Merry Christmas!

(Art by Mike stonefish Rilea)

The Pass Through

It's seductively easy to create a small world around yourself during a surf. To see the approaching peak as the sole thing of importance, a steepened wall as paper to write on. The angle giving the scrawl whatever penmanship you might possess, white ink flowing behind for mere seconds and then gone. We had pulled up to an empty beach, passed one long timer driving home a few miles from here, his grin visible through a windshield defrosting, this visit to a random was a good call.........

The board floats up against the cedar log in a little lagoon of sand surrounded by cobble stones rustling with each wave that brings the high tide surge.  Flipped over, rail check no dents and back out. Only Ding out on the peak sitting in green gray water brushed clean with light off-shores, he angle paddles from behind the wave's center and drops into a long left.

From under the cliff base the paddle into the peak is a smooth drift. It's a typical north-west winter day, rain in the hills hanging in white sheets against green trees and the clear cuts. In the those clearings elk wander, some maybe right above us in the trees above the ocean. I have seen black tail deer run straight across volcanic remainders into perfect A-frames to escape a surfdog, it's head the sole evidence for disbelieving eyes as it  swam out to sea. I never saw it scale the cliff getting out but it looked completely confident that the sea served as viable escape route, local knowledge I guess.

From those cliffs the rivers can be seen as they drain mountain rains and snow into the sea and through those passes in the earth swim large salmon destined to lay eggs in  gravel beds. The same gravel that lines this corner came down those streams eons ago, time. As we paddle west they swim east into the hills, tomorrow we will be in driftboats looking for them in the pools and riffles under willow and spruce trees.

Ding and I trade chest high gems in a repeat of a surf session from months ago,  same place, same conditions, same crowd.It's a busy world under us and above, but the waves are all we focus on. It's quiet here, the highway far back tucked into the bay as a little woodsmoke wafts into the waves. The sun comes out and the rights now are an eye blistering takeoff into the glare.

Late in the afternoon we drive back over the third world roads of T'mook county, the truck like a Spitfire avoiding the bone rattles of potholes, the lane lines now only suggestions not direction specific. These soft hills are still moving under us and the local roads  are reminders of that.

Post Thanksgiving dinners

Lovely late hen, still bright and sporting flesh wounds of a sea lion attack. Caught in the rainstorm just around noon.

Wonder if it was the same sea lion that took a run at me yesterday in the crap surf?

Fat fall footballs

Nelscott 2010

 

Nobody drowned, but it wasn't because the ocean didn't try to get 'em.

 

Blue collar surfing from the start, everybody worked from the get go.

 

Twenty five feet Hawaiian was the call.

 

Ballsy.

Shredded.......

Blue Chalk

First five

then three

now one.

October water the color of blue chalk, east wind smooth. 

Can see feet but no further into the blue floor beneath.

Hefty north west swell still, long rights past the north house. 

Head and a half on sets rope-y peels of blue glass.

Warm water gone and duck dives are cold again.

A brown jellyfish with two holes in it's bell drifts in the lineup , we  both wait for a push. 

Noll final Sunday

Early Sunday inside lefts

North-west 10.5' @ 15secs had some size and some gems.

Three days of quality waves like this made for a great 15th Noll Longboard Classic

Surftwin takes 4th in a competitive gal's final..... sweeet!

I got 2nd with the very cool fin trophy. Good waves with some boomer sets.

On the left side of the photo holding court is Bev Noll matriarch to the event.

Mahalo Bev for a great weekend of surf.

:-)

Noll-test

Solid waves Friday, small but still peaked walls for Saturday.
PC represented with by winning heats that lead to the semis tomorrow or placing right into finals.
Back to the exclusive gated community for massage and  abalone dinner :-)........

Our biggest worry is making sure the staff  has dry wetties on hand for us tomorrow. Missed the surf celeb welcome by a few minutes as we cruised out for a last light surf check........

Feather bed sleep tonight.....


Finals update on the morrow.......

It's time.....

Finally.........

Rock sliced toes

Crushing sets....

Mennonite-roca rolled tourist.

Heaving drops into sandy brown waves....

Ridiculously warm water

Ten and a half at 14....

Winter sized without the forty degree air.

Cauliflower, chantrelles and gun

 

Fall is busting in the door.

 

Time to store up and wax up.

The S.S. Minnow

As near as I can tell, this boat was beached late Monday a week ago. Either gas was low or they were running out of daylight. Not sure.

But that night the surf was small, probably 2'-3' max with light winds. Ding got it good and to himself  but left before this happened.

Tuesday it blew hard from the south so getting it off the beach was a no go. Wednesday was back to sunshine with north west winds. But now the swell was running twice the size it had been on Monday. We saw from the north end some movement on the boat. I had passed a beach ranger on the path and he gave me little info on the boat, but was hoping to get it off the sand before the Labor Day weekend.

Figured it might be the owner, sure enough it was. With two in the boat and two out they began to work the vessel off the bar that formed the mouth of the creek.Rocking it back and forth as the tide pushed in, they got into knee beep water and tried to push it out and over the shore break, but the boat was too heavy and the creek too shallow and despite their efforts they could never get to deeper water.



Thank God too, because between the beers it seemed to require for launch and the lack of life vests on any of them, it was going to go from funny to sad in a heartbeat. Last time I read a FiberForm owners manual they SPECIFICALLY forbade surf launches and I'm pretty sure it voids the lifetime warranty.

There was a solid crowd watching this spectacle but no help was forthcoming  due to the cockiness of the crew. When an old guy said to them "Good luck." the response was " We don't need luck, we got skillz!" forgetting apparently for the moment that those same skills that had beached the boat on Monday would now have to be relied on Wednesday for the more difficult task. Not a good track record. As they pushed it into the creek run-off the first mate(?) flipped off the beach thinking he was headed out to sea, but he had jumped the gun on that one.

The show came to a close just at the top of the tide when it became clear that there was to be no launch and they wrestled the boat back into the creek. And that was when I left, relieved that they had not gotten out. Between 6' sets, the wind and cold water, as well as the beer and lack of surf experience it would have ended badly.

There's a fine line between comedy and tragedy

From the forest floor......

Falling down....

Bring it.

The time has come.

 Colours

Heater running

Power drags

Passing on waves that would have made summer sessions

because better ones are showing on the horizon.

Cold.

Wanting longer days.

R B

South coast stylist. Lanky smooth.

How not to surf Shorties......

Stoked and broke.....

Stoked & Broke Teaser from www.KORDUROY.tv on Vimeo.


Gotta love the stoke meter being pegged.......

Light........

Down in the sea haze a lone figure paced between long period souths lighting the bar. Cruisy lip bumps and bottom turns. The evening light on glass magical. Soft wrinkles of swell pushed up the beach, squeezing the shorebreak into peaks before they collapsed.

Paddled Sonja Redbottom into the far corner of the beach to join the sole surfer. Peaks sauntered in swaying into two or three take-offs, splitting the choices. Chest high drops, lefts and rights. L. was testing out a new Liddle hull, I had a go after a half hour...... much fun! Just as skatey as people have raved about them, don't force the glide, 'cos you can't. Full rail turns in small surf, instant power rush underfoot. Take your time find the spot......

The haze got thicker and in the sunset glare the waves hard to see. A last set about headhigh threw out a left and into the beach I went.

Over curried pork and rice we talked surf and stared at the fog curls mimicing the south swell creeping into the coast underneath.

Skeleton coast

Surf Drops

Evidence of

 surf .

pic by Kurt Windisch

Duke finalists

Kiwanda LB'test and a legend........