Lost Boys & Co.

Lost Boys & Co... Surfed Peniche/Baleal a couple of days & found a rock reef in the middle of the North Bay at Baleal.  Our accommodations were right on the water, so we could sit up in bed and look right at the surf break.  It was a good 4' and maybe  8' on the outside and it was  a snappy left and a soft right - which we thought was pretty fine for going straight down and then scooting out in front of the foam ball.  The surprise was that the water was warm - like 66 degrees!  A bit too warm in a 4/3... Today we are in the Algarve region in the village of Herdade Salgados, which translates poorly to "The Salty Ranch."  The surf is 1' and poor, although we could see some rocky areas and it appears that there might be some possibilities if there were a swell.  We're going to head out soon and check it out to the west (toward the city of Sagres.)  Today is a bit drizzly, but the rest of the week is supposed to be sunny.   As soon as we can hook up the

Lost Boys & Co... We have returned to the homeland!  Meet up with Marco and we``re checking out the surf and the countryside as we eat our way across the country.  Surf was 3 to 4 at Matosinhos and deep water swells washing into a rocky bay.  Guys out but it looked cold and strong.   Hope to send some photos soon!   "When the surf breaks, we'll fix it..."  The Professor!!

Lost Boys & Co... S ince the termites have moved in, we've decided to move out (temporarily, anyway.)  A little fumigation in the Topaz International Trump Tower Suites, sends us packing.  Okay, Portugal is a bit of a stretch, but it sounded like more fun than not and maybe more than a few good times.  We'll report when we can... L ots going on this morning!  Started out at checkout with cloudy skies and 10 miles visibility.  Winds were offshore by 9.2kts and the sea surface was oily glassy.  The air temperature was 54.2° and the water is back down to 56.1°, not making any attempt to get anywhere near 60.  High tide is at 11:20am +4.0' and low tide will be at 4:06pm +1.8'.  So, at 7am the buoy was reading a west swell out of 272° at 5.2'.  There were some good sized glassy peaks and everybody was pretty happy with the conditions (photo 2.)  By 10:30, things had really changed.  The wind turned around with a vengeance and before you knew it, it was blowing 12 to

Lost Boys & Co... R ainy this morning as we snapped this shot of the jetty.  Gray and oddly serene... S o visibility was all of about ½ mile as we tried to make out the breakwall from the 11th floor of the Topaz International Trump Tower Suites.  (Can you imagine if the landlord had continued running for president?  The rents would have gone crazy...)  Cloudy, with fits of rain and occasional sky blue breaks.  Winds are offshore at a brisk 9.5kts and the sea surface is appropriately blown down smooth.  The air temperature is 53.3° and the water refuses to understand what May means, hanging at 55.9°.  Who knows what it'll make outta June?  High tide is at 10:28am +4.1' and low tide will be at 3:22pm +1.5'.  The 46221 buoy is saying that we have a WSW swell out of 257° true at 3.0'.  We're amending that to 2' to 3' with a high tide stressed playing field.  As long as the wind holds offshore, when the tide starts dropping there could be some waves.  If the

Lost Boys & Co... I n the aftermath of the Japanese tsunami a multitude of sea creatures were washed up on shore that hadn't been seen in quite a few years.  Lawrence Moch, sent us few shots showing some of the more obscure critters.  Some of these are rather deep water dwellers, which goes to show you the depth of the water that got dredged up and then across the land there. C loudy skies breaking into a rather sunny morning.  20 miles visibility with a slight haziness out there (waves hand.)  Winds have been offshore all morning, variable from 5 to 15kts.  The sea surface started out fairly bumpy and as the sun rose it got calmer and by 9am was pretty docile with only a residual bump and it actually stayed that way for a couple of hours.  The air temperature was 54.2° and the water was advertised at 57.4°, but felt more like 60 even.  High tide was at 9:36am +4.2' and low tide is at 2:39pm +1.3'.  Kinda surprisingly, the buoy said the swell was out of the west at 250

Lost Boys & Co... L et's see what we have going on...  Ché took this shot of Don Swift at Sapphire yesterday and we thought it reminded us of something.  Yeah, that old SURFER cover with Murphy on it!  Rick Griffin grew up in PV and had a lot of the local influence strained through his unique filter...  Sorry you have to turn your head to see it to it's full advantage.  We can't figure out how to turn those phone shots right-side up... T en miles visibility this morning with hazy overcast skies.  Winds were against us all morning, variable from 3 to 6kts onshore and the sea surface was slightly bumped to lightly diced.  The air temp was 53.2° and the water was 59.7°, even though the Lifeguards had posted 62.3° on the chalkboard.  Got our hopes up!  High tide at 6:41am +4.1' and low tide will follow at 12:31pm +0.7'.  Even though the buoy called it a SSW swell out of 198° at 2.3', Danger Boy and the Professor went out in Hermosa anyway.  It was a solid 2'

Lost Boys & Co... H as this week been really long for some of you?  H appy hour will be on Friday at El Torito on the Redondo Beach Pier at 6:30pm.  I was going to say that it's always on Friday, but then I realized that tomorrow is Friday the 13th and that might have thrown-off some of our more superstitious readers.  I also tried to remember if there had been some occasion when we had decided to have Happy Hour on a different day.  I couldn't think of any such scheduling hiccup, but then again, I don't keep track of such anomalies or anemones for that matter.  It all boils down to the fact that I should have been a bit more specific.  Also, let me take this opportunity to invite ALL the folks who get this screed to join us.  It's a low key gathering, food is relatively inexpensive, strong drink is available, the banter is typically glib, no one will flinch if you drop an f-bomb or two and it will get you out of the house for a change.  This week brings Keeks

Lost Boys & Co... F ig. 1)  We have the Professor bending into a little right at Sapphire.  It wasn't big and it wasn't all-time, but it was fun...  Then there was Ché, up on the rocks taking pics.  See you just thought he was a great airbrusher, shaper, pin-liner.  You can add photographer to that... N o clouds, but a bit of the haziness and 10 miles visibility.  Almost looked like it might try and move in some marine layer.  Winds were light-on all morning and about 3.2kts at checkout.  Slight bump on the sea surface, but nice and green.  The air temp was 53.9° and the water was 58.8° for your bathing pleasure.  Low tide at 10:55am +0.3' and high tide will follow at 5:49pm +4.5'.  The buoy tells up, in no uncertain terms, that there is a SSW swell out of 238° at 3.3'.  We'll go with that 3.3' and fair to almost good... T hen we've been asked to remind you that a group will be meeting at El Torito de Redondo en el Pier a las 6:30pm for El Hora Fe

 Lost Boys & Co... H as this week been really long for some of you?  H appy hour will be on Friday at El Torito on the Redondo Beach Pier at 6:30pm.  I was going to say that it's always on Friday, but then I realized that tomorrow is Friday the 13th and that might have thrown-off some of our more superstitious readers.  I also tried to remember if there had been some occasion when we had decided to have Happy Hour on a different day.  I couldn't think of any such scheduling hiccup, but then again, I don't keep track of such anomalies or anemones for that matter.  It all boils down to the fact that I should have been a bit more specific.  Also, let me take this opportunity to invite ALL the folks who get this screed to join us.  It's a low key gathering, food is relatively inexpensive, strong drink is available, the banter is typically glib, no one will flinch if you drop an f-bomb or two and it will get you out of the house for a change.  This week brings Keeks

Lost Boys & Co... F ig. 1)  We have the Professor bending into a little right at Sapphire.  It wasn't big and it wasn't all-time, but it was fun...  Then there was Ché, up on the rocks taking pics.  See you just thought he was a great airbrusher, shaper, pin-liner.  You can add photographer to that... N o clouds, but a bit of the haziness and 10 miles visibility.  Almost looked like it might try and move in some marine layer.  Winds were light-on all morning and about 3.2kts at checkout.  Slight bump on the sea surface, but nice and green.  The air temp was 53.9° and the water was 58.8° for your bathing pleasure.  Low tide at 10:55am +0.3' and high tide will follow at 5:49pm +4.5'.  The buoy tells up, in no uncertain terms, that there is a SSW swell out of 238° at 3.3'.  We'll go with that 3.3' and fair to almost good... T hen we've been asked to remind you that a group will be meeting at El Torito de Redondo en el Pier a las 6:30pm for El Hora Feli

Lost Boys & Co... P ick a card, any card...  Before Johnny Depp made being a pirate cool, Rick Griffin was drawing some pretty cute privateers.  Here's one of our favorite examples... A beautiful morning out there this.  Partly cloudy skies with mostly sun, about 12 miles visibility.  Winds were offshore by 5.5kts and the sea surface was smooth, but not quite glassed.  The air temperature was a coolish 55.1° and the water was less than 60 at 58.5° and felt like it.  Low tide at 10:55am +0.3' and a medium high tide at 5:49pm +4.5'.  The buoy says it's a WSW swell out of 238° at 3.6' and we're saying it was 3' to 4' with some nice outsides and the odd clean line slicing through the lineup.  Just ask Danger Boy and the Professor.  They answered the early call and picked the smaller but better shaped Sapphire, over the bigger but wallier Topaz.  Some solid peaks to start out and then as the tide dropped things stretched out a bit.  For an hour there we

Lost Boys & Co... I n the morning you're steaming down to the beach and there are some indicators that start to get you interested.  There's some sun - yes, that's good.  Visibility is 10 miles or so - yes, that's nice.  Then you see the stacks - and they're blowing offshore - this is very good!  Our estimate is that photo 1. shows an offshore flow of about 2.3kts.  So you get down to our checkout point at the bottom of Sapphire and you now see that the sea surface is smooth to glassy and there are some nice little waves coming through.  Of course you can't see that the air temperature is 53.3° and that the water is 57.6°, but you're prepared and checked on those things before you left.  You also checked the tides and they said it was low tide at 9:59am +0.2' and high tide at 5:10pm +4.0'.  The 46221 buoy told you there was a SSW swell out of 200° coming in at 3.6', but now you can see that it's really 3' to 4' and the tide is st

Lost Boys & Co... W hen you stop the action it looks quite a bit calmer than it actually was (fig. 1.)  The wind was blowing like an SOB out of the west at 4am, then about daybreak it started to dial back.  By 9:30 it was calm and for about an hour or so it swirled trying to make up it's mind.  Around 11:30 it turned from the south and then started to blow in earnest.  But if you just happened to be watching and got your ass down there in time - it was pretty fun.  20 miles visibility, under mostly sunny skies.  Winds at checkout were 6.9kts out of the SSW and the sea surface had a slight to medium chop.  That calmed a bit, but not to smooth.  The air temperature was a sun stoked 55.5° and the water was 59.2°, which felt noticeably better than the 56's and 7's we had before.  Low tide was at 8:58am +0.1' and high tide will be at 4:23pm +3.5'.  All plus tides this week until they flip on Friday the ☞13th☜.  The 46221 buoy is reading a west swell out of 268° at 6

Lost Boys & Co... S ome days you're out there just bobbing around like a cork.  Here it appears that the Professor has no means of support other than his ebullient spirit and Clemenceau-like buoyancy.  Carry on... S orry for the lateness of the report, but somehow events seemed to overtake us.  At checkout this morning Danger Boy and the Professor insisted on providing all of the data.  5 miles visibility, under leaden, overcast skies.  Don't forget leaden .  Winds were out of the north by 2.3kts and the sea surface was glassy.  The air temp was 59.3° and the water was above 60° for the second day in a row at 61.9°.  Low tide is at 6:13am -0.4' and high tide will follow at 12:58pm +3.2'.  The 46221 buoy which remains out of our sight, but never far from our hearts, reported a SSW swell out of 193° at 2.3'.  This, though not a gross exaggeration, seemed to be a bit generous.  They watched a young lady on an SUP do a pretty good job of riding some of the little o

Lost Boys & Co... Y et another holiday that we've appropriated and made a bigger deal of than the country in which it started.  You know, like St Patrick's Day, Christmas, Arbor Day, Groundhog Day...  Wait, maybe not Groundhog day... P hoto #1 gives you a good idea of what it looked like out there at checkout.  A.  Almost a quarter mile visibility, with vapor condensed to fine particles of water suspended in the lower atmosphere.  Appeared to differ from a cloud only in it's proximity to the ground.  B.  The flag in the upper left suggests a 1.1kts zephyr out of the west.  C. The sea surface appears glassy.  What you can't see so well is that the air temp is 60.6° and the water is a phenomenal 62.4°!  Hermosa made it to a even 63, but we'll take it tenth by tenth...  Low tide is early at 5:30am -0.5' and high tide will follow at 12:04pm +3.4'.  The buoy is reading a SSW swell out of 203° at 2.0' and we're calling it 1' to 2'.  You had to

Lost Boys & Co... P hoto #1.  This is what he likes the best !  (Alek Moch, age 6, rockin' the super-pipe at Mammoth.)  (Still lots of snow in the frozen north!   Ed.) M ight be lots of snow still in the mountains, but it's all summer here, all day long today.  Clear (with a bit of smoggy haze) and 17 miles visibility at checkout.  Winds were calm to light from the north and the sea surface was smooth.  The air temperature was 60.3°, rising to around 85° after mid-day.  The water still hasn't got the message and registered 57.9°.  With all this sun it has to get a bit warmer soon.  High tide was at 11:18am +3.5' and low tide does a minor drain at 3:57pm 2.0'.  Not too much difference.  46221 says we have a SSW swell out of 202° at 3.0'.  And we're saying it's right on!  3' little spankers, rolling through the shallows and jumping up in just the right places.  Fun for some noseriding, testing your balance on the tip or just cruising until your f

Lost Boys & Co... T ook us two weeks, but we finally caught the tide low enough again to do a bit of recon under the Redondo Pier.  Even though it's absolutely true, it seems like you're somewhere else.  Some great opportunities for angles, acute and oblique... Y et another beautiful day!  Let's hope we're not using up all of the summer days here at the beginning of May.  You can remember what happened last year...  Cloudless skies and 25 miles visibility.  Winds were offshore at checkout at 3.4kts and the sea surface was smooth to glassy.  The air temperature was 67.2° and the water was 55.8°.  It looks like it should be warmer...  High tide is at 10:38am +3.7' and low tide will be at 3:30pm +1.8'.  #46221 tells us that we have a too SSW swell out of 202° at 2.0'.  Oddly enough, if you're patient and sit in the right spots, there are some little ones to be had.  Little, green, perfectly shaped waves that just kinda storm around your hips and knees

Lost Boys & Co... O nly ONE story today.  Osama bin Ladin.  Live by the sword, die by the sword.  B eautiful morning here in the southland.  25 miles visibility, under clear cerulean skies.  Winds were offshore by 2.3kts and the sea surface was smooth with that green tint that tells you there's a reason they call it the Pacific.  The air temperature was a warm 59.0° and the water was an ankle biting 54.9°.  High tide was at 10:00am +3.8' and low tide will be at 3:04pm +1.6'.  The buoy is reading a south swell out of 188° at 2.0'.  We're saying that that makes it sound generous...  Small, but we could get some bumps later this week. S o for a little diversion, let's try some art.  Photo #1.  A super cool robot hanging ten, by Lawrence Dank.  He's been out of the water for a month or two, but we saw him the other day and he said he's on his way back.  Photo #2 is from the new remodel on the Esplanade.  Debbie Collette and her tiling buddy Patty are do