Was Hurricane Bill the best ever in St. Augustine?

**Tory S** · 08-24-2009, 07:10 PM

Well?

Vote.

supersizedsurfer · 08-24-2009, 07:34 PM

No! Me and a few others on here agree that we've ridden bigger in the last few years right here in St.Auggie.

It was awesome but certainly not the biggest.

buckethead · 08-24-2009, 07:37 PM

Don't be silly.

I saw you (TS) out on a longboard (way before it was cool) on some surf way bigger at Blow Hole some time back in the 80's. (Pre SS). Bigger, Hollower, Cleaner and more A-framed.

Paddling was easier back then too

I guess the question was rhetorical.

SaabSurfer · 08-25-2009, 07:18 AM

Good question. I don't know, but I look forward to seeing what others say. I will say that I have had much more fun with other swells, even unnamed swells. It will be hard to unseat Dean, from 1989, in my mind. Probably I've mythologized that swell so much over the years that nothing could better it in my mind, even if it really was better. Bill was certainly bigger and hollower though. It was spectacular in many ways, but it was simply too closed out most of the time to be the perfect swell.

rhettdec · 08-25-2009, 07:43 AM

definitely was a lack of peaks in my opinion. i would sit there for quite some time waiting for something that didnt look like a closeout. but maybe for better surfers this wasnt a problem. i know one person that said he had the ride of his life this swell.

SaabSurfer · 08-25-2009, 09:11 AM

I agree, rhettdec. I saw some people getting amazing rides. For the most part, I wasn't one of them though. My guess is that most people got only a few great rides and lots of closeouts. Of course, it varied a lot by when and where you went too.

live2surf2live · 08-25-2009, 10:16 AM

Anyone who answers yes is very short-sighted. Best swell ever? no. Best swell of the summer, so far? sure. That swell in February was waaaaaaaaay better than Bill. Hanna last summer was also much better if you caught it on the Friday afternoon clean-up. Bill may have had more size than both of these swells but the qualty of the waves was not as good. I did not catch Bill good at all so maybe I am just bitter.

Props to those who did get this swell good.

stillovinit · 08-25-2009, 11:50 AM

It was definately up there, but was it the best? IDK. Maybe Bill was one of the biggest, with it still staying manageable. The problem with most big swells here is they tend to close out, with few exceptions. The best hurricane swell in my memory was in 89, don't remember the name off hand, but I remember almost DOH, breaking from outside the pier all the way past the second set of rocks north of FA, without closing out! Like 1/4 mile rides to the sand. Bright and sunny, wind offshore all day, throngs of peeps in the point parking lot watching, best I've ever seen St Aug, EVER!

walktheboard · 08-25-2009, 12:27 PM

^
hopefully we dont have to wait another 20 years to see it come close to that again.

SaabSurfer · 08-25-2009, 12:59 PM

Originally Posted by stillovinit

The best hurricane swell in my memory was in 89, don't remember the name off hand, but I remember almost DOH, breaking from outside the pier all the way past the second set of rocks north of FA, without closing out! Like 1/4 mile rides to the sand. Bright and sunny, wind offshore all day, throngs of peeps in the point parking lot watching, best I've ever seen St Aug, EVER!

Sounds like Hurricane Hugo, which was awesome. I only got a 30 minute session for that one though.