Nov 18 2008
Pray for Onshores
As Southern California surfers, we live for those magical fall mornings when howling offshore winds groom incoming Aleutian lines into crisp-lipped, barreling peaks; however, the past few days, we have seen the devastating effects that these winds can have on inland communities. Every fall, these hot, dry winds, known locally as the Santa Anas, come barreling out of the Great Basin towards the California coast, leaving perfectly shaped surf, and, less fortunately, prime wildfire conditions in their wake. Now, as we near the midway mark of what has been an uncharacteristically warm Southern California fall, the winds that are a surfer’s boon have become every homeowner’s bane as they continue to mercilessly lash flames toward residential neighborhoods across the Southland. We, as surfers, inhabit a precarious position between devastation and elation, chaos and concord as we tirelessly chase hurricanes and swim into rip currents and willingly take ice-cold set waves on the head; however, tonight, as the wildfires continue to rage in Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara, and Orange County, we pray for an end to the terrible destruction taking place at the hands of Mother Nature. We pray for thick, soupy fog and unsurfable slop. We pray for onshores.
