Epic Saturday, Great people and great surf! - March 3rd, 2012

Larry C. looking surprised at the fallen tree.

This past weekend in Toronto was one of great winds. Hurricane winds that came from the south west of U.S.A. blowing at over 50 km/h. As a result, many people decided to spend most of their time inside their houses nice and cozy. Not me, and certainly not many others that came out surfing on Saturday March 3rd, 2012.

Everything started on Friday morning when Larry C. started to call me almost every hour of the day to tell me
there were strong winds forecasted for Saturday and that "Bitch's Rock" (also known as "The Light house" or "On the rocks" by many) would probably be working. He was very excited. However, I didn't get the same feeling.

I have surfed that spot many times before and have rarely seen a good day there. Larry tried to encourage me by saying how great he thought it was going to be and that last time he was there he had scored good waves. I found it hard to believe but as any good lake surfer would say, hope is the last thing you lose!

I went on to work that night and by the time I came out I could feel and hear the strong winds blowing from the SW. They were strong enough to push me around while walking to my friends car. I made it home roughly by 1am and had a snack before checking the weather forecast. What I saw on the weather forecasting sites looked like something I haven't seen in over a year now. Winds were blowing 40km/h with gusts of up to 60km/h. That was supposed to continue almost all day long. Decreasing slowly and veering to west throughout the day. This seemed to me like gold - it was a great storm. It was the opportunity for Bitch's Rock to really show what it is capable of producing on a strong SW wind.

It was already around 2.30 AM. I was tired from work and knew Larry was coming to pick me up at 7am next day as we had agreed. Nevertheless, I had the urge to post on different social sites I frequent such as Facebook, LinkedIn and  Fresh Coast to let every single person I could  know that Saturday March 3rd, 2012 was going to be an EPIC day for surfing.

The phone started ringing and all I wanted to do was to turn it off or throw it out the window. I had few hours of sleep that night -same as almost every other night of the week due to school and personal events. Larry was on his way, or that is what I think I heard him say. He was talking very low trying not to wake up his wife or daughters. Needless to say, I passed out again until the phone rang one more time. This time Larry was yelling out of the top of his lungs that he was downstairs waiting for me and to hurry up because the wind was so strong and waves had to be amazing. I jumped in my wetsuit (6/5/4 that's how thick it is in mm), fried some eggs and said "chau" to my mom before leaving the house. I had my breakfast - fried eggs- in Larry's car. All the way down to the beach we kept talking about what we would find at Bitch's Rock. We made one more stop at Warden Subway Station. We had to pick up Elias R. member of our surf crew who never misses out on a good storm.

Going downhill at the Marina, we could see the lake and white caps all over. What amazed us was a big splash of whitewater against the rocks. It was big, it made the adrenaline start pumping all through our bodies. We started yelling, kicking and giving each other props because we knew today would be a good day.

We got off the car quickly, took the boards off the roof of "The Warrior", grabbed our bags and started walking for about 15 minutes to the surf spot. At the parking lot we met "Pat". He asked us where the spot was and we invited him to come along. I thought he was crazy!!! He was all geared up in his zip car ready to go surfing, but he didn't know where the surf spot was. He is totally one of us! That is a great Lake Surfer!!

Picture by Adam George at Bitch's Rock. Surfer - Antonio Acuna

On our way to the spot we found trees on the floor. The wind had been strong enough to break some of them. I don't know if this was the same for everyone, but those trees on the floor only encouraged my excitement and the adrenaline in my body to flow even faster.

Once at the spot, things became clear. There were around 12 people in the water and some other outside by the shelter that some bushes and trees provide from the wind. The waves looked solid. They had a good size, a long and steep wall and they would connect along the whole beach. All of us out there were going to score big time with great waves and great rides.

The vibe in the water was very friendly. People were saying hi to each other and everyone was stoked about the big and solid waves pushing through. Most waves were peeling left and right allowing for 2 people to catch the same wave into different directions. The sun would come out at times and make everything look beautiful - almost like a summer time except for our winter wetsuits with hood, gloves and boots.

Picture by Adam George at Bitch's Rock. Surfer - Antonio Acuna

The day was so great, that Elias, Larry and myself did not come out of the water for more than 10- or 15 minutes to take a break. We surfed the whole day! From 9 AM until 5.30 pm we were in the water catching one wave after another. We had the opportunity to surf with all of our friends. They would come and surf for a bit, then leave. They would leave and other friends would come in. It was like they were tagging each other to come and surf.  That day, easy, 50 people had come out and surf. We would have never ever thought about so many surfers in the water last year during March. Our surfing family continues to grow and I am proud of it!

Picture by Adam George at Bitch's Rock. Surfer - Antonio Acuna

By the end of the day waves had subsided from being overhead and constant to being waist high and sometimes even smaller. We decided it was time to go right after we started getting arm and leg cramps as well as being very cold (especially our feet). I chose to get changed right there because there was no way I would walk all the way to the car with a wet wetsuit and not get sick. Elias tried to do the same but he forgot his pants so he only changed half way. Larry put on his 'mechanic' suit on top the wetsuit and was ready to go. Even at that time we kept meeting up with friends who were coming to surf.

On our way back to the car, the 10 - 15 minute walk would have taken us double the time except for this wonderful couple who decided to give us a ride. The ride in their big, comfortable and warm truck made me feel like I had just won the lottery twice! Neither one of us could stop smiling and thanking them for their great gesture. (If you known them or you are reading this, Thank you very much for the ride!). After all, who picks up three dudes with boards and wet wetsuits who are coming out of a park during a storm?

Photographer: Adam George   Surfer: Elias Rodriguez

On the way back, we were so cold and so tired that Larry had a great idea. Having a nice Vietnamese soup would be the solution to our coldness and hunger. Who would have though of it? After having the soup all we wanted to do was to sleep right there on our sits for two days non-stop.

On the way back to our houses, I decided to call home and check on my mum. She picked up and started asking if everything was alright, why do I go surfing the whole day and when was I coming home. She was happy when I told her I was fine and that we had scored 200% that day. I told her about the amount of people there was out surfing that day and how many photographers had come out and spent most of the day out there with us. It had been truly a great day full of surf, friends and good vibe! That's why Saturday March 3rd, 2012 is so important for me and probably for all of those who came out to surf. The conditions were unbelievable and definitely nothing to envy to ocean waves. It was an Epic day for surfing here in Toronto at Lake Ontario.



Below you will find some more pictures taken by Adam George

Photographer: Adam George  Surfer: Antonio Acuna

Photographer: Adam George  Surfer: Elias Rodriguez

Photographer: Adam George  Surfer: Unknown

Photographer: Adam George  Surfer: Antonio Acuna

Photographer: Adam George  Surfer: Geoff Johnson

Photographer: Adam George  Surfer: Antonio Acuna

Photographer: Adam George  Surfer: Elias Rodriguez