http://www.ktvu.com/news/22882588/detail.html
Another drowned swimmer in Pacifica. Sad, but not a surprise - I've checked out the beach at Pacifica pier many times hoping that it'd prove itself to be a surf spot, but every time the close-out shore pound suggested otherwise.
I've surfed south of the Pacifica Pier a couple of times and the shore pound is really sketchy. You've got to carefully judge when to jump in between waves. Getting out is even harder. It's got a very harsh and quick drop off (which is why the shore pound is so violent) and one step will put you in water that's over your head. I've never had a good session there and in fact, my buddies and I have bailed on ever paddling out there again. Feel really bad about the guy who presumably drowned and I wish they had better signage.
It wasn't a "swimmer" per se. It was a drunk guy with friends who wanted to do something crazy and jump in the ocean. All it took was one strong shore pound wave and it was over.
Personally, getting in and out of the water at beaches like this and Montara (my favorite beach in the whole wide world) is my least favorite part of surfing. The shore pound is the business end of all that water vs. land energy.
Yeah, I hear ya about Montara. Rockaway is slightly less sketchy, but really that whole San Mateo coast other than Lindy is harrowing on the exit.
I just got back from OB and there were DOZENS of people out wading into the water and splashing in the surf who didn't strike me as triathletes. Glad it was a pretty mellow day w/o side-shore rips.
Okay, I'll step up to uphold the dignity of the pacifica pier wave...I've only surfed there 7 or 8 times this past year, but it has treated me pretty well. On a lowish tide it usually seems alright, with pretty consistent peelers on both sides of the pier. The shore pound can be unfortunate, and on a high tide the waves just lumber along until they crash stupidly on the rocks. But on a low tide, its bigger than LM, its peakier than LM, its more shapely than LM, its crabbier than LM, and its almost always empty. (maybe its just me--i'd rather take a shorepound on the head than a longboard--unless of course its a soft top longboard, which i rather enjoy.)
greg, you're such a white knight! :)
I've never surfed the pier at all, and now I'm currrrrioussssssssssss.
