It was a good year for me too and I happened to be in the right place at the right time. I was living on the central coast in a small blink of an eye village, but one with some charter compared to many of the bland forgettable towns up and down the beaver state coastline. I had a few fickle and unique (for OR) spots on lock miles from my front door that were in the prime of whatever cycles they go though. My buddy and I always joke how many OR spots are on 10 year cycles with sand.
September was good that year with great conditions and weather and some ridiculously fun swells that lit up the reef point set up. Semi critical drops due to some rock hazards followed by tube section to rippable wall over mostly sand. Zero crowds for the most part and there were really only 3 of us that surfed. Guys would come from the towns to north and south on occasion. A couple valley guys also seemed to be tuned in, but they only showed here and there and missed many good days. The best was the FedEx driver who would pull up in his work truck and surf. But there were many times I surfed solo. The river mouth beachie was also good that year, a more reliable spot year to year, yet sharky AF. A couple good south swells lit up a left bank there that Sept which was hollow and overhead for a few days. Water was warm as it gets too. I surfed there before work between swell events almost every AM the tide was right as the offshore winds howled out of the canyon that time of year making average wind swells ridable.
I only had a few boards at the time but remember oddling over some newly delivered Lost shapes at the local shop which was 30 miles away. Mainly the 1st version of the Round Nosed Fish. I had 2 boards one was a 6-6 thruster 20 x 2.5 and another 6-6 I believe that was a kinda like a modern grovler plane shape wide nosed with a thumnb tail. A board I would ride sub 6' these days, but back then it served its purpose. Both were shaped by Tom at Ocean Pulse and I believe they had removable FCS systems a 1st for me back then after years of glass ons. Also had one of those new at the time zipperless Rip Curls with the velcro closure. Easily the best stretchiest suit I had ever owned at the time.
I was living right on the beach playing house with my now wife at the time. It was a true test of our relationship. Many of or friends were living in cities like SF and Portland starting their careers in their mid 20's, while we lived isolated on what at times felt like the edge of the earth. I had a good job I prob took for granted at the time, didn't pay for shitt, but I was outside 90% of the day and was able to keep my eye on the ocean. Even surfed at lunch on occasion and was logging water time before or after and on my days off. Moonlighted as a waiter at a local cafe a couple nights a week too. The weather radio marine loop was my forecasting tool the time, but honesty I just surfed when there were waves.
October came and the swell continued. 1st week tides were off for my local, but scored french like beachies up the coast several days in a row at the beach with the jetty. We would often go up there to shop and hit the brewery for trivia night. The 2nd week shitt lit up with howling offshores and 5-6 at 20. The local reef was firing and large. Out of nowhere one AM Josh Mullcoy and a couple other SC boys showed up with a Tahoe snow photog (Ruben Sanchez) and put on a barrel clinic. It was heavy and a kid from up the coast and I surfed the other spot a sand bottomed point like set up, which was large but not as critical. Waves were so long we'd get out and walk back around to the jump off point.
After that run and by mid October the storm cycle had kicked in relentlessly. La Nina was flexing early and was only surfing on my days off hiding out in a river mouth when the tides were right surfing a mushy but long left 20 miles south. I do remember one Sat in ealry Nov at the beach with the jetty that was glassy gun barrel grey and going off, but with the shorter days surf was only on my days off by then. Additionally I had been detailed to forestry and biological surveys deep in the wet dark forest and couldn't get those lunch seshies in I could when I was a ranger on the beach.
Rode Batch on opening day that year, Thanksgiving and it was also the grand opening of the NW chair. The feast consisted of 7-11 burritos that year. Came back after a few days of shredding and back to backed with a surf truly living the PNW OR dream. Had a couple sessions on the outer bar off the head in the town to the north late Nov, but I was underguned on a 6-6 and took more beatings than waves and realized I needed a step up. I worked until Christmas and was then my seasonal appointment had expired for the year. Drove down to Baja 1st week of Jan but that's a whole other story and a year I surfed like it was 1999.
Routine is a vampire. Manu Chao-