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From: Craig Jungers <crjungers_at_gmail.com>
subject: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 08:22:52 -0800
I must be a secret masochist because I keep checking the weather at Dana
Point, California where Sue and I spent Christmas. When our daily high
temperatures were barely nudging the mid-20s the weather at Doheny Beach was
often much better... rarely below 65 and often in the 70s. This, of course,
plunged me even deeper into my winter-induced depression.

This week I've been feeling lots better. Our own temps have been into the
50s and I checked my iPhone before getting out of bed and discovered that
Dana Point has no fewer than five warnings: Coastal flooding; Inland
flooding; Flash flooding; High surf; and, High Wind. The surf is expected to
get to 20-feet what with the high winds and the high tide. Even better, the
high temp is in the mid 50s just like it is here. Whoopee! I felt so much
better I decided to check the stock market.

Uh oh.


Craig Jungers
Moses Lake, WA
www.nwkayaking.net

PS: The lake is still frozen... apparently the daily high in the 50s isn't
enough to offset the daily low in the high 20s.
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From: Bradford R. Crain <crainb_at_pdx.edu>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 09:23:01 -0800
We must also add mud slides and coastal erosion, ie, bluffs with a view
and expensive real estate plunging into the ocean. Now, did those Southern
California fires ever go out? But what really concerns me are the reports
that California is drifting to the northwest at the rate of a fraction of an
inch per year. I think I hear Mark Sanders drifting closer.

Brad

From: "Craig Jungers" <crjungers_at_gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2010 8:22 AM
Subject: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...


>I must be a secret masochist because I keep checking the weather at Dana
> Point, California where Sue and I spent Christmas. When our daily high
> temperatures were barely nudging the mid-20s the weather at Doheny Beach 
> was
> often much better... rarely below 65 and often in the 70s. This, of 
> course,
> plunged me even deeper into my winter-induced depression.
>
> This week I've been feeling lots better. Our own temps have been into the
> 50s and I checked my iPhone before getting out of bed and discovered that
> Dana Point has no fewer than five warnings: Coastal flooding; Inland
> flooding; Flash flooding; High surf; and, High Wind. The surf is expected 
> to
> get to 20-feet what with the high winds and the high tide. Even better, 
> the
> high temp is in the mid 50s just like it is here. Whoopee! I felt so much
> better I decided to check the stock market.
>
> Uh oh.
>
>
> Craig Jungers
> Moses Lake, WA
> www.nwkayaking.net
>
> PS: The lake is still frozen... apparently the daily high in the 50s isn't
> enough to offset the daily low in the high 20s.
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From: Craig Jungers <crjungers_at_gmail.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 09:39:30 -0800
On Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 9:23 AM, Bradford R. Crain <crainb_at_pdx.edu> wrote:

>
>   I think I hear Mark Sanders drifting closer.
>
> I would love to get Mark up here. With any luck he'll follow Duane up for
the Greenland competition at Issaquah. If we have to wait for continental
drift we may have to just hunker down for a bit.

Craig
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From: Mark Sanders <marksanders_at_sandmarks.net>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 10:06:43 -0800
Is it really only a fraction per year? I thought it was a whole inch. I 
was counting on it saving me some gas money on the trip up! I have a 
couple excuses to get up their sometime this year, we'll have to see.

Mark

On 1/21/2010 9:23 AM, Bradford R. Crain wrote:
>  But what really concerns me are the reports that California is 
> drifting to the northwest at the rate of a fraction of an inch per 
> year. I think I hear Mark Sanders drifting closer.
>
> Brad
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From: Dave Kruger <kdruger_at_pacifier.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 11:09:21 -0800
Mark Sanders wrote:
> Is it really only a fraction per year? I thought it was a whole inch. I 
> was counting on it saving me some gas money on the trip up! I have a 
> couple excuses to get up their sometime this year, we'll have to see.

Mark, we are ready for you up here.  Lars Larson will make you feel right 
at home, and you and I, with our walrus morphology, are waaay better suited 
for this clime than the Newport Beach Corona Del Mar Malibu ambiance you 
have been suffering with down there.

The real estate market is such that you can buy a really nice house for a 
fraction of Southern California numbers, the air is clean, the people are 
friendly, and there are lots of jobs ... ah, well, two outa three ain't bad!

-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
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From: Chuck Holst <cholst_at_bitstream.net>
subject: RE: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:38:56 -0600
One of the consequences of rising seas from global warming (one forecast is
for a one-meter rise by 2100) is that beaches on which waves currently
expend their energy will be submerged, allowing waves direct access to the
bases of the cliffs on which that expensive real estate sits. Eventually
there will be a new beach to protect the diminished cliff, but meanwhile, I
wouldn't want to be living there.

Chuck Holst

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net
[mailto:owner-paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net] On Behalf Of Bradford R. Crain
Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2010 11:23 AM
To: Craig Jungers; Paddlewise Paddlewise
Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...

> We must also add mud slides and coastal erosion, ie, bluffs with a view
> and expensive real estate plunging into the ocean. 

 

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From: Craig Jungers <crjungers_at_gmail.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:16:45 -0800
On Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 1:38 PM, Chuck Holst <cholst_at_bitstream.net> wrote:

> One of the consequences of rising seas from global warming (one forecast is
> for a one-meter rise by 2100) is that beaches on which waves currently
> expend their energy will be submerged, allowing waves direct access to the
> bases of the cliffs on which that expensive real estate sits. Eventually
> there will be a new beach to protect the diminished cliff, but meanwhile, I
> wouldn't want to be living there.
>
>
I already don't want to live there. There is an apartment complex somewhere
near San Francisco that was featured on the ABC news a few nights ago. Great
views on the edge of a bluff overlooking the Pacific.  Unfortunately bits of
it are falling off. The report was about the evacuation of the people living
there.

Sue and I drove up to the top of Dana Point (from which Dana himself threw
cow hides down to the boats in the marina below... no, wait... that can't be
right) and the houses and a restaurant were perched on the edge of the
bluff. Great views though.

Of course, we don't need global warming to have erosion. Erosion is a fact
of life and a staple of geography. It just gets lots worse if ocean levels
rise.

I think I'm safe here... 1000 feet in elevation behind a fantastic tsunami
wall (the Cascade Mountains). I am not nearly as dumb as I look. :D


Craig Jungers
Moses Lake, WA
www.nwkayaking.net
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From: Bradford R. Crain <crainb_at_pdx.edu>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:33:23 -0800
I seem to recall a song about how it never rains in sunny California, but
man it pours. Anybody remember the words?

Brad

Craig wrote:

Subject: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...


>I must be a secret masochist because I keep checking the weather at Dana
> Point, California where Sue and I spent Christmas. When our daily high
> temperatures were barely nudging the mid-20s the weather at Doheny Beach 
> was
> often much better... rarely below 65 and often in the 70s. This, of 
> course,
> plunged me even deeper into my winter-induced depression.
>
> This week I've been feeling lots better. Our own temps have been into the
> 50s and I checked my iPhone before getting out of bed and discovered that
> Dana Point has no fewer than five warnings: Coastal flooding; Inland
> flooding; Flash flooding; High surf; and, High Wind. The surf is expected 
> to
> get to 20-feet what with the high winds and the high tide. Even better, 
> the
> high temp is in the mid 50s just like it is here. Whoopee! I felt so much
> better I decided to check the stock market.
>
> Uh oh.
>
>
> Craig Jungers
> Moses Lake, WA
> www.nwkayaking.net
>
> PS: The lake is still frozen... apparently the daily high in the 50s isn't
> enough to offset the daily low in the high 20s.
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From: James Farrelly <JFarrelly5_at_comcast.net>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:03:44 -0500
On Jan 21, 2010, at 3:33 PM, Bradford R. Crain wrote:

> I seem to recall a song about how it never rains in sunny California, but
> man it pours. Anybody remember the words?
> 
Its raining men?

Jim et al
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From: Mark Sanders <marksanders_at_sandmarks.net>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:07:12 -0800
http://popup.lala.com/popup/504684655014183254


On 1/21/2010 12:33 PM, Bradford R. Crain wrote:
> I seem to recall a song about how it never rains in sunny California, but
> man it pours. Anybody remember the words?
>
> Brad
>
> Craig wrote:
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From: Duane Strosaker <strosaker_at_yahoo.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:02:48 -0800 (PST)
Craig,

I have Friday off and plan to drive along the coast, drink coffee, have lunch, and check out the waves and storm damage. The National Weather Service forecast shows 15-20 foot surf, but the swell is shown as 8-10 feet in the inner waters, so I'm thinking the surf won't be very spectacular.

I supposed Doug Lloyd would go for a paddle in this storm, but the water is polluted from all the urban run-off. Plus, the lifeguards and harbor patrol wouldn't be happy about it. There's no sense stressing them out, not to mention sometimes it's just silly to be on the water.

Duane
Southern California
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From: Craig Jungers <crjungers_at_gmail.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:08:14 -0800
On Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 1:02 PM, Duane Strosaker <strosaker_at_yahoo.com>wrote:

>
> I supposed Doug Lloyd would go for a paddle in this storm, but the water is
> polluted from all the urban run-off. Plus, the lifeguards and harbor patrol
> wouldn't be happy about it. There's no sense stressing them out, not to
> mention sometimes it's just silly to be on the water.
>
> I don't think that Doug would be dissuaded by polluted water. After all, he
paddles around Victoria, BC which has famously been dumping all its sewage
directly into the Straits of Juan de Fuca; despite strict rules which say
that *I* have to either hold it or find something to hold it.

Can a 10-foot swell produce 20-foot surf?

I bet a campsite at Doheny would be plenty exciting today and tomorrow!

Enjoy your coffee. :)


Craig Jungers
Moses Lake, WA
www.nwkayaking.net
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From: Duane Strosaker <strosaker_at_yahoo.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:14:26 -0800 (PST)
Craig,

Now you know why the 10-foot sand wall was built between your campsite and the ocean. I bet it's washed away by now. I'm also wondering if the surf has washed out the parking lot at San Onofre.

Duane

--- On Thu, 1/21/10, Craig Jungers <crjungers_at_gmail.com> wrote:

> Can a 10-foot swell produce 20-foot surf?
> 
> I bet a campsite at Doheny would be plenty exciting today
> and tomorrow!
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From: Craig Jungers <crjungers_at_gmail.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:51:50 -0800
On Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 1:14 PM, Duane Strosaker <strosaker_at_yahoo.com>wrote:

>
> Now you know why the 10-foot sand wall was built between your campsite and
> the ocean. I bet it's washed away by now. I'm also wondering if the surf has
> washed out the parking lot at San Onofre.
>
> I was wondering the same thing.... for both. The rangers at Doheny said
that the berm was periodically renewed but implied that it was because kids
played on it all the time. San Onofre is probably vulnerable to the storms
with winds in the S quadrants (and Doheny as well).

This webcam covers Doheny:


http://www.webcams.travel/webcam/1248106589-Weather-Doheny-Dana-Point-Marina-Mobile-Home-Estates

There is a webcam on that site for San Clemente too.

Craig Jungers
Moses Lake, WA
www.nwkayaking.net
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From: Mark Perkins <marker_at_gmail.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:51:32 -0800
On Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 1:08 PM, Craig Jungers <crjungers_at_gmail.com> wrote:

> Can a 10-foot swell produce 20-foot surf?
>

Not sure if this was a serious question, but I'll take the bait.

Short answer is "yes". It depends primarily on the period of the swell and
also on the shape of the bottom converting the swell to surf. The longer the
period the higher the surf height / swell height ratio.

I believe that when Mavericks (sorry to stray from So Cal to Nor Cal for a
moment) is going off, the surf height is often about double the swell
height.

-Mark
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From: Craig Jungers <crjungers_at_gmail.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:53:52 -0800
On Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 1:51 PM, Mark Perkins <marker_at_gmail.com> wrote:

> On Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 1:08 PM, Craig Jungers <crjungers_at_gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Can a 10-foot swell produce 20-foot surf?
>>
>
> Not sure if this was a serious question, but I'll take the bait.
>

Yup... it was serious.


>
> Short answer is "yes". It depends primarily on the period of the swell and
> also on the shape of the bottom converting the swell to surf. The longer the
> period the higher the surf height / swell height ratio.
>
> I believe that when Mavericks (sorry to stray from So Cal to Nor Cal for a
> moment) is going off, the surf height is often about double the swell
> height.
>
> Thanks Mark. I was pretty sure that the type of bottom made a big
difference but I had forgotten about the period. Not much surf here on Moses
Lake.... or in Puget Sound for that matter.


Craig
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From: Dave Kruger <kdruger_at_pacifier.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:44:39 -0800
Craig, check this site out to see swell period and swell height forecasts. 
  Pretty good graphics for that:  http://tinyurl.com/ybpf57u  Also, the 
latest issue of The Surfers Journal has a good interview with Walter Munk, 
one of the seminal oceanographers who developed the first models for 
predicting surf ... during and after WW II ... used to help decide which 
day D-Day would be.  In training during the 1960's Marines at Camp 
Pendleton got training based on Munk's models.  I'll save my copy of that 
issue if you want to peruse it later when you are down.

Some killer surf footage at that site, also.  Check out he Jaws slide show: 
  http://magicseaweed.com/photoLab/  (click on Spotlight Jaws)

-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
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From: Doug Lloyd <douglloyd_at_shaw.ca>
subject: RE: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:38:08 -0800
Never is it silly to be on the water - over your head, maybe, but that's
only because you are in the trough for those shadowy moments when the sea's
a running big. 

Now big surf, that's different. Surf that breaks and washes across a
dangerous shelf, cliff bases, while not silly, can be considered suicidal.
Surf full of logs can also be a game of Russian roulette. Not sure if that
is a silly activity, but I do know what the results can be - like a silly
knock to your noggin (don't ask).

I'm lucky here on the BC coast: lots of indents and inlets to escape, though
the remnant swell at the end of these inlets on a big day can make both
launching and landing an interesting proposition, with a little trickery
needed to find entry and egress sweet spots.

As it stands, the worst surf injuries I've witnessed and heard about were in
relatively low surf values where occupants either disgorged or
shoulder-extended to landward, both with sorry consequences - why yes, that
was silly.

The last time my souse nagged me, calling me a "silly maun" (her way of
saying 'silly man' exactly) for repeatedly going out on the water at times
when the authorities were imploring boaters to stay ashore or in a safe
harbour or had assumed everyone was safe at home in bed at night, I
countered back that a life lived in secluded safety was not a life lived at
all; that a life without risk was a life without reward. She said a life
lived to live another day was a life left to live. She won and my Nordy
lives no more.

So, I've given up the big sea for now while she fights her own big "C", I
still try to figure out what is silly in life and what isn't, but can't stop
thinking that I still want to "go big or go home", but do agree the to go
big or go home -- and not make it home, is silly. And I suppose there are
days when I think it's silly not to be on the water.     

Doug Lloyd 


Duane said:

Craig,

I have Friday off and plan to drive along the coast, drink coffee, have
lunch, and check out the waves and storm damage. The National Weather
Service forecast shows 15-20 foot surf, but the swell is shown as 8-10 feet
in the inner waters, so I'm thinking the surf won't be very spectacular.

I supposed Doug Lloyd would go for a paddle in this storm, but the water is
polluted from all the urban run-off. Plus, the lifeguards and harbor patrol
wouldn't be happy about it. There's no sense stressing them out, not to
mention sometimes it's just silly to be on the water.

Duane
Southern California
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From: Steve Holtzman <sh_at_actglobal.net>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:42:13 +0000
It's not rain-it's one of our 4 seasons. Earthquake, fire, mud, & draught. 

Steve Holtzman
Sent from my Wireless Crackberry er..... BlackBerry
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From: MATT MARINER BROZE <marinerkayaks_at_msn.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:29:25 -0800
Mark Perkins wrote:
>>>>>.....Short answer is "yes". It depends primarily on the period of the
swell and
also on the shape of the bottom converting the swell to surf. The longer the
period the higher the surf height / swell height ratio.<<<<<<<<<



Furthermore, the shape of the bottom farther out to sea interacts with the
swell when the ratios between water depth and swell length and height are
withing certain parameters. This can serve to bend the direction that the
local swell is taking. This can result in a swell being focused onto a small
area and a large increase in local swell height results. Most coastal paddlers
have probably noticed that the conditions are usually rougher near points of
land and are more mild in bays. The shallows (often offshore of the points of
land) bend the swells direction as the shallows slow the swell some focusing
more wave energy on the points of land. This same thing removes energy from
the swell entering a bay as the wave energy is spread out over a wider area.



Somewhere (possibly the last edition of Waves and Beaches by Willard
Bascom--out of print but a great read for coastal kayakers) I read about a
jetty (maybe in CA) that was destroyed in relatively mild swell because of the
(rare--maybe from the southern ocean) direction the relatively mild swell was
coming from interacted with the underwater topography offshore to focus the
energy from a wide area of sea onto a part of the jetty that was torn apart by
huge waves that were confined to only in a small area.
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From: Dave Kruger <kdruger_at_pacifier.com>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Surfing in S. Cal. should be exciting...
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:26:31 -0800
MATT MARINER BROZE wrote:

> Somewhere (possibly the last edition of Waves and Beaches by Willard
> Bascom--out of print but a great read for coastal kayakers) I read about a
> jetty (maybe in CA) that was destroyed in relatively mild swell because of the
> (rare--maybe from the southern ocean) direction the relatively mild swell was
> coming from interacted with the underwater topography offshore to focus the
> energy from a wide area of sea onto a part of the jetty that was torn apart by
> huge waves that were confined to only in a small area.

Yup.  That's in both versions.  I've got the 1984 revision, which details 
this on pp 82-85.  The jetty affected was near Long Beach, CA, and was hit 
in 1930.  Its tip was damaged by waves not sensed anywhere nearby.  The 
focused waves moved large racks running to 4 to 20 tons.  These originated 
from somewhere in the Indian Ocean, and with a period in the 20-30 sec 
range, were monsters.  The feature which focused the waves was a hump in 
the ocean floor about 10 miles offshore spanning a depth range of 180 to 
600 feet.  The focusing concentrated a roughly 8-mile long wave front at 
the outward extent of the hump into an impact zone about a quarter mile 
wide. At depth, the waves were less than two feet high; they formed 
breakers about 12-25 feet high when they broke on the jetty.

Walter Munk, one of the first oceanographers at Scripps Institute of 
Oceanography in La Jolla, details studies using wave-sensing arrays 
scattered about the Pacific which did the detective work tracing wave 
trains similar to the ones that did that damage to a source about 13,000 
miles distant from the California shoreline.  There is a great interview of 
Munk in the December 2009 issue of The Surfer's Journal, a popular journal 
on surfing, often stepping afield from shots of surf stars on mega waves. 
Munk and his family spent several months on a remote SE Pacific island, 
monitoring the nearby array, as guests of the local chieftain.

-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
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