Kooking It UP!: Dear Marie

I paddled out to one of my local reefs on Thursday evening. It's quite a paddle when it's low tide and a large amount of swell. Choppy, some current, but nothing serious, the waves were breaking on the semi outer reef, and I just paddle around the oncoming wash. My shoulders were aching from all the surfing over the last week and a half (I know, boo hoo, self loathing... guilty). I slightly tweeked my neck, God knows how the day before but my lower back felt fine and my entire being just wanted to be in the middle of all that liquid thumping that was happening on the outside. I paddled closer to the peak and saw this goofy footed fella catching a left. He was looking straight ahead on what had to be a 8ft+ dredger. It began to barrel over his head for a second or two. The noise the wave created was loud. The loudness it created was a deep, echoing sound. The kind of sound that reverberates down your spine. The fella didn't even know he was getting barreled in a crouching tube. "Did I get tubed?" he asked me a few minutes later in the lineup. "Sure looked like it." I replied. He smiled. "Dear Marie," was his reply.


Joel Tudor on a quick exit.

Back to back hurricane swells. Well, tropical storms to be exact. But strong enough to offer the California coast with waves for days. Sixty to Hundred miles north of San Diego, the swell was reaching the death defying heights of fifteen to twenty feet. Some labeled last Wednesday, August 27th, "Big Wednesday". But in San Diego, it was a good 6-8ft, with a couple sets reaching in the 9-10ft range. It wasn't huge, and it stayed really manageable, lots of waves and the swell fell on a weekday, keeping the crowds, at least at the reefs where I surf, manageable. In addition, Tropical Storm Lowell sent a lot of swell our way the weekend before, which lead to a lot of surfers reaching their limit of how many days they could surf in a row.

Marie for all of her hype, in my opinion, and at least in San Diego, wasn't as good as the Tropical Storm "Lowell" swell. The water was super murky, the wind turned up earlier in the morning and lasted til sunset, and the waves were less consistent (even though it was pretty consistent, and that's saying something about Lowell), and the waves didn't have the power that Lowell blessed us with. Lowell was like a mid period swell with the "umph" of a long period swell. I didn't travel north during the peak of Marie (why travel when waves are going off in the backyard right?) but I saw pictures and video of NewPort Point, and that stuff looked major. I guess the swell was so steep, that San Diego probably got the edge of that red blob while Newport got the full grunt. It's not that I'm complaining, I had a lot of great waves, green room time and almost a near drowning by way of my rashgaurd being pulled over my head. Marie lived up to the hype, but I still think Lowell was the better swell, at least in my "hood".

Exit this.

But to be honest, I'm pretty surfed out. I'm just glad that my lower back made it out proper. I haven't felt an ache (knock on wood) since I started focusing workouts on my core. I'm taking a big break from surfing for the next five days or so. We have our annual "crew" trip coming up next week, and I know we'll be surfing at least six hours a day. Top that off with the usual craziness and unplanned adventures that come with a Kiwi Hippie Trip, rest is what the doctor ordered. And there is a decent swell on tap, this time a long period 18 to 20 second thing. But as with any long period swell, it's always a "wait and see". The waves travel from so far away, you never know what dame or dude it'll hook up with on it's way to our coast. But just in case it finds it's way to the loving arms of California's west coast, I know just the spot that will offer up 100 yard rights. But thank you tropical storm, hurricane wave machines!!! It was a long time coming.