Paipo Gathering - Fall 2015?

[Pes78]

Had a good couple days up North surfing some spots that I haven't been to before. I was good to meet everyone and like Rod said got to get to know each other a little better with the smaller group. Wish I could have tried Skiff's board and it's not as big as I thought it would be. The foil and lightness of the board was impressive. Thanks to SJB and Spudnut for letting us visitors to a couple spots that I know I wouldn't have gone to. Next time I'm up that way will like to share some waves with you guys again.

Paul

[jbw4600]

I had a great time. It was a long drive (7 hours), but it was worth it. I was nice talking with you guys. It was a different experience for me to surf in the blazing sun and warm water. Here is a photo I took the day before we went out at El Capitan.[img]

[/img]. Rod I hope you have a nice trip home.

[Nels]

I'd love to have made it, but apparently a lot of us Know How It Goes. Had nothing on the books when the idea first floated and several totally unanticipated or dreamed of things surfaced that were very time-critical, with Monday being the Key Beer Can of the various things. Funny how that goes. For about a 10 year period a bunch of high school friends and I would nearly never see each other anywhere close to where anybody lived; some of us who lived in the same town were more likely to see each other at a group gathering in Vegas or Arizona or the Sierras rather than around town. So maybe next time...

Nels

[krusher74]

I had a great time. It was a long drive (7 hours), but it was worth it. I was nice talking with you guys. It was a different experience for me to surf in the blazing sun and warm water. Here is a photo I took the day before we went out at El Capitan.[img]

WP_20151010_13_50_44_Pro_(2)[1].jpg

[/img]. Rod I hope you have a nice trip home.

Nice to see it so quiet, last time I surfed it it was about that size with 40 in!

Glad you guys had a nice time

[skiff]

Yeah, kind of funny to see how quiet the turnout............turned out? I've been to many of the Swaylock's Big Sur campouts and there's been 150+ coming from ALL AROUND THE WORLD to attend that? Full of energy, anxious to check out everyone else's boards, swapping them in the lineup, huge fully prepped bbq's at night, chatting late into the evening about all things board design/building, charging every lineup within 5 miles during all daylight hours....etc, etc? I'm certainly no El Cap local but I do have some years in there, so tried to clue the assemblage as to the right time to take advantage of the lowering tide and swell peak........but in the end, it was just myself and a longtime buddy and his 6 year old that held down the paipo cred at the point. It wasn't epic by any means, but once the wave moved out past the rocks onto the hard pan sandbar, some epic little speed slots were to be had. Here's just a few photos from the late afternoon on Monday-

[skiff]

Base camp up on the top row of Ocean Mesa for the 48 hours I was there. It's no Airstream, but it's comfortable for short stays. I had further business the next day up the coast, so figured I might as well kill two birds with one stone so brought this and then continued to the harbor after the 'gathering'. It's an RV-wannabee on occasion... The air temp was in the 90's I think, with high humidity (*very rare for this area..........at any time...) and the water temp was hovering near 70. I surfed in trunks and a short sleeved, thin jacket, which is something.............I've never done here? Water temps were ten or more degrees hotter than anybody has ever seen them? Wild.

[skiff]

In the evening, after the surf, it was fun to meet with Rod, Paul, and James. We had a nice chat around the fire and then turned in early.

[skiff]

El Cap is a fickle wave, HIGHLY dependent on angle, tide, etc. But if you can get one of the good ones................and oftentimes, the 'good ones' only have to be 3' or so...........if it's out on the sand bar, the type of ride it can offer is EXACTLY what a paipo enthusiast can appreciate. For four hours on Monday afternoon, it came alive............and then promptly shut off. I checked it Tues morning but as expected, the swell had now fallen below 'threshold' (*as predicted, no surprises here...), and a nasty east wind was sending chop through the lineup up onto the rocks. Monday late arvo was the call, and then the opportunities left until the next swell. Such is surfing...

[rodndtube]

<snip> Rod I hope you have a nice trip home.

Great trip home. Pulled out of the campground around 5am or so... good drive down the 101 to Camarillo and then the coastal road to the I-10. That alll went smoothly. Then I took a break for an hour or so in LA to catch up on some email and do some route planning, and to coffee up for the Greater LA Metro area escape... the toughest 3 hrs besides the stretch between Indianapolis and East Columbus on the last day. Stopped off to pay my respects to my Grandfather and Great Grandfather at the Erick, OK, graveyard (pioneer Texas and Oklahoma settlers). The last day I covered a LOT of ground... Central Missouri to Maryland Flurries came down hard in the Western Maryland mountains.

Had a great time meeting everyone and sorry so many were not able to make an appearance (but that kept the crowds down!).