06 March 2010

I Like Sharks (The Hook/Sharks)

I like Sharks. Not the toothy kind, but the eastside Santa Cruz break.

I haven't been to the Eastside since they started the coastal armoring project. It's ugly and I really hope it doesn't ruin the waves. Unfortunately it seems no one in California likes the concept of managed retreat, least of all those cliff edge homeowners with the multimillion-dollar views.

The hotshots were tearing it up at the Hook as usual (from-the-beach video here). I managed to find a secondary peak mostly to myself off the shoulder of the main one, but it offered an inconsistent short right into a boil of colliding waves that knocked me off every time. Luke turned up and I just happened to be taking a video when he caught this wave (he's the first guy, in a red-trimmed wetsuit).
Tired of backing off occupied waves and the quick rights I was eking out, I paddled east to less-crowded, funner and friendlier Sharks, where I caught a batch of nicer rides, including a good long one. I've been going left a lot lately at other breaks, but this is Rightland, and I was forced to work on my backside. With so many waves, I had a chance to experiment a bit. I ended up chatting with a guy who was having a birthday surf with his daughter, and filmed him from the back on this wave (nice dismount).
(Happy Birthday, dude! I hope your kids got you that waterproof camera you want.)

Surfline: Fun, workable waves continue to make it through thanks to that steep shot of NW energy. Conditions remain semi-clean out there with light N wind, and the surf runs in the waist-head high+ range. Buoy 46012: 11.8 ft @ 14.3 sec.

2 comments:

  1. Wow, I checked out the Vimeo site. I don't like their chances preserving the houses/buildings there. Even if they get this bit fixed, with rising water levels I reckon they might lose the battle. No-one should ever build that close to the sea, the coast changes all the time. We have a similar but much smaller problem at Emu Point in Albany.

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  2. I expect when they built, the edge was substantial farther away. Check out these photos from just up the coast.

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