angle of the swell was just right. It took me 15 minutes to get out to the line up. The current was river-like, pushing north. I set my mind in catching one of the biggest sets and calling it for the day. One set came through, I tried to paddle into the 3d wave of the set; it looked like a 10-foot open face and I couldn't quite get into it. I moved further close to the peak; I didn't even have to wait 10 minutes when the next set started building behind: the strong current was sweeping the line up and I ended up being the furthest guy out, 2 strokes and I dropped into "this thing" which started heaving way above my head, I bottom-turned mid-face and I saw it closing out 25 yards in front of me. I straightened out with 6 feet of water chasing me from behind; it finally caught with me and I went under. I ended up 50 yards from the shore but there were swirling currents pulling me in different directions and I had to paddle against the main current to get back to the trail. I figured the muddy trail would have been safer than tackling the wet rope hanging off the cliffs. I felt good in the water and I'm really glad I went. It was good experience after all…