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Tired of crowded waves? —

My friends have been telling me that I should write a book about using a boat to get to surf spots. That's too much work. But I thought the idea of passing along information about my experiences would benefit some and amuse others. In the mid-seventies I started cruising in my sailboat, and discovered that I could find places to moor the boat that are close to good surf spots. For example, most of the harbors in Southern California, like Oceanside, are fronted by waves. Soon I discovered waves on the nearby islands of California. In 1991, my wife and I took a year off and sailed to Zihuatenejo, Mexico, surfing as we made our way into manana land. We found many wonderful breaks that were close enough to anchorages to be useful. This site does not cover all of the places to surf from your boat, just some. I'm sure there are many more.

What do you need? — A good sturdy boat and a board. You don't have to have an expensive boat. I know several surfers living this lifestyle who paid less than 15 thousand dollars for their boats, a few paid a lot less. It does not have to be a big boat. We made our first trip to Central Mexico in a 20 ft. Flicka. You will need to have at least enough money to live on. There are some out here living on five hundred dollars month. If you are handy, you can make money as you go. Food can be bought everywhere. Fishermen will sell you fish and lobster, stores provide the rest. You need navigation gear and the ability to use it. This means marine charts and a GPS at least. A marine radio and good, strong ground tackle (at least 2 anchors with chain and rode) are a must. The marine radio will enable you to communicate with other cruisers who can tell you about places they've seen surf. Helpful surfing guides are available at many surf shops. Cruising guides will make life a lot easier also. We used Charlie's Charts from California to Panama. Don't trust any cruising guide to be 100% reliable, and remember that even the government charts will be off a little sometimes (like a quarter of a mile). To reach many of the spots, you'll need a dinghy with a motor that will plane with you, your crew and your boards, anchor, etc.. . An alternative is to anchor your boat next to the surf while you are riding the waves, then move to an anchorage after surfing. But remember that bigger waves mean more difficult, less comfortable anchoring. Trust me, a good fast dinghy is worth the expense.