US Open Surfing, H.Beach CA

[gmwinder]

I'm not sure if this was one of the competitors practicing but this was my first time and to get the pros you need a big lens...they surf way out there.

Thanks for looking.

Gary

[Dan-o]

How were the crowds? Thinking of going down tomorrow.

[ryant35]

The crowds where insane today. All the parking structures where full. I parked about 1.5 miles away. The entire south side of the pier was packed, I had to shoot between a bunch of heads. I would go back out really early. I may go again tomorrow.

Here are my shots. http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?p=8343179#post8343179

[MikeFairbanks]

It used to be called the OP Pro back in the day. The year before the riot (in which they burned a cop car on the beach), My buddy and I went as "representatives" for Bubble Gum Surf Wax. Basically, we were given a few boxes of freebies to give away.

We had to sleep in sleeping bags in the back of my pickup truck. Well, one night some guys who had an RV were hanging out and drinking on the sidewalk. Cool. No big deal (until they noticed we were sleeping in the back of my pickup truck).

Their noise wasn't a problem. We didn't care. But when they started throwing stuff at us and harassing us it became a problem.

So, we couldn't sleep until they all went to sleep. The next morning, I took a six-foot chain, padlock, and a huge chunk of steel pipe I found at a construction site and chained it to their RV's underside.

Then we banged on their door (it was about five in the morning) and yelled, "Wake up, wake up." over and over. They stumbled out and we waved goodbye and drove away. We knew they wouldn't chase us in an RV, but we also knew that later they would try to drive and wonder what the heck they were dragging.

Hope they brought bolt cutters.

[Dan-o]

Thanks ryant for the info. I have a beach house for the week so I'll throw my backpack on and pedal down. I'm going to shoot the 8am heat and bail when the crowds get out of hand.

[DarrylW]

I was there at 6:30 am ( I thought the heats started at 7:30am) most of the good spots were taken on the pier. I secured a spot past the main tower on the pier. It was a decent spot with decent angle. Parking is not an issue at that hour.