No Bad Tides: Bolsa Chica and making the best of $15... By Eric Cedeno

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Bolsa Chica and making the best of $15... By Eric Cedeno

2-4' Bolsa Chica 8-11-12:
I think this was only my second time ever surfing Bolsa Chica. I heard Skip from work was planning on being there around 6:30am so I decided to give it a shot and meet up at Tower 27. I wasn't sure how the surf was going to be so I loaded 4 boards in My honda Element (9'0" longboard, 7'4 hybrid, 7' new Lopez remake and 6'10" mini log) so I'd have all the basic board options in the water.

Photo By Eric Cedeno
There are four boards in there.. Trust me..

A arrived just a little before 6:30 am and waited in line to pay my $15 bucks for parking. Maybe I'll invest in an annual pass ($195) in the near future. I headed north from the main entrance and found tower 27 empty, both the parking lot and the surf.

Photo By Eric Cedeno
Bolsa Chica Tower 27

I figured I'd take a few minutes to check out the surf so that I would know which board to take out. The surf was fast and a bit punchy. The larger waves tended to close out and I could see that it looked like it was not going to be that easy to be in the right spot on the take offs. I snapped a few pictures so you can see what I'm talking about.

Photo By Eric Cedeno
Bolsa Chica Tower 27

After doing a surf check I make it back to my car and it was still only the only car in the parking lot... That's ok, less crowded just means more waves for me. I looked at the surf for a while and ended up deciding to take out my 7'4" hybrid. I picked that board for a few reasons; (1) It’s my “go-to” board aka the board that I’m most comfortable surfing in all conditions both big and small surf, (2) it’s an easy board for me to duck dive in larger surf and (3) I can take-off early like a longboard or take-off late like a shortboard. That’s what makes surfing a hybrid so much fun, its versatility. It was a little tricky out there. Most of the larger waves just closed out and it took a lot of paddling to get into the best spot to attempt taking off on a wave. It also had the usual Huntington Beach side current dragging everyone in the water north. As I paddled out I saw a familiar face, it was Skip. I think I may have even gotten a picture of him surfing just before I paddled out.

We got a few fun ones in the challenging surf. The waves were fast and the take offs were also tricky. After about and hour or so I decided to do a quick board change to make the $15 parking really worth it. I swapped out My 7'4" for my new Lopez remake and it made a big difference and I was able to make it back out of a few more barrels this time, because the Lopez remake is narrower than my 7’4” and the Lopez remake is also built for catching barrels. Eventually a few more people showed up but they usually just drifted through because they didn’t keep up on maintaining their position in front of the Tower 27 lifeguard station like I did. I mostly surfed alone with maybe just two or three other guys passing through at any given time.

Here are a few more pictures of the surf that I took just before I paddled out...