Trip Report: Arch Cape, Oregon

--When, Where, Conditions--
When: August 19th, 2014
Location: Arch Cape, Oregon
Conditions: 7 ft swells with a 5 second interval and foggy conditions.
Duration: 6 hours of cold water and action packed surf zone.

--Helpful Info--
Difficulty: Intermediate to advanced. If you have a solid roll you are ok.
Kid Friendly? No
Pet Friendly? No

The Report: On Tuesday, August 19th Steve Sherer (Local Legend and owner of Shell Back Experience) Jeff Putterman (president of OOPS), Michael Bowersox(Next Adventure Kayak School Manager), Andrew Bradley(Local Whitewater stud) and myself planned for a paddle from Arch Cape to Manzanita. When we left Portland the forecast said the swells would be 3 to 5 ft with a 10 second interval.

When we got to Arch Cape the forecast proved to be quite the opposite. Steve had checked an accurate resource (NOAA) which told us the swell would be at 7 ft and the interval would be much shorter but we set shuttle from Arch Cape to Manzanita anyways hoping the conditions would change. As soon as we put on the water we realized that magic seaweeds forecast was completely wrong. The waves were over head and the interval was short. It was full on once we put in and we never left Arch Cape, but we had a blast playing in the waves and rock gardening until we were to tired to paddle. In the first 30 minutes Jeff broke his paddle, Michael had two skirt implosions and Steve, Andrew and myself were having a blast surfing and playing around the rocks.

I can't wait until the conditions are good to complete the paddle from Arch Cape to Manzanita, but it was a lot of fun playing in the conditions we were dealt.