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Showing posts with label session. Show all posts
Showing posts with label session. Show all posts

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Persevere

7 comments Posted by Wave Farmer at 11:46 AM


N WIND 10 TO 15 KT WITH GUSTS TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 3 FT. NW SWELL 3 FT AT 8 SECONDS.

After a deep, deep Central Willamette Valley mode morning meeting on Tuesday I scrambled for the Central Oregon Coast in hopes of finding some sunshine to go along with the forecast 3 foot swell. I wasn't overly optimistic due to the 25 knot gusts, the 5 foot wind swell and the 3 foot swell that had dropped to 1 foot.

Then my low hopes were dashed upon arrival at Newport as I sighted the whitecaps frothing on the horizon. Cursory checks of north wind protected headlands up the coast yielded sub-miniature dribblers that offered little chance of propulsion despite proper preparation of bringing a 10' 6" single fin log.

Spot after spot checked with windswept bays and beach breaks continued to crush spirits as darkened coastal taverns beckoned and looked increasingly tempting. At Tillamook, I bagged and headed east on Highway 6 resigned to my valley fate. As the dairy farm stench wisped about me I rebelled...hung an illegal u-turn and resumed my northward trek up Highway 1.

At the last ditch spot I pondered just hiking in with survival supplies [beer] and hydrating in the sun. But, being sensible, I lugged the heavy longboard down the trail knowing failure to do so meant surrender on my part and I could not stomach it.

Upon arrival on the sand, I was greeted by an empty lineup...empty of surfers and empty of waves. After a few moments, as I battled the steady wind to trudge forward, I saw a mysto peak break about 20 feet from shore in about 10 inches of water...solid shin to knee high and perfect.

Making it to 3rd creek I deposited my Kings of Beer in the frigid waters and watched the north end. Sure enough, a peak showed and a right reeled off in deeper water that looked small but surfable. I suited up and paddled out. The waves were tiny but perfect little offshore peelers with a fun little noseride section.

After about an hour and a half of fun in the sun and surf by my lonesome, the switch was thrown and the little peaks turned off. I paddled south in hopes that a new wave would materialize but no such luck. Once I entered the wind tunnel unprotected 2nd creek area, I opted to head in and consume my beers on the beach.

All in all, coulda been better but it was almost much, much worse.

 

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Friday, August 15, 2008

Bombas

1 comments Posted by Wave Farmer at 6:41 PM


N WIND 20 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 5 FT. W SWELL 8 FT AT 11 SECONDS.
The post could have been titled "Not Paying Attention"...
I went with the time tested plan of "Just Go"...
Last look at buoys indicated a 5 foot swell...
So, I wasn't really ready for an 8 foot swell...
I had to watch, look where to paddle out, and stretch...
I almost felt like fall!
Paddled out with a guy I have surfed with several times...
Still don't know his name...
Shortboarder guy him, longboarder guy me...
Never the twain shall meet?
Anyway, it was solid...
With a capital "S"...
Had to massage my balls back down into their sack on a couple occassions...
Not huge big, but bigger than comfortable on a 10' 6" board...
Lots of early ins, down the line, tempting tuck'ds to get fuck'd on...
I dodged the vast majority...
But then, I don't know...
Overconfident or cocky...
After about 8 head to head and a half screamers...
Went for the ill advised floater reentry...
Works fine on a sub 7 foot board...
But not so much on a 2 board equivalent...
The closeout/wipeout resulted in a blow to the knee...
That ended a session about to end anyway...
Tomorrow, hoping for more...
If...
No...
Despite the sore knee.

 

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Monday, July 14, 2008

Whitecaps, Windstorms & Wasted Time

0 comments Posted by Wave Farmer at 9:11 AM


N WIND 15 KT WITH GUSTS TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT. NW SWELL 4 FT AT 6 SECONDS.
4 feet at 6 seconds...
Not on the central coast...
Or north coast for that matter...
Had some business in Eugene...
So headed over to Florence for a look...
Nope...
Briefly considered a southern foray...
But 30 knot winds...
Whitecaps to the horizon...
And a 1 foot swell...
Put the kabosh on that...
So headed north...
Checked a 1/2 dozen spots...
Nope the 6th power...
On each and everyone...
Final spot the only one...
With protection from the north wind...
Yielded tiny but smooth shin to knee highs...
That ended in shin to knee deep water...
Not a great surf day...
But felt good to get wet...
After 300 miles on the road.

 

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Thursday, July 10, 2008

And Now...

0 comments Posted by Wave Farmer at 4:58 PM


Back to Surfing...
Just posted this pic last month...
But it applies.

Surfed on Tuesday and Wednesday at PC...
Following on the heels of the Cole Ortega incident...
Lots of talk about what to be done...
Who's to blame...
And talk of buoys, lifeguards & regulations...
I feel bad for the boy...
But you can't regulate everyone's safety...
It's an inherently risky endeavor...
Although getting hit by a boat...
Isn't a risk you generally consider.

Tuesday's surf was pretty dismal...
Quick closed out shorebreaks...
Wednesday, paddled out with HD...
He wanted to go drink coffee...
But I used the Jedi Mind Trick...
To persuade him to surf...
And keep his surf streak alive...
Once we got out, he said...
"Bigger than it looked"...
I answered...
"And crappier than it looked too"...
We caught a few and hung it up...
He went to drink his coffee...
And I went and surfed the closed out shorebreak again.

Later that day, I paddled across the above river...
In misbegotten hope of surf...
I made it about halfway through the flats...
Before the force of the wind...
Drove me backwards...
I stashed the board...
And struggled forward to the beach...
The nuking north wind...
Needles to say, had destroyed the surf...
And the blowing sand storm...
Sent me packing quickly.

 

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Thursday, June 12, 2008

[surf break gamma]

0 comments Posted by Wave Farmer at 5:28 PM


N WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT. W SWELL 4 FT AT 10 SECONDS.
The coast cam from last night showed this lonely wave breaking outside...
It wasn't a barrel, lined up, nor did it look like it connected to the inside...
But I kept looking at it and it was somehow an essential wave for me...
Oregon can certainly stack waves up and through them at you in quantity...
But a lonely peak all by itself is often a fairly uncommon commodity.
Headed to the coast in the early am hoping for something...
I didn't have particularly high hopes but thought it'd work out...
Pulled up to [surf break alpha] to find a couple out on it...
One surfer was someone I knew and almost paddled out just to chat...
But the bumpiness, the softness and the half dozen guys suiting up...
To surf the single peaked bumpy softness dissuaded me from going...
Checked [surf break beta], it was better but not by much...
Watched and watched, a guy came in, walked up and muttered...
"Pretty mushy" with a frown and a soft shaking of the head, I fled...
Checked [surf breaks c, d, e, f & g], all looking fairly dismal...
Although [surf break g], through binoculars, and from above, looked doable...
Surfed [surf break gamma] for about 2 hours, pretty small but some fun ones...
All by my lonesome, some thigh high peelers connecting through to the shallows.

 

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Monday, June 09, 2008

Messy, Messy, Messy

2 comments Posted by Wave Farmer at 8:42 PM


W WIND 20 TO 30 KTS. COMBINED SEAS 9 FT DOMINANT PERIOD 8 SECONDS.
Surfed some truly slopptacular waves this afternoon...
Watched for awhile, efforting to talk myself out of paddling out...
Then, the accursed sea, drew me from the warmth of my car...
Into a frothing maelstrom that is (on calmer days) a break...
Caught a handful of largely unsatisfying weird waveular bumps...
All whilst battling to stay sat up upon the polyurethane spear...
Due to massive gusting winds hurrying north to the low pressure...
The additional packing of my belly with salmon and ale at lunch...
Did not help, if anything, it made breathing diffcult...
And continually threatened to launch violently from my gullet...
But the waves were conquered and no chumming in the end...
The hot shower afterwards was nice.

 

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Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Grayness

7 comments Posted by Wave Farmer at 8:24 PM


NW WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT. NW SWELL 5 TO 6 FT AT 10 SECONDS.
It wasn't the greatest session of all time...
But I've surfed a lot worse a lot of times...
Rough start to the day though...
Got a speeding ticket headed to the coast...
I was doing 70 which, I suppose, is speeding...
Anyway, got in the water around 1pm...
Only 1 other guy out on a decent peak...
Paddled out to keep him company...
Since it was the only peak really working...
We traded off waves for a bit...
Then another peak started working...
So we spread out a bit...
The lefts were punchy and short...
A few of them hollowing out enough to tuck into...
For a brief spraying over the back...
The rights were softer...
And rolled all the way to the inside...
Lotsa little fish in the water...
And the barking of sea lions echoing off the cliffs...
Last Friday I saw a whale breaching offshore...
All in a day's work at Surf In Oregon.

 

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Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Four Horsemen

3 comments Posted by Wave Farmer at 2:31 PM


NW WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT. NW SWELL 8 FT AT 12 SECONDS.
The Four Horsemen represent my four waves today...
Ola Uno, solid overhead...
Late take off, too steep, purl, over the end of the nose, serious drubbing...
Ola Dos, in betweener, chest high...
Get in early, heading down the line, double up, launched, re-drubbed...
Ola Tres, another OH'er...
Swing the nose around to face a massive close out, drubbed and dragged...
Ola Cuatro y finito, muy largo...
Went left, looked right, right looked better, went right, clipped by lip...
Drubbed, spun and drug...
Game over...Adios...
It looked intermittently good from shore...
The reality was much different.

 

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Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Bag of Tricks

1 comments Posted by Wave Farmer at 9:00 PM


S WIND 15 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 5 FT. SW SWELL 5 FT AT 11 SECONDS.
Didn't wrap up work 'til late and got in the water about 4:30...
After driving around for over an hour looking for places to surf...
First spot, was an absolute lake, flatter than a pancake...
Enough south in the swell that it couldn't wrap around T-Head...
Checked a north cove, but it was a high tide mess...
There was a movie production truck parked in the lot...
Readying for a big surf vampire movie shoot tomorrow...
Eyed a couple peaks coming round the bends of highway one...
Even pulled off and hiked out to take a closer look...
Surfable, but breaking against the cliff and big backwash...
Passed on another cove to check a spot further south...
Here I saw my first surfer, struggling to stay in position...
And chasing lefts that were a little too quick for him...
The wind was also kicking up and I opted for some protection...
Hiking down in the rain, I thought it might be good...
And it was pretty solid, chest to head high thumpers...
Rights and lefts that had you looking out over the back...
To determine if a quick exit was in order or not...
Since the paddle out was not altogether pleasant...
Caught a handful of waves, glassy and pocked by rain.

 

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Sunday, April 06, 2008

Contraptions

6 comments Posted by Wave Farmer at 11:29 AM


SW WIND 15 TO 20 KT...RISING TO 20 TO 25 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES BUILDING TO 5 FT. W SWELL 9 FT AT 8 SECONDS.
I was surfing last week in a north Oregon coast cove. This cove has a waterfall on the north end, 3 creeks that flow from the forest that lines it, and is framed by rocky headlands...in other words an archetypal, pristine Oregon beach. While occasional flotsam will wash up, a fishing boat will work offshore, and it is one of Oregon's one of most popular, and crowded, beaches. I was still disturbed to see one of these roar around the south headland and proceed to roil about in the northend lineup...jumping off waves, revving and spewing and generally disturbing the peace.
While I suppose these devices may have their place, even within the surfing world, I don't think it is within earshot of stand-up surfing lineups.

 

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Monday, March 31, 2008

The Streak

0 comments Posted by Wave Farmer at 9:15 PM


N WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT. NW SWELL 4 FT AT 8 SECONDS.
After weeks of crappy weather, outta control surf or some other hindrance to proper surfs...I actually have the semblance of a streak right now...that's right! Two days of surfing in a row!
Of course, the waves got pretty miniscule...waist high and smaller this afternoon with not alot of push. I'll take a 4 or 5 foot swell, and that's on tap all week...but gimme some period! Anyway, the streak comes to an end tomorrow...have to work.

 

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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Reform

0 comments Posted by Wave Farmer at 9:29 PM


SW WIND 15 KT WITH GUSTS TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT. W SWELL 8 FT AT 12 SECONDS.

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.

 

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Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Smorgas Leftsa Bord

0 comments Posted by Wave Farmer at 9:46 PM


E WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT 12 SECONDS.
Lotsa, lotsa lefts today...
Checked one spot...
Water all frothy...
But a brown froth...
A couple out dodging it...
Opted for another spot...
No brown froth...
Just lotsa, lotsa lefts...
Kinda doubled up swell tho...
That made it peak & die...
On alot of the waves...
But an occassional wall...
Made its way through...
And found a few of those...
Sunny, no wind and surf...
This is Surf in Oregon?
(It happens...)

 

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Monday, February 18, 2008

Anybody Check Indian?

3 comments Posted by Wave Farmer at 8:47 PM

~Photo by J. Horne


S WIND 15 KT. WIND WAVES 3 FT. W SWELL 5 FT AT 15 SECONDS.
Today's post was initially intended as a brief recap of today's surf...
A surf that was special most in the sense it was the first in a couple weeks...
But then, of course, looking for the right image everything changes...
Surfing the web for a shot that showed a rock I had noticed failed...
But this shot basically was the view during every paddle back out...
Pretty majestic but also a maelstrom of sorts...
The waves definitely felt a bit bigger than the 5 foot forecast...
But they were rideable, if a little bit messy...
Seeing the shot of Terrible Tilly...
Made me think of other iconic Oregon images...
The Haystack Rocks, whether at Cannon or Cape K...
The Glenesselin and the Peter Iredale...
Coves and capes, points and spits...
Taken together this famous lighthouse carries some weight...
And here's an excerpt from the site I poached the shot from:
It was September 1, 1957, just past the stroke of midnight when Keeper Oswald Allik darkened the light on Tillamook Rock for good. He had been ordered to extinguish a light that had served mariners for over seventy-five years. Also silenced was the steam fog siren that helped mariners during times of low visibility. A not-so-personal whistle buoy was replacing the lighthouse called “Terrible Tilly”; Oregon’s only offshore light located roughly 1.2 miles off Tillamook Head.

As its name implies, the lighthouse is on a rock. It is situated about twenty miles south of the Columbia River on less than an acre of basalt. It guided ships safely along one of the state’s most hazardous sections of coastline and directed them into the Columbia River shipping lanes.

We’ve all heard the saying, “its not just a job, its an adventure!” That must have been exactly how the men felt, working on the isolated island. After being on duty for up to three months, they were granted leave. But the leave was only for two weeks. They probably felt as if they never left the Rock.

The real adventure was when they left or returned to the Rock. They were placed in a sling-type rigging called a breeches buoy that was tethered to a derrick. If the person was lucky, the sea was calm. Many times the conditions were too dangerous to offload crew or supplies. More than once a person lost his life. One killed on "Tilly" was a master mason trying to survey the rock prior to construction.

In 1881, with Tillamook Rock Lighthouse’s construction completed, the revolving first order Fresnel lens was lit for the first time by the Principal Keeper, Albert Roeder. The construction proved to be an engineering feat, taking over 500 days to complete. At the time it was the most expensive West Coast lighthouse ever built. Later that honor was bestowed upon the St. George Reef Lighthouse off the northern California coast.

Through the years, the Rock was assaulted by violent storms with damaging winds and huge waves. More than once storms proved to be too much, flooding the tower with a torrent of water with debris large enough to smash the windows of the lantern room over 130 feet above sea level. In 1934, one of the most damaging storms to hit the Rock destroyed the original lens. Chunks of concrete leveled parts of the tower railing and ripped up the landing platform. The lighthouse was left without a means to communicate with the outside world. One of the keepers put together a makeshift radio to deliver an urgent message to officials requesting assistance and notifying them of the storm damage. Even today, winter storms continue to batter the Rock. The only sounds you will hear coming from the Rock today are the barking of sea lions and the calls of the birds that make the Rock their home. It is now a part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge.

 

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Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Same Wave

2 comments Posted by Wave Farmer at 9:52 PM


SE WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 FT. W SWELL 7 FT AT 17 SECONDS.
I wouldn't be surprised if I rode this very swell line...
Albeit a hundred miles north or so...
But the time frame is absolutely right...
And the peaks were looking very similar...
With some fun overhead fat ones...
The workday was way too long...
But late afternoon into early evening...
Yielded several solid lined up lefts...
The lineup was pretty much empty...
With only five guys or so and well spread out...
I shared a big outside peak with one other...
Waiting for the set waves to show...
Super fun, big peaks held up by the offshores...
Connecting on a couple into the inside...
Where I sacrificed body and board...
To the inside bowl and inevitable close out...
Headed in after the sun set...
After dodging a couple outside sets...
And picking off a closer all the way to the sand...
Of course, I was covered in sand...
As I was sent into a liquid sand blaster...
Trying to get past the shorebreak...
Unsuccessfully.
Hoping for more tomorrow!

 

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Friday, January 18, 2008

Reeler

1 comments Posted by Wave Farmer at 7:07 PM


NE WIND 5 TO 10 KT...BECOMING NW 10 TO 15 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 2 FT. W SWELL 8 FT AT 14 SECONDS.
Didn't get done with work 'til late...
Swung over for a last chance look...
Brought a couple beers just in case...
Watched some solid ones unload...
Suited up quick and got out there...
The paddle was bit rougher than Wednesday...
Both days were 8 foot at 14 seconds...
But tonight was bigger and heavier...
First wave was a tester wave...
Since I left the 10' 6" in the car...
And it had been quite awhile...
Since I had ridden much else...
But it was a fun overhead left...
That yielded a duck dive smorgasborg...
Second wave was a late drop...
That I pulled off to my own surprise...
Fifteen to 20 duckdives back out...
Either tired me out or the prior...
Late drop success made me lazy...
In any case, the 3rd wave was not good...
Paddling lazily for a outside peak...
Maybe a little too used to the 10' 6" glide?...
I hung at the top, and hung, and hung...
Then I hung no more, I spun, & I spun...
It wasn't too bad, but it was lame...
Battled my way back out...
And waited for a good one...
It came, a meaty left with my name on it...
Big drop, round off the bottom, off the top...
And down, down, down the line...
Lotsa bowling sections and feathering walls...
As it closed out, I pondered paddling back out...
But decided to end on a high note...
I'd say it was my best wave of the year...
But it's only January after all...
Proned in, and drank my beers...
Sometimes only one wave's all it takes.

 

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Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Blanks

3 comments Posted by Wave Farmer at 8:56 PM


N WIND 15 KT...BUT NE 10 KT NEAR SHORE. WIND WAVES 3 FT. NW SWELL 8 FT AT 14 SECONDS.
Blanks for Speelyei's future board.
Arrived early this AM to find the swell a little crossed up...
A couple guys out but no real waves to speak of...
Watched some spinning cylinders just off the cobbles...
But too weird and warbly and close in to the rocks...
As both surfers proned in after a session of few waves...
I decided to check a cove that I thought might hold promise...
Walked in with my smaller board but again, not so hot...
There were head high waves, but they were closing out on the bar...
I thought to myself "The 10' 6" would be the better board"...
Watched for a bit as the sun rose behind the south cape...
Then opted to head into work and check it again later...
Got a call that the central coast was no great shakes...
And they were headed north to the same cove from the morning walk...
Headed down myself at about 2 in the afternoon...
And hiked in, with the 10' 6", and high hopes...
The waves were about the same but there were a few coming through...
There were peaks that quickly spun off left and right...
Detonating in a cylindrical implosion on a shallow bar...
I suited up, and knelt to attach my skeg...
Then realized I was missing the screw...
I had a smaller Frye flex fin so I opted for that...
Then decided to go with the side bites since it was kinda hollow...
But I forgot my fucking hex wrench...
So, 10+ feet of board and 9 inches of rudder it was...
Getting out was a breeze, stand in waist deep water...
Wait for the wave to close out and come over as a whole...
Jump over and paddle quickly to the outside, that was it...
Paddled into the first few and ejected quickly to aviod the close out...
After a bit a meaty right showed and I moved into position...
As the wave heaved I swung it around...
Only to see a wide eyed kook on my line...
Which forced me to crank it alot harder off the bottom...
That's when the flex fin failed me...
I slid ass, but at least I didn't kill him...
I caught a buch of waves, but paid the price...
I got caught in top to bottom close outs more than once...
I got clocked by the board several times...
And it's alot of surfboard...
Right now, I have a lump on the head...
A bruised calf...
And a swollen elbow...
Good times.

 

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