Air specialist and big-wave charger Nathan Fletcher broke his leg Wednesday while surfing at Pipeline on Oahu’s North Shore. 

The San Clemente native is no stranger to the notoriously gnarly left-hand reef break.  Fletcher apparently took off on about an eight-foot wave, where he did a cutback, and that’s when things went wrong.  He ended up breaking his femur in two places and was rescued by North Shore lifeguards.  

Fletcher underwent surgery at a hospital in Hawaii and is likely to be out of the water for the next three months.  This means he won’t be competing in the Mavericks Big Wave Contest in Northern California, which has a waiting period through the end of March.

Good Thursday morning surf addicts.  Well she’s slipping back into that small zone, but you can still find a few playful waves at some of the better beachbreaks.  It’s mostly clean with a minor mix of west northtwest swell and a smidgen of southwest energy.

That recipe is making for some fairly mushy broken up lines with a few fun ones.  Most OC beaches are running about knee to waist high with the top combo spots pulling stomach to chest high waves with a maybe a few plus sets.

At 6:08 a.m the tide climbed up to a 6.6 high which has some spots pretty swamped or shut down right now.  It then drains out to a negative 1.3 low at 1:40 this afternoon.

If you’re gonna grab a session, the 4/3 fullsuit and the booties will do you right with the water temp at most spots hanging between 54 and 56 degrees.

For more surf info. check out surfline.com

Have fun!!

When the launch of YouTube happened a few years ago it seemed like everyone was putting together their own custom videos and sharing them with the rest of the world.  Well I know that all surfers love having some footage of themselves ripping it up.  So instead of posting the video on Youtube, how about a similar website that’s designed just for surfers.  It’s called Swelltube.com and it provides surfers, film makers and producers a free surfing video website where you can watch, share or upload video clips with other surfers from all over the globe.  For more info. check out Swelltube.com

Waking up with the waves on Wednesday.  Well it looks like there could be a pretty good window once that tide does her thing.  Overall the surf is hanging in the playful size at most spots.

It’s nice and clean or light offshore with a mix of leftover south southwest swell and new west northwest energy.  That recipe is offering us some kinda soft broken up lines with a few good corners.  Things should improve and get steeper once the tide drops a bit.

Most OC beaches are running about knee to chest high with the top combo breaks pulling shoulder high waves with a few head high plus sets.

At 5:16 a.m the tide climbed up to a 6.1 high which has some spots pretty full and slow early on.  The tide then drains out to a 0.7 low at 12:54 this afternoon.

If you’re gonna grab a session throw on the 4/3 full and the booties with the water temp at most spots hanging between 54 and 56 degrees.

For more surf info. check out surfline.com

Have at it!!

In just a couple of weeks one of the surf industry’s most nostalgic surf contests will be making a comeback after more than ten years.  The 2009 Katin Pro/Am Team Challenge will be returning to the north side of the Huntington Beach Pier January 20-24, 2009.  The event which was founded by Nancy Katin back in 1977 will have the exact same format with four surfers on each team.  Several top surf companies will be competing in this years event, but one that really stands out is Team Rusty which is made up of Pipeline Masters champion Jamie O’brien, Josh Kerr, Nate Yeomans and Granger Larsen.  Some of the past Katin Team Challenge winners included 9X World Champ Kelly Slater, Martin Potter, Sunny Garcia and Tom Curren.  For more info. check out katinusa.com.

Good Tuesday morning surf addicts.  Well it looks like our run of fun surf is sticking around for another day.  Yep it’s worth grabbin a session before you start your day.

It’s mostly clean or light offshore with a mix of mostly south southwest swell and some very minor west northwest energy.  That recipe is making for some fast sectiony lines with some good wedgy shoulders to pick off.

Most OC beaches are running about stomach to chest high with the south facing focal points pulling shoulder to head high waves with a few overhead sets.

At 4:22 a.m the tide climbed up to a 5.6 high and then drains out to a 0.1 low at 12:05 this afternoon.  If you’re gonna grab some of the action break out the 4/3 full and the booties with the water temp hanging between 54 and 56 degrees.

For more surf info. check out surfline.com

Have fun out there!!

The majority of traveling pro surfers from around the world have packed up and left Oahu’s North Shore for the season, but some locals pros are ready for the start of the Da Hui Backdoor Shootout.  The 7th annual event which takes place at Backdoor Pipeline is typically made up of mostly Hawaiian surfers.  The contest has a unique judging format which involves three rounds of no-elimination with four man heats and only the top three best waves.  So basically it’s anyones game.  Teams competing this year include Da Hui, Quiksilver, Hurley, Billabong, Volcom, Red Bull and North Shore Boys.  Some of the notable surfers are Mark Healey, Makua Rothman, Pancho Sullivan, Danny Fuller, Kala Alexander and last years Shootout winner Jamie O’Brien.  The official holding period is Monday January 5 through Thursday January 15, 2009.  For more info. check out dahui.com.