Nor-Cal Trip

Wind Slither · Since 04 Mar 2005 2619 Posts The 503 METAL

Just finished an amazing trip down to the Bay Area and up the Nor-Cal coast. Barfly and I packed up the campers and got really lucky with sun and wind every day.

I spent a lot of time searching for info on the Nor-Cal coast before the trip and had a tough time finding much on anything north of Dillion Beach. Only Mocean stepped up with some recommendations around Eureka. So here is a brief synopis of our trip for future planners.

Day 1 & 2: Sherman (Like the Gorge with lots of wide open chop and some island slicks. No big swell and not as scenic. Wind blows 24 hours/day - kites in the air when I woke up, and when I went to bed.)

Day 3: Berkley/Emeryville (Last resort on many light days. We had solid 11m. Onshore. You don't want to wash into the rocks or drop your kite on the freeway!)

Day 4: Crissy (Sailing under the Golden Gate is very cool! Big, spooky, open ocean feel to it. We had honkin gusty 9m winds and some of the most jumbled up, knee-bashing swell on the inside I have ever ridden.

Day 5 & 6: Dillon Beach (Fun reefy A frames all spaced apart. NW wind is onshore here. After lots of waves, we downwinded into Tomales Bay where it's buttery. There's is a lot of water moving around.

Day 7: Westport: (Solid 9m and a gluttany of steep faces. Rocks downwind and fields of bull whip kelp that would stop you in your tracks. (see pics below)

Day 8: Klamath River Mouth: (Lots of protected butter on the inside of the estuary. When I was there the ocean was a double overhead shore pound but I hear there can be a great wave there. My 14m was perfect in the estuary but I could have probably had a 9m on the ocean.)

Day 9: Cresent Beach: (Beautiful beach with side/side off in a N/NW wind. Fairly good 11m with some occasional holes on the inside. Nice waves and only 6.5 hours from PDX!)

My take away is that the Nor-Cal coast has unlimited kiting and camping possiblities and we just scratched the surface. You need to go on a good forecast though, as many of the people we talked to, said they don't often see that kind of wind and sun. Cool

Sasquatch · Since 09 Mar 2005 2102 Posts PNW Bigfoot

Good stuff!

Bettyboarder · Fri Jun 26, 09 10:05 am

That looks like an awesome trip!

chanson · Since 31 Jan 2006 1873 Posts WISCONSIN Chimey

sick work slither and team!

nice report too, gonna reference this for tha future Cool

Gman · Since 11 Feb 2006 4911 Posts Portland Unstrapped

Oh yeah!!!!!!

flyin_dutchman · Since 12 Dec 2008 106 Posts LandLocked Stoked

Looks great! Awesome surf pics....I'm envious

Sella · Fri Jun 26, 09 11:19 am

Great recap Jason. The Seaside crew is leading edge and hardcore as always.

shymac · Since 20 Jul 2005 919 Posts Home Valley, Wa. Bigfoot

nice! Thanks for the report. Wink

rayg · Since 19 Jun 2008 9 Posts Kook

Nice report.

Crissy is spooky! Looks beautiful but spooky. Not a lot of boosting out there just racing.

shred_da_gorge · Sun Jun 28, 09 7:32 am

Great trip report and pics! Thanks for sharing. Glad you didn't encounter any really big fish in Tomales...

kitetele · Since 20 Mar 2005 121 Posts Portland, Oregon Stoked

Cool pics! Looks and sounds like you scored on the conditions....Nice Thumb's Up

boardrider · Since 05 Apr 2006 1034 Posts Ventura, CA XTreme Poster

Sounds & looks fun .

There is definitely some untapped spots on the Cali coast.
SLO - Santa Cruz & Stinson - Oregon.

SL8r · Mon Jun 29, 09 8:09 am