Around The World In 80 Waves

I head towards the Newport Beach motel I have checked into for the next few days and check out the beaches along the way. This part of LA doesnt is sheltered by the islands and the surf is little more than a drop and a turn everywhere I look. This is actually a picture of Redondo which I had taken a couple of days previously but it is typical of what I see in that the waves are just dumping on the beach and because my foot is quite sore after the knock it took in Manhattan I dont go back in.

I also check out some other great breaks that are much the same including the intrigueingly named ‘Rat Shit’ which is enough to put you off going in on its own. I am very nearly tempted in by the lefts working off the reef at Haggertys at the southern end of Los Angeles Bay but the scramble down and back up the huge cliffs and the rocks I can see everywhere from the top put me off. I forgot to take a picture there but this one is just around the corner at Palos Verde Cove where the issue is much the same. I did meet a surfer called Paul who offers his place in Mexico for me to stay in, so I make a note of his details and will see if that works out.

I push on around the headland past Donald Trump’s golf resort and am treated to an exquisite sunset at Point Vincente lighthouse, which you can see here. The island in the background is Catalina, off which Hollywood superstar Natalie Wood drowned after a night of partying on a boat with her husband Robert Wagner and Chistopher Walken in 1981.

The sunset gets better as I move a bit further south but I dont hang around long because I have to cross south central LA. I immediately get lost, and this is not the sort of area you want to hang around in for too long. I end up doing laps of the massive port area for some time before getting back on the road after resorting to the navigation on my smartphone, which works well until it tells me I have reached my destination in the fast lane of route 55!