North LA County Pulse: Recap of April 2014

April started out slow in North LA, but by mid month the south swells started to fill in and the month closed out with the first solid south of the season. The “Pulse of the Month” came during the last swell of the month, which was groomed by strong offshore winds. Chad Marshall and few buddies decided it would be a good idea to paddle out on single fin longboards at a pumping beach break. Chad paddled right out and into a set wave, set his line, and pig-dogged his way through a perfect drainer as if he was on a shortboard. He did this over and over as shortboarders around him struggled to make the drops.

Pulse One, a mid period south swell combined with a northwest wind swell brought fun head high waves to the local beach breaks. The second day of the swell produced the best conditions with crossed up peaks. The ever-stylish Colin Giles was ripping all morning, finding the lined up gems and surfing so fluid it almost looked as if he was at a point break. On this wrap, Colin shows perfect technique as he kept every part of his body in sync. As the morning went on, I could see that there was someone throwing buckets a few peaks over from where I was swimming. As I got out of the water, I realized it was local pro Anthony Petruso.  Anthony’s power really shines in these types of waves. I raced to get my tripod set up as he bottom turned into this hack and decimated the lip, blowing his fins out.

Pulse Two had the early signs of an epic south swell, but as the swell filled in so did the wind.  This forced everyone to look to the point breaks and hope that the long period swell would push through the winds. This particular point was packed and the beach was lined with photographers. I decided to shoot an angle rarely seen at this spot.  As the best set of the day approached, I was stoked to see that local pro, Pascal Stansfield, had stroked into a wave all by himself. Pascal grew up on this wave and it was obvious as he weaved through the crowd and placed his backhand snaps in the perfect spots. On this wave, he nailed eight solid turns from the top of the point to the bottom in perfect rhythm. As he jumped off onto the sand, I turned around to see Allen Sarlo set up for his patented front side speed hack. It never gets old seeing Allen surf this wave as he reads it like the back of his hand.  He always puts 110% into every turn, throwing buckets out the back.

Pulse Three overlapped onto the tail end of the Pulse Two swell.  It was greeted by strong offshore winds and beautiful weather.  On days like this, you don’t get out of the water.   Noah Erickson logged close to 8 hours.  Noah has a knack for being in the right place at the right time and this day was not different.  He grabbed the best waves and drew perfect lines. Following close behind Noah was JJ Kerson, which is no surprise in these conditions. JJ lives for these days. Using his skills, perfected in Nicaragua, putting himself in the perfect position to drive through the offshore barrels. DZ