I took this video on Sunday morning, extremely high tide, many sneaker waves washing in. Several people nearly got washed out while trying to take photos. Note the amount of sand moved on the beach, the stairs and life ring station are half buried under sand.

These shots were taken by me from the bluffs which are about a mile from the wave, thanks to the Canon 600 mm lens my buddy Michael has lent me I was able to get some half decent shots of some of the first heat waves. It’s great to see shots of the pit from a boat close up, but these distance shots really give you a sense of the scale and magnitude of these waves. The surfers truly are modern day gladiators! Enjoy my photos, by clicking the full screen viewer.

Montara Beach Report 2/9 from Kevin Stokes (Coastsider) on Vimeo.

A short video report showing the damage to the sandstone bluffs on Montara Beach sustained during the recent high tides and winter storms.

Styrofoam covers a Pacifica Beach. Photo © Ian Butler

This problem just gets worse and worse, we must enforce a styrofoam ban NOW. Make your voice heard by clicking here. Take a look at John Mayburys Peninsula Coastside Blog entry by clicking here.

Jeff Clark. image ©yahoo.com

In June 2009, Jeff Clark, the man whose name is synonymous with the infamous big wave, ceased to be Contest Director of the Mavericks Surf Contest run by Mavericks Surf Ventures. The sad irony here is that the company he helped form in 2003 to promote and be an ambassador for the wave, the sport, the contest and Mr. Clark himself, seems to have turned on the man who started it all over 30 years ago. Since then Jeff has been very quiet on the subject hoping to settle his differences with Mavericks Surf Ventures and it’s CEO Keir Beidling in private.

Sadly, it seems that Jeff’s vision of keeping the Mavericks Surf Contest true to honoring his spirit and passion for surfing has failed in the face of corporate sponsorship dollars and broken promises. He now has to resort to a legal approach to settle the dispute.

The Mavericks Big Wave contest is still waiting to be called at the time of writing (the 24 competitors now call the start), huge swells hitting the coast promise an exciting competition if Mother Nature allows the right conditions. The question has to be asked, can corporate sponsorship demanding a return on their investment and the true spirt of big wave surfing ever live comfortably together? Personally I think not, especially when Mother Nature holds the ultimate trump card of game on, or not.

Good luck Jeff, I believe you have a solid case. And good luck and safe surfing to all the competitors in the 2010 Mavericks Surf Contest!

To read the man’s own words check out his blog Jeff Clark: My Word.

(If you happen to read this post Jeff drop me a line, I have 10 Montara Life questions for you!)

Premiere tonight at La Costanera 6-11.00pm movie starts at 7.00pm, no cover. Come and support our local film makers.

I can’t believe it, there has been yet another Devil’s Slide related fatality! At the time of writing the cause or circumstances surrounding the man’s death are still not clear, I’m sure events will unfold in the next few days. I called the abandoned car in to the Sheriff at 9.10am this morning on my way to work, I had seen the car parked in the turn out near Grey Whale Cove Sunday lunchtime and got suspicious when it was still there on Monday morning. So some of the reporting is a little off fact-wise in these links, but here are the HMB Review and SF Gate reports.