Surfing TR - Here you go Scotsman!

Those pictures make me homesick. Maybe we should have a surf-all-year section for this board. How about a surf to ski weekend? That might be fun. Gosh, I think we'd have to go surfing in La Push and then skiing in the Olympics.

Stugie are you crazy :. With the amount of waiting for waves can you imagine Scotty in the line up ??? ! he would go nuts. Not to mention there wouldn't be a peaceful moment. Think of the times that he drives to the beach and the surf sucks, Oh I can here him now !!!!!!!! Scotty stick to skiing once it does snow you can go any time you want, did I mention the learning curve for surfing, steep. Can you say wipe out. You'll have sand pounded into every orifice of your body while trying to gulp for air. Fun stuff eh! Surfing is a great sport to learn when your a kid and have nothing else to do, what am I saying! that's right up your alley, just kidding! In all seriousness Scotty I think I've spent most of my life chasing waves or snow you can't go wrong with either however there are a lot fewer people in the backcountry than the line up.

I just finished reading a book about surfing called " All for a few perfect waves" which is the biography of a very iconoclastic surfer called Miki Dora ,otherwise known as DA CAT.

He is credited with the birth of "localism" as regards surf zones and would regularly push people out of the line up and aggressively defend his patch. He became disillusioned regarding the growing popularity of surfing and spent the rest of his life trying to discover the next perfect place ( great right hand break and no people).He hated competitions and was a true" soul" surfer. He was also a thief, con-man and an absolute rascal.!

Anyway, the point I was getting to was that as Skimac says, getting your drop in the line up at a busy surf zone sounds very competitive. Just like the rush for powder at Muir this last Saturday!

I think we should have a surfs-all-year section too (just above the Road Conditions section) cuz these surf dudes are just like us. I like 'em!

There is a pretty good northwest surfing forum already, oregonsurf.com  ...though its much more of the "tgr" and "cascadeclimbers" kind of vibe than the civil dialogue of TAY

Localism is worst thing about surfing, but for the most part as long as you aren't clueless in the water you'll never have a problem.   Read up on surfing etiquette and taking turns in the lineup will usually keep folks from giving you the stinkeye.

Surfing in the northwest is great, and charging the waves in a hooded 5mm suit when its a rainy 40 degree day is unique, but surfing where its warm is where its at....after four years of surfing i finally took a trip to mexico this fall and holy cow....riding waves when the air temp is 90 and the water is 85 is pretty nice....

Miki Dora makes a film debut in "Endless Summer".

So, March-Sept. usually holds crowds, and sometimes when it's going off, there's your territory mongers trying to spray their space. But once you get past the coldness of the water (and a 4/3, or more commonly found 5/4 wetsuit helps a great deal), then you can find some great times without the crowds. These are my guidelines for avoiding the S.A.M.'s...(Surfing's Alpha Males).

1) Utilize crap weather in the mountains (pineapple express) to go ride waves - especially to get your fix November-Feburary. No matter what day it is, there are no crowds during the winter.
2) If possible, go during the weekdays. I have yet to run into a mean and hostile local while surfing midweek.
3) Even if you do know what you're doing, act like you don't.
4) Speak Russian to anyone who attempts to say anything to you.
5) See #3

Seriously though, just 1 & 2 alone have really kept me from running into anyone too nasty, although I have a few stories.

Along with using www.magicseaweed.com www.swellinfo.com or www.wavewatch.com and the Westport webcams , does anyone else use other info to read forecasted swell info?

surfwa.org has a nice weather page with all the local buoy info.