george wrote:TR please. All the sticky details are needed. Looks very good on paper!
Michael wrote:...I went back to Long Beach but just as I arrived I got a call from Dave who was very excited about Florencia Bay, so I went down to try and get in one more session before I had to leave. Dave was waiting at the look out when I arrive and was exited at what he had seem. There were some massive waves on the outside but they were barely breaking so we weren't sure if they would be ridable. Only one way to find out so I changed and headed out there. I have to say it was beautiful and terrifying when I got out there. The big ones were massive and the only way to catch one was to get right under the peak as it was breaking. To top it off this big sea lion came shooting out of one those Mackers and scared the crap out of me! It was having a blast surfing out there. I must have tried at least 10 times to catch a ride but they were so big and round that if you weren't at the perfect spot they would just roll on by you.
I was thinking the only way to catch one would be to tow in but I finally got it right and what a ride! So much speed and it was super bumpy that I thought I wasn't going to make it but I hung on and made it out to the side which was like a soft shoulder and then you could roll of the back. Funny thing was I bumped into Jesse just as I was leaving Long Beach and he said "ya Florencia can be awesome, it can set up like Maverick's, a big middle section that totally mellows out on the sides." I as skeptical when I heard that but being after that I was thinking now I get it...
Maverick's paints a good picture of what the central peak looked like on the outside break when you were out there - more singular than the lines shown in my pictures below.
Florencia Bay (2017 Oct 28)Gentle giants. Arrived just before noon and took quick look-sees at Flo (big, soft and easy to get out) and Wick (cove looked OK on the inside but the beach north of the rip looked huge and punishing - for kids of all ages). Tsawwassen reported that North Chesterman had been punishing earlier in the morning and that Long Beach was looking big, but doable up at Tinies. So Flo it was. After all I have stopped here dozens of times and never seen anything like this before. Waited for Tsawwassen to arrive and it seemed to lull a bit. He agreed it looked soft (maybe a little too soft to catch), but agreed to giving it a try.
Beautiful summer-like afternoon and easy getting out, but hard to make it work coming in. By the time we got out on the water the ‘outer’ break was more concentrated into a central peak just south of the river. Set waves were the only ones breaking out there and they would leave a ‘runway’ of sea foam in their trail. I caught a glimpse of Tsawwassen getting a right, but didn’t see any other rides, so assumed a lot of patience, positioning and timing were likely required.
I stayed near the stairs with the boys getting my bearings and making sure they were going to be alright. I was surprised to see how much current there was pushing them north and how far along the beach they had been pushed before they reached the outside. Once outside near the stairs the waves were also round and hard to catch. They seemed to be releasing all their energy at once in an often punishing dump. There seemed to be a rather abrupt transition from deep water to the shallow bank that concentrated the wave's energy all into one spot. I choose to roll off more walling waves than I dropped into (too much all at once). I fully committed to one that I thought was ‘doable’, dropping in and cranking right along the steep face, then a split second later got sucked up and over the roof and around the barrel into spin cycle the hard way into what Ethan called the ‘cork screw’! Odd mix of swell angles, peaks and sizes with some roll for good measure made for a unforgiving set-up. Edward caught a few (AllWave 146). Ethan (ProWave 119) didn't catch a single wave but got worked more times than I can count going for it.
Ethan wanted to head out to the ‘outer reef’ but just as we started off in that direction, we saw Tsawwassen headed our way so we decided to go set up camp and look for something else for an evening session. I finally caught one open wave right on my last ride in and found the reform inside was rather soft and carried for a long distance. In hindsight the boys would have likely had more fun ‘playing’ there. The next day Udder mentioned that he doesn’t really care for Flo as he finds it can be dumpy and a guy I work with latter told me despite it being his favourite spot he had one of his longest hold downs ever there. The good news was the rest of the weekend would likely seem ‘easy’ compared to this given the diminishing forecast.
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SlideshowLong Beach (2017 Oct 28)Sunset. Ethan was feeling a little tired from the morning session and limited stamina from being in the air cast for four weeks so wasn’t too keen on doubling up the first day, but in the end decided to come out. Good thing, as the waves were more consistent and offered some open rides; some nice rights. Even though it was diminishing, there were still some bombs rolling through. The boys and I all really enjoyed the sunset session! Water above Lovekin looked really unsettled (waves had moose knuckles), so we decided to walk north from Lot 3. With the Incinerator Rock parking lot and Lots 4 and 5 all closed for the washroom reconstruction we had Tinies pretty much all to ourselves. Beautiful evening, hardly anyone out, some great waves (even though still a mixed bag and pretty rolly at times). Stayed on the water until twilight and needed headlamps when we got back to the van. Hot showers at Green Point were well received. The boys were so hungry they were clambering for their dinner (good thing I prepped it in the city before we left to speed things up).
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SlideshowLong Beach (2017 Oct 29)Last call. Let the boys sleep in until almost 10 am (the 5:30 am start the day before made them feel a little like astronauts sent to a different planet). French toast. Broke camp. First stop Long Beach. Looked similar to the sunset session, but more settled. DavidM and Udder were already out at Incinerator Rock, so this must be the spot! There were some sets that held the boys on the inside, but the highlight of the session was watching Ethan drop cleanly into a well overhead wave from a front row seat as I paddled out. The amazing part was just as my internal voice said “step forward”, that was exactly what he did and ripped a super clean line as he dropped in! The only trouble was I was right below his natural line and it was going to be close. Really close. When he saw my eyes get really wide the closer he got, he wisely decided to bail before taking us both out. Amazing wave, glad I saw it, but sorry it ended that way instead of the ride all the way to the beach that he had earned. Awesome to see his ear-to-ear grin and chat about it as we paddled out together! Also got to chat with DavidM and Udder. Shared party waves with the boys and Udder. Lots of fun to go around! Grabbed three Tocofina burritos to go for the drive home. Kennedy Lake and Sproat Lake were both glass and highlighted with fall colours as we passed.
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