The news of a good south swell had been out for about a week or so and I had more or less planned where and how I was going to shoot the entire thing. It was set that I was going to shoot Blacks on Friday during the peak of the swell. I even went so far as to put a ladder in the car so I could setup and get some new angle shots.
So, I roll up at Blacks ready to put my plan in motion and I ask the first surfer I see "how are the waves" and he says "not that good." What? "How big?" and he says "chest to head high and a bit blown out." So, I ask a few other people who confirm what the first guy had told me. My friend whom I drove down there with and I have a quick discussion and conclude that we need to go to La Jolla and check things out there.
We setup at Big Rock under cloudy skies and watch the crowd grow to about 30 guys in about a 20' take-off radius. The surf is about 5'- 6'... maybe a few larger sets. I was able to get a few good ones but nothing like I was hoping for and not any where near what was predicted by the forecasters. There I was... my plans shattered and it looked like it was just going to be another small swell to shoot in bad lighting... kind of like the way the entire winter swell season went this last year.
Then, out of the blue a friend of mine who lives down there was driving by and noticed me shooting down on the beach. He pulls over and tells me of a spot that he said would be 3 times as big as Big Rock and 4 times as heavy. I wasn't sure if it would be true and I really didn't want to drive around and just miss everything so I stayed put for about 45 more minutes. The guy I came down to the beach with didn't want to surf at Big Rock because of the crowd so we left.
We decided to drive by this supposed location that was going to be going off and it was a zoo! Cars everywhere and not a parking spot for blocks! But, as we approached a car started backing out of the 1st parking spot right in front of the break. We park and get out... I look over and think to my self holy shit it looks like Pipeline! A heavy wave for sure! I get the camera out walk to the beach just as the sun comes out for the first time all morning and I look through the lens as I see Damien Hobgood charging down the line ... click click click... as if it was just meant to be!
Stoked!
