Shits, giggles and barrels at Secret Reef, CA 10/28/06

[Superstar Punani]

With a sweet NW swell hitting the coast it was time to head somewhere to score.

The Dirty Aussie was in town from Tahoe and needed to get his surf fix in before the season starts. We checked out this spot at first light and it was firing.



Head high barrels unloaded off the reef with no one out. I scanned the lineup for the men in the grey suits (or more aptly, the men in the white suits). The fact that I caught a Discovery Channel shark show the night before- the one that shot within spitting distance from this surf spot, not to mention that this has been the site of a previous whitey attack did little to ease my nerves. Those empty head-high barrels didn't look so tempting.

But fuck it. We're out there. The Dirty Aussie made his way to the lineup. I followed behind. Pretty soon we felt like we were in the middle of some wildlife sanctuary. Sea Otters cruised by us floating on their backs. Gigantic Pelican swooped in, splashing in the lineup and eyeing us with curiosity. Packs of seal pups and their mommas cruised by. Dolphins danced around. Consistent sets hit the reef and there were insane lefts and rights all round.

Never mind the fact that you just put yourself somewhere in the food chain. With all these animals cruising around it comforted us to think that we weren't the only pieces of meat on the aquatic buffet table. Pretty soon I had relaxed enough to enjoy the seemingly endless supply of perfect head-high waves.

Can't believe this was a Saturday morning, and we had it all to ourselves for over a couple hours. The crowd rocked up later on and we left when there was a pack of ten surfers competing for the less consistent waves.

That afternoon we cruised up to Ocean Beach which was slightly bigger but way more crowded. I think I'll be heading back to "Secret Reef" instead.

[Westmeister]

I can't see shit for pics

[Pierre LeCouloir]

That looks just like !@#%!@####!@. Great break.

[SuperGaper]

Wadell reef, and really no-one out? or maybe Greyhound rock. I think Saturday was one of those days that just about all of California was good. I love fall.

[Pura Vida]

You're stoked you scored it empty. Thankfully even when the crowds spill down or up there, there's usually plenty of room and lots of peaks. Yeah with the creek mouth and one of whitey's favorite islands nearby the shark vibe can be intense.

[Alkasquawlik]

secret? waddell is like the most crowded spot second to maybe 4 mile. Your stoked you got it with no one out though. The reef you surfed we like to call 'lil banzis', scored it with Adam Repogle and Peter Mel about a month ago, it was like a cold water version of macaronis. Insane. Puni, I'm heading up to SF for the icer air, have quit my job and shall be around most of the week. StormSurf is calling for 8.3 feet at 13 seconds WNW on Tues. Lots of Reefs will be firing up north. How 'bouts a surf?

[Superstar Punani]

secret? waddell is like the most crowded spot second to maybe 4 mile. Your stoked you got it with no one out though. The reef you surfed we like to call 'lil banzis', scored it with Adam Repogle and Peter Mel about a month ago, it was like a cold water version of macaronis. Insane. Puni, I'm heading up to SF for the icer air, have quit my job and shall be around most of the week. StormSurf is calling for 8.3 feet at 13 seconds WNW on Tues. Lots of Reefs will be firing up north. How 'bouts a surf?

Yeah the weird thing is that on Fri morning there were more people on it. (7-10 cars) and small. I ended up driving all the way back to OB where it was overhead. On Sat morning the same spot had nobody for a good couple hours but the beachbreak down had about 20-30 people. Crowds came out the reef around 9 but even then there were only 6 guys out.

The left is fucking fun. Walled up, punchy and the right started to barrel on the bigger ones.

Definitely up for a surf next week, given my highly flexible work hours.