Moustachios

The following is from a recently discovered (not that I'm the first to surf it) break that was right there under our noses the whole time.  Hence the name.  It's also the local facial hair of choice.  This wave is another quality river mouth left similar to its recently popularized cousin a little to the south of here.  I had intended to check this place out since looking on googlemaps prior to even coming here.  I never got around to it.  From the plane window flying back to our city a few weeks back I noticed a little white triangle peeling again and again in the same place.  I went straight there that night and gave it a look.  It's fun even when small which is hard to come by here, and it works at least up to head high as you can see.  This day was 2ft. @ 18 sec.  The tide was better later, but the wind was better early.  I can't wait to see it all come together.  If the tide is outgoing, then the water will be coming out of the river and is not very desirable.   There’s my disclaimer.  I was careful not to swallow the whole 5 hours I surfed.  Access isn’t obvious either.  This day I was joined by Ed and company (soulandsurf.com)from Varkala.  When 90% of your surfs are by yourself, a small crowd starts to sound real inviting.  It was fun to catch a few with friends.

These guys are all over the jetty - inside the river mouth and outside in the ocean.  The ocean side is certainly cleaner.  Also, the other day a local was rolling 2.5 ft. diameter rocks off the jetty into the water while I was diving.  I hadn't caught any fish at that point, but I did catch some in there last April.  I got the message he was sending with the boulder.  I'll stick to the ocean side from here on.  The time before when I did catch some, two of the local fellas were trying to get me to pay for catching their fish.  The disgruntled ones are the minority and almost everyone enjoys watching from the rocks.  Still, today I parked on the other side of the river.  I don't want to wear out my welcome.  I've given away 1/3 or 1/2 of my catch each time.  I enjoy giving some away, but it also helps to keep folks happy.

The one pictured is average size.  They taste good; a light, sweet meat.  I've gotten two names for the thing one of which I've forgotten.  Even if I knew, English letters don't suffice for the pronunciation.  Malayalam has 4 "k"s plus a distinct double ("kk") for some of those, 12 or more letters/sounds between between "t" and "d", a few sounds for which there is no close match, and the list goes one. 

Yummy, yummy.

A "Clean" Kovalam Morning

This time of year is your best chance for getting Kovalam more peaky and not closed out.  It's also the time of year where the right off the north rocks is most likely to work.  Here's a sampling on this and the next post of a couple random days. 

 

A "Dirty" Kovalam Evening

India's version of Bodie Island.

Boiling Rock

Harreesh and I went down to Tamil Nadu (India's southern most state) hoping to score a decent Manapad Point.  It seems to have tons of potential, but wasn't working when we were there.  It was an endless perfect ankle high.  It's a long right situated such that the predominant wind is offshore.  However, if the swell is 4ft at 16 sec.s or 2.5 ft at 18 sec.s aiming for 1 o'clock, then it's evidently not enough.

So forced to explore, we went searching.  Many outer bars prevented the waves from making it to the beach with any size.  There was also a lot of denied access and a few disappointing jetties.  Eventually, we risked a long sandy trail which was all my 2-wheel-drive could handle.  We took that as far as we could go and walked the last half mile.  When we finally got to the river mouth we were shooting for.  It was capped off by the beach and probably has been since last December or so, so expectations were low.  But as sweet providence would have it, there was a row of rocks that went out 100 yards or so into the sea.  It produced what you see above...better lucky than good.

The right was pretty lazy, but the left had a lot of spark.  The peak is one of those bowls with a lot of energy.  As you can see in the video, there's some rocks that are pretty much water level towards the end of the left.  It kept me a bit on edge.  An alternative to pulling out of the left was to head back right and hope for a decent reform.  That never really happened for me, but you can see me try.  With more swell, or a different angle, the right could be good. 

The day where most of the video is captured was really windy - side-shore at maybe 25 mph.  The video masks that at bit.  This place may be really good with a light wind and a little more swell.  The take-off point boils really hard due to a shallow rock.  It's a little spooky but makes it easy to find the peak way out there and sit in the right spot.  I suspect no one else has ever surfed here.  I'd like to here that I'm wrong on that one.  Until then, we'll call the place "Boiling Rock."  Once you surf it, you'll know you're in the right place by the name.

To find it...it's the river mouth on the longest bridge between Manapad and Kanniyakumari.  I don't see it getting crowded in the next 20 years.  The construction guys on the north/east side of the river wouldn't let us through.  It's quite a hike.  Don't get your car stuck.

Monsoon Season has Arrived

The crisp waves from the south that headed in here all winter and spring have given way to their peakier, more powerful cousins from the west.  Today was surprisingly good.  There's a no surfing during monsoon law across the whole state which means the beaches with cops and lifeguards are off limits until September. 

Yet Another LEFT

There's been no shortage of great waves, but I'm going to go nuts if I don't go right sooner or later.  With the exception of 1 day where I got 3 or 4 rights and another knee high day, I haven't been right in months.  I literally don't remember the last time.