SFist: Mavericks Surf Contest: It's On

Jeremy_ofSF

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 12:17:32 -0800

The webcam has come a long way from a few years ago when they set up a camcorder on the cliff and the surfers were little dots. The waves were great early on, but have turned sporadic. Hopefully it'll pick up for the finals, which should be in about an hour. This video from the monster swell back in December is the craziest Mavericks action I've ever seen: http://www.surfline.com/video/video_player/video_player.cfm?id=12653&mv=ncl

mpantone

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 22:37:19 -0800

You know, $25 at AT&T Park isn't such a bad deal. If you try to drive to HMB, you will be directed to the airport where parking and the shuttle to Pillar Point is $15. I don't know how many people will fit into the temporary grandstands, but you better bring your binoculars since the break is a half-mile offshore. It's not like Banzai Pipeline where the action is fifty yards away. And at Pipe, there's a steep sand dune to the water, making it a natural grandstand. Pillar Point is at sea level (the cliffs are off-limits).

DaveRocks

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 19:46:26 -0800

Dude, we're trying to talk about some rad waves. Why do you have to bring down the conversation with talk of boring auctions? :-( Best of luck to all the surfer's tomorrow and here's to hoping everyone comes back in one piece.

RinconHillSF

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 17:04:27 -0800

I'm kidding about the auction ... but not the bankruptcy... they hired Orrick to save the day, which will probably cost enough for them to file bankruptcy anyway.

RinconHillSF

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 17:03:47 -0800

Half Moon Bay still exists? I thought they lost a $36 million judgement in court to a developer and had to auction the City off as a part of bankruptcy. Which other Cities might get into bankruptcy thanks to lousy decisions at City Hall that result in lawsuits? Hmm....

mpantone

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:33:52 -0800

The live cam shows maybe 6-8 people in the lineup right now; it looks about 15-20 feet, beautiful south breeze. This is a west swell: very hollow, very dangerous (Mark Foo died during a west swell). Stormsurf is also reporting that the same swell is causing Waimea Bay to break at 17 ft. Hawaiian, might go up to 25-28 ft. Hawaiian on Sunday. (Hawaiians traditionally measure their waves from the back, so 17 ft. Hawaiian translates to 25 ft. elsewhere; 25-28 ft. Hawaiian means 40 ft. here.)

manys

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:20:50 -0800

Ha ha, $25!