#32 Combo Swells

Any surfer who has faced a walled up beachbreak lineup will attest to its saving grace, it’s luscious A-frame morsels of peaky goodness, it’s welcome respite from the everyday let down of continuous closeouts.  Yes, in certain times of the year (think Spring & Fall) when both swell generating hemispheres of the globe are working together in perfect symbiotic harmony, crossed up combo swells will arrive as the surfers’ answer to super fun, spread out, uncrowded surf.   As the swells from different sources approach the coastline, their energies combine to create amazingly wedgy, peaky, A-frame barrels that will make you think found a secret spot in your own backyard or just mindsurfed your way into another all expenses paid surf trip (keep dreamin’ bud!).  By all accounts, the combo swell scenario doesn’t happen all that often and doesn’t even need to be all that big to produce surprisingly fun surf.  It’s a a rare but welcome anomaly of stoke perpetuating bliss.  The combo swell casts a wide net on surf sesh possibilities that helps to spread out the crowds on the usually overburdened pointbreaks, reef breaks, and marquee surf spots that would normally be inundated with the “oops, I accidently dropped in on you” Wilbur Kookmeyer crew and the ever present, card carrying ambassadors of the local stink eye movement (see Localism).  Combo swells are there to greet the surfer in times of need when yet another “2 pump chump” to closeout combo just won’t cut it.  Next time one shows up at your local break – get on it!!  You’ll be stoked you did!

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