Many of you already know that a storm pulled up on the west coast closer than usual storms this time of year. It sent record breaking swells to Southern California. I know pictures are starting to get passed around the web, thought I would throw in a few I took.
This is in Huntington Beach. The surf had actually backed down at dusk, but was still very aggressive.
Early morning barrels lit up the horizon. Before the sun rose, all you had was its sound; it was a very intimidating sound to say the least. The swells were coming in fast, almost every 5 seconds by my watch.
Many of the sets that came in were unsurfable, triple overhead, 15 foot plus, sending those in the line of fire diving for the ocean base for safety and so not to lose position and get caught inside the danger zone.
The distance for paddling out in Huntington Beach is already quite laborious, however, this break offered even more distance. The water temperature was in the 50s and the tides were ripping people every which way. Most of the surfers that paddled out got very disoriented and you could see them paddling various wrong directions. Only about 10 percent of those that attempted to get out were succesful, the remainder came back in breathing heavy, some of which requested the url of which I would post the images (hopefull I got something that made them look daring).
Some surfers found a little space in the middle of the waves hearts, not much room, but definitely a fast ride.
