surf

may 2002

» surf archives

Location	Date/Time	Conditions
Newbreak	05/31/02 8:00 am - 11:00 am	3 - 5'+ Drove up to Swami's early but was greeted with inconsistent lackluster surf. West swell hadn't really filled in yet enough for north county so headed down to the cliffs. Hate driving all over the place but knew there had to be waves. Was not disappointed. Combo of south swell, hurricane swell and building west swell creating super consistent head high south west swell at the cliffs. Clean with just a slight ruffle from the south. Every reef had something going on with the minus tide going high. Was a tad slow at first on the minus tide because of the mixed direction but the tide filled in quickly and started pushing over the reef creating fast smackable waves with bowls here and there. Really started to come on with more push and it was firing. Plenty of waves to go around. Caught some nice head high ones on the outside and plenty of rippers through the inside. Got creamed by a pit through the inside but made up for it with a solid tube on a head high wave to go in on. Once in, I couldn't help but notice that the left at Chasm's was going looney. Almost paddled back out but was drained. A good day of surf.
Black's	05/30/02 7:00 am - 9:00 am	2 - 3'+ An inconsistent but clean south swell from a very southern angle of 170º. Pretty fun at first with a real low tide but as the tide moved in it kind of flattened it out here and there. South wind from the fog putting a slight ruffle on the surface but not blowing it out. Only the lefts were happening. Got a nice set after waiting outside at north peak for ten minutes. Nice fat carvable wave. After that the crowd starting getting thick and annoying. Finally got a good left in. Supposed to get all sorts of swell from multiple angles tomorrow. Yeah!
Missouri ST.	05/23/02 8:00 am - 10:00 am	2 - 3'+ More northwest wind swell. A little more organized but still real short interval. Not too many places looking good this morning. Decided to hit up PB hoping the sand bars were OK. Some pretty decent peaks up and down the beach. South wind was already on it but not hurting it at first. Some fast whackable rights breaking in front of Missouri. Pretty fun for about and hour and a half until the tide shifted and the wind really came up. Started getting pretty junky. A few lefts to be had but really starting to close out. Finagled a right in. Pretty fun while it lasted.
Swami's	05/22/02 7:00 am - 8:30 am	1 - 3' Wind swell trying to get it together but definately not as big as the day before. Some fun ones reforming on the inside on the highish tide. Nice and glassy. Lots of round houses and a few lips here and there. Tide dropping was probably going to help. Not bad but not great.
Newbreak	05/21/02 7:30 am - 10:00 am	2 - 4' Some northwest wind swell with some underlying longer period west swell in the mix. Pretty clean down at the Cliffs considering it has been onshore for a couple of days now. Tide medium high at first mushing it out a bit so not a soul around. Some sets at first holding up and reforming through the inside. The waves were getting more and more consistent and steeper as the tide dropped out. One guy joined me for awhile and then another so it was a really mellow session with plenty of whackable waves to go around. A few more heads were making it down so got a good one in. Nice session; everyday should be this uncrowded. Yeah right.
Swami's	05/18/02 10:00 am - 11:30 am	1 - 3' Just enough southern hemi pulse to get me out in the water. Sets every five to ten minutes or so. Low tide and a very light south wind helping conditions out. Tons of longboards sitting on the peak so sat with one other guy on the inside corner patiently waiting for a few fast little walls that peeled across the finger reef. Nothing great but a few funs one had to make it worthwhile.
Newbreak	05/17/02 8:00 am - 9:00 am	1 - 3' After checking the Cliffs first and then the Jetty finally got in the water at the Cliffs. Just a hint of leftover wind swell mixing with a small southern hemi. Some small clean, fast, and rippable waves on the low tide. Nice and glassy too. Not real consistent, but enough to go around between the few of us partaking. A few more heads were heading down the trail so went in before it got too crowded but it was fun while it lasted.
Swami's	05/16/02 7:00 am - 8:30 am	1 - 3' + Wind swell and southern hemi still hanging in there but a lot smaller than yesterday. Nice and glassy with a light rain. Low tide the only thing going for it with the swell dropping a couple feet overnight. Surfed the inside all by myself for quite awhile. Got some nice lined up bowly and sectiony walls and on the other hand got some real mush balls. Still plenty of fun waves to be had and minimal crowd. Nice.
Swami's	05/15/02 7:00 am - 9:00 am	2 - 4' + Wind swell and southern hemi still hanging in there. Periods on the wind swell had lengthened but still a lot of chop in the water. A very strong pressure gradient wind blowing a hundred miles off the coast creating this swell. Very pesky south wind not effecting the surface conditions to much and the minus tide creating some wedgy bowls to rippable walls at kiddy bowl. Very consistent again like yesterday and the crowd mysteriously disappeared after 8:00 and I had the inside pretty much all to myself for an hour. Caught tons of good waves until the wind really started blowing it out. By then my arms were noodles anyhow.
Newbreak	05/14/02 6:30 am - 9:30 am	3 - 5' + Major amounts of junky wind swell in the water with some southern hemi to boot. Pretty wild and out of control on the minus tide. Hunted for some good pockets for the first hour until the tide really started to fill in and magically transformed broken up wind swell into long rippable walls. Crossed up swell creating quick bowling peaks reforming into long linkable sectiony walls on the inside with some sections throwing on the inside ledge. Really fun and rippable. Because of the wind swell it was really consistent. Too many waves to even count.
Black's	05/12/02 7:00 am - 9:00 am	1 - 3' + Supposed peaking south swell really nowhere in sight. Surf small and weak, and with the tide moving in a bit, the shape was flattening out. A few left and right racy reforms on the inside made it a passable session, but barely. Another beautiful sunny day. Two days in a row almost; unheard of this time of year.
K-38	05/11/02 11:00 am - 2:00 pm	2 - 4' + Pablo, a work associate and good friend, lives in TJ so we cooked up a plan where I would park on the US side of the border and he would pick me in TJ for a run to 38's so I wouldn't have to deal with the border wait, which in theory was a good idea. Wind swell picked up dramatically over night and also a new south was filling in. Unfortunately 38's likes a real clean swell and the mixed up conditions put a bit of warble through the lineup. Beautiful day however, and with the tide dropping some waves were lining up through the cove on the sets from the south. Lots of round houses and a few lips to be had. Pretty fun with just a few other guys out and then had it all to myself for awhile, so no complaints there. After the surf and a few Tacos at El Guego (that place rocks!) in TJ, Pablo dropped me off at the border for what I thought would be a leisurely stroll across the border. Wrong. Waited in the baking sun for about an hour and fifteen minutes. Better than 3 hours for the car but please, there was zero reason for such a long wait besides the ongoing incompetency of the INS. No wonder commerce is hurting on both sides of the border, people are fed up with dealing with huge delays.
Missouri St.	05/08/02 7:00 am - 9:00 am	2 - 3' + Looked at all the beach breaks and settled on out front of the old pad. Some pretty rippable little wind swell peaks pushing through and reforming all over the place with just a few guys out. Caught of bunch of rights that were lining up for some hitties and roundies and a few lefts that were a bit softer but had a little bit of face to work with. Not expected so made it that much more fun.
Black's	05/06/02 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm	1 - 3' rare 4+ Swell on the down trend and really inconsistent. Not a breath of wind at midday for some oily glass when I first arrived. Waves a bit soft but if you chose right you would get one that would hold up. The problem was choosing the right one when there was so little to go around. Extremely rude UCSDish looking pack. No manners what so ever with every one dropping in and jockeying hard. Unpleasant for such a beautiful day. Anyhow, was catching a lot of closeouts and making a few rare waves that were lining up into middle peak. Form not so hot, especially once the wind started to kick up. Luckily I caught a good left screamer on the inside in to leave on a good note.
Black's	05/05/02 09:00 am - 10:30 am	2 - 3' some 4+ Really clean again today with just a hint of ruffle on the surface. South swell inconsistent but the sets that were coming through had a nice face on them especially with the tide dropping. Sand bars seem in pretty good shape with both rights and lefts breaking today. Caught two really nice lined up rights that were really whackable. The left off middle peak was also working a bit for some long carvable waves that would peter out on the inside. Not the greatest Black's but a pretty fun session none the less.
Black's	05/04/02 7:30 am - 9:00 am	1 - 2' some 3 Really really clean but minimal swell. Just trace southern hemi mixing with a little west wind swell making for some soft peaks. A couple of good lefts here and there that would open up for a few whacks but a majority of the waves fizzling out after the drop.
Swami's	05/02/02 6:00 am - 8:30 am	1 - 3' Junky short interval wind swell from the west mixing with a little southern hemi making for some inconsistent conditions. Paddled out to the peak at first because the tide was low but not low enough for the corner to work properly with the amount of swell. Caught a slow chest high wave that suddenly threw a bowl on inside but totally read it wrong and was left behind. Couldn't get anything else out there beside mush so decided to go to the inside corner and wait for the more grounded waves out of the south to hit. The tide had dropped low enough and the inside section started tot throw a nice little face up for some hitties and roundies right over the finger reefs. A couple guys joined me here and there on the inside but for the most part had it all to myself. Pretty fun.