Lost Boys & Co.

Lost Boys & Co... W ait a minute...  That looks like the Lost Boy formerly known as Sully...  Hey, that IS Sully!  A new slimmed down, cycling maniac of a Sully.  We caught him as he pumped up the hill on his way to San Pedro.  That's your basic 35 mile round trip.  Whoa, making the rest of us look a bit sedentary! I t's all out there this morning... sun, fog, clouds, everything.  Oh, yeah, and they're calling for thunder showers this afternoon!  At checkout, Redondo and Hermosa were socked in with visibility down to ½ mile in some of the lower regions.  Winds were variable, on-shore to 5.7kts and the sea surface, when you could see it, was smooth.  The air temp was a close 68.1° with 83% humidity and the water was 65.5° with the humidity at 100%.  Basically one tide today, high at 2:13pm +5.0'.  A big arc, with no dips until late p.m.  Buoy tells us that it's 2.6', but Hermosa is in the 4' range and the Avenues are ...

Lost Boys & Co... G o ahead, look at the CDIP array and tell us what YOU see...  Kinda looks like there's that finger of 3' to 4' swell pointing right at Topaz, huh.  Maybe even some Sappharua snappers?  Well, we looked and waited.  Not much.  Went to Hermosa.  Hermosa was 3' to 4' and breaking in 2 block long sections.  Crash!  Boom!  Okay, so maybe the Cove?  Photo #3 is the Cove.  One peak, 15 guys sitting on top of each other.  Enough sea weed to choke a blue whale.  So we went back to the avenues - like something is going to happen.  The fog starts to drift in (photo #2.)  We try to remember that poem by Carl Sandburg.  Something like, "The fog comes in on little cat's feet.  Slipstreams by Haggerty's and Rat.  Just chillin' on its butt.  Then moves on..."  Miss Shearer would scream... P artly cloudy this morning, with 12 miles visibility in some directions.  Winds were sor...

Lost Boys & Co... L ook at the size of those balls!  Big volleyball weekend in Manhattan, last week.  Always a lot of swag available at these events.  Our recent fave was a beach towel with a chalk outline of a body.  Great concept, but lousy towels. W as it warm enough for you yesterday?  It not only broke the record in LA yesterday, but it broke the official recording thermometer!  They finally decided that 113° was the official high.  We registered 102° under the eaves on the lanai at the Topaz International Trump Tower.  The first time we've ever seen triple digits!  Cloudy this morning with 15 miles visibility.  Winds are howling offshore at 11.7kts and the sea surface is glassy and then some.  The air temperature at checkout was 67.1° and the water was a chilly 64.6°.  Low tide is at 5:12am +2.6' and high tide will be at 11:59am +5.4'.  Even though the predictions continue to suggest some swelling - the buoy is ...

Lost Boys & Co... S aturday morning found us cruising the Strand and dipping in and out of the pavement.  On this jog we came by the rigging dock to see if Captain Ron was getting ready for his 10 year, around the world, solo-sail.  It turns out that he was there with his buddy Hawkins and they were just getting ready to shove off within the hour.  Hawkins will be on the first leg to San Diego where Ron is getting a new suit of sails, but after that, it's the sun, the stars and Captain Ron.  Bon Voyage Captain and we hope to see you in 2020! B rilliant morning, this!  Clear skies and unlimited visibility all the way to the smog out on the horizontal.  Winds are calm and it's a glassy day.  The air temperature at checkout was an unbelievable 75.9° and the water was an all too believable 64.6°.  High tide was at 11:22am +5.5' and low tide will be at 6:39pm +0.8'.  The swell is beginning to push in and the buoy was reading a 3.3' SW swell o...

Lost Boys & Co... H aven't seen any of the Big Blues by the end of this week.  Mike McKinney was heading out to paddle and try and find a few.  The Voyager crew had to head out about 7 miles yesterday and they only found four.  We can't imagine that they've had a reception anywhere else like they had in the South Bay...  Bill Brown took this photo of these tail flukes about to wave goodbye.  Seems like every drop of water is in the right place... P ay attention:  Chart House.  5:30pm.  Bar. T he sun came up this morning like a cosmic #1 ball out of the blue-black felt firmament.  Good to see it.  Danger Boy and the Professor could see 20 miles, barely making out S&M across the bay.  Winds were calm and the sea surface was predictably glassy, like Ronnie Gersch's left eye.  The air temp at checkout was a chilly 55.9° and the water was 63.1°.  High tide was at 10:04am +5.5' and low tide will follow at 4:31pm +0.6'....

Lost Boys & Co... H ere we have panoramic shots from the first day of Fall.  Yes, today is the Autumnal Equinox!  A little late, probably because summer was so freeze-ass cold that it had to thaw out to be Fall.  From L. to R.:  #1. Knob Hill, Secrets (Shhh!) and S. Topaz with PV looming in the background.  #2.  Topaz on and at the rocks.  #3.  Sappharua, 615, Ruby, Pearl and the great confusion that is the Pier. S upposed to be nice for the next few days!  Sun came up with it's ass on fire and ready to warm the chilly morning.  Visibility was 15 miles, with a bit of marine haze lightly blanketing the bay.  Winds were calm and the sea surface was smooth to glassy.  The air temp was 55.9° and the water was 64.4°.  High tide was at 9:42am +5.4' and low tide will follow at 3:58pm +0.7'.  The 46221 buoy is reading a 3.3' swell out of 265° W.  We thought it was about 3' to 4' with some nice little peelers.  ...

Lost Boys & Co... T his is Sophia.  She runs the surf check at the top of the Topaz stairs every morning.  Nothing goes on without her knowing about it - nothing.   She knows where all the bones are buried.  She knows who's bark is worse than their bite.  She knows who's on a short lease!  T he wind blew all night and tacked things up a bit for the morning.  Sun came up first thing, on this last day of summer, with a few clouds scudding across the sky.  It's actually getting cloudier as the day progresses.  Winds started out of the west by 5.5kts and seem to be picking up a bit.  The air temperature was 61.0° at checkout and the water was 65.1°.  Sitting out near the foam patch on the Sapphire side, it was about 63° on the inside of the foam and 67° on the outside.  Quite enough to make a difference.  High tide was at 9:23am +5.2' (to answer Andrew's question) and low tide will be at 3:27pm +0.9'.  We have a 3.3'...

Lost Boys & Co... F or openers this morning we have a shot of the Professor working some rocker into his new board.  Predictably, it took a couple of weeks before we had waves to try it out! H eavy overcast this morning, with a bit of drizzlation at times.  Winds were offshore by 5.2kts, for a welcome change, and the sea surface was smooth to glassy.  The air temperature was a cool 60.3° and the water is 65.3° at the buoy.  It feels a little cooler in the surfline, but maybe things could warm up a bit for one last hurrah.  High tide is at 9:04am +5.0' and low tide will be at 2:57pm +1.2'.  The 46221 buoy is reading a 3.0' swell out of the west at 260°.  That's a couple of feet smaller than yesterday, but Topaz had some nice little zippers this morning.  The Secret Sapphire Surfing Society (S₄) jumped the jetty and we saw Vincent, Andrew, Sandy, Kevin,Lawrence, Johnny, Birdie and the Professor all catching some nice little peelers.  Johnn...

Lost Boys & Co... O ur photo this morning puts the size of these giants in perspective.  These flukes would probably fill your average den, or maybe three or so cubicles at the office.  Didn't seem to be as many about this weekend, but as long as they stay we'll never tire of seeing them... T opaz and Sapphire were firing this morning!  Sun came up a bit hazy and some light fog.  Three miles visibility.  Winds were calm at checkout and look like they might get up to 10 to 12 knots mid-day.  The air temperature was 59.3° and the water is 63.5° (Brent paddled out near the end of the jetty and reported that just that much further out, the water was 5 degrees warmer!  It was cool-ish in the surfline.)  High tide is at 8:46am +4.8' and low tide will be at 2:27pm +1.5'.  The 46221 buoy is reading a W swell out of 259° at 5.2'.  We're calling it 4' to 5' with some thick outsides.  Near the end of the session a couple of Topaz guys sli...

Lost Boys & Co... O kay, one more time,  Keegan's at 7:00pm for Boomfwappa and the Italian Postmen.  Buffalo Fire Dept., at 5:30pm for pre-concert eats and drinks.  Just show up.  No we don't know who is coming.  We don't care how you dress.  Yes, you can come alone.  It goes until it's over.  No, you can't bring the kids.  Yes, you have to be 21.  Okay, if the kids are over 21 bring them... H azy, thin overcast this morning looking like it might clear by mid-morning.  10 miles visibility.  Winds are offshore by 5.5kts and the sea surface is smooth, but not quite glassy.  The air temp is 57.9° and the water has jumped as per Hap to 60.8°.  Keep talking Hap...  High tide is at 7:40am +4.2' and low tide will follow at 12:36pm +2.7'.  The buoy has the swell pegged at 3.0' from SSW 204°.  The tide is flattening it out to 1' to 2'.  It looks like it's trying, but so far, not much... M ail:  Re...

Lost Boys & Co... B oomfwappa & the Sons of Mother Theresa will be at Keegan's Pub in Old Torrance this Friday starting at 7pm for your listening and meditative pleasure.  Our understanding is, that a group of the faithful will be at the Buffalo Fire Dept. around 5:30pm to get some grub and put out any fires that may be raging.  We are told that interpretive dancing is the rule and writhing and ululating will be encouraged.  Sounds like your basic good time to us... T hree new style aquariums for your consideration, courtesy of Larry.  Seems like number three might go through a hell of a lot of fish?  Sure are glad we got rid of the electric eel... T he buoys are telling us that the surf is on the rise!  Partly sunny this morning with 7 miles visibility.  Winds remain onshore by 4.3kts and the sea surface has retained it's pm tack all day.  The air temp is 58.1° and the water continues to plummet to 57.7° at the buoy.  That being the...

Lost Boys & Co... N ow, you line up the back of this Blue Whale with the steeple of American Martyr's church in the background, then you place the nose of the beast even with the water tower on the right.  If the distance to shore is 1.7 miles you can triangulate the size of the whale to be approximately 8 blocks long...  No wait... it's 3 football fields...  No, that's not it either...  We'll get back to you... S even miles visibility this morning under partly cloudy skies.  Some sun, some haze, some fog.  Winds are already onshore by 3.6kts and the sea surface is tacked up.  The air temperature is 58.6° and the water has dropped further to 58.1°.  High tide is at 6:05am +3.5' and low tide will be at 9:26am +3.2'.  Not much difference in the tides...  The buoy is reading a 203° SSW swell at 2.6' and the surf is 1' to 2' and pretty weak. H ow many butt jokes immediately come to mind?  Oscar and Birdie ponder the exigencies of l...

Lost Boys & Co.. . W e've gotten some great pics of the whales that have been hanging out in our waters for the last week or so.  Our opener is from Mary Kay Stimpfl and those familiar with this spout shape will immediately recognize it as a Blue.  Someone told us that you can smell them as they approach.  We're guessing krill does have a distinctive odor when you don't brush your baleen regularly.  Interestingly enough, the spout isn't water that's gone down the blowhole, but condensation as the hot breath hits the cooler air!  We didn't know that... F laming ball in the sky this morning, confusing all of the early risers.  10 miles visibility and a bit of haze near the water.  Winds were onshore at checkout variable from calm to 2.3kts.  Light tack on the water.  Air temperature was 58.3° and the water was close at 58.8°.  (A recent discussion regarding water temps revealed that all present hadn't barebacked it all summer wearing ...

Lost Boys & Co... B ig Sam's Funky Nation was the headliner at the Hermosa Concert Series last night.  Turns out the MC was none other than Maleko Cole and he did a bully job of introducing the main event and plugging the sponsors.  Our first shot shows some revelers getting down with the funky N.O. sounds - looks like LoLa, Sugar Zahn and Liz Stro!  Meanwhile, Monette Thomann, was capturing the sun going down between the pilings.  This, of course, was the only time the sun came out the entire day...  just in time to go down... F oggy (duh!) this morning with visibility ranging from ¼ to ½ mile.  Oh yeah, it was overcast too.  Winds added to the mix by blowing onshore from daybreak and hitting around 5.4kts at checkout.  The sea surface was tacked up.  The air temperature was 54.9° and the water was 60.3° at the buoy, but felt about 64 in the surfline.  Low tide was at 6:33am +2.4' and high tide will be at 1:13pm +5.6'.  The bu...

Lost Boys & Co... A s we traversed the backwoods of Idaho, we stumbled upon this one-holer knee deep in brambles.  We knocked and no one was home.  The Portagee family that lived in the basement was on vacation in Hanford.  Meanwhile at elevation the Professor, stumbled across what appeared to be a perfect Christmas tree just ripe for the cutting.  A few swings later and he was ready to haul it down the hill - except the folks who lived in the shack returned and were a bit perturbed by the removal of their nascent shade tree.  Do you know how much those fresh trees cost? A balmy Friday morning here in the frozen south.  The sun blipped up first thing in the morning just like in the movies and we had 15 miles visibility, through the as per usual haze.  Winds were calm and the sea was glassy.  Some distant whale action, except anywhere where Danger Boy was looking.  Air temp was 60.2° and the water is 62.2°.  High tide is at 10:59am +...

Lost Boys & Co... D ammit!  All we wanted was a Coke™!  At least they were GIANT meal worms... W hales all the way to the horizon this morning, so the 11 miles visibility we had was way plenty to catch their antics.  Partly cloudy skies and a bit of haze.  Winds started out onshore by 5.2kts and the sea surface is sporting a light tack.  The air temp at checkout was 60.2° and the water was 61.5°.  High tide is at 10:23am +6.1' and low tide will follow at 4:38pm -0.0'.  A pretty significant tidal swing!  The buoy is reading a west swell out of 269° true at 3.0'.  The tide is floating it here until a couple of hours after mid-day, so it's 1' to 2', with a bit of chop.  The afternoon could bring some better conditions if the wind lays back or you can find something in the lee of the WSW winds... M ailer Demon: LB et al,  We're about 3 weex away from the official start of autumn.  I've lived coastal, from Del Rey to Manahap...

Lost Boys & Co... I t's my fault.  Here's the new blade.  It's home.  Now... there will be no waves for at least a couple of weeks.  That's just the way it is...  I'm just sitting here staring at it... C hecking it out this morning and the Esplanade is alive with folks gazing sea-ward.  Nope, not big surf, dolphins or schooling fish...  Whales!  Not just the basic California Gray, but the granddaddy of them all, the Blue Whale!  There were tens of them from a ½ mile out to maybe a mile.  But no problem seeing them - they're the biggest things that have ever lived and their spouts shoot way over 20'!  Yeah, dinosaurs were cool, but these guys are the real deal.  You could see boats following them trying to get a better look and on the Esplanade people were using spotter scopes, cameras and binoculars.  Some folks are thinking that as the health of the bay has improved, this might be a more regular occurrence.  Ho...

Lost Boys & Co... W e're heading back today from the wilds of Idaho, but not before watching the Boise State vs. Virginia Tech game with a raft of rabid Boise fans...  Everyone was wearing blue and orange (we were provided with the requisite gear,) all the food was blue and orange and it was the first time we'd ever seen an easy-up inside of someone's home! H azy sun this morning with winds out of the south by 3.3kts.  The sea surface is smooth.  The water temperature is 63.5° and we have a 2.3' swell out of the SW at 232°.  The surf is a smallish 1' to 2'. W e'll be back tomorrow with some photos and news from the surf... "When the surf breaks, we'll fix it..."  The Professor!!

Lost Boys & Co... H ere we have some our favorite spineless, communal organisms.  These were in the Honolulu Aquarium, along with a host of indigenous island fishies.  If you haven't been there, include it on your next trip to Oahu.  It's inexpensive, educational and fun.  Great if you've got rug rats who still don't snork themselves... V isibility at checkout was down in ¼ mile range.  Fog and low clouds are the order of the morning.  Wind is onshore by 3.7kts and the sea surface is sporting a light tack.  The air temp is a chilly 58.5° and the water is heading toward winter temps at 60.8°.  High tide is at 7:35am +3.6' and low tide rebounds quickly at 11:20am +3.0' as the tides get back into a more normal rhythm.  The buoy is reading a west swell out of 265° at 2.3'.  It's hitting the beaches at 1' to 2' and pretty weak.  Looks like there's not much in store for the weekend, so we're heading to Boise to see if everyone takes ...

Lost Boys & Co... W e had breaky with Gidget this morning at Brother's and Rasta Pete came in and was bitching about the weather.  "Can you believe this summer?" he said.  "We just got through with "FOG-UST" and now September is worse."  Everyone was on the edge of their seats wondering if he had a trick bad weather moniker for September, but he left us hanging.  So, it's up to you...  Got something as clever as "fogust?"  Let us know... F oggy, with about a ¼mile visibility.  Winds are onshore by 2.5kts and the visible sea surface has a light tack.  The air temp is a clammy 58.6° and the water is even clammier at 61.9°.  Only one tide today and it's high at 4:23pm +5.2'.  The buoy is reading a 2.0' swell out of the SSW at 197°.  By the time it hits the beach it's 1' and poor to dismal.  The weatherman isn't any help.  They're telling us that the inland areas will be heating up to the triple digits.  This ...

Lost Boys & Co... G oing for a rather dramatic turn on the dance floor, Danger Boy gives Tamara a spin during the father-daughter dance at Tamara's wedding.  We need to report that the Ball family & friends made a great showing on the floor with the Flores family dancers.  Even during a couple of the traditional Mexican numbers, there were some great moves on both sides of the aisle.  Olé! C hilly, cooler and clammy this morning as we opened the doors to the lanai on the 11th floor of the Topaz International Trump Tower Suite.  4 miles visibility, with overcast and some creeping foggies (and some creeping fogies!)   Winds are onshore by 5.5kts and the sea surface has a definite tack going.  The air temperature was 58.3° at checkout and the water was a dismal 61.5°.  Really only one tide today at 2:51pm +5.0', however if you feel inclined to check it out at 11:26pm you can see a late 1.0' low tide.  We currently have a 2.6' swell out of the...