Groundhog Day Swell
On Friday, 2.2.24, the east end came to life with a large NNE swell along with strong north winds. Is this a sign that the winter swells will be extended well into spring?
I rushed down to Sandy Beach around 10:30am, parked in the second bathroom lot, and this is one of the first waves I see.
The strong north winds groomed the faces of these waves nicely. I was hoping to catch Zeke Lau surfing on one of these, but I showed up too late.
How often can you get barreled out at Generals
Kui on a wedge
Justin Cadiente finding shade everywhere this morning. Caught a nice in and out at Generals and a few minutes later he was deep at Chambers.
The lifeguards keeping everyone safe
This swell angle and north wind combination is the wet dream for Full Point surfers…
Until 8ft closeouts approach
I haven’t seen a rideable-looking wave break this far out from the blow hole.
I came back to watch the waves with the wife at sunset. The conditions were just as good as the morning and golden hour was here.
The slab outside of Chambers, aka “Sakamoto Reef”
Party wave
The light faded rapidly in the corner.
Experimented with slower shutter speeds as the light faded. Handheld @ 270mm, 1/15s
1/10 to 1/30s was the sweet spot for what I was trying to achieve. Spray and pray method and hope the motion blur is limited to the wave. 160mm, 1/30s
The following day would not be a repeat of the Groundhog Day swell. By Saturday morning, the swell had dropped by almost half and the winds shifted more easterly. Although smaller, the leftover wind swell lasted for a full week.
