Turn On It, Tune Out, Drop In

S WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT. W SWELL 9 FT AT 17 SECONDS.

I would like to thank the elements, air and water...
For conspiring to provide me with...
Surfable waves and east winds...
On the second to last day of the year.

Looks like a potentially surfable run this week...
With more east winds and an 8 foot swell on the way...
Perhaps it's a good omen, ringing out the old and...
Ringing in the new with overhead peaks and offshore winds.

Swell's dropping, period's holding...
NW wind doesn't seem too bad...
Hoping I'll be in a similar spot tomorrow...

Of course, it could all go to shit by morning...
A day in the life for Surf in Oregon.

(last second edit...tonight's development for tomorrow's enjoyment)

Getting late in the morning...
Gotta go to work...
I'll just take a quick look...
It's only an 8 foot swell...
I'll go long just in case...
Get there, super high hide...
Only one guy way out there...
Dodging bombs...
And taking them on the head...
The swell was too west...
No wrap, no reduction...
Overhead faces and constant...
I could make it outside...
Get past the shorebreak...
Sit in that hole...
And break for the horizon..
When the moment comes...
But wait a minute...
Look at that inside hole...
Wall of white water hits it...
Dissapates and reforms...
Into a chest high bowling left...
Hmmm? Current's a bitch though...
But better than the alternative...
Gave it a go...
Nothing too spectacular...
A half dozen reform warblers...
Right into the rocks...
All in all, at least I got wet...
It's been about 2 weeks.

SE WIND 15 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 4 FT. W SWELL 7 FT AT 12 SECONDS.

This steep beach offers up sometimes excellent hollow a-frames that break close to shore...
Also these peaks often explode directly onto the beach itself with immense force...
I've seen more than one unwary or inattentive beachcomber knocked down by the surge...
And small children, or even adults, are often sucked out into water over their heads...
Then repeated bashings by powerful waves has the expected results, drowning...
I have checked this spot in the dead of winter on more than one occassion to find...
Parents seated well up on the sand while their kids frolic perilously close to the waterline...
I usually just leave if it's unsurfable, not wanting to witness a disaster, or assist in a rescue...
Obviously, most people survive their visits since you don't read about daily drownings...
But the death of the 11 year old is tragic and likely preventable...
The death of the 16 year old would be rescuer even sadder on many levels...
I admire his courage, although wish he had never been forced into such action.

I was on the north coast this same day and watched pretty large surf roll in...
Watched inexperienced beginning surfers sucked south and out at high speed in a littoral rip...
Wondering if I would have to call the CG myself as the were sucked into the impact zone...
They were fortunate that the surf was consistent enough to continually drive them back into the shallows, I suppose.

~from KGW news

DEPOE BAY, Ore. – Rescue teams scrambled up and down the Oregon shore Saturday, helping people in trouble.
But at Gleneden beach, an 11-year old drowned, and a teenager who tried to save him is still missing.

Oregon State Police said 11-year-old River Jenison died at Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital. Jenison was from Westfir, just West of Oakridge.
There was still no sign of a 16-year-old boy police and Coast Guard officials said tried to help save the younger boy.
Coast Guard and Depoe Bay Fire Department crews responded to Gleneden Beach about 1:15 p.m. after they received reports of a young swimmer having trouble in the water. Five people went into the water to try and save the boy, but were unsuccessful, said Coast Guard Boatswain’s Mate Chief James Greenlief.
However, a Depoe Bay firefighter spotted the boy, and pulled him out of the water.
One of the people who tried to help was the16-year-old boy. He did not make it back to shore. Search efforts were suspended after several hours, at 4:45 p.m.
Greenlief said the boys did not know each other.
“This was strictly a Good Samaritan-type situation,” he said.
During this rescue, the Coast Guard crews were dispatched to an unrelated call at Otter Rock, about 10 miles south, for a report of a surfer in trouble in the water.
When crews arrived they found the surfer’s cousins had been able to rescue him back to the shore. He was treated for hypothermia but was expected to survive.

~photo via toneman

~photo by Servais


S WIND 35 TO 45 KT. COMBINED SEAS 15 TO 17 FT DOMINANT PERIOD 12 SECONDS.

To the mind that is still, the ocean surrenders.
If not in the barrel, where else to find it?
All is revealed in each droplet of the lip.
To best achieve tranquility, fade deep.
Better to practice than to talk.
Not the board, the emptiness within the wave.
Each journey begins with a single stroke.
The deeper you go, the quieter you become.
Life is like paddling into a wave that has no exit.
There is no then, no later, and no now. Just go.
When you are there, there is no there there.
A perfect wave has no rider.