Prequel: Matagorda Island via Port OConnor

This one kind of started it all... went to the wrong place at the right time.

Info:

Swell Direction - None

Best Swell Direction - S SE (apparently)

Swell Height - 0-1/2 ft

Tide - Who cares

Location - Headed down to Port OConnor. Boated through the back waters. Walked across the island at the shortest part. Shit. Everywhere.

Travel time from Austin - 4hr

Description - Reminded me of an irrigation canal. Ripples everywhere.  Must just be a series of beach breaks. I wouldn't know, it was as flat as it gets.

Things you might like to know:

The Poco Loco Lodge is a real good little motel/fishing camp.  Allows dogs. Clean sheets and towels every day. Very friendly and helpful staff.  You can talk the resident handyman/fishing guide into buzzing you through the backwaters to find surf, and he will drink with you.

My Experience:

This was early last summer shortly after the move and thinking ahead as I do, I set up a LOLA surf alert for the Texas region.  4-5ft wind swell coming from the SE, winds out of the N. Sounds like a nice set up.

Well I decided to get exotic and wanted to go to an island.  Matagorda island was accessible by a short ferry ride from Port OConnor, $15, and you can camp there. Perfect.

So I load up the wife, the dogs, our gear and happily await the oncoming swell. We arrive 4 hrs later to find out the ferry was shut down due to no funding. Welcome to George W's America. Minor set back. Our host/all around guide greets us with a smile and we eat some lunch. We talk about how to get out to Matagorda and he decides that there isn't too much going on so he would ferry us over there himself. We're back on.

Have a great cruise on a 22' center console fisher, 70 degrees out, blue water, and arrive at the drop off.  Make plans for our guy to pick us up 4hrs later at the same spot, unload, turn the dogs loose. Drag our shit up and across the sand dunes, not a footprint in site.  Get to the last dune and look over the top.

 

First thing I see is my dog taking a nose-dive into a dead fish on the beach.  Good form. Next I notice the sheer amount of debris washed up on the beach in my line of site to view the water.  Takes me a minute to realize that the water was the same color as the sand until I noticed small traces of whitewater. Skunked. Horribly skunked.

 

We spend the next couple of hours wandering through drift-junk. There was plenty of dead fish. Some dead birds.  A hardhat. A big blown out tractor tire that was kind of fun to climb on. A shoe. You get the picture.

The wind pics up so we decide to move back to the other side of the island.  Before we do that I paddle out for good measure.  Soon after I paddle in for good measure. We go over to the other side of the island.

 

We wait 5 more hours.  Ole boy finally comes back for us.  He brought beer. He was quickly forgiven.

It turned out that the wind swell had a whole lot more E in it than S so it blew right past us.  Lesson #1 - Swell directions change real fast down here. Lesson #2 - Never leave yourself pigeon-holed on an island when you can't see the surf first.  Lesson #3 - Don't talk fishermen into dropping you off at a deserted island.

Follow these rule and you'll be farther along than me.

Corpus Christi: North Packery Channel

Well lookie here, had a business trip down to Corpus and randomly walked into a place with some potential: North Packery Channel. 

Info:

Swell Direction - SE at 5 sec (just pulling this info from Surfline)

Best Swell Direction - NE (claimed by a few guys who were out)

Swell Height - 3-4 ft (Waist with occasional chest )

Tide - High to Low (more towards the low push, don't know the heights but will update)

Location - Came down 358. Took a left at the first road with a signal light called Highway 58 after crossing the bridge.  Then took the first right at a construction site (Tortuga Dunes or Islands or something like that).  Had to buy a year long parking pass from a surly, fat lady who didn't like my questions about my front wheel drive rental car and the sand condition ($12). Don't make Mama stand in the heat! Drove straight out onto the beach. Parked my shit. Jumped in the water.

Travel time from Austin - 3 1/2 hrs.  (One of closest, fuuuuuugggg that hurts to type)

Description - This place reminds me of the jetties of OB/S.Mission but with a lot smaller channel in between.  Sort of like Oceanside but I don't see it getting that heavy out here - real gradual slope on this one. Swell kind of bounces off the jetti and jacks up a little bowl about 30-40 yards off the rocks.  Same type of lift up on the take-off and then flattens out some until the next section walls up.  Can't wait to see it head high, sand bars are real defined out there so it should be pretty workable when there is enough size for the outside to line up with the inside.

Things you might like to know:

This spot reminds me a ton of S. Mission.  Main spot is off the jetti. Tons of peaks go up the beach for miles. A few locs out there that looked like they could get a little grumpy if it was real good and crowded but who wouldn't be. Everyone I talked with on the beach was pretty chill. Apparently this place is the party beach at night so maybe don't camp there unless you are down with crazy-ass Texans armed with booze and God knows what.  There were girls running around though and plenty of people beaching it so could be fun. You roll the dice, I'm married.

My Experience:

Was supposed to fly into town, meet with some people to review their jobsite plans, and fly out that afternoon.  Got there, got my rental car, got to the jobsite, got my shit together, and..... site was a ghost town.  Made a few calls and no one was ready to go so I took off.  It is now 10:30AM, I fly out at 6:40PM. I could spend $150 and change my flight to get back into the office that afternoon. 

I headed to the beach and stopped at the first surf shop I saw - Wind and Waves. Rented an 11 ft singlefin longboard (they threw in straps) for $35. They had a decent selection from beginner boards, to eggs, and even a few regular shortboards. BS'ed around the shop for a bit. Bought some trunks. Bought some sunscreen. Headed out.

Hit up the gas station for a sandwich, some water, and some spray on sunscreen - wasn't too sure if I could talk anyone into lathering up the old back before I headed out (I wear an all-weather-sweater if you know what I mean).

Pulled onto the half paved/half sand road up to the beach and was informed I needed a parking pass.  While fumbling for some money I saw a blue Jetta buried up to the undercarriage in the sand to my left so I asked if anyone had truck to tow me out just in case.  Big lady sitting under a canopy pretty much told me to go fug myself and gave me my change. Nice. It was real hot out and she had a bag of Dorrittos to get back to so I understand where she is coming from. Sacked up and floored it off the paved road towards the beach.

Kind of hydro-planed on the dry sand up to the wet sand and set up shop. Not sure I really need to but hey, it was a rental. Now that I think about it I should have fishtailed that shit.

Easy paddle out. Had to go out about 75 yards or so but there were some defined rips and deep spots in between sand bars so I got out dry as a bone. Everyone was on the inside. Everyone had a shortboard or a fish. Everyone didn't look all that happy. One older fella with a big ole hat was on a longboard and sitting outside.  Talked to him. We traded waves all day outside. Caught about 10-15 waves that sectioned to the inside. Caught about 50+ that died out.  Every once and a while someone would paddle out from the pack, make a few drops but never link the sections and would disappear. Burned the shit out of my back (DO NOT USE SPRAY ON LOTION - OR AT LEAST REAPPLY IT OR READ THE DIRECTIONS OR SOMETHING).

Turned in my gear. Turned in the rental car. Drank a few beers in the airport. Sunburn began to set in, so did the beers. Funny how one enhances the other. Drank a few cocktails to numb the upcoming onslaught of pain. Stumbled onto my flight. Hated life for about an hour. Got home. Bathed in aloe all night. Called in sick to work.

Good trip.