Trip Report: Pacific City Surf Off

--When, Where, Conditions--
When: October 18-19
Location: Pacific City
Conditions: Starting off the morning with a light rain and strong winds made for some suspect conditions. As the day progressed the rain stopped and the wind eased. By the end of the day there were nice standing waves that the International class and high performance class could rip up.
Duration: Each heat is set at 20 minute intervals with a 60 second pause while switching from each class.

--Helpful Info--
Difficulty: While most competitors were very strong and solid paddlers there were lots of other kayakers out paddling in the ocean who had not been before. The surf competition provides a great venue for people to try other crafts in a safe way and learn about paddling in the ocean and how to read where sets are breaking and good places to paddle out are. That being said, Pacific City had a strong, long shore rip that would pull you down/out where you did not want to be very quickly. This made for some interesting events later in the day. Overall, the event has great safety and paddlers should come check it out and try ocean paddling.
Kid Friendly? Needs to be a crusher.
Pet Friendly? Yes (it's on a beach... aka dog heaven).
Useful Links: Facebook event page

The waves made for good rides toward the end of the day

The Report: The summer has come to an end and the whitewater in Washington and Oregon is boat braking low, so it's time to hit the ocean and start ripping it up! This would be Patrick Higgins and my first time competing in the surf. Patrick entered in Waveski, Open Plastic and Sea Kayak, and I entered in Open Plastic and Sea Kayak. Patrick and I left Next Adventure at 6 a.m. after loading the van full kayaking gear, food, beer and tons of event giveaway goodies. The competitors meeting started at 8:40 a.m. and then our first heat "open plastic" started at 9 a.m. This event was unlike any either of us had ever done!

For 20 minutes it was on for your heat, you were paddling to catch the best 10 waves while trying to throw down smooth lines and tricks. Since I only did two events I had nice brakes between events. Patrick on the other hand did three events and would have to stage his boats down by the water so he could just hop out of one and into the other for back to back events.

At the start of the day the conditions were not the best. Waves would just pick up and dump making it hard to get clean rides. By the end of the day big green standing waves would pick up that made for great rides. The event went very smoothly; every heat was on time and it showed a great amount of preparation and planning. Patrick took 3rd place in all three of his events, while I took 1st in open plastic and 2nd in sea kayak. I can't wait for next years event, it's going to be a blast!!

Staffers Andrew and Patrick after a long day of getting pitted