Santa Cruz beach closures and coastwide warnings kept people away from the shore on Thursday as back-to-back storms hit California. At the same time, a swell in the Pacific was expected to bring waves nearing 50 feet to Mavericks by Saturday morning.
Bianca Valenti was getting her gear ready at home in San Francisco and planned to drive to Mavericks on Saturday morning. She said, “Every serious big-wave surfer or big-wave filmer is trying to rent a Jet Ski right now and find a way to get out there.”
Mavericks and San Francisco
Clément Roseyro got on a plane early Friday morning in Biarritz in southern France and grabbed three surfboards for the trip. He said, “It’s a big mission to get there on time with all the gear.” Mavericks sits 20 miles south of San Francisco, about a half mile off the coast of Half Moon Bay, and is known for waves several times a year between November and March.
Peter Mel called Mavericks “one of the scariest big waves in the world.” He also said there were no good days there last year and only one really good day the year before that. The same surf window that drew Valenti and Roseyro also brought warnings for everyday people to stay away from beaches up and down the coast.
Brian Garcia and the swell
Brian Garcia of the National Weather Service said the wind pattern that built the swell began early in the week near Japan. “Imagine a train track laid across the Pacific and it’s pointed straight across the coastline,” he said. “That was the wind pattern days ago. It takes days for the waves to travel cross the Pacific.”
The swell was expected between two storms, with one storm moving on by Saturday morning before another arrives on Sunday. That leaves surfers aiming for a narrow opening and beachgoers facing rougher conditions along the coast.
