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Summer begins! Officially began this morning at 11:26 (PDT) here on the left coast. Monster surf rolling in here in sunny SoCal. I took a bike ride with Miss Julie down the Balboa Peninsula .. to "the Wedge," which sits at the very end of the Peninsula, famous for its bone-crushing waves. The local newspaper (Daily Pilot) sported headlines: Heavy surf at Wedge, reporting waves of 12-feet (4 meters)... ... I think they measure wave height from normal sea level to the top. But a huge *trough* develops in front of each wave, so the *face* looked much bigger: closer to 20 foot (6 or 7 meters)... .. and when they break >> it's thunderous. The ground shakes. Awesome display of nature's power. Captivating. ABC7 Eyewitness News had *4* trucks there at the Wedge. They also had a guy in the water, wearing a helmet-mounted camera. (Talk about a hazardous job.) ••• continued ••• The front page of today's LA Times sported a lone body-surfer, airborne (great shot), launched above a wave, with the title: The Wild, Wild Wedge. Supporting text read: Body-boarder goes airborne at the Wedge in Newport Beach, where brave souls rode waves that reached high as 20 feet. A few hundred people stood on the beach, watching the giants roll in, set after set. Only 20 or 25 souls ("seeking a thrashing") braved the hazardous conditions to catch a wild ride. Newport Beach lifeguards reported ~50 rescues. Interesting to hear local kids talk their surf lingo. When the waves are big like this, they say "it's going off." When one guy got hammered in a big wave, I heard one of them comment, "Say good night." Can't recall every phrase used, but the language is very colorful. I've ridden a total of 4 waves in my not-so-illustrious surfing career. It's much harder than it looks. The last time, I could hardly climb out of bed the next morning, having used muscles I normally don't use. The waves were generated by a storm some 5,000 miles away, off the coast of South America. Not a bad way to start the summer. Not bad at all. |
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