here it comes

General Discussion
1

a north north east

slammed us today

these are the swell

directions that gets half way down the east side

kinda stops at a bend in the coast then goes out to sea…

Lunchmeat stopped by and said it was perfect and so consistant

no one was out as the narrow outflow

from the keyhole bay was way too swift

 for saftey.…

 

some 35 years ago I was washed around the point

and survived by wit and swimming skill.

A couple years ago a guy who was less wiley a coyote

donated his life to the unforgiving current and wave complex

of this geological masterpiece some keep to themselves.

 

this is likely to arrive by pineapple express courrier

soon to the waiting arms of mainland coastlines

good luck and be careful.

Barry this may be time to take the Jose angell 

for a glide,

and all those other wishful guns of 2013…?

wax em!

this may be low enough to be a west?

to get to maliwu

or maybe a north west,

all I know is from a fleeting

t.v. animated map

I spent the day taking a nap.

I watched a week of perfect conditions

in pacifica from november 5-11…

pedro lefts on a north west

ross’s cove, Mysto spots 

Don’t say beetlejuice he

will be at marvygarvolix

being interviewed by

the international media

…ambrose…

mercury by another name is 

still a toxic heavy metal

that only looks like old

mexican money.

 

2

Just read of the young surfer missing at Alligators.  Sad.

3

The original name, for the spot known as Alligators today,  was DOC’S ROCKS.    Named by Dr. Marshal W. White.    The name was registered with a surfing related association in Hawaii.    I don’t recall the name.    I surfed the spot a few times with Doc, but did not like it much.    The waves were decent, but too shallow and rocky for my taste.    This was in the pre leash era, and a lost board would be ground into splinters    Just a bit of surf history that few people know. 

4

Outside doc’s rock is CLOUDS,  NW 20’+ is a left, N  left or right, NE it’s a right. The water depth is about 40 feet there. It was all time yesterday.

KP…RIP

5

Hey Charlie, did you guys tow out there? Bernie is on Kauai this week, said the surf on the north side was beeg.

I’ve surfed Alligator rock at normal size, and it’s a bummer if you lose you board. There’s a cave on the inside that eats boards, hence the name Alligator Rock. There’s an insane left that gets as good as pipe just past alligators on the Waimea side. Surfed that area a lot in the 70’s.

6

It was sooooo big Harry. We towed puaena. We would kick out at the outside bouy line 3300 feet off shore and ride the back side another 100 yards.  That’s were you would normally catch a wave on a NW swell. Never surfed it like that before. All by ourselves for 4 hours. Huge pure north swells usually suck because of the usual associated nasty north winds. Feb 2010 was the last conditions like this and I went to kaneohe for an experience of a lifetime all by ourselves again. Everything west of haleiwa was no good, just too much water moving. The incoming tide changed things around 11 am so we went down to check out clouds. About 18 guys out and it was wiamea big but only better. about 50 guys out at wiamea and it was mushy compared to clouds. When we showed up KP had been missing for about 30 minutes. Hank fotos was there so maybe he got the wipeout foto. Looked like a bunch of pros out there since the contest was cancelled. Only recognized JJF. Didn’t tow because you can’t tow within 1000 feet of regular paddle surfers. The faces were 25-35 feet with the bigger ones throwing barrels. Next huge swell I am definately checking out that place. Words can’t describe how amazingly beautiful and perfect it was. Total bummer about KP,  sincere condolences to his family and friends.

7

Stupid question from someone who’s never been over there:  When it’s huge like yesterday are there still sheltered places where the average guy can go and find a fun head high to DOH wave???

8

Mako,

Yes, to your question above.       When the North Shore would close out,  we would head for Makaha.      Sometimes it paid off, sometimes not.

9

Yesterday’s  pure notherly conditions happens very infrequently. Last time was almost 4 years ago and that swell was 10 foot smaller. Today it backed off in size and surfers where outside lani’s. The wave interval seemed to shorten which made conditions less than ideal. The most common winter swell is nw, wnw direction. Even in huge conditions with normal swell direction there are safe havens to be had on the north shore. I think the wind is everything though.  light variable winds, or light southerly makes it worth your while to paddle out and have fun. Huge conditions occur seldom, maybe five times per year if lucky. Last epic huge swell wtih good winds and interval was 31Dec 2005 and 1 Jan2006. If the size is no longer fun for you just wait until tomorrow or the next day for it to come down. I live on the south shore and a large more west than north swell brings 4 foot surf wrap to my backyard outer reef.  That is what I want for christmas this year.

10

Charlie the south side had waves too. Looked pretty good from up in St Louis Heights when I did my morning walk. North winds and south shore waves equals perfection. Too bad I’m still on the no surf list. Next month I’ll be getting wet slowly, but those small wraps would be just perfect. Glad you scored some good ones.

I surfed the outer reefs of Laie once in '76 when the north shore was closed out. Perfect waves and no one out back then. I think this swell had too much north, so that side was probably too big too. Maybe Laie Point or Kahana bay.

11

Used to surf Outside Alligator Rock alot 30 years ago with Ken Bradshaw we would paddle out from Leftovers and make the paddle over.  Back then we would be the only ones out there normally, and you could see the waves at Waimea from the lineup.  Spooky how far out it was, and how peaceful it would be between sets.  Had some great great waves out there, and a unique view of the North Shore. I was sad when Chesser died out there and felt so bad for Jeannie, yet at the same time we never thought about stuff like that; Foo’s accident changed that at least for me.

I am sorry for the loss and feel bad for his surviving family, I never knew the young man who died out there, and my memories of the place are only good ones; sometimes one just gets caught in the wrong place or something.  I have had some brutal holddowns and beatdowns to the point of giving up, but for some reason still here.  If your going to be a successful big wave rider you have to put that stuff out of your mind.

Over the past weekend I took a friend out paddling to a outside kelp bed about the same distance offshore as OAR; it was so peaceful, and reminded me of there.  My friend a non surfer couldn’t get over how calm it was, but in the back of my mind I was thinking about what was swimming underneath without ever saying a word.  The next day another friend of mind shows up with raggedy mouth nasty 9’ mako with the tail propped up over the rail of his boat, (he had to stage that part, and I woud have done the same thing) so I asked him where he caught it, and it was the same place I was paddling with my other friend the day before.  My friend who caught the shark then said: “That thing was probably swimming right under you yesterday.”  You realy never know until its your time.

12

The sad part about the guy drowning is that there will be more of this and more frequently. I’m always amazed at the number of guys taking off on the waves at Waimea. Way too many for half of them to get to safe water. Today everyone wants to be a monster wave charger and that will only lead to more and more crowded line ups in extremely dangerous surf. We are reaching the extreme edge of what can be paddled into safely, and the only way you know that you can’t make it is when you eat it bad.

From what I saw of the wipeout, the guy landed on his head and then his body was flipped over quite brutally. He probably blacked out from that impact or even broke his neck.

I lost a good friend to the surf years ago. He was born and raised in Haleiwa and was a very good surfer. I miss seeing his smile and crazy wildness he lived life with.

13

http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/surfer-missing-on-the-north-shore_104104/

14

definietly some unique characters on kauai

rock quarry with kona winds

surfed there tues with Peter Poppler

intense waves so much different than poipu side

just down from where the last shark attack ocurred

so many hidden mini honolua’s and mini waimea’s (with their associated rips) on the island accessed by dirt rode.

no wonder there’s so many great surfers coming from that island