January 4, 2007. Sitting in a dark house with no power, wind is howling at hurricane force, rain is pelting at a rate of more than an inch per hour. Storms are stacked in the Pacific with no end in sight. Is this the end? Or maybe just the biggest baddest storm of the last 10 years?

So what am I thinking? It's time for the San Lorenzo River Mouth to go off! One of the rarest waves in Santa Cruz, and one of the most refined, it breaks every so often at the River Mouth. It takes a special combination of events to make it happen, and maybe, just maybe now is the time.

When torrential rains hit the Santa Cruz Mountains, they can dump a lot of water in a very short time. This surge (oh how I hate to use that particular word) flushes tons of sand and silt down the river and out to sea. The silt and sand then build a bar which makes the waves break where they don't break otherwise. And what a fine break it is. Lefts and rights abound, but the rights are usually better. The waves are sculped into finely shaped semicircles that race along the shore for many meters.

And today, huddled in my dark house, listening to the staccato drumming of the rain on the walls, windows and roof, I'm anticipating another bar at the River Mouth that can make magical surfing conditions. There are a couple things to consider, however.

1. The river flushes other crap (literally) than just sand and silt. Old refrigerators, logs, dead animals, and assorted garbage also come to play. The water runs brown, and not just from silt. Hepatitis is a real threat in these conditions.

2. What the river builds, the ocean destroys. It doesn't take long for the sand bar to be torn apart by the power of the Pacific, so the waves don't break for long. The window for surfing stays open only a precious few days.

3. Crowds. You think I'm the only one who knows the "secret" of the River Mouth? Ha! Think again bucko. Even as I type this into my laptop, even as the winds threaten to blow my house apart, I bet there are surfers cruising the River Mouth to check for the magical sandbar. I can guarantee that once the place starts to peel, many wave riders will come to play.

But in spite of all the drawbacks, it's worth it. I might only get a handful of waves at the River Mouth every three or four years, but I remember each and every one of them. Astroman and I shared a predawn session there some time ago that is still burned into my brain. Just he and I and the waves for over 40 minutes, and we made the most of it.

Now you can think about the River Mouth too. Maybe I'll see you out there. Maybe we'll both get sick surfing the place. Maybe I'll drop in to say "Hi!"

CU Out There,

DogMan