Nude Surfing?!

Is the water really that warm north of San Diego? And what about surf rash?

[Photo] Dano Dickerson, 41, who surfs naked, wants a judge to keep the nude beach open. “I’ll be really bummed if they close it.”

Fear not, unbashful one:

Nude sunbathers can continue to use a secluded stretch of San Onofre State Beach, unless someone objects. Judge Sheila Fell of Orange County Superior Court ruled Wednesday that state parks officials could cite sunbathers and swimmers in the nude only if a private citizen complained.

Someday...

...I want to surf half as well as this:

Malia Manuel of Hawaii wins the GO211 LIVE... at the Huntington Beach Pier on July 26.

Thanks to Sharkbait's blog for the link to cool surf pix.

College of Surf

Now you can get a degree in surfing. The hitch is that you have to study in Canada - brrr!

Linda Mar, 27 August 2008

This morning I met up with T for the first time at the crack o'dawn for a pre-work session. It was scheduled last-minute via email, and we ended up with mismatched boards, short and fish, but I'm not sure the Xanadu would've helped me any today.

Linda Mar was doing its usual thing, mostly closing out, with the occasional tempting shoulder. We had an easy paddle out via the channel north of the bathhouse*. Though we could see some of those shoulders from the beach, it was nigh impossible to track them down once we were in the water. The bigger set waves were walled up, head-high to slightly overhead. The smaller waves usually rounded into mush but were sometimes ridable. So we had to sit inside enough to potentially get the small ones, but then paddle out like mad or take a pounding when the big sets came. During one closeout encounter, I managed to smack my chin on my board - damn, thought I was past that! - but the 9:fish seems to made of tougher stuff than the Surftech and I didn't ding it, just myself.

T pulled off at least one ride on her shortboard, but Linda Mar didn't give me any of the wave-love I was pining for after Sunday's sesh. I caught one closeout but couldn't make the drop, and backed off on a lot more. That's one nice thing, of the many nice things, about a short board: it's so much easier to back off, when on a longer board I would've been sucked over the falls.

Usually it makes me a bit nervous when people in the lineup are pointing and staring in particular direction, but the object of attention turned out to be a dolphin. Always cool to see them, wild and free, going about their lives in the open ocean, and just yards away. Linda Mar is the only place I've seen dolphins since I moved to NorCal, so that's one reason to keep going back.

After T went in to head for work, I paddled south in hopes of better form. I could smell churros cooking at the Taco Bell, all cinnamon-sugary, mmm. But soon it was time for me to go too. I caught a smaller closeout and got to my feet (pop-up would be a misnomer) for a micro-ride. On such a beautiful, warm and sunny day, it was hard to leave the beach for the inside of a cubicle.

Guess the Joker wasn't such a hot surfer after all - he washed up at Linda Mar.

*Sounds so much nicer than "restrooms", doesn't it? But I have a major complaint for the City of Pacifica, which is responsible for maintaining them. Is there some reason why they have to be locked at 6 in the morning? Because there are people at the beach then, and some of them, especially me, would like to avail ourselves before surfing. And when the restrooms do open, apparently sometime before 8, why are they completely devoid of paper products? It's bad enough that the smell (when I forget to breathe through my mouth) makes me gag, and there isn't any soap, but c'mon. I don't always have time to drive to Starbucks to use their much nicer facilities. So please unlock 'em and stock 'em!

Wanna Surf Cloudbreak?

Here's your chance:

Each year a group of us travel to Tavarua to surf Cloudbreak. This is a dream come true for surfers who get invited to join the group on the island. The week our group goes is in November the week after Thanksgiving. We have 8 open spots (read more).

Sh-sh-shark!

Someone saw a shark in the ocean! Close the beach!!!

Marin County’s Stinson Beach was closed to swimmers and surfers after a great white shark was spotted Sunday night, according to national park officials. The shark, which was eight to 10 feet long, was seen about 7 p.m. about 125 yards from shore....

The nearby beach in Bolinas, however, is neither a county nor national beach and when it is posted with shark warnings, it is usually done by local town residents, a Marin County official said. The water at Bolinas was crowded with surfers on Monday, said workers at the 2 Mile Surf Shop, which also posted the shark warning on its morning surf report....

Beaches in the area of sightings are usually closed for five days, which is the length of time a shark tends to stay in an area to feed....

Peter Klimley of Petaluma, a shark behaviorist at UC Davis, said this is the time of year that great white sharks arrive on the North Coast to feed on seals and sea lions.... Klimley also said that a great white traveling on the surface is usually on its way somewhere and less of a threat than one submerged, which is how they hunt their prey. "I do think closing beaches is a good idea,” Klimley said.

Wait a minute - if visible sharks are less of a threat than the unseen ones, shouldn't you close the beaches when you don't see any sharks?!

Closed Stinson Beach is in the foreground of the photo, and open Bolinas is in the upper left, just across the lagoon. But no doubt the sharks will respect the boundaries.

On the opposite end of the fear spectrum, here's a crazy guy using a shark to tow in. Real or faked? Hmm...