Moving to L.A. (USC) from the Gorge... yah baby!...

lutehowland · Joined: 06 Oct 2015 Posts: 39

From 'SC you can be at Cabrillo in twenty minutes - straight down the 110!
The good thing is that 90% of the time you'll miss the traffic, since the way back is against the rush hour. Definitely not Gorge conditions though Sad

robby · Joined: 05 Oct 1993 Posts: 10

nice picture Fred...why not just post nude pictures of all of the women in your family and put your address in as well

jp5 · Joined: 19 May 1998 Posts: 3394 Location: OnUr6

HA! that picture is not typical by any means.

TheItalianJobber · Joined: 09 Sep 2003 Posts: 121

robby · Joined: 05 Oct 1993 Posts: 10

Sorry "bip bip"

I didn't know you were one of the women in Fred's family....I meant no disrespect to you girls....

nealpar · Joined: 25 Oct 1998 Posts: 624

That picture is awesome, and it also reveals what happens on a "good day" like that one, which is that you'll be "sharing" or be "forced to share" the waves with surfers and kiters.

However, days like the one on the picture, with nice surf AND strong winds are about 5/year max!

If you'll be attending USC, you can forget about doing Leo Carrillo between classes. LA is huge, and getting from the USC part of town all the way to Malibu will take an hour, WITHOUT TRAFFIC. With traffic, you're looking at 1.5-2 hours, one way. Anyway, Leo usually doesn't get good until after 3 pm. Cabrillo is much more do-able, but make sure your immune system can handle the bacteria onslought there (all your shots current?), and be prepared for just slalom sailing.

San Carlos is not 5-6 hours, it's more like 10-11 hours drive from LA.

Another alternative: Just be a really good student for a few years! Smile

TheItalianJobber · Joined: 09 Sep 2003 Posts: 121

...yeah, yeah, "robby": that was a quick way of showing everybody how smart you are.
Rolling Eyes

I'm gonna send you a pm (nothing 'pre-menstrual'), so that I won't annoy everybody else, like you are doing...

But more (better) comments are welcome...

robby · Joined: 05 Oct 1993 Posts: 10

"bip bip" you got me soo good !

I concede to your superior wit and intellect.

It doesnt take the super brain that only you possess to acknowledge that 99% of the posts about this windsurf location relate to how overcrowded it is and how dangerous it is to be a windsurfer there.

To suggest to someone who has never been here (through a picture of one of the best days in years) that this is what "Leo" is all about is misleading, irresponsble and just plain stoopid...oops! I cant evin spel!

Your IQ challenged friend,

Robby

TheItalianJobber · Joined: 09 Sep 2003 Posts: 121

kpsounis · Joined: 16 May 1999 Posts: 48

Dude, since "you are mostly interested in places with good swell that you can hit before and after classes", here is all the info that you need (a few guys already gave you some of the info I am giving you one way or the other, but not the complete picture):

1) Welcome to LA and USC, drop by my office at USC (RTH 409) once on campus to give you more info if you want.

2) Sorry to disappoint you, but you should start kiting ASAP. (A controversial advice that is nevertheless 100% correct if you really do care about riding swell.) To make the long story short, there are two windy spots close to USC:
(i) Cabrillo (30 min from USC) that is the windiest, but it is always flat (unless a very wierd hurricane sends a very wierd swell, once per 10 years or so), so forget about it,
(ii) Leo Carrillo (50 min from USC) that is a bit less windy, occassionally gets some SW swell, (County line, 2 min drive north gets some NW swell too) and you will have good fun with both wind and waves about 5 times per year.
If you kite instead, you will ride waves about 50-100 times per year, since usually the wind is good enough to kite, but not enough to sail. So, start thinking along the lines "I can go to Leo and hit the swell with a surfbord and a KITE, after my classes since it gets windy in the afternoon". Finally, despite LA traffic, if you leave from USC before 3:30pm, you can easily be at Leo in less than an hour, the traffic is in the other direction.

3) You should nevertheless keep you windsurfing gear for a number of reasons:
(i) These 5 days per year, Leo Carillo/County line are indeed fun to wavesail,
(ii) C-street (1 hour 15 min from USC) does get NW swell with wind another 5 days per year,
(iii) Jalama (2 hours 30 min from USC) does get serious swell in the winter, so it is worth the daily trip if the buoys are reading large long period NW swell,
(iv) Arroyo Laguna (3 hours 30 min from USC, also know as Piedras Blancas) is nice on a SW swell, so if Leo is not looking good, it might worth the trip,
(v) Davenport (5 hours from USC, just north of Sant Cruz) is very consistent with wind, gets both NW and SW swells nicely, and gets mast high with enough wind to sail at least 10 days a year, and many more days logo high,
(vi) Last but not least, San Carlos (9 hours from USC, in Baja California), is super nice on a SW swell. It is worth to consider skipping lectures (watch them over the Internet at a later time, some departments at USC offer that option Smile

for a really good SW swell at San Carlos.
So, start thinking along the lines "I am ready to drive north or south for a 2-3-4-5 days trip depending on lecture and exam schedule, if some serious swell is forecasted, and there are good chances of wind, in order to do some good wavesailing". After a couple of trips like that, you won't sail the Gorge again, you might hit the Oregon coast, but large river ramps won't mean much to you.

Of course, all these are valid if indeed what you want is to "hit the good swell". If you enjoy slalom sailing, you will have good time both at Cabrillo and Leo Carrillo a decent amount of days per year, with a large board, and large sails.

All in all, start kiting, and get a good car for the trips!!!

Welcome,
K.