Big Wednesday. It’s just a fitting coincidence that the biggest swell in over a decade to hit southern California peaked on Wednesday, August 27th 2014. All thanks to Hurricane Marie, a category 5 hurricane spinning around in the Northeast Pacific many miles off the shore of Mexico.
Despite being so far away, Mexico actually got hit pretty bad. Torrential downpours down in Oaxaca State, home of Puerto Escondido, led to state officials declaring it a disaster zone with more than 10,000 people needing assistance. Up in SoCal things weren’t all good, with damage in Santa Catalina Island estimated at $3 million. But it wasn’t so much the damage that was reported in the news, but the waves, and the surfing…
Making Out With Marie
Surfers up and down the Californian coast would have been skipping school, taking a ‘sick’ day from work, cancelling dates, whatever it took to get a taste of Marie, and rightly so. Marie reached the top ten list of most intense Pacific hurricanes on record, taking a respectable sixth place. She was responsible for creating the biggest south swell for almost 20 years ago, with nothing comparable since 1997. No wonder so many surfers paddled out to take on the challenge.
Made in Malibu
We have to begin somewhere, and where better than iconic Malibu. Some of the best waves of the day were breaking along the Malibu coastline. With firing right hand point breaks for everyone to enjoy the crowds thickened, but everyone was still having fun. ONE 4 LA captured the action and put together this short film, kick back and enjoy.
The Wedge Gone Wild
Further down the coast at Newport Beach the sand was steadily becoming swamped with bodies. Spectators drawn in by the spectacle taking place in the ocean, 15, 20, 25ft waves breaking at the Wedge and the Point. Surfers in the water scrambling to get past the lines approaching from the horizon, growing taller and taller. People came from all over came to surf and watch at Newport Beach. The water was packed, but the beach was busier, and there were still a few waves being passed up. At its biggest for almost two decades, the guys who had surfed it this big before were now middle-aged, and the young guns were getting their first taste of the Wedge gone wild.
While Over in Santa Barbera…
Of course loads of freak waves that hardly ever break were pumping, and if you were in Santa Barbara County it was over to the Sandspit. Perfectly lined up walls and some fun little barrels combined with blue skies and sunshine, the surfers here had it pretty good too. Jesse Aizenstat took his drone out to capture the fun times.
Share Your Video!
If you captured your local surf spot going off on the Marie swell that peaked August 27th 2014 then add your video to the comments and share it with us! Here’s looking forward to next time…