tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-287407342011-07-07T21:26:19.188-07:00Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.comBlogger271100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-85294154305551857982009-04-03T18:21:00.000-07:002009-04-03T19:05:37.552-07:00

To the Makah's, apparently Mr. Thunderbird isn't a bird at all. He's a gigantic man named T'hlu-klūts who lives in the mountains and likes to wear a bird costume. When T'hlu-klūts gets hungry, he dons his costume and straps a couple of serpent-like animals to his waist and flies out to sea. He's not looking for salmon; not even a large halibut is enough for T'hlu-klūts' appetite. His craving is

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-85900290108692206952009-04-02T09:45:00.000-07:002009-04-02T11:29:16.775-07:00

To surf or not to surf, that is the question;Whether 'tis nobler in the sea to sufferThe slings and arrows of outrageous weather,Or to stay home against a sea of troubles,And by not surfing, not know."Surf me," she saith, "since I have hemm'd thee hereWithin the wave field of this aqueous green,I'll be an ocean, and thou shalt be my dolphin;Surf where thou wilt, on crest or in trough:Shred on my

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-33309890666704914772009-03-09T21:45:00.000-07:002009-03-09T21:57:18.216-07:00

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-14766475524855540422009-03-09T10:46:00.000-07:002009-03-09T21:40:05.818-07:00

I wasn't able to see the swell in the strait first hand on Sunday, but initial reports are that the waves were not quite as large as expected (shoulder to waist-high). There was definitely surf to be found without having to make the drive all the way to the west coast, but it was spotty. Some surf spots were receiving swell but the developing E wind later in the day made the ride bumpy at more

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-54031883853327443102009-03-07T09:20:00.000-08:002009-03-07T09:56:09.365-08:00

Almost all indicators are pointing towards a great day of surf on Washington's north coast for Sunday. The real time conditions on Saturday morning show strong NW winds in the strait.For surfing's sake, the stronger those NW winds blow today (Sat), the better the surf conditions will be in the strait on Sunday. The swell travels slower than the wind but the intensity of the wind can be an

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-8805285346606319202009-03-05T09:38:00.000-08:002009-03-05T09:39:58.571-08:00

Not too many surf options for Thursday. At the west coast, strong onshore wind and small period is making for messy surf. Friday could be interesting as the wind switches from onshore to offshore, but the predicted wind speed is very high so, while it can make for beautiful waves, it also makes it more difficult to paddle into and stay in the waves. Saturday is looking like a transition day. It

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-76619281675189702652009-03-03T21:21:00.000-08:002009-03-03T21:22:53.134-08:00

The swell size is a little too large for open ocean spots on Wednesday. Stick to sheltered bays. Thursday through early Saturday looks like a more manageable size but the period looks small so be prepared for some bump n jive. It's early in the forecast, but it is looking promising for the swell size and direction to be reaching the strait this coming weekend.

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-51119631914351539242008-06-10T20:07:00.000-07:002008-06-10T20:30:40.573-07:00

Anticipation on the long drive. All the cards are right. Swell direction, size, tides. A giant June storm blew through last night, and the swell is on its tail. The smokestack at the mill shows that the wind on the water is nil. Check the lookout:Whoa, it looks way better than any of the other tens of times I've checked it. I don't need binoculars to tell that the waves look good. Race to the

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-79037596654166128362008-02-22T23:09:00.000-08:002008-02-22T23:11:12.707-08:00

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-45482010739618810192007-07-15T21:55:00.000-07:002007-07-15T21:58:07.039-07:00

We surfed Yellow Banks this weekend. A fun beach break that broke well on all tides. The beach is fairly concave causing the wave to concentrate. The wave was easy to get into and while it wasn't a very big wave we still caught some fun ones.The hike was a challenge. 5+ miles of forest/beach/headland to get to the destination with full backpacks, wetsuits, and surfboards. We were very happy to

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-86419770112037010562007-07-02T12:14:00.000-07:002007-07-02T12:39:07.360-07:00

Our friends took us to a very special place where we were able to get lost in the mazes of creation. Us humans attach words like weathering, erosion, concretion, sedimentation to describe the process and while my urge to describe what I experienced is strong, it ultimately is a place where muses dance and mythology is made. The surf was pretty good too!

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-3580657943155740862007-04-03T15:19:00.000-07:002007-04-03T15:28:45.822-07:00

This is just about as good as it gets at Westport:sigh

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-67124678245441270712007-03-23T07:28:00.000-07:002007-03-23T08:39:07.814-07:00

Between the months of October and April, we Washington surfers can sometimes find surf on our north coast in the Straits of Juan de Fuca. The strange thing is that the surf appears to be tidally-dependent as it switches on and off at the drop of a hat. So, when the swell looks right for the straits (like right at this moment; why am I home typing on a computer?), I'll check the tides and try to

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-75581584351065181092007-03-20T09:48:00.000-07:002007-03-20T13:02:07.084-07:00

Brother Doug getting in the water with his new board.Short Sands on Sunday.Rainy night but the green machine made for a nice camp setupOffshore goodness at Seaside cove--"But, how do you keep honest without relying on a higher power?", my brother asked.I sat there floating on my board looking out at the sea as a set of waves came rolling in."Hmm, I guess...", the set rolled in, and I started

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-20624823685000874202007-03-15T07:24:00.000-07:002007-03-16T13:42:02.238-07:00

Two birds, fast friends; one eats, one watches. - The Rigveda via Joseph CampbellFirst, I'll layout a scenario. A couple of years ago, a friend caught a beautiful fish and brought it to shore. This fish was a ling cod with a huge head, still alive

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-61145145877029866342007-02-28T16:00:00.000-08:002007-02-28T19:34:05.265-08:00

I couldn't resist the predicted NW swell during mid-week. I and ten other surfers showed up expecting it to be grand, but it was waist to chest high. Here's a shaky,blurry video from a typical set of waves:

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-4933620059719675402007-02-26T08:57:00.000-08:002007-02-26T09:42:03.501-08:00

The weather sucked, it was snowing and cold on our way out. -So what!We were planning for eight-second intervals and blown-out, onshore crappy conditions on Saturday and waiting for the big swell to push in on Sunday. -So what! said Mother O' and she delivered clean, chest-high, offshore conditions. The wave count was high for everyone and peaks were bowling up everywhere. Another foot or two of

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-87606725466545843022007-02-18T21:05:00.000-08:002007-03-03T16:06:03.647-08:00

A small surf day in the Strait. Spring is coming, my favorite time of year. A time for sex and propagation. It's a perfect time to plant seeds and ideas- you know, instigate. There are alot of perks to Spring. My nephew is a young person. He and my brother came out to the ocean this time. The surf was actually perfect for a 3.5 ft person's first time. Ankle to thigh-high for me but almost

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-1168385086359076362007-01-09T15:21:00.000-08:002007-01-09T15:30:31.396-08:00

The wind was blowing 30 knots in Puget Sound today. It looked surfable yet messy at this point on Bainbridge Island. Sure would be nice if this was a consistent break since it's a mere mile from my house...

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-1161662214467950852006-10-23T20:45:00.000-07:002007-01-13T23:14:31.786-08:00

Hmm... so many rules- and so much history. It's akin to being placed halfway through a book or movie and trying to make sense of the first half just to cope through the second. Delicate upheavals and abrupt touches to confuse. Then, epiphanies and irony to delight and amuse.

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-1159488254814121912006-09-28T17:03:00.000-07:002006-09-28T17:04:14.816-07:00

Sept. 23, 2006: A small day at Neah Bay with Rob. The waves looked unsurfably small to me from the beach but we both ended up getting way more than our share of a variety of surf. A couple sets even rolled through with some decent size.For my blind brethren, it was a sunny, blue sky day. Picture #1 is of Rob paddling into a left with an obvious shoulder forming to play on. Picture #2 is an

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-1159487845843482392006-09-28T16:52:00.000-07:002007-03-01T19:27:32.361-08:00

Sept. 23, 2006: Rob riding a left staying low and trying to make a section.An unknown longboarder riding his beefstick on hip-highness.Here's a movie of Rob having a close-call with someone else's longboard.

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-1151537145448281752006-06-28T16:13:00.000-07:002006-08-07T14:34:19.603-07:00

OK, a little better luck this time finding waves in Puget Sound. Large ships are my new friend. This one happened to be steaming towards Tacoma as I was out for a paddle and ~PRESTO!~ here comes 60 seconds of 3-foot goodness hitting the normally placid beaches of Puget Sound. There was another lucky fella who hit it at the same time in his open-top kayak. After the 60 seconds were up, the

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-1150172269865478092006-06-12T21:02:00.000-07:002006-06-13T19:39:55.486-07:00

Rumor has it that ferry boat waves are surfable where I live. I've heard talk of a long left point break. The ferries only go by every 30-45 minutes, but apparently the ride is so long that it takes that long to walk or paddle back to the take-off zone. It sounds like tall tales to me, but I'll play the fool if there is a possibility of cutting my commuting time by about 2.5 hours. I kayaked

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-1149911279905768572006-06-09T20:45:00.000-07:002006-06-13T11:31:22.773-07:00

There's only one thing as exhilirating as riding a wave and that's finding a wave. There were four of us on this adventure and while we could have settled for the typical breaks and weekend crowds that most surfers are accustomed to, we decided to push the boundary a bit and go on a surfari to an untamed break. The beach at this secluded surf spot was littered with large widow-maker rocks but

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-1148585186491242212006-05-25T12:10:00.000-07:002006-05-25T14:04:59.366-07:00

Susan and I went to Santa Monica for one of her work trips for about five days. My job was to be her chauffeur and to find surf in the LA area.A rainy day didn't stop hundreds of surfers from visiting one of LA county's most polluted beaches in the Malibu area. The water smelled like chlorine and was covered in a brown slime. There were also lots of storm drains in this area. I was desperate and

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28740734.post-1148581853720601872006-05-25T11:29:00.000-07:002006-05-25T12:10:14.163-07:00

Instigator Surfing is a blog that will allow me to easily share photos and stories with friends and family.Shaka!

Gatorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08618194007258091567noreply@blogger.com1