Watch: Smokin' Ocean Beach
It's been a hell run of swell over on the far side of the Pacific as the northern hemi winter builds to a crescendo. Lots of footage appearing of waves wild and perfect, and here we have the usually tortuous OB - where just getting out the back deems a session succesful - looking like a Mexican beachbreak.
Best listened to with the volume low.
Comments
Epic......
WOW!
recommend watching at 1.25x speed.
doesn't help the song at all unfortunately
OB looking like Puerto Escondido
Crazy waves! Crank it up, love a bit of deep house.
Good on ya Sprout. I liked it too, even more due to the fact the last video I watched used a Metallica song. ;-)
Amazing waves. I bet William Finnegan wishes he was out there (maybe he was). I actually didn't mind the music, better than in some of the clips I've seen over the years.
And it's because of Finnigan that in my next life I'm gonna spend a couple years at this stretch of beach break fit enough to ride the biguns.
what a burn at 4:39
Loved it!
About as good as OB gets!! Stoked to see Curt and Eric and the Powerlines boys getting some exposure...some of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.
This isnt from anything recent, filmed back in 2013. Boys def brought it that for sure
Yep and yep. In the youtube comments section the publisher (Powerlines Productions) says its from MLK day, 2013. (MLK = Martin Luther King)
Nitpicker muso here. Things don't build to a crescendo. A crescendo is a build. Things crescendo to a peak or a climax or a summit or whatever.
Would appear that's true when the writing is music related, however, and I admit to searching this just now, there are a few examples (checked Oxford and Dictionary.com) of the term being used interchangeably as the climactic peak.
Oxford: "the port engine's sound rose to a crescendo"
Dictionary.com: "The authorities finally took action when public outrage reached a crescendo."
Appreciate the nitpicking but.
Skunked! Well played, my friend.
Enjoyed the possibility of a 'crescendo' to a 'summit', so I looked it up.
Lo and behold, John Williams has a short piece in Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, titled 'Encounter at Crescendo Summit'.
Gotta say, this audio grab could easily be the soundtrack to any one of my beat-downs (pre/while/post).
Reminds me of a few good days at home.
Interesting on the more distant shots of the swell lines to see those outer sandbanks moving the swell around and helping to create the angles and tapers that cause the peaks inside. It so open that swell from multiple directions must also play a role.
What a spot! Never crowded at size due to the paddle out and caught inside risks in ice cream headache cold water.
Sick waves. How the lines stacked to infinity at the start.
....and beyond! Perfect and that Rino Chaser haven't seen one of those for a long while in anything other than Hawaii. A mate surfed there in the late 70's and said it was unreal and so it proves. Also that road you always see where the take the photo's from such a great aspect.
Killer ocean beach, hows those endless lines to the horizon.
I'm sure it gets much bigger than that.
What makes some beachies manageable at sizes like this (and beyond)?
Most of the beachies in say, Vicco, can't handle anything above 6-8ft before they become a rippy close out mess.
Same on Sunny Coast, anything above solid 4ft+ is pushing it unless howling offshore for a solid amount of time, even on the reefs.
Check out the lines out the back in that video (especially 0:14 - 0:18), it seems like there are some outer reefs shaping/bending the swell a long way offshore. Also the offshore wind looks at least moderate in strength.
Would love a crack at that joint - i imagine the spaced out lineup and tough/random paddle out would make crowds almost a non-issue
This should get your juices flowing, bit more friendly, bit more sunny:
Reminded me also of Bill Finnegan’s book, Barbarian Days.
My two favourite parts of the book were from Madeira and Ocean Beach. The OB stories had the hair on the back of my neck raised, and holding my breath for the beatdowns.
He mentions a few times how hard it is to get out the back when there is any size. Looking at corduroy lines to the horizon just made it look impossible. Glad those boys made it out, some very casual holding of bottom turns in this clip.
From Comments : 67 + Duck Dives over 45 + mins
This Legend could knock Jamie Mitcho off his Molokia Throne
Commitment!
Harder than Odysseus getting home from Troy!
Incredible how it holds such perfect shape and gutters at size.
Crew are charging it.
OB is a moody fickle place, but when it all comes together its all time. If you can make it out through the freezing white water in a 5mm wetsuit, hood and boots. Most regular OB surfers will have at least a story when they just didn't get out. Few times I thought I could drown out there caught inside. Many times, in winter It was so big I just drove away. I got stuck out there when it was 6 foot and the fog rolled in and I could not see any direction for more than 10 meters. Hard core brutal beach break, respect to guys who charge it .
Great description, thanks mate.
Kind of interesting considering how here in Aus it seems any land in front of the beach, especially in front of epic surf, is valued highly. Whereas OB seems pretty desolate.
I know San Fran has its issues, and from the description above it isn't a user friendly place in any way shape or form, just interesting seeing as it's effectively in a major city but no one near the same as how coastal property here has just exploded.
Kind of interesting considering how here in Aus it seems any land in front of the beach, especially in front of epic surf, is valued highly. Whereas OB seems pretty desolate.
I know San Fran has its issues, and from the description above it isn't a user friendly place in any way shape or form, just interesting seeing as it's effectively in a major city but no one near the same as how coastal property here has just exploded.
Stok, I believe that all summer it is a foggy, drizzly, onshore hellhole. But those crisp winter days sure look lovely.
Oh yeah, the fog! Forgot about that!
That left just before the 4 minute mark! Stunning.