Drifting Airborne, Part 1
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Capitola. You can see the mellow surf break on the right side of this picture. The break is just east of the little groin. Drifting Airborne, Part 1
A bit of a fantasy this week. Imagine if you will.....
You are gazing from the lookout spot at your favorite surf break. Gently and smoothly you begin to rise into the air. As your heels leave the ground, your toes drag just a bit until they too are airborne. Up, up you rise, until soon you are several hundred feet above the shore, drifting along the coast. You gaze downward from break to break along the coast.
26th Ave beach is in the lower left corner of this photo. Scanning toward the upper right along the coast, you come to Sewer Peak, Pleasure, Jack's House, 38th, The Hook, Sharks Cove, Privates, Trees, and finally, the Capitola Wharf. Small Dots
You enjoy this new perspective on familiar places. The sky is clear and bright, and a substantial swell is pushing lines of waves into all the usual spots. Small dots in the water represent individual surfers, each one waiting for the next ride.
This fabulous view looks westward from Pleasure Point, all the way to the Santa Cruz Wharf. Visible along the way are the towers of KSCO in the lake, the beaches from 26th Ave to 7th Ave, the Cove, the entrance to the yacht harbor, the mouth of the San Lorenzo River, and the Board Walk. On the far side of the Wharf is Cowells. It's difficult to count all the various surf breaks in this picture. Contours
As you drift along the beach and through town, you examine and appreciate the various places people ride waves. Each one is different; each one has its own personality. There are beach breaks, point breaks, reef breaks and more. Waves wrap around the contours of the bottom and the shore, here producing top to bottom cylinders, while there yielding gentle tumblers.
Here's a great shot of Steamer Lane. Its Beach is at the lower left, along side Light House Point. You can see all the surf lineups stretching from Middle Peak to Cowells. The board walk is barely visible at the very top center of the frame. Above and Beyond
Within a short time you have seen the breadth of waves and surf in the entire town of Santa Cruz, from Capitola to Natural Bridges. Should you continue drifting? Should you end it here? There's a complete other world of surfing out of town, along the largely unsettled coast called DogLand. And if you drift far enough, you can eventually see the place called Mavericks, and even points beyond that.
The tide is a bit too high for these west side breaks, but you can see the lineups, from Sacramento Ave to Fair Ave. The break at Stockton Ave is just to the left of the diagnonal point in the middle left of the picture. Of course, Stockton is a south swell place, so it's not really happening in this photos. Continuing Drift?
But for this week's episode the drifting is over. Click back to DogMan's Chronicles to see if the drift continues, as you explore the surf from above.
The last break before leaving city limits is Natural Bridges. It's not breaking in this photo, but look for the pointed gazebo on the lft side of this frame, on the cliff overlooking the ocean. The reef that's offshore from this is the main break. It takes different conditions that the ones shown to make this place fire. You can see the only natural bridge at Natural Bridges in the water near the shore of the main beach on the right side of the picture. A Note
The aerial photos in this column were taken and generously provided by Mike Malwaukie.
CU Out There,
DogMan
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