KPIX is reporting that the Mavericks Surf Contest is set for this Saturday. I called the Mavericks Surf Shop (Half Moon Bay) for confirmation. The fellow answering the phone, not Jeff Clark, said that it is not officially on just yet, but they are watching.

Mavericks Surf Contest: The Waiting Begins

Take the path in the photo, or climb up the dangerous cliff for the best view. It is not easy to view the contest safely and it gets crowded.

I suggest when it does get underway try: CBS5.com

Watch Mavericks Live on the Big Screen at AT&T Park

Mavericks

UPDATE: Per Deborah Lattimore the Mavericks is on - she spoke to someone who spoke with Jeff.

Check out her flickr.

After the fog and rain of last week it was unbelievably clear and beautiful this morning. Driving back to the valley I couldn’t resist getting off Hwy 280 and heading toward the ocean. My mission became finding the spot known for big wave surfing. With some waves reaching over 50 feet I wanted to see the Mavericks; a good starting point would be at the source.

I took the Hwy 92 exit and soon found myself in Half Moon Bay. Driving north on Hwy 1 and then left at Pillar Point Harbor, I knew that I was getting close. I had read that the Mavericks Surf Shop was on Harvard Ave. Not only did I find the surf shop I found, Jeff Clark, the legendary owner.

Jeff Clark, the first person to ever surf Mavericks, was kind enough to chat some about the contest and the surfers. He told me wave status is being monitored, and ‘The Call’ out to the 24 surfers could come at any time between today, December 9th 2007, and March 31st 2008. I asked how far away he though the surfers might be, and he told me that some may be in Hawaii. I thanked Jeff for giving me directions out to the Mavericks viewing point.

The problem is that there is not really a good viewing point. The surf break is about a 1/4 mile out. The cliffs looked very dangerous.

MAVERICKS

MAVERICKS LIVE AT AT&T PARK

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MAVERICKS SURF SHOP
mavericksurfshop.com
(650) 563-9060
151B Harvard Ave.
Half Moon Bay, CA

CLARK

STORMSURF

Tony, one of our readers, asked a couple of questions regarding the smoke in our area and why the sun appears red.

His question, “it all started today like around 5;30. Outside looked really foggy or smoky i should say. i figured it was because of the fire in morgan hill. but turns out its from a fire in the sierra?? but why was it so much? but i heard somewhere that if theres a big fire the sunset would be really good.but turned out that the sun was the most eye catching. IT WAS RED! like blood.! it looked awesome and i was wondering why??”

Well Tony, I’m hearing mixed reports on the cause of the smoke here in our area. Smoke from a fire in Plumas County (18,500 acres) has been caught up by winds moving south. Along with the Lick fire, (14,000 acres) burning in Santa Clara County, we may be seeing and breathing the effects of both fires.

Sun through the smoke; it looks red.
This is caused by a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering. It happens when light waves interact with particles, like smoke, smaller than the wavelength of the light. Our eyes see light of different wavelengths and our brains label it in colors. (Isaac Newton understood it, so I don’t need to.)

It is important to protect your eyes against damage from the Sun, even when viewing through the smoke. Never look at the Sun directly, sunglasses do not work, because you may damage your eyes permanently.

San Jose is of course in America. However, I’m referring to the Kannada (Indian regional language) movie titled America! America!!. The movie, released in 1995-96 made big waves, but it took me so long to check it out. What timing though, coincidentally!

Though basically a triangular love story, the setting is mostly in the USA. It covers aspects like the life of Indian immigrants and the job scene. What more, most of it is in San Jose and the surrounding areas.
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