Black flag

The famous punk band Black Flag originated from Hermosa Beach , so did the Descendants and Pennywise . I can’t pretend that I don’t know what the black flag means , but today I saw it enforced . This place is dam hot at the moment , hovering in the mid 30s. In land closer to 40 , Palm Springs will be 49 tomorrow . The summer is notoriously flat when it comes to surf , only occasional southern swells sneak in . Incredibly , the large swell that created huge surf in Victoria last week has flown out by New Zealand and tracked out into the Pacific ,pushing a long awaited new swell for the West Coast of US. Hermosa Beach is bypassed in these conditions but for the northern end starting at 28th street onwards . ( out the front of our joint )The 1st warp of these steep angled swells catch the corner where I live , they then track up the bay almost parallel to the beach . The last few days the build has increased , all but closing down the northern spots . It’s best to hunt for waves straight out the front , beautiful . Ahh , but it’s hot and the rarest of offshore afternoon conditions prevail . I take Leroy down and take his new birthday ‘skipper’ surfboard ( soft board but pretty high performance) knowing full well that he’l want the boogie board . Sure enough Leroy’s happy playing in the sand so I decide to take the ‘skipper ‘out . I wade out and that’s when I hear a whistle and then yelling . I look around and I see the lifeguard marching from his tower . Shit ….. he wants me . I know what he’s gonna say . “Sir ! You can’t surf here “. “Why not , mate “. “It’s a black flag area , sir . This entire stretch has the black flags up . You’l have to go 3 towers up (600 yards ) . ” “You’re kidding mate ? There’s know one out swimming . It’s too dangerous , that’s why I was going to go out and surf . ” “Sorry sir but this entire stretch ( about a k or more ) is a no surf zone “. I’m stunned and mope back to sure . The thing is , if I ignored him I’m certain the police would be called and I’d be met back on the sand by the boys in black . Let’s be honest I shouldn’t be leaving Leroy there and all I was going to do was catch one and come in ( I think ) . So now I’ve seen the positives of the beach up here I can also see the problems in summer ……… the black flag . You must surf early in the morning .It’s hot , there’s waves out there , 300 m out the front of my house , no one out …… hmmm