02.13.10 MAVERICKS (Surf Report)

I guess that some people didn't even have to go surfing to get wiped out.  40 to 50 footers', NO way would I even think of yaking in that stuff.  I've been in 50' seas up in the Gulf of Alaska on board a 378' CG cutter, not fun.  You definetly did the right thing by staying on the inside, even recovering that yak,  WAY TO GO!!!!

Thanks Mooch....
must have been so Kool to be there, and out away from surprise rouges....

My streaming sucked because of bad internet here, but it came on just for the Carnage...

 I was riveted.... I'm surprised the cliffs did not take someone out,

I was there once on the beach and I saw this guy with his 2 small children close to the cliff, drinking a beer...

 I wanted to say something, but we all know how that can go....

sure enough, cliff goes way... dirt rocks are raining down on the him and the kids....

This Jackass picks up one kid, and keeps beer in hand!!!!! 

leaving the screaming child behind... unbelievable....

I grabbed the other one,,,,

I would have tore in to him, but the crowd beat me to it...

 Poor dumb Bastard.... 

Damm exciting Competition....

thanks for the Pics!!!!

I saw the news coverage of that rogue wave.  Lots of people got hurt.  Crazy that you were there to see it first hand.  Glad ur ok.

I'm surprised the cliffs did not take someone out,

I was thinking the same....If I was the sheriff, I would have pulled out a bull horn and give some of these people an earfull !!! I saw little kids (with parents no where to be seen) running and sliding down the face of cliff 

I worked for HMBF for a while, Lots of trouble with those cliffs, kool doing all that rappelling though, further side note, part of our training was to rig our own gear and jump off the Dumbarton bridge,,,, That was Awesome!!!

Saw the news tonight " Oh Boy.." where they showed a guy getting into a yelling match with one of the Sheriffs because they closed off the event...

it was obnoxious!!!

  Awesome detailed  report and pictures, thanks for being there!  I can not believe those waves today.  Hard to believe that happens right under our noses!  I know a lot of you guys fish HMB regularly, and major props to you!  Just makes me want to go fish for bass on a nice 2 inch wind wave on a local lake! 

Good call Mooch. Thanks for the full report of the carnage. jim

Thanks for the report, Mooch.  We watched online, and were glad that we didn't make the trip over.

...This Jackass picks up one kid, and keeps beer in hand!!!!!  
leaving the screaming child behind... unbelievable....
I grabbed the other one,,,,

The time is always right to do what is right.  ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

WTG, Danglin!

Hey Mooch,

Thanks for the pic. That was me on the yellow Strike. I was leaving when you showed up. It looks like you took a picture of me just as a small wave washed over the jetty. Nice timing! I think I told you that you might end up having to rescue people if you stuck around. 

I tried to make it out through the channel by mushroom rock but it was completely closed out. I have paddled through the channel during big swell a bunch of times but Saturday was unbelievable. I got swept down blackhand reef and had to paddle my ass off just to get around the jetty and back to the beach.

I spent he rest of the afternoon enjoying the sunny weather and drinking cold beer with my friends at HMBkayak. I know of 3 salty guys in touring boats who paddled around the buoys and made it to mavericks. It would have been a very long paddle in our boats.

I'll be sure to say Hi next time I see you.

-Brian

That was me on the yellow Strike. I was leaving when you showed up.

dude, you should have "introd" yourself!

 It would have been a very long paddle in our boats.

Totally agree!

Here is some video of the crowd wipeouts. ouch!

Not sure how to embed flash videos.....

Heard the news tonight.....looks like they will not allow people on the beach next year  Go figure 

With 40-50 waves, hard to believe the sponsors or whoever was in charge did not anticipate rogue waves.

Here is some video of the crowd wipeouts. ouch!

Not sure how to embed flash videos.....

Thanks for the link.

The newscaster needs to work on his math, "The vote was 17 to ... well, there were a total of 24 votes, and 17 voted to hold it."    I shouldn't laugh, would be easy to balnk on that in front of a camera.

With 40-50 waves, hard to believe the sponsors or whoever was in charge did not anticipate rogue waves.

IMO: no can really anticipate rogue waves. But after the fist one hit (which was the biggest one, I believe), the organizers did erect a fence line along the washed out area but the problem here was that the "event crew" did not enforce the crowd enough. I sat there watching more and more spectators going around the barrier to get a better view and every now and then a sheriff will call 'em out. Then few other rouge waves broke through again and I witnessed people running to get out of the way. At this point, the sheriffs stood along the barriers for better enforcement and it all worked out at that point.

The media is obviously making all this a big deal...yes, people did get hurt on the first rouge wave but that was it. The sheriffs did their job and there were no problems after the first incident. Now the media is making these victims "super stars" by doing the interviews and making it seem that all this could have been prevented.

* rouge waves are called "rouge" waves because they come out from the norm
* the people who got too close to the shoreline (this is always a risk in any beach that gets a lot of surf) got swept away and paid the price...who do you blame? IT WAS A HIGH SURF ADVISORY all day - all over the San Mateo Coastline - That was fair warning enough - IMO at least. The organizers put out a big screen TV in a very safe location just so that people can get a better and safer view. And let's not kid ourselves, you can't see the surfers anyway, unless you had binocs with ya and you were perched on top of the hill.

just my 2 cents....