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South
Bay surfers tow the line
Towing in the South Bay is synonymous
with leaving your car on Highland past 6:00 am,
but in this case it refers to a more nautical
pursuit.
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Snagging
a macker on the outside
Frame grab by John Weinsheim
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Everyone
that has spent a fewwinters in the El Porto area
has undoubtably witnessed the mystical "Tanker
Reef" break at least once. The outside reef
will only work on the mightiest of swells but
when it does, it's quite a sight to see. I'm sure
many of you have mind surfed these behemoth mountains
of water. I know I have and even wondered what
would happen if I took my Boston Whaler out there.
In my mind I might be able to paddle into a few.
The shape always looked good and the wave wasn't
breaking top to bottom. There were defined channels
and it looked doable but I never seriously contemplated
going out, much less followed through.
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Jim
with the pedal to the medal
Frame grab by John Weinsheim
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It
wasn't until January 9th (Big Wednesday) that
Tanker reef was conquered. Two of the most respected
surfers in the South Bay, Ted Robinson and Jim
O'Brien tackled 15 to 25 foot (face) waves for
over 4 hours. Although not the "giant"
surf of Jaws or Mavericks this was the first time
tow in surfing has been performed in L.A. county.
I got Ted Robinson on the horn to hear what the
experience entailed.
Ted had always been intrigued by Tow in surfing,
he watched all the videos he could get his hands
on and even contacted his friend Mike Parsons
to learn more about it. One night when he was
partying with a few friends he threw out the question,"
Who wants to try tow in surfing". No one
in the group of accomplished surfers answered.
It wasn't until the following day that Jim O'Brien
dialed him up and said, "I'm in". This
was the conception of the first South Bay tow
in Duo.
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| Ted
and Jim all geared up |
First
and foremost they needed a powerful jet ski (Yamaha
$10,000). They split the cost down the middle.
Next they needed a rescue slide (BZ $1500). The
final element involved deciding on what size and
shape their strapped tow in boards should be (Rusty
$450 each). Robinson went with a 6ft-4in stick
that was 17 in. wide. O'Brien went a bit shorter
at 6ft-2in and 16.25in. wide. The boards weigh
about 12 lbs. apiece due to the 3 coats of heavy
glass. The boards don't have to be big since you
aren't paddling into the waves. They are short,
heavy and noticeably absent of rocker.
In order to become proficient, before attempting
any surf of consequence, they headed down to the
La Fonda area (in N. Baja) where Ted owns a house.
Without the interruption of lifeguard's or crowds
they worked on their timing and it wasn't a walk
in the park.
With over 30 separate sessions they finally felt
comfortable enough to entertain the thought of
larger surf. Keep in mind both of these guys are
experts and took quite a few bumps and bruises
in the learning process. Robinson even gave up
a chunk of leg flesh when he was caught inside
and tried to penetrate an outside set. While the
rewards are great, the consequences can be greater.
Aside from the actual wave riding the danger factor
is immense and you need to be prepared for the
worst case scenario. The guys that make it look
easy have paid their dues. Although it appears
to be easy, Robinson recommends lots of experimentation
and visualization before trying to tackle any
size waves.
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Ted
cruising to the inside
Frame grab by John Weinsheim
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The
two had towed medium sized La Fonda 2 weeks prior
to their Tanker reef excursion and felt confident
that they were ready to raise the bar. When the
occasion (or surf) arose they were ready. After
carefully observing the wave patterns from the
shore for 2 hours Ted felt prepared to launch
out of Marina Del Rey and give it a shot.
Once on the scene the two traded off whipping
each other into 20 footers at 35 mph. The driver
pretty much decides which wave to choose but the
surfer can influence the decision with body language
or hand signals.
Robinson described the waves as slopey and said
that they didn't really stand up until they hit
the inside. This leaves the surfer and driver
in a precarious position. When the wave gets gnarly,
how much further should you ride it before kicking
out? If you go in too far you won't make the paddle
back out or worse when your partner swoops in
to pick you up everyone gets worked. Their session
ended when O'Brien went in a bit too far and couldn't
get back out. A lifeguard then shuttled him down
to a neighboring beach without as much surf where
he paddled back out and was picked up by Robinson.
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Aerial
kick out, jetty in the foreground
Frame grab by John Weinsheim
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Big Wednesday wasn't huge in terms of Tanker reef
size. When Robinson was asked how big he thinks
it could be ridden he said as big as it can get.
We'll be watching. For those of you interested
in tow in... do your homework before you do anything
too risky. It's serious business in any size surf.
Thanks to Ted Robinson for taking the time out
to talk to us.
Story by Michael Durand, Frame grabs by John Weinsheim
and picture courtesy of Kevin Cody
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