Weather warnings; Small craft warning; High tide warnings; Tornado Watch; Violent thunderstorms warning; and finally, but not the least: double red flags at the beach. It was starting to look like a good day to work on a puzzle... Instead, we hurried to the beach for a quick walk and 'look-see' before the heavy rains started.
The sky was mean, the wind stiff, the breaking waves gorgeous. Then in the distance, Joan spotted the distinctive parachutes that some surfers use. No camera in hand, so I turned back to get it. By then my glasses were covered with salt and I could barely see anyway so Joan marched on, upwind, and I went back for the camera and car...
When I got back to the park, the only people in the water were surfers and these para-surfers. Everyone wore a wet-suit and the water was very rough. The para-surfers wear a heavy duty harness that hitches them to their parachute and they also have a grab handle that seems to give them some measure of control over the huge kite-like sail they use. Their speed is simply phenomenal! ... and it's a very exiting scene to watch and photograph. By the time I had got there, two or three para-surfers had already left, probably exhausted but one remained for quite a while longer and I had a good chance to shoot him before the skies broke.
The first picture gives you an idea of just how small people can look when the sea gets angry.
Somehow, it ends up looking pretty graceful also.
As the surfers tack to and from the beach, they often do spectacular jumps off the incoming waves. Here's one just taking off.
The parachute just keeps pulling them upwards. This next guy is already up a good 20 feet, and still rising.
I was standing on a platform that was about 30 feet above the water, and this guy managed to get well above the horizon line, probably over 60 feet above the water.
At this point, the surfer looses the forward momentum that he had built up, and starts being pulled downwind by the para-sail. This happens quite quickly but as he follows the sail, the sail loses its power and gravity slowly pulls the surfer back to the water. The re-entry is very graceful and quite slow and of the dozen or more re-entries that I've witnessed, I've yet to see a fall, it's that gentle!
The next picture shows the athlete just riding the top of a large wave. He has enough control to catch up to waves when he wants to!
Here's a close-up o him approaching the beach. Notice the harness and hand-bar.
This guy came screaming towards the beach only to quite suddenly make a 'u-turn' and head right back out. In this next picture, he's just doing his u-turn and you can still see his inward track just behind the wave that just broke. Now that's what I call a sharp u-turn! ... and at very high speed too!
Here's another jump.
... and now the landing. Note that the lines to his sail are almost directly above him; he's literally just suspended by his sail. This one was a very gentle landing, some area little less so.
Here he is just teasing the curl of a breaking wave, what fun!
For the month that we've been here, we've noticed that the pelicans aren't around much, and we missed them. Today, with the high winds, the pelicans were either standing around, much like these guys, or they were soaring around the high-rises, looking for up-drafts. I would have liked to shoot a few soaring pelicans but the rains had started, and it was lunch time... Decision, decisions,
The rains came and flooded the streets, the wind tried to push things around, the lightning and thunder made their appearance, and now all's well with the world: no tornadoes for this trailer park today, and Joan had another happy birthday on wednesday.
We expect to head back North on April 1, and will try to have some news for the blog on our way home. Thanks for caring.
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