Having a Swell Time

A divine force with a little name is the talk of the beach.

Surfers can’t wait for El Nin~o, a weird weather condition named for the Christ child and expected to bring historic storms--and surf--from November to March.

El Nin~o usually appears every two to seven years when the waters of the equatorial Pacific warm like a sauna, setting off a series of weather reactions that include a winter storm track aimed straight for Southern California. Meteorologists have tried to forecast El Nin~o in the past, but never have they been this early or this certain.

“The hype is justified,” says Chris Borg, chief meteorologist for the SurfLine / WaveTrak forecasting service. El Nin~o already is rearing its head in the form of unusually tropical weather: Hurricane Linda marched up the coast of Baja last weekend, becoming the strongest West Coast hurricane ever recorded, and throwing a sizable south swell at Southern California beaches.

Already comparisons are being made to the El Nin~o winter of 1982-’83, when three-story waves lashed Southern California and claimed pieces of piers from Ventura to San Diego.

For many coastal residents, the early warnings buy time to batten the hatches. But some surfers are working out and gearing up for what they expect will be the swells of the century.

“Everybody’s anticipating it,” says Randy Wright, a former professional surfer who owns the Horizons West surf shop in Santa Monica. “I’m working out more and not going out as much--not on a full party schedule. You gotta make sure your lungs can handle it.”

Legendary surfboard maker Al Merrick says the long-range forecasts are “starting to generate some business.” Steve Barto, a custom surfboard shaper in La Jolla, also says customers have been putting in more orders than usual for big winter boards, called “guns.”

“I just shaped an 8-foot-4-inch board today,” Barto says. “I also shaped a bunch of 7-foot-6-inch boards for people, but they’re going to be under-gunned.”

Anticipating heavy weather can be electric. “The thing I like about El Nin~o is that a lot of places that only break once every 10 years will show,” says Steve Hawk, editor of Surfer magazine. “Every surfer I know has one or two spots in the back of his mind to look at if we get serious swell this season.”

We asked several surfers in the area to recall previous years when El Nin~o displayed such power.

‘It Was Cold and Rainy and the Waves Were Giant’

Cordon Baesel, 35, lawyer, co-owner of Pure Carve Snowboards, La Jolla:

“In ’83 there was a day we called Big Tuesday, the third Tuesday of January. That’s the biggest we saw Black’s [Beach in La Jolla]. It was five times overhead.

“La Jolla Cove broke. I was out there with one other guy on a Saturday afternoon. There was no one around. I remember seeing this set of waves come in. I said, ‘Oh my god, what do I do now?’ I remember saying to myself, ‘I have to go on this wave.’ I ended up going and I couldn’t go fast enough.

“The gnarly thing was having to straighten out, having the white water explode on you, and being held down. The caption in one magazine was something like ‘Cordon Baesel taking the worst Black’s has to offer.’ I remember skipping anthropology class at UCSD for this.

“I’ve been surfing since ’73. It was the biggest that I’ve ever surfed. A lot of spots were showing, and broke in a way they haven’t since then. But back then there was less allure. It was cold and rainy and the waves were giant. This season you’ll see people on giant boards waiting for it. Surf forecasting wasn’t as good then.”

‘I Went to the Cliffs . . . and It Was 10 to 12 Feet’

Steve Barto, 38, surfboard shaper, La Jolla:

“In ’83 I was working valet at Hotel La Valencia [in La Jolla]. You could see the waves from my work. I went to the cliffs with my 6-foot board and it was 10 to 12 feet. We went up to the Ranch [in Santa Barbara County], surfed Little Drakes via boat. It was just huge. We went to Hawaii that year. Waimea Bay broke four times while I was there. It was over 30 feet each time.”

‘The More Storms the Merrier, I Reckon’

Ian Cairns, 45, former surfing world champion, president of U.S. Surfing Inc., San Clemente:

“Where I come from, Western Australia, there’s always swell, and in wintertime there’s always raging storms. The more storms the merrier, I reckon. In 1983 [former world champion] Peter Townend and I used to surf out at Huntington Beach Pier and we were just excited there was some challenging surf around.”

‘It Was Breaking at Least 30 Feet’

John Elwell, 64, surfing historian, former lifeguard, Coronado:

“The storms of ’83 were not even close to the ones in ’54. Towering waves destroyed the coast. It was breaking clear across the kelp beds at Windansea [in La Jolla]. We couldn’t even get out at Tijuana sloughs [in Imperial Beach]. It was breaking at least 30 feet.

“The kids don’t remember this when they write about the surf of the century. The surf in ’39 was just gigantic. There was actually a Mexican hurricane at one point. Then a huge Antarctica swell. A couple lifeguards jumped into a big rip current, then got stranded in a big kelp bed. They sent a Coast Guard seaplane. Then a cutter, and it picked these guys up. Everyone was lined up at Palos Verdes, and [surfing legend] Bob Simmons was the only one who went out.

“But the surf in ’54 was awesome. It took out the lifeguard station at Imperial Beach. The surf was rolling down Palm Avenue. In ‘54, you couldn’t even paddle out at La Jolla Cove.”

‘I Looked Up and I Saw This Wall of Water’

Skip Frye, 56, surfboard shaper, co-owner of Harry’s surf shop, San Diego:

“I remember Crystal Pier in San Diego going down in ’83. I remember that one big swell where all the piers got hit. I remember surges moving up the street and moving cars. Big boulders were being tossed to the street. Pilings, pieces of wood were all up and down the beach. At Pacific Beach Drive, I was getting into my car and I heard people yelling and I looked up and I saw this wall of water coming down the street.”

‘One Swell Was the Biggest I’ve Ever Seen’

Al Merrick, 53, surfboard shaper, owner of Channel Islands Surfboards, Santa Barbara:

“I surfed the biggest El Nin~o in ’69. Rincon was giant. One swell was the biggest I’ve ever seen. People were calling it 18-feet Hawaiian style [‘Hawaiian style’ means measuring the back of the wave, not the face, which is often twice the span of the back].

“In ’83 there were a lot of good waves and quite a bit of rain. It was pretty surfable up here, though. We have the point breaks and conditions that you don’t have down there in L.A. I was surfing El Capitan and Rincon in ’83. There was a lot of flooding. And because of all the water being washed out of the creeks, we had a lot of logs and debris in the surf.”

‘I Broke Four Boards--We Got 20-Foot Surf’

Joe Roper, 39, former professional surfer, owner of Joe Roper’s Surfboard Repairs, San Diego:

“In ’83 we got some of the biggest surf ever. It was as close to Hawaii as it gets. It was all good. I broke four boards. We got 20-foot surf here. Black’s Beach was incredible. I surfed La Jolla Cove because I didn’t have a big enough board for Black’s. I’m still kicking myself in the butt for not having the equipment. Black’s was solid 10 to 15 feet and just perfect. I remember looking at it from Solidad Mountain and just seeing it peeling.

“Big Rock [La Jolla] has always been my favorite spot. During the El Nin~o, January and February, it never got under 6 feet. I had all those years of Hawaii experience and I was in pretty good shape. I had my heart and throat pounding away from adrenaline, but no injuries. Just that adrenaline rush you get from large surf.

“There’s a lot of people who don’t have a lot of experience and don’t know how to deal when it’s big and rough. They’re better off sitting on the beach watching and learning. In big surf the rips are just gushing. There’s so much water moving that if you’re not experienced, you shouldn’t be there.”

‘I Didn’t Have a Big Enough Board’

Randy Wright, 35, former professional surfer, owner of the Horizons West surf shop, Santa Monica:

“We surfed Venice a lot that winter [of ‘83]. The waves were really big, and the sand got chewed up. It undermined the Venice lifeguard headquarters. The parking lot got chewed up. And there were pieces of the Santa Monica Pier in the parking lot. A lot of the houses along the beach were getting worked.

“I got on the cover of the Evening Outlook. The Venice breakwater was pumping, the Redondo Beach breakwater was pumping, but I didn’t have a big enough board. El Porto [in Manhattan Beach] was giant. They had to take down the old oil pier because of damage. This time, I might get a bigger board.”