Break out those booties

WET AND WILD WITH ROCKIN FIG

The weather’s been pretty nice lately -- sunny and warm -- but the

water has been iceberg-cold as the winds from last week pushed water

temps down to the low 50s. We’ve also seen more early south swells

with a bit of west, that have kept it going out there in the surf

zone. Hopefully the time change will give way to more after-work or

school sessions with the extra light in the evenings.

A glimpse of the mountains tells me it’s just about over locally

for you skiers and boarders. That snow is melting fast, with daytime

temps in the 60s, and only two resorts left operating, Snow Summit

and Bear Mountain, both of which have some thin spots starting to

show.

Still seeing lots of new faces around town, kids in for spring

break from all over the place.

The United States Surfing Federation made its way up the coastline

to the chilly waters of Santa Cruz last weekend. The surf was 3- to

5-foot plus and good at Pleasure Point on Saturday where the surf

contest started. Sunday the contest moved to that classic right-hand

point break, Steamer Lane, where it was going off, too. The rights

were rippable at both spots and were a treat because normally there’d

be tons of surfers out on such a fun day.

A lot of the top spots in the divisions went to a fine crew of

local surfers from up north who dominated a few heats with their

local knowledge of the reefs and points. But the few that made the

journey from down here did well. In the seniors division, a hotly

contested battle saw the points leader, Jeff Combs of Huntington

Beach increase his lead with a victory.

Combs scored a wave in the eight-point zone with an assortment of

cutbacks, to clinch it. James Webb, also from Huntington, finished

third but was hit with a paddling interference midway through the

final, with Combs, when the two were scrambling for a wave. That

really hurt Webb, who only scored on one wave instead of two. Webb’s

still second in the standings though, with two events left -- the

pier in Oceanside in the beginning of May and the West Coast

Championships May 31 and June 1 at Churches in San Clemente to wrap

it up.

In the grandmasters, the Figster was having a great time on those

rights at the Lane and took the win, edging fellow Huntington Beach

ripper Jay Boldt who had some sweet waves out there on those overhead

sets. Boldt also made the longboard final, placing third.

Huntington’s veteran all-around waterman Eddie Enriquez was doing

triple-duty at the surf contest, timing heats, acting as beach

marshal and announcing, and doing a great job. And I’d have to say,

that water up there seemed about the same as it’s been down here as

of late, break out the booties again, cause it’s freezing.

Oh, no Great White Shark sightings, but we did see, some big giant

seals and a couple Otters too. See ya.

* RICK FIGNETTI is a seven-time West Coast champion, has

announced the U.S. Open of Surfing the last nine years and has been

the KROQ-FM surfologist for the last 17 years, doing morning surf

reports. He owns a surf shop on Main Street. You can reach him at

(714) 536-1058.