HOME SPOT: SAN ONOFRE, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Ride along with FFB team rider Jason Miller, at his home spot in Southern California.
There are so many different things that make San Onofre(Sano) unique. The surfing culture at Sano has so much history where many consider it the birthplace of surfing in California. People from all walks of life post up for the day and the worries of normal life are put on hold. Things seem to move a bit slower, and everybody is super friendly.
For foiling, it breaks on both north and south swells and different reefs work with different tides. There’s more of a dedicated area for foiling, which allows more space without the intermingling of other surfers.
The conditions are really ideal for foiling. Like I mentioned above, it breaks year-round and seems to be more sheltered from wind (not ideal if you’re hoping to learn how to wing or downwind).
FFB GEAR OF CHOICE
Sano is a great testing ground. We’ve put in a lot of hours riding a variety of different Freedom board models here. My favorite board at the moment is the 4’3″ Fusion. It ticks all the boxes for what my foiling demands out of a board.
FAVORITE MEMORY/STORY AT YOUR HOME SPOT
Every foiling first for me was here at Sano. First controlled ride, first connection of multiple waves, first turns, etc. We’d spend hours and hours in the water when we were first learning. The excitement and challenge was the initial appeal.
My favorite story is about a close friend named Dean. He had taken off on a smaller wave in hopes of pumping way out to a set wave. As he got closer, his indecisiveness got the best of him and he couldn’t decide whether to turn back into the wave or go over. Instead, he went full speed into a breaking lip with his rib cage. He lost his board and was floating way out the back with the wind knocked out of him. He was nearly at the point to call emergency services on his Apple Watch. Luckily, my other buddy saw him and escorted him the long way to shore. SurfDocSteve, an ER Doc and foil fanatic was just about to leave the lot when he was flagged down for help. My injured friend was panicked and in a lot of pain. SurfDoc was composed and calm. He reached out to his ribs, gave him a tight squeeze as my friend winced in pain. “You’ll be alright,” SurfDoc said and continued on his way. We spent the afternoon caring for our friend but made every effort to crack a joke at his expense as his wincing continued. The disapproving looks of our humor made it worth it. What are friends for?
