Steamers Lane in Santa Cruz California is known by most surfers for it's legendary point break first featured in the "Endless Summer". I am fortunate enough to have friends that live in Santa Cruz, and surf this break regularly. For an amateur surfer with little experience surfing overhead, coldwater conditions, I must say it was a little intimidating. On Tuesday evening I found the waters mostly friendly. The shoulder high clean waves made my introduction with "The Lane" as the locals call it, one I won't soon forget. We decided to pull out a little early to save some energy for the Wednesday morning swell that was forecast to grow in size significantly over night. By 7 am the next day I could hardly recognize this now viscious slice of Pacific Coast. One key difference was that high tide leaves you only one option to paddle out. You would stand at the edge of a 15 ft. embankment, wait for one crashing wall of white wash to pass, and jump into the water. The key here is that you must be fully prepared to duck dive the oncoming fury of breaking waves which are fully capable of sending you directly backwards into a wall of jagged rocks. With little energy to spare I made it out into the open waters where I assumed I'd be safe for a while. Little did I know that the next oversized set would once again put me in harms way. Having not made it completely to the outside of the breaking waves, I was bombarded by a huge set of waves that must have been ten footers that lined up with no time in between. It took only a matter of seconds before I was feet from the wall of rocks. Climbing out of the water I realized the power of unfamiliar ocean waters and was humbled by mother nature once again.
