December 6, 2007 – BIG SURF!!

On December 6, 2007, the west coast of North America enjoyed one of the larger surf swells in recent memory. All up and down the coast, 15-20 foot waves were common. In the Santa Cruz area, there were 7 rescues and all but one of the surfers survived. Here in Todos Santos, no one was harmed. The photos below speak for themselves. Enjoy!

The morning was overcast and grey. The waves had been breaking over the berm all night so water was in the arroyo and you were not able to drive to the berm. We had to slosh through to get to the ocean.

It was a bit hard to get out. When I arrived at 8 a.m. there were only 4-5 surfers in the water.

The waves and conditions were nearly perfect!

That’s the Colonel, right after he dropped in on builder Tom.

It’s not as bad as it looks. These two are great friends and burn each other regularly. Go figure!

Wow!

Sierra Fishing – Late November 2007

In late November/early December, right before the first really large swell of the surf season arrived, the sierra (spanish mackeral) were running like crazy in the early morning hours. The beach in front of my trailer in Las Tunas was full of locals fishing. One day I counted over 25 men standing on the beach, trying their luck. And lucky they were as the fish were there and hungry.

It all changed after the huge December 6 swell arrived. Not that the fishing isn’t still good, but it was remarkable for about 2 weeks.

I love this photo. The soft texture of the light turns the sky, hills and ocean a wonderful pastel tone. Locals don’t usually fish with poles, but rather just use a line and a lure (crocs are good) and twirl the line overhead to throw it out into the sea. More and more of my Mexican neighbors are acquiring fishing poles, but the vast majority still do it the old fashioned, tried and true, way.