thesurfbot

Fun left. Photo by Max.

So much fun today! Felt like SoCal. Not only was it perfect, mellow, knee to chest-high waves and a clean 12 seconds west, I finally got my rhythm back. Waves were nonstop on the south end. Even though the lineup and beach were packed on a sunny warm Saturday, once I paddled out, I found a sweet spot (in front of the “river”) where it was just myself, two longboarders and a SUP. There were plenty of waves to go around. Lost track of how many fun rides I had. So stoked. Max is resting his shoulder/trapezoid and took the photos from the beach. Wish he had been able to surf today. He would’ve loved it.

Small, sweet right. Photo by Max.

#149 / 3pm

[3-4 ft + waist to shoulder high. FAIR CONDITIONS. REGIONAL SUMMARY: WNW(280-300) groundswell on the fade today but still offering up plenty of decent-sized waves for exposed areas. Head high to overhead+ waves show early, while top breaks can occasionally see sets to nearly double overhead. Expect these sizes to wind down as we move through the day. Offshore wind early for smooth, clean conditions.]

Beautiful conditions today. It was about waist-high with light offshore winds and no closeouts! It was a welcome sight. While we were suiting up, I spotted a section that broke left and lined up near TB, but I never managed to catch one of those. I did get a fun left a bit farther south. Today was another milestone in Max’s return as he managed to paddle out and sit with me on the outside. Woo!! The current was pushing up south so we paddled north. I got another few short rides before the next lull between sets. Great time.

#148 / 2pm

[2-3 ft + knee to chest high. FAIR CONDITIONS. REGIONAL SUMMARY: Old NW swell fades while minor South swell mixes in. Most breaks across the region are in the waist-chest high range, with open exposures still pulling in some shoulder-head high sets at times. Conditions are clean with offshore flow and a dropping tide helping the overall shape at many locations.]

This day at Teahupoo – Aug 27th 2011 during the Billabong Pro waiting period is what many are calling the biggest and gnarliest Teahupoo ever ridden. Chris Bryan was fortunate enough to be there working for Billabong on a day that will go down in the history of big wave surfing. The French Navy labeled this day a double code red prohibiting and threatening to arrest anyone that entered the water.
Kelly Slater described the day by saying “witnessing this was a draining feeling being terrified for other people’s lives all day long, it’s life or death. Letting go of that rope one time can change your life and not many people will ever experience that in their life.”

All images where shot by Chris Bryan using the Phantom HD Gold camera. To see more of Chris’ work check out his website. WWW.CHRISBRYANFILMS.COM

Music: Lower Your Eyelids to Die with the Sun’ by M83.

Via MPORA

Love this.

From the cam, it looked like sunny Lake Linda Mar, but when we arrived, a large set was rolling through from north to south, with light offshore winds shooting spray. We ran into Greg and chatted with him for a few and watched the waves. We all agreed the south end was the best. I paddled out in between sets and sat with only two other surfers on the outside. The first guy nailed a nice right on the first wave of the set, while the other guy wiped out on the second wave. On the inside, two shortboarders wiped out as well. Tide was dropping and the waves were breaking right into shallow water. You either had to be pretty far outside or immediately on the inside. I observed for a while, enjoying the solitude and watching the swell lines roll in from north to south. Occasionally I had to paddle over some steep ones. After sitting for a bit, I paddled around for better position. I opted for medium-sized waves and caught two short fun rides. Max had his Harbour 9′ board today instead of his shortboard. He was able to do a pushup the other night without any shoulder issues (after his PT suggested trying it) and today he managed to popup and get to his feet on several whitewater reforms. So happy that he’s getting better after two months!

#147 / 2pm

[3-5 ft waist to head high occ. 6 ft. FAIR CONDITIONS. REGIONAL SUMMARY: Long period new WNW(285-310) groundswell builds in through the day today. Most breaks are starting off in the chest-shoulder-head high+ range, with top exposures that can focus the longer period energy pulling in some 2-3' overhead sets. The tide is making for some sluggish, warbly corners at a lot of breaks, but there are still some good corners mixing in. Conditions are nice and clean thanks to light ENE-NE winds.]