From ric@discoveryinternational.com Sat Jan 11 17:28:13 1997 Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Your 3 best surfs of 1996? From: ric@discoveryinternational.com (Ric Harwood) Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 17:28:13 GMT Some people have posted reports at the time, others may not have. So now's your chance. With the benefit of hindsight what were your top 3 surfs from 1996? Here are mine: Number 3: ======= One of the few swells of the summer. During August I think. Friday morning, a beach nearish to Newquay with a lovely peeling left hander and shelter from the wind which was due to pick up. Head high when we paddled out, with clean, solid faces and the occasional barrel. Two peaks, 4 guys out. As the tide rose a bit the wave got more wedgey due to the cliff. Not very pronounced, just enough to fade out most of the rights and hold the lefts big, steep and open, clear overhead. I got nailed by a ten wave set! but made up for it with the biggest wave I'd looked down into in months and one the biggest I've pushed a board into. Got tucked in pocket, with it right on the edge of throwing and reeled a lovely loooong backhander. Number 2: ======= Saturday 2nd Nov: My first surf since I received my successful M.Sc. results, not big but nice, and seriously mellow. Surfed a sheltered spot in deepest North Cornwall {;^) An easy paddle out in some lovely clear blue water, despite the grey sky above. The Surf was chest to shoulder high. Just three of us out. The high tide caused reflections from three different cliffs, which cause some waves to fade out, right after you'd caught them, but then on others, payback, as the bottom dropped out of the face hehehe {8^) Some nice succy walls or wee tube into the bowl section right by the shorebreak where it gets shallow. --- Pull out before you hit the rock . Half way through the session a local seal pops up to check us out {:^)) but decides not to join us in the surf, and the unmakable waves right in front of the cliff were throwing out great blue lips. A sight for sore eyes {:^) Number 1: ======= Date: October, just before the arrival of Hurricane Lilly. Location: Ballyskellins Bay, Ring of Kerry, Eire. Surf: Shoulder to head high on a choice of 3 reef break peaks and a left hand point. No barrels, but lots of clean faces. The best surf of our Irish trip. The sun shone, the waves broke, the water was clean, everyone got good rides and had a good time. Ric -- EuroSurf forecasts: http://www.discoveryinternational.com/ric/surf.htm PGP public Key ID: 0766ABE5 From hewittt@aol.com Sun Jan 12 03:01:54 1997 Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: Your 3 best surfs of 1996? From: hewittt@aol.com (Hewittt) Date: 12 Jan 1997 03:01:54 GMT OK I'll play. These are not in any particular order. #1 July 1st. It was a south swell. I woke up and just decided to go out no matter what. Didn't even check, and had been sick so wasn't really paying attention to what the weather was doing. Walked down to the beach and was STOKED. The occasional outside sets were a couple feet over head high, with easy sloping take-offs that tightened and barreled approaching inside. There were about five or six of us out and everyone was having such a good time. Hooting for each other and loving life. All two blocks from my door at a break that usually looks like the kiddy pool. #2 A day down at Steamers Lane. Head high and as clean as it gets. I forget the date. But it was so glassy. People were oddly quiet and I didn't get the vibe from anyone. It seemed as if the glass just made everyone feel great about being there. We were sharing waves and telling people when we thought they were in the right spot and that it was theirs. Watched some woman pull into a crouch a la Da Cat and just peeeeeel along. She put the mmmmm in smmmoooth. #3 Hadn't been home for the summer in three years. Got off the plane in Newark drove a hundred and a half miles south with my board on top of my friend's Miata, tied down with rope and string and a very tired arm. Pulled up to the beach. I'd see my family later. Nothing fancy, just chest high swells rolling in and about eight people out. I shook my arm for about twenty minutes so i could feel it again, and paddled out, not in a wetsuit for the first time in a long time. Every guy out there was someone I went to school with or just had hung out with growing up. I hadn't told a soul I was coming. We were out from 12 to 8. I got home jet lagged, spaghetti armed and grinning ear to ear, muttering something about a missed connection. From ghiz@erols.com Sun Jan 12 16:11:19 1997 Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: Your 3 best surfs of 1996? From: Scott Ghiz Date: Sun, 12 Jan 1997 11:11:19 -0500 Ric Harwood wrote: > > Some people have posted reports at the time, others may not have. So > now's your chance. With the benefit of hindsight what were your top 3 > surfs from 1996? 3. LBI, New Jersey - Spring 1996...smoking tubes at Holyoke St. Not too big, but perfect for a kneeboarder like myself. just pul in tight, sniff the carpet and GO! 2. Wialea, Maui - February 1996...great point/reef/beach break combo that caught part of a large NW-W swell. The spot was right behind the 4-seasons in a sheltered cove, protected from the Kona winds that were chopping up Honolua Bay. Section after section and a nice hollow barrel at the end sandbar to finish the ride off. 1. Steamers, Outer Banks North Carolina - After the Labor Day hurricane passed I scored 10' milky smooth A-frames with 3 other guys out. The best of the year for me. HMAN -- Scott Ghiz http://www.erols.com/ghiz ghiz@erols.com From rtaylor@geog.ucsb.edu Mon Jan 13 21:12:56 1997 Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: Your 3 best surfs of 1996? From: Surfer Bob Date: Mon, 13 Jan 1997 13:12:56 -0800 > Ric Harwood wrote: > > Some people have posted reports at the time, others may not have. So > now's your chance. With the benefit of hindsight what were your top 3 > surfs from 1996? So I wrote: My three best waves of 1996: 1.) Gaviota coast, some February weekend. Wave of all time came my way. Long, green, overhead, glassy right went on and on. No time for fancy moves, just flying along at hull speed across an emerald green curtain. When it was over, I was left marvelling at what I called "the banality of stoke." Sometimes the perfect wave just comes to you and you go. No rock n roll soundtrack, no applause, no pictures, no advertising hype, no adoring groupies. Just you stoked out of your gourd, riding a perfect wave. When I paddled back out, a gray whale was breaching outside the takeoff zone. 2.) Punta Derecha Numero Tres, Baja CA, late September. Insane long righthand dream surf. Quarter mile bliss bombs. Turquoise longboard heaven. Then I noticed a whole truckload full of Mexican army guys with rifles on the point watching the lineup. I waved and they all waved back. Just having lunch. 3.) Gaviota coast, early December. A heavy, freight train right. This wave just stood up before me and peeled righteously all the way through. Tim Maddux was sitting way inside and when I came down the line, it was so stoking that HE claimed it with that enthusiastic, double armed gesture like a football ref uses to signal, "Touchdown!" Yeah, '96 was a good year for waves. Makes me glad to be alive. Hope you were all on it too. Aloha, Surfer Bob From tbmaddux@spring.ucsb.edu Mon Jan 13 22:15:43 1997 Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: Your 3 best surfs of 1996? From: tbmaddux@spring.ucsb.edu (Timothy B. Maddux) Date: 13 Jan 1997 14:15:43 -0800 At some point, Ric Harwood wrote: > With the benefit of hindsight what were your top 3 > surfs from 1996? In article <32DAA558.41C6@geog.ucsb.edu>, Surfer Bob responded: >3.) Gaviota coast, early December. Would you believe late November, the 23rd to be precise? >This wave ... was so stoking that [Tim] claimed it with that enthusiastic, >double armed gesture like a football ref uses to signal, "Touchdown!" I had flashes of the classic Ron Stoner SURFER mag shot from the Ranch (Cojo?) when I did that. Okay. My 3 best were: 1. February 6th, Rincon. Got some of the best overhead and a half sets of the day well into the cove from way up atop the indicator, big, clean, long, fast, kick-out-with-legs-TINGLING rides. After that day it for me was no longer about whether or not I could ever make the wave from indicator to freeway, but when I would do it, and how well I'd surf it. 2. July 18th, Sequit. Paddle out, don't stop paddling, take a wave, paddle back, spin in mid-paddle when at the lineup rock, go, do that a total of four times. From the paddle out to the end of the paddle back from the fourth wave it was a non-stop session. 3. December 29th, Pupukea and Gas Chambers. First time ever surfing the North Shore. Met up with Scott Thomas, whom some people might remember from this group, and paddled out into 4'-6' blown-out and chunky waves. Don't want to spoil all the details as I'm still writing up something from my chicken-scratched notes on the trip, but I was stoked just to be out there, living the dream. Now I need a new one. -- .-``'. Timothy B. Maddux, Ocean Engineering Lab, UCSB .` .`~ Santa Barbara Surfing Web Site _.-' '._ http://www.engineering.ucsb.edu/~tbmaddux/ From jefoat@physics.berkeley.edu Tue Jan 14 23:05:55 1997 Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: Your 3 best surfs of 1996? From: Jason Foat Date: Tue, 14 Jan 1997 15:05:55 -0800 > >This wave ... was so stoking that [Tim] claimed it with that enthusiastic, > >double armed gesture like a football ref uses to signal, "Touchdown!" > > I had flashes of the classic Ron Stoner SURFER mag > shot from the Ranch (Cojo?) when I did that. > Sorry to nit-pick, but I believe that shot was taken in Mainland Mex at San Blas. Sorry to say that I've never been there, or had someone claim one of my waves for me like that. That shot is an all-time classic, though. hoot- Jason From zpjames@unl.ac.uk Fri Jan 17 09:05:53 1997 Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: Your 3 best surfs of 1996? From: zpjames@unl.ac.uk Date: 17 Jan 1997 09:05:53 GMT >At some point, Ric Harwood wrote: >> With the benefit of hindsight what were your top 3 >> surfs from 1996? > 1. Doninos: beach break in Galicia pretending to be a left hand point, fast and overhead. 2. Pantin: another Galician beachbreak masquerading as a point, but this time a right. Just me and my friend out. 3. Trebarwith Strand, Cornwall: the wedgy lefthander in the corner with a monster hangover. James London Surf Club http://www.unl.ac.uk/surfing/lsc.html From njtravis@ricochet.net Thu Jan 16 05:42:37 1997 Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: Your 3 best surfs of 1996? From: Nancy Jean Travis Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1997 21:42:37 -0800 Ric Harwood wrote: > > Some people have posted reports at the time, others may not have. So > now's your chance. With the benefit of hindsight what were your top 3 > surfs from 1996? > Good thread, Ric and good times comparing the memories. Best #1 Surf, hands down April 14th, Cowaramup Bay, West Oz Actually hands overhead at Huzza's. Alright, so I ran over one of the grommets that owns Huzz on the drop, there was a whole school of them in the pit and I tried to slalom through. Nonetheless the best damn surf ever, perfect A-frame peak and nobody else going right...The first sizable set waves I reaped in WA thanks to the gentle crowd of the Perth grom surf team and a couple guys on mals going left. Perfectly punctuated the day by smashing the fins off my board with my thigh on a freefall. Knew it was time to go back to Cali. Best #2 Surf, August Blue Moon, Somewhere Special South of Gnaraloo Dragged mercilessly across the reef on a lefthander repeatedly thanking Huey for not killing me. Amazed to hear the Oz locals tell me a 7'2" Banks board was too short for me! When you're surfing underwater, the shorter the better! Best #3 Surf, Thanksgiving Day, San Elijo, Southern Cali Great on account of the crew...surfed circles around my little bro on a borrowed 10' Wingnut Arrow single fin. When he whined about not wanting to surf a longboard because they were for old outta shape farts, we switched boards and it got even bettah....caught a bunch of waves on his 6'6" and watched him crash and burn on the Wingnut every time he tried to turn. Can't buy age or experience ahahahah! Pull In the New Year! Fang From rick@mesagroup.com Fri Jan 17 02:09:18 1997 Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Your 3 best surfs of 1996? From: rick@mesagroup.com (Rick Ciaccio) Date: Fri, 17 Jan 1997 02:09:18 GMT >Ric Harwood wrote: > > Some people have posted reports at the time, others may not have. So > now's your chance. With the benefit of hindsight what were your top 3 > surfs from 1996? 1) New Year's Day at the Wedge... after 3 solid days of surfing a decent south we got hit with one of the cleanest swells in about a year. All the Newport jetties were firing with 2x sets, a bud said hungry, competitive little boogs were taking off so deep at crowded 40th that they were actually scuffing their boards accross the jetty. Wedge Crew was out in full force, we enjoyed a solid day of 3x peaks-- classic Wedge conditions. The pit was busy all day as the bros came and went. I remember one particular wave where 2 guys crossed half way down the peak, one going left and the other right. 2) Sometime in late May at Trestles... I surfed here a lot in the late '70s - early '80s but had never bodysurfed it. Me and Joe heard it was good in south county so we went down early with plenty of food, drinks and cherry bombs planning on surfing all day. As we hiked down we were amazed at the power and interval as nearly every well-timed 2x ride was a stand up barrel and from the cliff the lines looked as if someone dropped a big rock into the Pacific. We started out and were nearly exhausted by the time we got outside. I still have those vivid mental pics of Joe in the toob comin' at me and the look on his face as I ducked-- stoked! It was awesome bodysurfing as I got some long-ass proners that drew *HOOTS* from the standups. I had as good a time as I've ever had at the Wedge. We were hammered by about 4:00 so we left and tripped on each others rides all the way home. 3) July 24th at the Wedge... Big Wednesday. On the way down the Penninsula it was gridlock, I knew it was a solid south swell but couldn't believe so many people at once innundated the place. I had to park 2 blocks away. As I approached there were actually traffic directors at the Wedge which I have never seen before. Over the sand hill was 4-5 TV masts sticking up-- you could hear *BOOM* *BOOM* and see the peaks from the street, my heart began racing as I walked up. There were hundreds of people and cameras all over the place, on the jetty, sand and lined up along the birm at Cylinder's. I got to the pit and talked to Cashbox, he had just gotten out and said it was almost too big to ride. The attitude and electricity in the air was unforgettable. This was a historic swell. All this was during a lull so I suited up and swam out. The first set was so damn big that when I ducked my ears hurt from the pressure. These monsters were peeling from the jetty with barrels so big you could drive through a truck, probably 20 feet in diameter-- we were so stoked we were all *HOOTING* like crazy. We popped out the back like pool toys as the offshore spray rained on us. I looked back at the shore-- it was spectacular seeing over 1,000 people lined up watching... it was show time! There were 6 of us out, the peaks looked clean but were 25'-30' in the face and closing out hard, No bodysurfing clambake for this kid! I looked for a wave clean enough to go on but they were just too damn gnarley-- Cash was right, these waves were big, mean and evil. 2 helicopters were circling overhead, one was painted up like a Mountain Dew can. The 6 of us were flipping out with all this action. I wanted badly to take off on a macker since doing so would put me on vid somewhere and in the Wedge Crew hall of fame. Each time one of us started to take off you could hear the crowd roar. I just gotta state here that I just didn't have the nads to do it. If I had at least a chance of a ride I might have done it but the close outs were like depth charges going off. A few guys got pounded on the way in between sets, I stayed out for 3 hours without a ride. Since the only way to get in far enough to get out safely was to catch a wave I decided I had to pick one, my feet hurt and I couldn't last much longer. By this time blackball was over and the boards were coming out. I waited for the first few mackers to pass and went for a peak, it was about a 15 foot face-- actually the ending wasn't too bad but when I surfaced I saw another macker on me so I had to swim back out. One boog actually offered me his board if I needed it-- I thought that was extremely cool. I tried to make it in during the next lull but had to turn around, getting caught inside would have been serious. I had to sit out another 5-6 sets and said to myself, "if I don't make it in soon, I'll have to call the boat over", I think a mercyless pounding would have been better than the bros seeing me do that. When I was sure there was a lull I started swimming in with all I had left. I just made it to safety as the next set kicked up. I used my remaining energy trying to exit the water gracefully. I was struck at how big these mackers actually were seeing them from shore. The standups and boogs put on a good show but the monsters remained unridable. That was probably the single biggest surfing experience of my life. I won't forget it. Rick Ciaccio ------------------------------------------ Wedge Preservation Society - www.wedge.org Mesa Internet Servers - www.mesagroup.com From ajax@zapcom.net Fri Jan 17 00:07:12 1997 Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: Your 3 best surfs of 1996? From: Robert Ireland Date: Thu, 16 Jan 1997 16:07:12 -0800 Ric Harwood wrote: > > Some people have posted reports at the time, others may not have. So > now's your chance. With the benefit of hindsight what were your top 3 > surfs from 1996? Can I post about the three best days of surf I've seen in 1996? Do to circumstances beyond my control I couldn't get out much last year, and most of the times I did go out were on small blown out days. Bummer dayz huh. Okay, here goes: 3.) Virgin Creek, Northern California (some time in November) - low tide and glassy. Double overhead sets were coming in clean and folding over the outter sandbar. Sky colors were amazing, a painted blend of oranges and greys with the setting sun. Winds were calm. Four guys out, a couple more on the bluffs drying off, and one photographer capturing it all. I had my 6'6" with me but was undergunned. Can't afford to snap my only board, so I sat and watched for awhile, never really seeing such hollow waves here before. Stoked, but bummed. 2.) MacKerricker State Beach, Northern California (Christmas Week)- This seemed to be the place to be on a very rainy day. A bunch of guys in the parking lot watching and wondering if they should go out. There were four guys out catching inconsistent, but fairly clean storm surf. Most waves were peaky A-frames with short rides. The thing that made this day memorable is that the rain stopped, along with the waves and then a few minutes later a giant rainbow appeared over the entire bay and some nice lines started to appear. Everyone seemed stoked! 1.) Virgin Creek, Northern California (Christmas Week) - This was the best day of surf I've ever seen on the North Coast. Wasn't figuring on seeing any waves because of the winds and heavy rain, but checked the parking lot anyway and saw two cars so I figured there might be something happening. Jogged down the trail and caught a glimpse of perfection. Nicely groomed swell lines hitting the sandbar just right and the winds were offshore holding the faces up. Even hollower than the November day. High tide and overhead waves made a good combination and only two guys out reaping the benefits. Stayed and hooted for these guys until the sky opened up and the rain fell in buckets. I was probably more wet then the guys in the water so I ran back to my truck, stoked but sd because I didn't bring my board with me. 1997 is a brand new year and I plan on getting out in the water as much as I can. I'm very surf hungry but feel that I've lost a lot by not surfing that much. I want to get better and start tackling bigger waves like Point Arena. Only time will tell. DaRat (that's right, I'm back...with my father's new account) Oh yeah, I did have one memorable surf in March of last year. Cruised over to the coast one fine day and headed north aways to see how the waves were. Most spots were out of control, so I went back down to s apot that was sheltered by the winds. Turned out to be the most crowded place on the coast. At least ten guys out in the water and a few more showing up along with me. I wanted to get wet so I suited up and paddled out in the lineup. Everyone there was super mellow and having fun in the three foot surf. Hooting, sharing and talking story during the lulls. Even though the surf was not so hot, the thought of so many surfers enjoying the action instead of hassling and fighting over waves was what made this session so memorable. From tmt@svpal.svpal.org Fri Jan 17 16:02:52 1997 Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: Your 3 best surfs of 1996? From: tmt@svpal.svpal.org (Thomas Tillman) Date: 17 Jan 1997 16:02:52 GMT The three from 96 that stand out... Feb. 7. A Wednesday. Been invited to go sailing in the afternoon, so took the day off. A good swell had been running, this day was the peak. Surfed the Lane all morning, light offshores, 5 to 8 feet, sun, about 10 people out. Hog heaven. Met friends for the sail at noon, cruised way out in the Bay among massive swells and enjoyed a hearty scarf. As we cruised back into Santa Cruz harbor a few hours later watched big peaks rolling through at middles. Hit the dock and jammed out for the last few waves before dark. Early May, Maui. Staying at a great house just outside Paia, fronting this little bay. Swam in it every sunrise, no waves (Locals say: no surf here...). A good size swell hit for a couple of days and there were waves out in front of the house. After staring at it for long enough (you know how that gets) we decided to try it out. Once we got out to the reef it was bigger than we thought (up to 2x over) and shifty. Got alternately bowled and pounded, I even bounced off the reef in some pretty deep water. It was so wild, we couldn't stop laughing the whole time we were out. Some locals came over for bbq that night and looked at us like we were nuts when we said we'd surfed out front. July 25. The second of the July South Swells. Major jonesing at work, couldn't take it, out at noon. 6 to 8 foot pleasure point screaming low tide walls, 10 wave sets, sun, glass. Insanely crowded, but get lots of waves; many people just bobbing along out there. It helped that I'd been doing long distance paddling training during summer flatness, seemed to blow by people paddling for waves. -- Tom Tillman Lockheed Martin (408) 235-2833 tmt@svpal.org Wideband Systems (fax) 727-8907