BIG WINTER DAY
By Corky Carroll
Last week I was telling you how people are always asking me about the biggest surf I ever saw and all that kinda stuff. So last week I wrote about the biggest summer swell I ever saw here in California and promised this week to write about the biggest winter swell I ever saw here in California. In some future week I will write about the biggest surf I ever saw anywhere. But for now I am sticking local.
For the biggest winter swell I regress to a day in late January, I think it was the 27th in 1997. I walked out on the Huntington Beach Pier at about 7:30 in the morning with a hot cup of Java Point coffee in my hand. Java Point is the coffee counter in Huntington Surf n Sport and has the best coffee on Main Street in Huntington Beach. The surf was huge and it was cold and I was in a procrastinating kinda mood. Like not all that motivated to paddle out into enormous closed out beach break at the pier with a zillion mile an hour north to south current running.
As I was standing there savoring my coffee and watching these huge walls of water breaking near the end of the pier my pal Zach Lindborg came walking out on the pier. We greeted each other and watched a few monster walls of water come crashing through the pier and started discussing where would be the good place to go on a day like this.
After a few minutes we both decided to go south and seeing as how we were both into the same journey we decided to jump into my van and head out together. Our destination was actually a spot called “Swamis” in Encinitas. That spot could hold a swell this big. Either that, or La Jolla Cove.
But when we reached the south end of San Clemente we saw that a spot called “Church” was fantastic. The swell was from the north, perfect direction for that spot. To my amazement it was holding the size and was better than I had ever seen it in my life. Really big and really good. Also, really cold.
We paddled out, along with about 40 other people, and got some solid sized waves. How big? The biggest sets were maybe 3 to 4 times the size of people. For California this was a really big day. And the shape was perfect along with the offshore winds. In all, the epic day for this spot.
After surfing there for a few hours we headed back to Huntington Beach. The wind was offshore all day and by now the tide was very low. There is a spot that breaks far offshore off of Golden West Street called “Boxcars.” It is half way out to the oil Derek. And it was breaking good. The problem is that you can’t get out to it because the surf inside is too big and the current is too strong. So we decided to go to Long Beach and get Zach’s boat. The plan was to tow each other into these huge offshore waves.
It was a great plan, except for the fact that it was late in the day and by the time we got out into the ocean in the boat it was only about an hour before dark. That is when we found these huge waves breaking right next to the oil Derek off of Seal Beach. So we rode a few of those.
Then we decided to try and ride a few of the big sets breaking off of Seal Beach in Zach’s boat. That seemed like a good idea until we took off on one and Zach stalled out the boat at the bottom of this giant wave and almost got us creamed. Luckily he got the motor going just in time and we made it out of harms way. Although seconds later a lifeguard on a jet ski made it clear to us that we were really idiots and that we had better clear the area immediately if not sooner.
We made it back to dock at dark. All in all that was the biggest and best winter surf day I can remember in California. I saw Zack not long ago and asked him what he remembered about that day. All he could say is that, “wow man, that was really hairy.”
Yeah, that about sums it up. Really hairy.
STYLE MATTERS ~ THE WAVE
by Corky Carroll
Today I was paddling out at one of our more populated surf spots and I was watching many people surf that ranged from very good to just beginning. Actually I spent a lot of time watching as it was really crowded and I was not really in the aggressive mood and didn’t really feel like competing for waves. I was sort of in the “just relax and be glad I am out here and forget about even trying to catch any waves in the midst of this mob” kinda mood.
So, as I am sitting there sort of gazing at the flora and fauna and watching everybody else surf I started thinking about the total disregard to “style” that has sort of taken place in surfing lately. There really isn’t much elegance to it anymore, and in my opinion that is a real shame. Surfing is such an artful sport and there was a time when style was really a significant part of the approach to excellent surfing technique.
Let me give you a few examples. Billy Hamilton is the best I can come up with because he had probably the best surfing style I have ever seen. Well, I should say he has the best surfing style I have ever seen. Dig out a copy of the old surf movie “Pacific Vibrations” or maybe the “Sunshine Sea.” Check out how every move that he makes is elegant. His hands are always in exactly the right place and fingers and everything is totally inline and perfect. And he is pulling off the most radical moves at the same time. That was poetry in motion.
Earlier than that Phil Edwards had the same sort of approach. Phil was innovative and radical yet always made everything look really easy when it wasn’t easy at all.
I have written about this before and I am probably sounding like one of those “Yeah, it was so much better back in the day” kinda dudes. I really don’t think that. Surfing is way better today than ever. The degree of talent is far beyond what we had during my professional surfing career and the thing that I see guys pulling off today just blows my mind. We dreamed about some of this stuff, but never had the equipment or the background of little steps that it took to be to where it is now. But, and I say this with a suggestion in mind, the degree of beauty of motion and elegance of style is lacking and not up to the degree of radial moves that is taking place. Many of the top surfers of today could learn a lot from watching some of the old movies of guys like Billy Hamilton and Phil Edwards. Also, Skip Frye, David Nuuhiwa, Mickey Dora and Paul Strauch.
I should clarify that I am sort of talking about shortboarding. In my opinion that is the state of the art of surfing. Yes, I love longboarding and think that the guys who are at the top of that end of surfing are really amazing these days. But when push comes to shove shortboarding is the state of the art, in my humble opinion. And this comes from a dude who would love to be a shortboarder again but has given way to the mid size area because he is too old to catch any waves on a shortboard anymore. I hope all you longboard dudes will not take offense to this. I totally respect you. And, truth be know, you are the ones who actually have the more beautiful techniques. Joel Tudor and Dodger Kremil and Little Joe and many more of you have taken the art of longboarding to a new level.
So, I thought that seeing as how I am throwing out this sort of critique of modern day surfing I would add some suggestions and views on what I think correct surfing style is and how you can maybe adjust your technique to make it more fluid and graceful. First off. Your front hand should be lower than your back hand. There is nothing more ugly that to see some dude with his front hand high in the air and his back hand down. That is really awkward. Your whole body should work as one flowing thing. The other thing is that you should always look where you are going. I see so many people doing cutbacks where they are looking one way and turning the other. That is really not pretty and also very un-functional. Look in the direction of your turn and your whole body will fall into line.
These are my little tid-bit tips on making your surfing more fluid and also on all the awkwardness I was watching in the water this morning. Of course I was just sitting there doing absolutely nothing but getting older by the minute so I am not sure I should be tossing out advice. But, it’s my column so I am. Flow, don’t flap.