Stand Up Surfing Extravaganza

Where to begin?  Every day was different, but they were all special.

Friday at Road L the waves were 6-8 feet, with a few heavyweight 9 footers rolling through.  They stood tall in the offshore breeze, and the crew (Adam, Peconic Jeff, Jon Ford, Peter, and the Wolf)  were catching plenty of dramatic late drops into sweet rides.     I have a fantastic image in my mind of Jeff dropping in and carving left on a wall of water at least nine feet high (if only there was a USB jack in the back of my head).  And Jeff’s camera has a good shot of me on an impressive wave.   But what with the 6-8 foot plus waves, Jeff and his camera were parted in the wash.  Which was worse, the loss of a day of  spectacular imagery, or the loss of the camera?   Me I’m a practical joe, and despite the loss of the Michael The Wave God photo, I said “the camera.”   But Jeff said it was the photos, because…

Saturday was Jeff’s birthday, and amongst Jeff’s presents was a brand new camera ("much better than the old one"), knee to waist high waves, and a freakishly clear ocean.   Standing on the board in eight feet of water, you could see the gentlest sand swirl on the bottom as a swell passed by.   A crab walking along may as well have had a spotlight on it.    Nearby a teenage girl was taking a surf lesson…she said to her instructor “it’s like “I Spy On the Bottom of the Ocean!”   The instructor (a local veteran) said he’d never seen it this clear in his entire life.

The surfing was playful, and the crazy clear water made it exotic.   In the SUP lineup were Jeff, the Wolf, Christian, and Paul from Sydney.

Sunday we moved down the road to Tiana, but a description of that day will wait for  more photos and video from Jeff.

(Photos and video by Jeff: At the top, Christian and Paul at Road L.  Middle, I catch a wave in the crystal clear waters.  Bottom, Jeff's video from the clear day at L.  You can find it all in his blog post.)

Comments

[bill miltenberg]

There were some great waves on Friday and Sunday that I enjoyed further west. Solid swell for sure, but 9-foot? Granted there were some bombs coming through, particularly Sunday morning but I didn't see any that big where I was. Though, there was a fair amount of east in the swell so I suppose it's possible. Hope everyone scored.

[Michael]

On Friday Bill, there were a few 9 footers, yes. In the case of Jeff's wave, my first thought (as I looked in awe) was that it was double head high...then I noted that Jeff was bent over, pulled myself together, and watched Jeff and the wave pass me. The majority on Friday were 6-8 in the big sets.

Sunday where we were (Tiana) I'd say it was two feet smaller.

[erik]

I like the boards look, did you mount the camera on the paddle?

[T-Bone]

Great vids, nice work.

[Jon]

"Michael The Wave God" I love it!

[paco]

there were some sceamin lefts on sunday. caught a dozen waves made two to the channel wooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!