Friday saw some amazing barrels at Wedge, yet it was anything but your typical day at the famous southern California shore break. The morning started small and slow, with little wave action, and those that broke were mostly closeouts. Showing up shortly after sunrise I almost turned around and went elsewhere; stubbornness has a way of wining out when it’s the first real south of the year, and this time it paid off.
A few smaller souths have started moving sand around so far, but the sandbar is completely out of whack—northwest swells from the long El Nino winter hammered the jetty and deposited more sand than we’ve seen in the past few years, growing the beach by a few dozen yards. The recent, late season swell that lit up Hawaii provided a westerly blend into the swell mix, and added all together waves were barely refracting off the harbor jetty wall.
As the tide dropped and the swell continued to grow, something unexpected happened. The main peak remained average, with the exception of a few large closeout sets, and fairly un-rideable, while a hollow left began peeling off the harbor jetty.
It’s about as shallow and sketchy as it gets. Pushing towards the inside corner where jetty meets sand, waves also break directly on top of one to ten (or more) Volkswagen sized rocks that run perpendicular to the jetty; remnants from the crane used to build it in years past.
Most wisely stayed away, but hollow tubes are hard to resist, even if they’re breaking over knee deep rock. Chris Mansor and Ryan Hurley led the charge for a few riders, absolutely scoring during the morning session.
