Woke up this morning, walk down the 34th and surfed El Porto again. This was Sunday and a bit more S swells out so there were more people out, but again, between the Manhattan Pier and the El Porto Jetty, people were all spread out.
Like Amy told me, yes, this is more of a short board territory (but there were a fair share of long boarders too). Today, it still was very much like the Linda Mar on a spread-out day. About shoulder high but lots of close outs. The only difference between here and Linda Mar is that we got fairly big shore breaks that made getting in and out more difficult. So it is more like the entire beach is like the N End of Linda Mar.
One difference here compared to our Nor Cal beaches is that they got this huge sand plow vehicle that they run in the morning to flatten the beach. I have never seen anything like this in NorCal! Good thing that I did not leave a back pack on the beach. They would probably have ran it over. Another difference is that there are lifeguards that patrol the beach on pickup trucks with a huge rescue board. Except for Manresa, I have not seen those guys in our area.
On these closed-out days, a strategy I use is to surf on reforms. I was able to get several educational (but no long) rides by just waiting for the waves to close out then ride on the white water. Most of those reform back to about chest high breaks, so I was able to rip a bit on my Fish. I am part happy that I know how to deal with these, but on the other hands, I wish I had better waves.
Most people here were surfing with the "Sea Gull" style wetsuits with a few men surfing with just a board shorts and a rash guard. The daytime temp is getting up to 90's and so it have been hot for the last two days. I have only seen a few young women surfers on short boards. But there were some few groms that were really good.
At the end of the session, I did not realize how far S I was carried out. When I got up to the Highland Street, I could not tell which way to get back. I had to walk about 4 blocks N to get back to the motel!
Tomorrow, Monday, we will try to hit Seal Beach or Huntington.
