http://www.sfsurvey.com/photos/sailH/index.htm
Link found at www.sailinganarchy.com
Yeeowww…
They should have worn a leash.
He should have worn his brain,what a dumb s*#t. What I don’t understand is why it didn’t wash up on shore,must have a heavy rip there. Aloha,Kokua
Yeah, that break is just inside the San Francisco bay (that’s a golden gate bridge support in the photo) and there is a pretty major current pulling out of the bay. I would recommend against even going in the water if the tide is dropping…
I think he’d better look at his fin placement if he wants to do that again.
HE HAD IT HALFWAY UP HIS BOARD…wasn’t foiled very well either.
and if he paddled a bit faster he could have made the drop and kicked out of it.
Please refrain from making any authoritative comments until you have at least surfed the spot.
That wave that swamped the boat, outside the rock, is headed W to E. Nearest beach E of that would be Treasure Island, about 7 miles in the bay. MineDocks is out of the way because counter currents at outgoing tides make the boat stay well N of, in the current channel heading out the gate.
Ft.Point is mostly surfed on outgoing tides! You want it sorta low so you can get off the rocks cleanly, and for the waves to break.
Incoming is pretty heady stuff, and you gotta make sure tides are not over 4.5 at the high, or you’ll get pummelled against the rocks on your way in.
Even inside the rock, where the direction of waves is N to S, almost nothing makes it to the rocky beaches inside because the countercurrent takes most objects in towards Minedocks, but then back out to the main current in a counterclockwise direction.
Opposite current when incoming tides.
On heavy outgoings, like this time of year, most surfers just stay inside that rock, well out of the heaviest currents which can take you W around the corner in 3 minutes flat.
If you get the Orient Express, no biggie, just paddle S and you’ll hit another countercurrent outside the gate which brings you back to the round rocked beach outside the gate, walk up, slide board under the fence, swing your dumbass around the outside to the other side.
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Please refrain from making any authoritative comments until you have at least surfed the spot.
Huh? Nice post Lee but I don’t know what the hell that first comment was about. Were you talking to me? Well, I have surfed Ft. Point. And basically everywhere south of there. (well, down to newport anyway…then skip till mexico). I don’t think I was making any authoritative comments other that not recommending outgoing tide. just the opinion of a kook from pacifica. nothing authoritative implied!
If you never surf it at outgoing tides, you’ll get mushy, crumbly backoffs getting mushier at incoming tides.
You can’t just surf the dead low, that lasts maybe 45 minutes, then tides move.
Incoming is usually thicker, crumbly’er, more backwashing, as the windswell/chop makes it to the face of Ft.Point’s waves.
Outgoing is much cleaner, as the waters around Minedocks is usually glassy, while the outside N of the break, and inside of, are a mishmash of dancing waters.
Seems if you want to surf, cleaner, steeper, is better than tidewashed bump and getting worse conditions.
However, if you insist on surfing incoming Ft.Point, you’ll miss the best of PedroPt.!
Love the fort. Place is a friggen carnival. I saw a sailboarder get worked right on the corner rocks once, he kept trying to scramble down and lift his rig out… in the end, he got his board sans nose, about a meter of mast, no handle, and about a square meter of sail…the regulars were hooting, screaming and laughing the whole time…Zany behavior abounds…I’ve seen a guy back his board up to the big rock on the outside, wait for a wave to suck him back into it (crunch, crunch), and stand up as the wave pushed him off.
Not a fun place if you are bothered by occasional bouts of copious verbal abuse and deridement, or the odd trip through the rocks…
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If you never surf it at outgoing tides, you'll get mushy, crumbly backoffs getting mushier at incoming tides.You can’t just surf the dead low, that lasts maybe 45 minutes, then tides move.
Incoming is usually thicker, crumbly’er, more backwashing, as the windswell/chop makes it to the face of Ft.Point’s waves.
Outgoing is much cleaner, as the waters around Minedocks is usually glassy, while the outside N of the break, and inside of, are a mishmash of dancing waters.
Seems if you want to surf, cleaner, steeper, is better than tidewashed bump and getting worse conditions.
However, if you insist on surfing incoming Ft.Point, you’ll miss the best of PedroPt.!
Dunno what you’re talking about. The most experienced regulars roll up an hour before the low. Have coffee, tell jokes, watch insides, and then jump in at the dead low when the current stops.
Don’t know about “experienced regulars” you know.
Most guys want it not too crowded.
Dead low is most crowded, gets both crowds.
The old timers always surfed it 4.0 and dropping to an hour into incoming, like around a 3.5 hour sesh.
If you wait till incoming, depending on tide, you barely have 3 hours before tides get up on the rocks.
Why are two guys who DON’T surf FtPoint arguing about the best time to surf there?
Does LarryYoung still reg there? He’s been surfing there 4 days a week since 1976. Doesn’t surf OB.
I kow the feeling that this guy was in. I know nothing about sailing. Went out last 4th of July weekend Morro Bay. Bigger boat, just along for the ride, you know three hour tour. The captian took us out of the harbour and swamped the little outboard motor. Great no power. Set sail and tried to catch the wind to get us out. Lost the wind and the swell pulled us into shore. Two people were ejected from the craft and the coast guard picked them up. Another six jumped off about 60 yards form shore. The captain and I were left on the boast. The coast guard damaged their million dollor boat trying to get us on a low swell and bumped the bottom. The captain threw anchor trying to keep us off the beach. Didn’t work. I jumped off when we started getting sidways on the boat. The captain jumped off when his keel started hitting the ground. That night another boat took us out and we managed to find the vessel from see and dropped another anchor with a bouy. Next morning we geared up, hiked 8 miles to the beached boat. Swam about 3 hours against the current to reach the bouy and bring it in line with the boat. The captain at hide tide started to hand whinch the boat out to sea. I meet up with him with the other anchor line and managed to hand whinch it out past the break. Called the coast gaurd and they came and picked us up.
Let me just restate that I do not know how to sail. I was along for the ride and just wanted to help the captain out anyway I could. But the good news is, that’s is why I am at swaylocks. Bought my wetsuit before rescueing the boat. Then decide to take up surfing now that I had a wetsuit. Didn’t like the idea of buying a board so I built one. That’s why I am here.
Wow. That was a pretty serious mistake… anybody know the real story? If that was a planned maneuver… they got what was coming. -Carl
Yep, larry was out there yesterday (monday). Great guy, and full of stories…he lays claim to the gnarliest surf injury–so chosen by one of the mags–at malibu, that I’ve ever heard of…He has a neat little hot water heater contraption in his van, runs a cooler full of water through a coil over a burner…didn’t need it yesterday.
BTW the current out the gate lags the low tide by about two hours, as the bay is still adjusting…
Yesterday, it was surfable for at least 6 hours, from a couple hours before low, to 4 hours after…
Thanks, just wondering, haven’t seen the skinny guy in about 20 years. He knows me by Domond.
Good we got Ft.Point or NorCal just doesn’t have surfable waves in the spring and summer.
I drive N usually like 40 miles, or a little more, instead of surfing the Fort. Figure I windsurfed Crissy Fields like 700 days, and was smart enough to never try to ride those waves.
Wave riding, go to Waddell, Dav, Scotts, Palo, Lim, or sometimes Stinson.
Most of the windsurfers who get in trouble at the Fort don’t surf, so think they are doing something really special. I wish them all the broken gear they can break.
Get some good waves these PM’s.
[/url]from http://www.pbase.com/chucklantz/4205ftpta [indent]
A Santana 22’ sailboat, “Yachtsea”, with two aboard, made a few huge errors as it came under the GG bridge. It tried to sail between the South Tower and the Point, right into the lineup, at the end of low tide, in a big breeze, and big waves. Worse yet, according to a statement made by one of the sailors following the rescue, they were trying to surf the waves. Not a good idea under the circumstances. As these and the linked photos show it didn’t quite work out as planned. The stern was caught in a following breaking wave, the bow took a dive, and the boat tripped over the keel. The boat rolled twice, breaking the mast. End of boat. Haruwn, Matt and some others pulled the guys out of the water, and got them to shore on a couple of boards. [/indent]
And some people think SURFERS are dumb…
I am constantly amazed at how many seem to think the ability to buy a boat - or sign a promissory note to buy a boat - confers the ability to use said boat competently.
Hell, these two are about as good as the general run of ‘seagoing’ summer complaints we have here, who are a real kick to watch with cars, trailers, boats and lack of skill at the local boat ramps. It’s actually what some of the commercial fishermen do for laughs - go down to a spot that overlooks said ramp with a few beers and laugh themselves sick.
Make mine an ale…
doc…