It was another stunning day at Huntington Beach. The swell was supposed to have passed by now, but Poseidon was happy and graced us with an extra day. I mean to tell you the waves were shoulder to high high, sometimes overhead, the shape of the waves were perfect A-frames, easy to take off on, but fast as lightning. And the crowds were surprisingly sparse considering the awesome conditions. It was like having Yosemite all to your self. However, the rip was so strong that I lost my whole crew on the paddle out. We started out just north of the pier crowd. I didn’t see Donnie or Chris (The Wave Warrior) again until I got out at Goldenwest. Man, that was a long walk back, but totally worth it. Oh, those sweet rides. Later Chris commented that it wasn’t crowded because everyone had already been washed down to Bolsa Chica.
I’d decided to take the Flip UltraHD out to get some video of some bigger surf, but that turned out to be a bad idea. Having that thing in my hand was a real hindrance to catching those spectacular waves. Actually it was a bit of chore just getting out to the line up with it in my hand. Extra tough paddle out today without it. Originally we’d planned to trade off camera duties, but seeing as my mates had disappeared, that plan immediately when out the window. After trying out several configurations, I gave up trying to catch the wave and film. Instead I took video of a few of the lovely waves for you, then crammed the camera down my wetsuit neck-hole and went hog wild on the waves (until I realized I was at Goldenwest and had a mile long walk back ahead of me).
Here’s a taste of the kind of sweet waves that kept rolling up on me today. I dare you to watch this video and not turn around to start paddling for the wave.
[youtube width=”570″ height=”390″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_OzjrBxxLE[/youtube]