Mavericks! Everybody's gone surfin'

The Mavericks surf contest was called for 13 February, and big-wave surfers from around the world converged on the coastside. For weeks, locals have been second-guessing the contest organizers about when the contest would take place... the surf rising topic mentions the buzz, and gives a little history of the spot.

Early on the morning of the 13th, Wm and I made our way out to the Moss Beach bluffs, which are just north of the Mavericks surf spot. The waves were rolling in at a good 35 feet and destined to get up to around 50 feet by contest's end.

What makes this surf break so huge? The entire Pacific Ocean is roaring in to shore, then whoop! suddenly trips over the underwater reef and over it goes, tumbling over itself in a spectacular way.

An early-morning wave, about a half-mile southwest from our bluff-top perch:

A  few of our fellow spectators in the early morning; the crowd doubled by mid-day:

 

Pelicans cruising overhead, looking prehistoric.



Here's what it's all about--surfer Zach Wormhoudt (photo by Don Montgomery):

 Amazing.










You can see the whole photo gallery at the Mavericks site: http://www.maverickssurf.com/buzz/photos28.php

Surf rising

The little waves that ruffled to shore in my beach haiku are gone, replaced by good-sized waves that curl in with spray steaming back off their tops.

As the winter waves get bigger, the coastside buzzes with speculation about the big-surf contest held in our front yard.

"Have they called Mavericks?" asked a woman at the gym.

"I bet they'll call Mavericks on Wednesday" said the greengrocer at the farm stand.

"Surf's comin' up, swell's right," commented a laconic cop at the taqueria, "can't call Mavericks 'til the wind's right, though."

Mavericks, the big-wave spot off Pillar Point, was named for a white-haired German shepherd dog with an adventurous spirit. The spot didn't gain fame until the early '90s, and gained notoriety in 1994 when Mark Foo, a Hawai'ian big-surf legend, wiped out and disappeared on an 18-foot wave. The first surf competition was held out there in 1999. In the early days when Mavericks was called, hand-lettered cardboard signs saying Mavericks today! were tacked up on telephone poles, letting us know that we needed to skip work and stick around.

I grew up during the surfing craze of the '60s, woodies and Surfin' Safari and all, and I never got over it. I body-surfed Santa Cruz waters but never graduated to the longboard elite. Wasn't ever a gidget-type surfer girl either, good grief. Meanwhile, three hundred miles to the south, Wm was one of the longboard elite, surfing Zuma and Trestles and Malibu. We have salt water in our veins, we dream of breathing underwater, and the waves call.

You can learn all about Mavericks, check the contest status, and watch the competition live when it's on at http://www.maverickssurf.com/.