Every single oceanfront community on the planet has its own unique vibe, all shaped by things like accessibility, population density, the waves themselves, of course, and countless other factors. Spend one winter northwest swell in Los Angeles’ South Bay and you’ll instantly recognize the thing that molds its surfers beyond any other factor: those closeouts.
La La Land surfing conjures up images of summer afternoons at First Point, throwing back to Miki Dora navigating a minefield of logs. And even though the other side of the Santa Monica Bay lies in the same county, it couldn’t exist in a more radically different universe. It’s fair to say South Bay locals like it that way. And their winters are spent shaking sand out of their ears for weeks on end, breaking boards and pulling into closeouts along the way.
“Most of our breaks close out 90 percent of the time,” says filmmaker Brad Jacobson. “This is what makes us a special group. We’ve adapted to these closeouts. We’re unique. When most people pull up to see closeouts, they call it a day and leave. Not us. We get our rush charging closeout barrels and slamming into closeout sections.”
Ironically, Jacobson says he wrapped this winter up thinking it wasn’t all that great. Then he started sifting through his 2019/2020 footage for a film he’s called Chasing Madness and realized his memory had served him wrong. The closeouts were there. They ruled the winter just as they do every other year in The Bubble. But as he narrates his own experience of standing on local beaches to document another season, you recognize there’s a definite charm to all those un-makeable barrels. If nothing else, the locals will happily take the momentary view before getting pile-driven into the sand and, without fail, pop up smiling and ready for the next tumble. And you gotta love that.
Editor’s Note: You can watch more from Brad Jacobson’s Mad Video Lab on YouTube here and on Instagram here.
