I happened to fly into LA for a 2-day work trip and ran straight into a freak swell that lit up Southern California. I called a few local friends who said the entire LA basin just got washed into the sea after the hardest rain of the year, that the water was filthy and the waves were a mess.
Luckily, Surfbreak Travel Ambassador Timmy Reyes was in town and could read the signs. The South Bay channeled the swell and wind perfectly – if you like grueling paddle outs and steep, quick drops that end in mostly closeouts detonating 50 yards from shore with the occasional makeable barrel.
Locals said it hadn’t been like this in decades. Everyone out paid serious dues to get their one or two glory waves, but I’m sure they’ll remember those waves for years. I saw the heaviest waves I’ve ever seen in Southern California, and I honestly didn’t think the ocean could get that powerful and nasty down here.
Alex Gray and Timmy Reyes were waiting for the bombs and not hesitating when they came. They were eerily comfortable taking beatings and pulling into black holes. There was a solid crop of locals charging as well like Connor Beatty, who got spit out of one of the cleaner barrels all morning. Easton Jones snagged a filthy one as well.
Easton Jones said, “That wave felt like a dream I couldn’t believe I came out. I literally came out and thought I just woke up.”
Carnage tally: A few boards washed in with broken leashes on most big sets, one board to the head concussion (taken away in ambulance), one knee injury (barely limped up the beach to car), handful of broken boards and at least one bruised ego from not catching one of the rare perfect ones.
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