Keep Santa Cruz Weird

Here is a set of 27 photos, mostly surfing shots, that were taken on my daily walk out to Pleasure Point and towards Capitola and back. I’m posting them in order in which they were taken. I hope you enjoy them:

The waves are a bit more manageable as you head towards Capitola village from Pleasure Point. As
you can see there is more to surfing than catching a wave. You obviously must be aware of
those around you.

Relaxing with Fido and MP3 player on the bluff. It doesn’t get better than this!

Sometimes you just have to dive under the wave and hope for the best!

This looks like a more adventurous way to watch the surfers.

Lake Moran Beach
November 19, 2011

Yikes – I’ll earn my ride today!
Pleasure Point
November 19, 2011

Pleasure Point
November 19, 2011

On the 9th my wife and I walked East Cliff Drive. We do that often because we live so close. Once or twice a week we drive across town to Lighthouse Point and West Cliff Drive. Here are some photos from our walk. It was a beautiful Fall day and the surf was up! I’m going to post these in order taken, so this is really going to look like a hodgepodge of photos. I hope you enjoy some of them.

I think maybe this gal is ready for anything!

Here is another bike that has everything but the kitchen sink. Well, I’m not sure of that. I
wonder if these two cyclists are going to hook up?

I thought this gentleman a fine example of a Santa Cruzer.

Oh Oh. I guess I got caught. This must be a girl that thought I was a pervert or she’s in
the witness protection program.

If memory serves, this surfer was with the one in the previous photo. Getting down to the
water can be quite an endeavor in itself.

There were some really good waves on this day. The closer you got to the lighthouse and the point, the
bigger they were. Those looking for less of a beating, tended to stay out where the waves were
a bit easier to handle. These next photos were taken closer to the lighthouse and point.

This young boy was no beginner. I’d say he is about Junior High age, and he was tackling some
big waves. In some cases the waves just wiped him out, but I was impressed.

I had to take a quick break from the surfers to take this photo of Vessel Assist. I do my boating up in
Puget Sound and my emergency insurance includes towing by Vessel Assist. I really hope I
never have to give them a call.

WIPE OUT!

Sometimes you just have no control.

And sometimes you master the wave.

This fellow could care less about the big waves. He was rockin in his own little world.
You can do this in Santa Cruz.

These monks were enjoying the surfers.

Where’s Waldo? or
Do you ever feel like the world is weighing on your shoulders?

Stand Up Paddle Surfing, or SUP, is becoming more and more popular. I guess it originated in Hawaii long ago. There were a couple of SUPs out on this beautiful November day. Here are some photos:

This first guy was a real HAM. He was rockin out in his own little world.

The second SUP was wearing no wetsuit, so I’m guessing he didn’t intend to get wet. The water is COLD.

Here a a hodgepodge of 3 photos taken during our walk along the bluff. Keep in mind that this is November 9. If I were home in Washington I certainly wouldn’t be dressed like the guys in the second photo. It was a beautiful sunny day.

Most of the houses along East Cliff Drive, like West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz, are across the road from the bluff. There are, however, a handful of homes right on the bluff – at least for now. I suppose a lot of money is spent shoring up the cliff side to make sure the houses stay where they are. In fact, just south of Pleasure Point a construction project was  beginning that would be working on the cliff below one of the houses. This is not that house, but a house a little further south. You can see the house in the background has extensive shoring up on the cliff side.

These 3 guys were just chatting away and watching the surfers. No shirt in November? Well, this is California.

The last photo is a shot of a chartered sailboat enjoying the afternoon.

I was hoping to catch this lad out having fun when he should be at school. Then I realized that some schools release the kids early on Wednesdays. I just checked my calendar and sure enough, Nov 9 was a Wednesday. Darn. I guess the kids is legal, not to mention he could be home schooled or on vacation.

I don’t know what the plan for East Cliff Drive is, but I do like the new walking path along the bluff. It looks to me like car traffic will be one way going south through this stretch. On a sunny day there are always a lot of moms and dads walking the trail with their kids.

In this first photo, this dad literally has his hands full as a passerby stops for a chat. I think I like the little girls situation. “You can pull me all day daddy!”

I can’t see the young one in the second photo very well, but my guess is “fast asleep” while mom gets a little exercise.

There’s more to surfing that catching that perfect wave. You’ve got to get out to the waves and you’ve got to return – hopefully. Here are some rather boring photos, mostly of entering and exiting the water.

November 9, 2011
The Point

Ok. Thanks to rapid fire on my trusty Nikon, I was able to take a progression of photos on this surfer’s ride. There are 10 photos. Here he is trying to get into a position where he can catch the wave. The waves, btw, were not large today. This was actually a good thing, as it gave me an opportunity to get several photos of this one ride.

Still trying to catch the wave, and it’s looking good.

Looks like I’ve got this wave. Time to rise to my feet.

Up

Getting vertical.

In control. What should I do?

A little acrobatics whipping the board to the left.

Back to the right.

Getting some air under the board.

Turn to the right to abort the ride. What goes in must come out.

I know nothing about surfing. I’ve been watching them a lot lately, but I don’t know the lingo or exactly what the surfer is trying to do. As far as I can tell, the object is not to fall into the water. When the waves are big, I can tell the object is to get hammered as little as possible and catch that perfect ride.