January 3rd, 2009 by admin
The craziness of the holiday season is over and I finally got a window of opportunity to get some surfing in. I set out for Jordan River around 8:00. On the drive there big flakes of snow were coming down pretty heavy. I got to Jordan River a little after 9:00 and the waves looked pretty decent, although any waves would look good at this point considering a haven’t been able to get out for a few weeks. The waves were about 3-4 footers and were coming in from the Northwest. There was very little wind. I decided to get right at it, so I suited up and hit the water. Due to the waves not being terrific I had the whole bay to myself.
While I was paddling out the sky opened up and huge flakes of snow began to fall again. There were dark gray clouds directly overhead but the sun was poking through some blue sky and was reflecting off the snow capped mountains on the horizon. I paddled right past a family of 6 seals wrestling and playing around. On the opposite side of me there was a big curious sea lion who had decided to come right up and investigate to see what I was all about. He hung around and watched me surf for a couple of hours. A few times he infiltrated my comfort zone and got within 10 to 15 feet away from me so I’d hold my board straight up in the air and let out a few loud grunts. I don’t know if this was establishing my dominance or if he just thought I was a crazy lunatic either way he never got too much closer to that.
I surfed until about 1:30 the waves pretty much flattened right out by then so I decided to hit the road. I got quite a few good rides in, the waves weren’t huge but as always they were fun.
The time spent out in the water surrounded by nature was absolutely surreal, one of the most memorable trips to date.
November 15th, 2008 by admin
Razor and I hit up Jordan River Camp. We got out there around 10:30 and it looked very flat and there was no one around. After watching for a few minutes we noticed there was actually some nice sets rolling in from waist to shoulder height coming from the Northwest. (MagicSeaweed called for 7.5-8 footers.)
We went in straight off the parking point and got some nice little fun ones right off the bat. It is quite shallow right off the point so we would have to bail off after a fairly short ride.
There was a graveyard of logs, drift wood and debris floating around in the water. We were a fair ways out from the point now and I was riding a wave in when I looked down and saw big jagged rocks maybe 6 inches below the surface of the water. I kept cruising and luckily a couple seconds later it got a little deeper again so I bailed off, “sacrifice the body and save the board” is what was going through my head.
After a short break we decide to venture across to the center of the bay. Razor stayed and surfed here, where he said he got some nice rides in and I continued past the bay to a rock bed break.
Great waves about shoulder height. My arms were feeling the burn from being out of shape and paddling so far but I stayed out for a few hours and caught some really fun rides. Fairly shallow on some spots and big boulders rather than the gravel that makes up most of the bay. Worked a lot on my turning and feel like I am getting a much better feel for controlling my board under my feet. There was no wind at all which made it very enjoyable no fighting against the white wash coming in, it was perfect.
It was a long paddle back after I had worn myself our catching waves. When I finally got back to shore Razor told me that there was a sea lion that tailed me all the way across the bay just a few feet behind me. I imagine that the flailing of my rubber arms and my out of breath grunting probably mimicked a wounded seal pretty closely.
August 19th, 2006 by admin
Al surprised me for my birthday and rented surf gear and a room at a bed and breakfast on the edge of Sooke. It was the first time either of us had stayed at a B&B. Beautiful country, we hiked up a mountain in behind the cottage and got a great view of the water.
Now for the creepy part.
We were woke by the owner of the place knocking on the door saying “wakey wakey breakfast is ready”. Maybe it was just us but how is it peaceful or romantic to have to go into a strangers home sit with them and eat an awkward few pieces of toast? Guess we’re just not B&B folk. Anyway, lets get to the surfing.
We geared up and got in the water at Sombrio. There were some very small waves the one place where there was actually a decent break there were 20 guys sitting around it, no thanks. We had some fun in the small waves for a bit until a giant bull sea lion swam past us at a distance of about 15-20 feet. This thing probably weighed close to a ton which meant, let’s move to a new spot.
We moved down quite a ways. There was a decent break but the two guys surfing it told me there were lots of rocks around and it was not a great spot for a beginner. I sat outside the break studying and waiting to build up the confidence to try it out, when I hear an absolutely chilling shriek come from behind me call out my name. I whipped my head back to see what the hell was going on and there was the bull sea lion right at my feet. I turned back put my head down and paddled as hard and as fast as I could. Once I ran out of steam I looked back and the big bull was gone. A second later he popped up a couple feet away from my face, I could have easily extended my arm out and I would have been able to touch his head. He let out a loud confrontational grunt and shot water at me. I turned to shore and bolted I didn’t look back until I was standing on dry land. That was the end of the surf trip.
