======== Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: surfing at night From: "Bonzer" Date: 18 Sep 1996 16:07:43 GMT Robert Barton Cummings wrote in article ... : Anybody else have experience surfing at night? : : Surfing at night is pretty awesome under the right conditions. Senses a little screwed up due to the shadows, eyes trying to adjust to the differences in reflection of lights from the shore, roads, moon, whatever. Unable to fully see the wave, you ride almost totally by "feel". It's great. I have surfed at night on several occassions. At one reef break, a homeowner sometimes turns on the powerful flood lights so they have a good view of the surf. It is easy to see the lines coming, but when you whirl to take off, you are blinded by a million little particles of light, not unlike the spray of offshore winds, without the feeling of water in your face. What a rush as your eyes try to adjust during the drop. Another place is a pier that has lights along the side. Perfect for a warm moonlit night. Drop into little black barrels you can't see out of, save for gyrating reflections on the rippled face. When you get pounded, you have to guess which way is up. There is nothing like it. -- See you out there, Bonzer --- http://sd.znet.com/~dew -------- the best surfer is the one having the most fun -------- ======== Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: surfing at night From: Robert Ireland Date: Wed, 18 Sep 1996 10:49:16 -0700 Robert Barton Cummings wrote: > > Anybody else have experience surfing at night? Last November a friend came over and said that he wanted to take a cruise over to the coast, and if I wanted to bring my board and stuff and go with him, then I was welcomed to. Well, I looked at the clock and it was already close to 5 p.m. but I was jonesing to surf so I went. It takes about an hour to get to the coast from where I live, and by the time we had gotten over there, it was close to dark and pretty foggy. I checked my home break and could barely see the waves from the bluff. Not to let the fog ruin my chances of getting wet, I had my friend cruise me down to Casper Cove. Once we reached the cove, it was already dark but I walked down to check the surf and noticed a surfer coming in and six others down the beach huddled around a camp fire so I ran back, suited up and paddled out. I was nervous at first because I had never been night surfing before, but at the same time I was purely stoked! The waves weren't that big, maybe two to three feet and it took me a few minutes to familiarize myself with feeling waves out instead of being able to see them. I probably only caught four waves, and managed only one good ride. I came in some time later and had never been soo stoked in my life. I agree with you Robert, there is a certain spookiness that can't really be described, but there's also a feeling you get...call it a pure stoke because to me that best describes it. Anyone can surf in the daytime, because we can see the waves and stuff like that, but at night, you rely on your senses mostly. It's kind of spiritual in a way. I definitely want to go night surfing again, but this time maybe I'll catch it good when the moon will be out and really bright. ~Da Rat (life's short, surf hard!)~ ======== Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: surfing at night From: bgwvdave@cyberg8t.com (David Doubravsky) Date: 18 Sep 1996 19:20:15 GMT I surf at night off of the Huntington beach pier. The lights provide visibility at any time. I like being able to surf the pier without a crowd. It also seems to add a foot to the wave size just because of the dark! > I agree with you Robert, there is a certain spookiness that can't really > be described, but there's also a feeling you get...call it a pure stoke > because to me that best describes it. Anyone can surf in the daytime, > because we can see the waves and stuff like that, but at night, you rely > on your senses mostly. It's kind of spiritual in a way. > ======== Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: surfing at night From: squeak6081@aol.com (Squeak6081) Date: 18 Sep 1996 15:30:51 -0400 Night surfing rules. I have a good paying job that keeps me at work when the waves are up during the day. So after work I speed to my favorite break and get there about 6:45pm and surf until 9:30-10:00pm The majority of my recent surfing experience is night surfing, my verdict: I LOVE it. Especially as the sun goes down and the sunset-set comes in. Usually a nice set from the air cooling off I think. No waits, no spongers, no kooks! It is kind of spiritual, you go more by feel than look. You also get really good at reading waves, and really quick at turning around to catch them. I love day surfing, but have grown fond of the "soul surfing" feel of being in uncrowded waves with a couple of friends. He'e nalu no ka oi ---Squeak ======== Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: surfing at night From: kma@netcom.com (Kevin) Date: Wed, 18 Sep 1996 19:57:23 GMT Squeak6081 (squeak6081@aol.com) wrote: : Night surfing rules. yes. i used to surf the southside of the Seal Beach pier from 1am-4am just about every day for about a year. because i couldn't see how hairy some of the drops were and because no one was around to laugh if i crashed and burned, i was a braver and took more risks than daytime surfing. i live in NorCal now so no lit piers with waves, real sharkey. i'm not about to go out there alone in the middle of the night! kevin ======== Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: surfing at night From: david essoyan Date: Thu, 19 Sep 1996 02:51:44 -0400 Squeak6081 wrote: > > Night surfing rules. > > I have a good paying job that keeps me at work when the waves are up > during the day. So after work I speed to my favorite break and get there > about 6:45pm and surf until 9:30-10:00pm > > The majority of my recent surfing experience is night surfing, my verdict: > > I LOVE it. Especially as the sun goes down and the sunset-set comes in. > Usually a nice set from the air cooling off I think. > > No waits, no spongers, no kooks! > > It is kind of spiritual, you go more by feel than look. You also get > really good at reading waves, and really quick at turning around to catch > them. > > I love day surfing, but have grown fond of the "soul surfing" feel of > being in uncrowded waves with a couple of friends. > > He'e nalu no ka oi ---Squeak Nothing quite like a little night surfing for an extra shot of adrenaline. I always have liked to stay out until dark. The crowd thins, and eventually you are left alone with the ocean. I become more aware of all the creatures I am sharing the ocean and begin to pay attention to every ripple or splash. I enjoy the heightened awareness one immediately develops when deprived of most visual distractions. My favorite memory of night surfing was one evening out at Pinballs, inside Waimea, with my little bro. It was a mellow day, maybe about three feet Hawaiian. It started to get a little bigger as it got dark. I didn't want to go in and so the two of us stayed out. It was getting very difficult to see, but not wanting to leave my bro out alone in the dark I kept paddling back out waiting for him to get a wave and go in. He got a wave as I was paddling back out and I was on my own. As I got back to what I thought was the lineup I saw a set feathering outside. Thinking I could make it over the top I tried to paddle up the face. No such luck. Backwards over the falls. The lip took me straight to the bottom and I found myself at the bottom of Waimea Bay, hugging a boulder, alone and in the dark. It was an interesting moment there at the bottom reflecting on where I was and what a rush it was to be there. Paddled in after that but during that moment of reflection, while hugging a boulder as the wave dissipated around me, I felt very alone, but very stoked. A pleasant interlude. Jock Sutherland surfing real Waimea alone during a full moon is the all time night surfing story I have heard. It was mentioned in an article about Jock in a Surfer"s Journal within the last couple of years. I can dig out the exact issue if you missed it. Waves for everybody. Stay tubed. ======== Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: surfing at night From: gjohnson@dream.season.com (Reality is a point of view) Date: 20 Sep 1996 21:45:06 GMT +---- essoyan@nai.net wrote (Thu, 19 Sep 1996 02:51:44 -0400): | My favorite memory of night surfing was one evening out at Pinballs, +---- Yow. My favorite night surfing is by fireworks. Once or twice a year the opportunity presents itself. I wonder if it would work in SF. -- Gary Johnson "Rosebud . . ." gjohnson@season.com Freedom? CAMPAIGN '96: Juck 'em if they can't fake a toke. ======== Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: surfing at night From: kelly krohne Date: Sat, 21 Sep 1996 21:41:56 -1000 Robert Barton Cummings wrote: > > Last night, Monday evening, after an all day drive from the heart of New > England (the People's Republic of Vermont) I arrived in Newport, RI, at > sunset. I really needed a surf bad, and although I'd never surfed this > particular break before, it looked pretty tame, so we just waded in. > > It got darker and darker. There was a low cloud cover and the moon hadn't > risen yet, so ambient light was about zero. Heidi and I were floating > around in the lineup trying to discern darker bands of grey from the the > generally grey darkness. It sort of worked at first, but as it got later > the only way to do it was to move in and try and launch on the little > walls -- it was only about 3 foot -- as they lifted our boards. > > It was fun, and I got a few nice little rides, but as we were enveloped > in near total darkness, I got a little spooked. No empirical reasons, just > got this intuitive jangle that said it was time to go in. So we did. > > Anybody else have experience surfing at night?The best time to surf night is New Years at makaha. Last year it was about 6 feet and everyone had a blast. But its hard to surf after drinking a case beer.kk ======== Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: surfing at night From: squeak6081@aol.com (Squeak6081) Date: 23 Sep 1996 09:02:24 -0400 >in near total darkness, I got a little spooked. No empirical >reasons, just > got this intuitive jangle that said it was time to go in. >So we did. > > Anybody else have experience surfing at night? You were surfing Eason's (1st beach) or 2nd beach right? That's where I night surf almost exclusively. I've gotten the feeling once, my friends seem to get it all the time. I guess it's our primal instinct warning us our senses are being crippled by the lack of light etc. And to protect ourselves we should find more reassuring ground (water). Next time you bother to drive this far down to surf the area, give me a call, I'll drive by the beach and tell you what it's like, maybe meet you on the beach later, and then hit one of the local bars for a few. Newport is a lot of fun! Respond to me and I'll give you my number. He'e nalu no ka oi ---Squeak ======== Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: surfing at night From: Robert Rainwater Date: Tue, 24 Sep 1996 06:15:32 -0700 Squeak6081 wrote: > > >in near total darkness, I got a little spooked. No empirical >reasons, just got this intuitive jangle that said it was time to go in. I used to get that 'intuitive jangle' when I was young, but the war changed that. I quickly realized that the darkness was my friend and I felt much safer and really WAS much safer under darkness. Later, when I returned, I used to fight paranoia. I found it most comfortable to sit in the dark, ready to attack anything which came my way. Everything I have read about sharks indicates that they are visual. It would seem that our safety would be greater at night, regarding predators in the sea. ......rainman ======== Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: surfing at night From: kcraft@acslink.net.au (Geoff Sims) Date: Sun, 06 Oct 1996 08:01:59 GMT I surf at night often, im from sydney australia ======== Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: surfing at night From: onedown@cruzio.com (Scotty) Date: Tue, 24 Sep 1996 10:03:00 GMT I look forward to surfing at night when theres a moon. The feeling of gliding on air is the best I can describe it. The only thing I worry about is getting hit while paddling back out, as its hard to see the waves comming at you, as far as seeing the face, I think I surf by feel. Some of my best sessions have been at midnight with a full moon. Another concern is a rumer I heard, about the Whites feeding at night, I dont know if this is true or not, but I ussually do short sessions at night. Scotty ======== Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: surfing at night From: nathanm@micromine.com.au (nathan) Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 02:25:23 GMT On Tue, 24 Sep 1996 10:03:00 GMT, onedown@cruzio.com (Scotty) wrote: >I look forward to surfing at night when theres a moon. The feeling of >gliding on air is the best I can describe it. The only thing I worry about >is getting hit while paddling back out, as its hard to see the waves >comming at you, as far as seeing the face, I think I surf by feel. Some of >my best sessions have been at midnight with a full moon. Another concern >is a rumer I heard, about the Whites feeding at night, I dont know if this >is true or not, but I ussually do short sessions at night. > >Scotty If you think about it - most of the important factors (wind, crowds, work??) are the best at night. The only major (and somewhat required) element is light!! I surf at night at Cottesloe or City Beach in Perth, Western Australia. The light is not too special, but when you work fulltime it's often the only time you can go with all your mates. On the subject of Noahs Arks (not to hard to interpret) - The story begins: One night while I was surfing with two mates at Cottesloe (at about eleven at night). The other two were in side after catching a wave each. I was sitting waiting to catch a wave (or get caught by one), and I saw this huge fin appear out of the water and scoot past. You've never seen a surfer paddle so fast in your entire life!! It was like one of those SCOOBY-DO cartoons. I was on the beach quicker than you can scratch your ass. The next day they caught a 4.5m shark off the West Australian coast. Probably a coincidence - but it makes you think!!! Nathan ======== Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: surfing at night From: ocean@arrakis.es (Ken) Date: Sat, 28 Sep 1996 19:11:03 GMT Many years ago, i was camping out at the jetties in Cape Canaveral with some friends and after drinking a few beers a few of us decided to grab our boards and hit the surf. it was an awsome experience hitting the dark water and paddling into black space. there was so much phosphoescent material in the water that after a while you could make out the waves by the millions of little lights which started to filcker just before the peaks began to break; the waves were small and fun and none of us had any problems with sharks, even though for those of you familiar with the area, it's known as the "shark pit", just lucky i suppose... a surreal experience that i shall never forget. i am still surfing, but not at night since in these waters the tides and currents are incredibly strong (water is sort of chilly too!) ======== Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: surfing at night From: Bob Strickland Date: Thu, 26 Sep 1996 07:04:59 GMT Robert Barton Cummings wrote: > [snip] > > Anybody else have experience surfing at night? Tomorrow (Thursday 9/26) should be GREAT - Never surfed a lunar eclipse on a full moon. -- Bob +---------------------------------------------------------+ | Every Thing you need to know about Surfn' Santa Cruz ! | | | +---------------------------------------------------------+ ======== Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: surfing at night From: gjohnson@dream.season.com (Reality is a point of view) Date: 26 Sep 1996 20:18:06 GMT +---- rls@cruzio.com wrote (Thu, 26 Sep 1996 07:04:59 GMT): | Tomorrow (Thursday 9/26) should be GREAT - Never surfed a lunar eclipse | on a full moon. +---- Unless overcast, which looks probable at the moment. -- Gary Johnson "Rosebud . . ." gjohnson@season.com Freedom? CAMPAIGN '96: Juck 'em if they can't fake a toke. ======== Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: surfing at night From: surfotter@aol.com (Surfotter) Date: 30 Sep 1996 10:31:54 -0400 I used to surf frequently on full-moon nights. Now that I live 'way up north, I don't do it any more -- too spooky, too cold, and too many large, toothy fish up here! But those summer nights at Trestles and Black's were pretty neat, a lot of years ago. Last time I moonsurfed was in, oh, maybe '85. I hiked in to Trestles at about midnight, and found at least a dozen people in the water. (That's better than the hundred or so there would have been in daylight.) I had a good time, but I could not help but remembering when Trestles was still on the marine base. In those days we had to sneak in through Cypress Shores, the gated community just north of the base boundary. There was too much chance of getting caught by marine patrols if we went in on the road. I remember more than one night out there, riding perfect 6-foot Lowers while the Marine jeeps patrolled up and down the sand. They never knew we were there. And Black's... In years of moonsurfing there, I never saw another soul. I don't suppose that's the case any more. Surfotter, Humboldt County, California