Author Topic: "magic hour" at Cowells Santa Cruz  (Read 2784 times)

jondrums

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"magic hour" at Cowells Santa Cruz
« on: January 10, 2021, 11:58:34 AM »
Cowells has been going off for the last week.  Such incredible foiling, I've had a few of my all-time best sessions there just in the last week.  At the right tide and swell, it could well be California's best foiling wave.  The only problem is paddling back out 1km+ and going around the corner to indicators with all the water rushing around the corner against you.  The kelp is almost all cleared out now all the way along west cliff.

The "magic hour" as I've started calling it is the hour just before the place becomes completely swamped with people.  Low tide cowells is pretty special for longboarding - with a small swell it needs a negative tide, but with bigger swell anything less than a foot is perfect.   This past week low tide has been mid-day, with the associated sunshine and the conditions glassing off by mid-morning.   About 2 hours before low tide it isn't quite good enough for the longboarders but perfect for foiling.  It is just barely breaking and backing off, rolling all the way into the beach.  By about an hour before low tide, you can't even make your way up the stairs because its a steady stream of wavestorms walking down, and by low tide there will be literally hundreds of people in the water.  Not a good place for a foil at all.

Every day I've been out there a handful of other foilers are out frothing away and riding so many waves the only limit is the paddle back out, and the need to get back to my car for a zoom call.

On the really big swell days, my white whale is getting one all the way out at middle peak steamers.  I am absolutely positive I could ride it to the beach for an almost 1.5km ride.  I know because I catch the set waves after the surfers drop off them at the statue and ride those to the beach.  I paddled out to middle peak several times now, but I can't get the speed or positioning to drop in.  I've been in the wrong place a few times and got completely and utterly blown up.  I come up for air a couple of hundred meters down the coast with the water moving like crazy.  But, I'm going to get one of those soon...

surfercook

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Re: "magic hour" at Cowells Santa Cruz
« Reply #1 on: January 28, 2021, 10:06:04 PM »
I'm impressed! Foiling is so cool and that challenge you are facing is great. Good luck. Following!
Where is Cowells?
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surfercook

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Re: "magic hour" at Cowells Santa Cruz
« Reply #2 on: January 29, 2021, 08:44:42 AM »
One could go into a mall in Kansas and ask a teenager "What is a surfer looking for?, and the answer will always be, "The perfect wave"
9'11" PSH Hull Ripper-145 ltr    
9'3" PSH  Hull Ripper- 130ltr 
8'0" Corevac Assassin -127 ltr   
Paddles- Carbonerro PRO SERIES 85 & Riviera Camo at 70"

jondrums

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Re: "magic hour" at Cowells Santa Cruz
« Reply #3 on: January 29, 2021, 09:47:10 AM »
yeah, the video is of shorebreak at Cowell's beach proper, that's not really a longboard wave, more like a quick get in get out shortboard wave.  The typical longboard wave is a couple of hundred yards out and is a long perfect mellow right.

With enough swell, I can get them at the surfing statue you see on the map and ride to a finish on the beach break next to the pier.  Middle peak of Steamer's Lane is just a bit off the map.

A lot of Clay's videos are from this spot, and I think Beasho has a video with Jeff Clark riding some big burly ones there too.

 


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