The bouy reports were rising with a strong south east swell. The wave period interval times were short. The winds continued to howl overnight. The wind switch from an approaching front were hard to pin down on all my weather apps. All things considered, I decided to make a drive down the coast and film a spot I knew would be good for short boarders. I drove the two hour trip planning to arrive shortly before the offshore winds hit. When I arrived, the winds were still strong and onshore. The surf was big and disorganized. I definitely made the right decision to leave the longboard, or in this case the wrong board, at home. I spent an hour shooting some still shots for b-roll while waiting on the offshore winds to hit and clean up the big waves hitting the sandbars as they wrapped around the rock jetty. On my Windy app, I saw the wind had switched about five miles inland and would soon be on the coast. I made a quick run for some snacks before setting up to shoot some video. On my way back, I noticed what appeared to be an osprey perched on a pole waiting for the tide to bring him an unsuspecting lunch. Check out the talons on this bird.
As I neared the beach, I could see the spray caused by the offshore winds starting to come off the tops of the waves. It wouldn’t be long before the offshore winds would be grooming the incoming sets. I put my truck in four wheel drive and began driving down the beach to the rock jetty. When I arrived, some surfers who had been waiting for it to clean up were starting to enter the water. All of the cars and trucks had been moved up to the dune line due to the incoming tide and large surf. I pulled up between two vehicles even with what I thought would be a good angle to shoot some good video. With tripod and camera in hand, I jumped into the bed of my truck to shoot from a higher angle. On large days like this shooting, a second bar wave can be obscured by the wave and spray in front. The cab of the truck also gave me some shelter and stability with the high winds.
The game was on, and it was non stop action as I swung the lens from one surfer to another. The quality of any surf video is only as good as the surfers who are riding them. Today I was in luck as the number of good surfers in the water challenged my skills of capturing the best rides. As the afternoon continued, the winds kept getting stronger making it more of a challenge to get into the wave. As you will see, in conditions like these, riders just have to be in the right place at the right time to be rewarded with a clean face or an open barrel. If a surfer was a little out of position, he could get slammed into the shallow sandbar or go over the falls with board in tow.
I had a blast filming and meeting new people. I have been filming and posting surfing footage for almost two decades now and still get a kick out of it (on YouTube and Vimeo). My screen name on the old El Ride and gulf surfer forum was Slug, chosen because I had a Hobie Peter Pan Slug surf board at the time. I first started when I would get out of the water myself and film my son Kyle and his friends who were still surfing. I have surfed with and continue to meet a lot of good people who enjoy surfing as much as I do. I am very blessed to be on God’s great earth and enjoy all his creations, including riding waves. (Job 12:10) I hope you enjoy the video. I am posting it on my YouTube channel Legacy-outdoors and my Vimeo channel Tim Lumpkin. Let me know which one you like best as far as quality.
God bless you. Thanks for reading my blog and enjoy the video!
Tim Lumpkin
Blog: Legacy-outdoors.net
YouTube: Legacy-outdoors
Vimeo: Tim Lumpkin
Instagram: @tlump10
Facebook: Tim Lumpkin or Legacy-outdoors.net
Legacy Outdoors 