El Niño, It Means The Boy
This winter an unusual and rare swell came into California. The last El Niño witnessed wave energy rise by around 50% higher than usual winter. El Niño only happens around once every 2-7 years, and always brings huge waves to the coast of California. El Niño is the cause of water temperatures rising. I got its name when Fishermen off the west coast of South America noticed unusually warm water that occurred at the end of the year. The phenomenon became known as El Niño because it tended to occur around Christmas time. El Niño is Spanish for "the boy" and is named after the baby Jesus.
This year, the waves reached 15-30 feet at blacks beach. In the past, this rare swell has brought waves of record size to Mavericks located in Half Moon Bay. Jay Moriarty and Frosty Hesson are some of the most famous surfers to ride the huge waves of Mavericks.
This year the waves didn’t get as big as they sometimes do. At my local break, it brought waves up to 15-18 ft waves at the peak of the swell. But for most of the break, I’ve been surfing some of the smaller waves before and after the huge swell. If you want to watch me surf subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the link below.