November 7, 2009 Saturday

San Francisco	Fort Point
5:00 pm to 6:00 pm	8' to 10', sets to 12'
Mid outgoing tide (4.0 ft)	West cross wind
High overcast	Just taking pictures

Stormsurf’s Storm #2 arrived this morning early: 11 to 12 ft swells at 17 to 18 seconds. When Stormsurf numbers a swell, Maverick size waves are coming. They tracked this swell all week. Tuesday, confirmed 40 to 50 knot sustained winds in the Gulf of Alaska. Wednesday, sustained winds continued, seas built to 32 ft on the great circle to Northern California. Thursday, 40 to 45 knot winds continued, seas grew to 40 ft and still on the path to Northern California. Friday, the storm began to fade but 37 ft seas continued moving towards California. The main focus of the storm would be from Point Reyes northward, with most energy going to Oregon and Washington. It was positioned close to San Francisco, 1000 to 1600 nautical miles, resulting in a raw and unruly swell that would last through Sunday and fading on Monday.

Son Kevin and I were doing things in the city and late afternoon on our way back to Marin we swung by Fort Point to check the waves. The waves were huge, smashing against the rocks and sending plumes of spray up onto the road leading out to the fort. Six surfers were in the water. The waves were rough, bumpy, not well formed and coming in different directions. The big set waves broke under the bridge, pushed into the Bay and then turned 90 degrees to wrap around the point. Most waves came more from the middle of the bay, would peak and break near the rocks of the parking lot. Some peaked right at the point and broke over the big fill rocks that form the foundation of the road and parking lot. Others peaked further away from the point, some twenty yards east. These waves were bigger and barely broke due to the deep water. The water is deep at Fort Point, thus the waves only break during low tide and near the shore. The depth increases as one moves away from the fort and further into the bay.

The surfers were having a difficult time catching waves due to the strong currents and the shifting direction of the peaks. Nonetheless the rides were spectacular, every one was two to three feet overhead and fast. They would sail down a steep overhead face and plow into a flat shoulder. To stay in the swell, one has to cut back towards the rocks and work back into a reforming wave. The white water pushes towards the fort and the parking lot. The danger here is getting too close to the rocks. I watched one your short boarder pull out on the inside and immediately started scratching east away from the rocks as the next and bigger wave of the set broke in front of him. Being skilled at ducking diving, he calmly went under the wave and continued paddling east out of the impact zone.

What a tremendous place to watch waves. There we were, along with another 100 observers, standing at the point, on top of the rocks, within 50 feet of these beautiful and powerful twelve-foot waves that roared in from the sea and smashed against the rocks. I took several photos but due to the fading light the program of my digital camera held the shutter open to obtain light, thus all I captured were blurry images of the surfers. The above photo was my best and that was after all the magic Photoshop could deliver. This rider was on a boogie board. He caught the wave under the bridge and here he was near the end of his ride after the wave made its 90-degree turn around the point.

I have surfed Fort Point a few times. It is an eerie place to surf due to the rocks, strong currents, big waves and an aggressive crowd. But it’s a great place to watch big waves and skilled riders up close.