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Showing posts from January, 2009

We've Got The Fantods Friday Surf & Culture Report

Lost Boys & Co... F or all of our friends who enjoy live theatre, here's a good way to spend part of your weekend... B oomfwappa says: Littlefwappa is playing in Peter Pan at El Camino College This Friday Saturday and Sunday....showtimes are Fri 730 Sat 2 & 730 Sunday 2 tickets are 19 bucks for adults 15 for children students and seniors...you might fit this category!  Lost Boys unite!! Peter's back in town.  (Ed. Note:  We didn't realize he'd been OUT of town??) J anuary, now has the distinction of being one of the sunniest warmest months that we've had in recent history.  Another brilliant day with 25 miles visibility and not a cloud in the sky.  Winds are offshore by 1.9kts and the sea surface is glassy.  The air temp is 52.9º and the water is still not bad at 57.9º. Low tide starts things off early at 5:11am +1.6' and high tide follows later in the morning at 10:56am +4.3'.  The buoy was reading 1.6' and we managed to squeak some nice li

Merry Wives of Windsor Wednesday Surf & Culture Report

Lost Boys & Co... I t's yet ANOTHER beautiful day in the Southland.  Honestly, does someone have a clutch of relatives from Minnesota hiding out here somewhere?  Then of course it has to be a beautiful day.  It's the day the Coach goes in for his colonoscopy, so it would have to be a bright cheery day.  We can see the Dr. saying to the nurse:  "Yes, nurse, we have such nice light this morning we should do the procedure on the rooftop operating room!" M eanwhile, it's clear and visibility is 25 miles with the slightest bit of haze.  Winds are offshore by 3.9kts and the sea surface is glassy.  The air temperature is 55.6º and the water is holding at 57.7º  High tide is at 9:44am +5.4' and low tide will be at 4:34pm -0.3'.  The buoy is reading a west swell out of 266º at 2.3' and we're calling the high tide bruised waves about 2' to 3'.  We're imagining that it might get better as the tide goes up then comes down.  That is if the wind

Tonic Water Tuesday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... O n our trek around the SoBay yesterday we grabbed a few shots of some local spots starting to show.  Under the RB Pier we watched this little wave turn into a pretty good left about noonish.  Then further down the beach at Sapphire the swell was crabbing in just right to make the middle peek start to break.  The kid off to the right hadn't figured it out yet and we didn't give away any secrets.  As a matter of fact "Secrets" was breaking as well.  A little walled but not bad... T his morning it's brilliantly clear and unlimited visibility.  Windds are out of the NNE, by 5.9kts and the sea surface has a smooth tack to it.  The air temperature is 55.6º and feels ten degrees colder.  The water is 57.7ºand it doesn't feel that warm either.  High tide is at 9:12am +5.7' and low tide will be at 4:09pm -0.6'.  The buoy is reading 3.9' on a swell out of 293º.  We're calling it 3' to 4' and it's still taking it's

Mellifluous Monday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... B efore it got windy, we snapped this shot through the trees above the Cove.  Kinda nice seeing the city so far away.  It's almost like it's another place.  Even though it is... S o it's brilliant this morning and visibility is as unlimited as your little eyeballs will give up.  Winds are gusting out of the west to 17.5kts and the sea surface is chopped and diced.  The air temperature is 53.2º and the water temperature is 57.7º.  High tide is at 8:41am +5.9' and low tide will be at 3:44pm -0.7'.  The buoy is reading a strong swell out of 272º (pretty much west) at 6.6' and the waves are pretty crashy at around 5'. "When the surf breaks, we'll fix it"  The Professor!!

Elmer Fudd Friday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... P lane?  What plane? - Don Burt What? It was there a minute ago?  Maybe it flew away.  On the other hand Xena (Warrior Princess) thought she had it:          "I believe that is a C-5 Galaxy !"  - Xena We're not sure that's a C-5 Galaxy, we thought they were a tad bigger.  Maybe this was a "baby-galaxy?"  What we do know is that we have our first photo of a UFO!  Yeah, we're pretty damned excited.... P artly cloudy this morning with a chance of showers throughout the day.   We have 15 miles visibility and some spectacular cloud formations on the horizon.  Winds are still off by 4.8kts and the sea surface is smooth.  The air temp is 58.6º and the water is holding at 58.1º.  High tide is at 7:05am +5.6' and low tide will follow at 2:26pm -0.6'.  The buoy is reading a west swell at 253º 3.3' and holding steady.  The tide is still a bit high, but later this morning you're likely to find some good waves along the avenues

Theme Song Thursday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... Y ou know how they always tell you that someday your photograph will make it into Surfer Magazine, but it will be titled "Unidentified."  Well, Brett Balcer and the Professor pretty much got dissed the same way in the Beach Reporter.  On page 21, photo #7 is not Jeremy Gross, but Brett on the right and the Professor on the left.  What this further points out is that if your uncle is the editor you can get your photo on the cover!  Yeah, Dayton Silva is Paul Silva's nephew.  He might have come in second, but he nabbed the cover.  Hey, if you want to spend all that time doing a paper, get your relatives on the cover.  We're good with that.. R ainy this morning, which happens to fit our mood.  We've got the flu/lurkis/crumbies and it might as well rain.  Visibility is 3/4 mile and it's cloudy.  Winds are offshore by 3.9kts and the sea surface is smooth-glassy.  The air temp is 58.1º and the water is up to 58.8º.  High tide is at 6:27am +5.

Inauguration Day Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... W e snapped the above photo when they got to the part where he swore that the federal government would do it's best to create more wave opportunities and investigate ways of making current swells bigger and future swells better.  We're all about that! N ot quite as cold here in the South Bay as it is in Washington this morning.  We have 25 miles visibility and some low clouds that look like they might sail off later in the day.  Winds are out of the SSE by 1.9kts and the sea surface is glassy.  The air temperature is 60.3º and the water is 57.7º  Actually not too bad for the middle of January.  High tide is at 4:55am +5.1' and low tide will be at 12:44pm +0.1'.  The buoy is reading 5..6' on a swell out of 248º and we're calling the waves 4' to 5'.  Still a bit wally-crashy, but we saw some pretty good wipeouts this morning at Torrance Beach as Bishop Montgomery High was in a two-way against North/West. O kay!  So the tide will be d

Mail Order Monday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... A ttached we have a long shot of "long shot" Brett Balcer at the Hermosa Pier riding high and tight.  The second shot is him (second from left) getting ready for the announcement of the results of the Pacifica League Body Boarding contest.  Brett was the only BMHS surfer to make it to the finals.  Earlier we had Lucas Mattick and Charlie Grove competing in the short board semi-finals.  Competition was stiff and they failed to advance.  Lucas had also done remarkably well in the long board quarter finals until he interferred on his fifth wave.  That call caused him to lose his third wave score and kept him out of the semis.  It was a long day, but the Bishop Team did really well for a small school.  The team still have a chance to make it to the State Championships!  We'll tell you how in a minute. C oudy this morning with 12 miles visibility.  Winds are offshore by 3.9kts and the sea surface is smooth.  The air temperature is 60.0° and the water is

Futz Around Friday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... Y ou know how some mornings you get up and it's pretty damned cold out there. Well we've attached a couple of photos of Garrett McNamara Iceberg Surfing. Oh yeah, it's pretty damned simple. You get up close to a glacier, (not TOO close, it can toss chunks as far as 400 yds.) wait for it to calve and then ride the ensuing wave. To tell you the truth we knew nothing about this aspect of surfing until Harry Johnson filled us in at dinner a couple of nights ago. Harry is an old Redondo alumnus and thought we might be interested. We are - but kinda academically - if you know what we mean... T oday makes an entire week of summerlike weather here in RB. As the Coach said, "We don't get many days like this during the summer!" True dat. So we had 25 miles visibility under clear skies this morning. Winds are offshore by 4.1kts and the sea surface is very glassy. The air temp is 58.3° and the water is 57.2° Low tide is at 7:24am +1.6'

3-D Thursday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... S o we thought we'd start with a photo of the Professor checking out the Cove this morning for a trace of that predicted swell coming from the northwest.  (He got his new tripod and just had to try it out!)  You can see him checking it out and then you can see what he saw.  Isn't technology fabulous!  And as fabu as it is, there still aren't any waves!  Damn!  Let's see what the stats say... O nce again unlimited visibility and clear skies.  Winds are offshore by 3.9kts and the sea surface is glassy.  The air temp is 62.8° and the water is 57.2°.  Low tide is at 6:07am +1.6' and high tide will follow at 11:51am +4.6'.  The buoy is reading a 1.3' swell out of 224°.  We're saying that the .3 is wishful thinking and that it's really 1' and really, really poor. R eader helps us out: R egarding Poseur's photo of the little guy: "...the little guy in the first photo is Connor Beatty and he rides for Spyder."  - Mark

Woolsack Wednesday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... A ttached we have a couple of shots from "Poseur" Mike McKinney.  A top-quality lensman for decades he never fails to capture everything at the right moment.  Er, yeah - you should buy the negatives.  Remember what Gifford-Hill said:  "Deny it even if they have pictures." S o another summer day here in LA County.  Sun rose bright and hot (really hot, like millions of degrees.)  Unlimited visibility and only a bit of haze.  Winds are calm and the sea surface is glassy.  The air temperature is 58.8° and the water is 57.2°  Low tide starts out the morning at 5:04am +1.5' and high tide will be at 10:59am +5.5'.  The bouy is reading a SW swell at 1.3' and the surfline has halved that.  YES,  it's 6.5" and lined up. M ore reader comments: "live like sumer" that's really sweet and really sad...i'm glad that she's being remembered in such a cool way, though. ps. i also have the mavericks shot as my desktop--

Trust Buster Tuesday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... A nother summer day here in the Southland.  This is how we measure summer - one day at a time no matter what time of year it happens.  Hell, we've already had four summer days this year.  Speaking of summer, you might have seen some of the decals around town that say "Live Like Sumer."  Yeah, with one "m."  It's in memory of Sumer Alvarez who perished tragically in India on a trip to tutor impoverished children several years ago.  Her dad, Dave Alvarez just donated windbreakers to the Bishop Montgomery Surf Team.  Along with the jackets was a two page background piece on Sumer and what she was all about.  Simply put, it was about her enthusiasm for surfing, academics and life in general.  On one of the sleeves of the windbreakers it has the motto, "Live Like Sumer."  We all need a gentle reminder from time-to-time. U nlimited visibility as we look across the bay this morning.  Clear skies and a bit of smoggies in the corners.

Mrs. Grundy Monday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... O ne of the lowest tides of the year yesterday afternoon, -1.9' at 3:47pm.  So naturally we headed down to see how much trouble we could get into.  The first thing we did was grab our velocipedes and ride along the hard sand.  That was fun although you can see our tires looked like crumb donuts when we got through.  Yeah, we cleaned'em up afterwards...  T his morning we have a brilliant sky and 25 miles visibility with some slight smoggy haze.  Winds are offshore by 5.7kts and the sea surface is glassy.  The air temperature is 58.3℉ and the water is 57.0℉.  High tide hits the top today at 9:23am +6.9' and low tide will be at 4:27pm -1.6'.  (Another great day to get down and check out the low tide - clamdiggers are acceptable, but you have to remember what they are!)  The buoy is reading a 1.6' swell out of 278°.  The swell is hitting that morning high tide, so don't look for any action until midday.  Then it's all about the wind! S ome

Fusible Friday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... O kay, check out the attached photos of Todd Tisue at Mavericks.  You can almost imagine riding the one labeled "Mavericks."  However the second one labeled "small" (by some-under proportioned wag) is almost beyond comprehension for most of us tiny wave riders.  That six to eight foot "ripple" pulling out the middle of the wave will probably double up the entire playing field.  No, we don't even want to paddle out to watch... T he fog cleared up this morning and left us with hazy skies and 10 miles visibility.  Winds are offshore by 3.9kts and the sea surface was glassy.  The air temp at 6:30am was 49.9℉ and the water is still 56.1℉.  High tide is at 6:59am +7.0' and low tide will follow at 2:24pm -1.8'.  The buoy is reading 3.0' on a west swell and the waves are in the 2' to 4' range.  We rode Hermosa as the tide started to drop and it was pretty good. "When  the surf breaks, we'll fix it..."  T

That Darned Thursday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... T oday we've included a shot of Birdie (yes, you could say it's a "Birdie shot",) having a bit of breaky at Brother's.  He and the Professor surfed Hermosa this morning and watched as the haze turned to fog and the fog turned on the fog horn and the fog horn turned the big tanker away from the end of the pier before it could mow them down. S o visibility is totally dependent on where you happen to be sitting at the moment.  Dense fog in places, so watch out.  Winds are offshore by 1.3kts and the sea surface is glassy.  The air temp is 54.7℉ and the water is 56.1℉.  High tide is at 6:08am +6.6' and low tide will follow at 1:40pm at a deep -1.3'.  The buoy is reading 2.6' and the surf is in the 2' to 3' range.  It's all going to depend on where you are and what time you hit it. F or those of you who wish to see the photos and some additional information during the weekends, we just wanted to remind you that you can go t

Witloof Wednesday Surf & Culture Report

Lost Boys & Co... W hen we saw the surf at Torrance Beach yesterday, we were sure that it was hopeless for a contest this morning.  Au contrare!  It came up during the night and the contestants were greeted to some quite rideable lefts and rights.  Let's check the numbers and see how we did... H azy sun this morning with about 10 miles visibility.  Winds are offshore by 3.9kts and the sea surface is glassy.  The air temperature is 45.5℉ and the water is 55.9℉  High tide is at 5:16am +6..1' and low tide dredges out at 12:54pm -0.7'.  The buoy is telling us that the swell is coming out of 257 degrees at 3.6'.  We're calling the waves 2' to 4' and looking pretty good. O ne of the things that's great about coaching high school surfing is watching some of the kids finally catch on to the magic.  This morning we watched J.P. Anderson get two first places in the six way meet against Redondo, Peninsula, South, Narbonne and North/West.  He surfed in both lon

Tach It Up Tuesday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... A ttached we have a photo of Savannah Paine at her debut performance at the Think Cafe.  She was poised, in good voice and chose some good material.  We'll let you know when she and the band are playing again!  W e surfed Hermosa this morning, since the avenues weren't looking too great.  We have 10 miles visibility under sunny, but hazy skies.  The wind is offshore by 7.8kts and the sea surface is smooth with a slight offshore tack.  The air temperature is a brisk 45℉ and the water is 56.1℉.  High tide is early at 4:21am +5.6' and low tide will be at 12:05pm +0.1'.  The buoy is reading 3.9' on a swell coming from 291 degrees.  The Avenues were 1' to 2' and poor and Hermosa was 2' to 3' and fair. O ur second photo is of the Boomfwappa family.  We have Boomfwappa, Savannah and Warren.  A rather talented group.  Warren plays the guitar, is a recording engineer and writes songs.  If you've never heard his signature tune "

Mollusk Monday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... S o you think it's cold here this morning.  The above photo gives you some idea just how cold it is up in McCall, Idaho on the banks of Lake Payette.  It's a little crunchy on the beach, but once you get in the water it's a toasty 33 degrees!  So, let's see what we've got a little closer to home... A beautiful day with unlimited visibility, should you want to see something that far away.  Winds are offshore by 5.4kts and the sea surface is smooth.  The air temperature at 6:30am was 39.9℉ (as far as we're concerned that's freeze-ass cold) and the water is 56.1℉ (and ditto on the water as well...)  Low tide is at 11:06am +0.9' and high tide will be at 5:12pm +2.8'.  As the week unwinds we'll be getting some more outrageous tidal fluctuations, including some dredging low tides.  The buoy is reading 3.6' on a 286 degree swell..  The waves are a bit wally and we're calling them 2' to 3'. T he other photo is a sh

First Friday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... Y ou know how you always have these images of surfers wearing trunks, naked to the waist and the sun glistening off of their tanned shoulders..  These are those same guys when the weather drops into the 50's.  The two guys in the berquas are especially sensitive to the cold.  You know the airfares to Hawaii and Mexico have dropped ... H azy this morning, but not the socked in foggies that we had yesterday.  Visibility 3 miles and we're looking at a medium overcast.  The wind is offshore by 1.9kts and the sea surface is smooth but not quite glassy..  The air temp is 50.4℉ and the water is 56.3℉.  Low tide is at 6:35am +2.5' and high tide follows at 11:57am +4.0'.  So it's a high low and a low high.  The real low will be late in the afternoon, so if the wind kicks up any chance of getting some low tide zippers might evaporate.  The buoy is reading 2.6' on a swell that's almost straight out of the west (264 degrees, 270 is straight west.)

Happy New Year Thursday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... H appy New Year to you & yours in 2009!  Will it be a good year for surf or will we have to depend on culture to keep us afloat?  No one knows for certain, but we'll be here to help you through the rough spots.  We do know how it started though, right there in Hermosa Beach with the dropping of the lighted ball from the roof of Hennessey's Bar (check out the pic.)  We can also attest to the fact that the rumor of Danger Boy getting caught up in the tangle of lights and just happening to roll over the edge at exactly midnight was not true.  You can see in the photo that he is not stuck in that wad of electricity.   He's farther to the left... S o January 1st 2009 dawned foggy and close.  1 block visibility on the outside and half that in some corners.  Winds are calm and the sea surface sounds glassy.   The air temp is 48.6℉ and the water is 56.7℉.  High tide is at 11:08am +4.6' and low tide will follow late at 6:15pm +0.4'.  The buoy is r