More than 50 surfers desperate for surf! (Santa Cruz)

Dee

No great art here, just wanted to share.

We drove to Santa Cruz and discovered a very flat Pacific Ocean. How flat? Reallllllllyyyyyy flat. But that doesn't deter the surfing community does it?



First, I've never seen that many surfers huddled together trying to catch a wave. Any wave.... The people here and behind me would let out a cheering yell of support when the surfers caught a wave.



You can see how shallow the water is (it was low tide) by the number of people standing.

The waves would come in, slowly, gracefully, and just as slowly and gracefully the surfers would get in position, and as if one unit would slowly get in position and rise to stand on their boards.



I'm sorry now I didn't think to take a movie... but I did insist that hubby get out of the car and watch -- it was definitely something you had to see to believe.

Oh, BTW, they've torn down the restrooms at Lighthouse Field.

photodoug

hilarious. I don't think I ever saw it that calm there either...and low tide! Thanks for the shots....I grew up there and probably passed by that spot every day of my young life...miss it.

Dee

Thanks

photodoug wrote:

hilarious. I don't think I ever saw it that calm there either...and low tide! Thanks for the shots....I grew up there and probably passed by that spot every day of my young life...miss it.

I'm glad you appreciated the humor of the situation! I didn't think any surfers would be out and to see more than 50 was mind boggling! Ed (hubby) said he saw a lot of dads with their children, probably a perfect place to learn, and it was surfable!

ed_h

Talk about bringing back memories, the summer of '58 at Cowles (sp) beach Santa Cruz, the waves were about the same as your pictures and the crowd no less. It was probably the first and last summer that surfers socialized with each on the beach, it was the first summer for most of us and we didn't know any better
Thanks for sharing.
Ed

Dee

Thanks Ed

ed_h wrote:

Talk about bringing back memories, the summer of '58 at Cowles (sp) beach Santa Cruz, the waves were about the same as your pictures and the crowd no less. It was probably the first and last summer that surfers socialized with each on the beach, it was the first summer for most of us and we didn't know any better
Thanks for sharing.
Ed

Glad I could bring back some good memories. I will say that all the 50 or so people there were very polite and watched out for each other... I would have thought they'd be falling over each other, but they were extremely well behaved and it almost looked orchestrated... it was pretty amazing. I am really so sorry I didn't think to take a short movie... I doubt I'll ever see anything like this again.

Steve Cavigliano

Very kewl Dee

Usually only see this many people out during the Summer. Man, those waves are puny IMO, not worth braving 58 degree water for. You'll find me on the wharf with a hot bowl-a-chowdah instead......lol


Steve

Dee

I knew you'd appreciate the surf report

Steve Cavigliano wrote:

Very kewl Dee

Usually only see this many people out during the Summer. Man, those waves are puny IMO, not worth braving 58 degree water for. You'll find me on the wharf with a hot bowl-a-chowdah instead......lol


Steve

I thought the water at Santa Cruz was warmer than our waters?????

But I'm with you, hanging on the wharf photographing sea lions and pelicans is much more fun... but I've never surfed in my life.

We saw surfers heading down the cliff to join the melee... Ed saw quite a few teacher/beginner pairs down there, great place to do it with the low tide and extra gentle, but rideable (hmm, is that a word?) ripples...

ian408

Water temp doesn't really change much between SFO and MRY. Maybe a
couple or three degrees.

Cowles is more the beginner beach where around the corner is Steamers with bigger waves and more advanced surfers.

Man, that's flat and low. Dang!

Dee

I was waiting for you to see this

ian408 wrote:

Water temp doesn't really change much between SFO and MRY. Maybe a
couple or three degrees.

Cowles is more the beginner beach where around the corner is Steamers with bigger waves and more advanced surfers.

Man, that's flat and low. Dang!

Steamers was flatter... I couldn't believe it. That was the only place there was any ripples at all.

Sorry to hear about the water temp... I guess it's a myth that in front of the boardwalk the water temp is swimable...

When we first moved out here, of course I had to stick my feet in the water... brrr.... ice cubes... I don't do that anymore.

ian408

Dee wrote:

Sorry to hear about the water temp... I guess it's a myth that in front of the boardwalk the water temp is swimable...

I swam the Pier swim one time. It goes around the pier and the first few
minutes are pretty damn cold. But after that, you're really quite warm

You want cold, try the trans Tahoe swim

photodoug

ian408 wrote:

I swam the Pier swim one time. It goes around the pier and the first few
minutes are pretty damn cold. But after that, you're really quite warm

You want cold, try the trans Tahoe swim

I tried the pier swim once....had to cut it short so I swam under the pier to the other side...THAT part was creepy! Under the pier is full of aquatic life, seaweed and is extra cold...at least it was in my mind.