I remember the huge South swell referred to in this film, and on another occasion seeing Chris O’Rourke, wearing his helmet, getting tubed at Simons, a fast, hard-breaking right that was my father’s favorite spot.
My family moved away from La Jolla the same year Chris O’Rourke died and I didn’t surf Wind’n’Sea again for another 20+ years.
In 2004 I paddled into the line-up, my claim long since vanished, and noticed… Nothing. No stinkeye; no heavy vibe. Nothing.
“What happened?” I finally asked a guy.
“It got to the point that there were 250 guys who could legitimately call themselves locals so it just didn’t mean anything anymore.”
At the time, his explanation made sense.
Wind’n’Sea looks the same, but it is interesting how the style of surfing has changed over the years. You can still see the DNA of long boarding in how they rode waves.Report
Simon AndersonReport
I read part of the nymag article and realized I had read it before, in a SF novel by Neal Stephenson in the 1990s. This is exactly a scene out of Diamond Age.Report