Frequent: Surf Reports. Surf Photos. Weather. News.

Thursday, October 31, 2002

<---- New reports for Wed and Thurs.

The Monster swell that Wetsand was calling for was fun but by no means monster. Surfed in overhead waves down south at Lil' Rincon last night, but that was after discovering that the swell just wasn't connecting with us up here in the north. It woulda been easy for me to have missed somewhere epic but i checked from the Gaviota Coast to Goleta to Montecito to Rincon and it only seemed big Rincon and south. Even Rincon didn't seem that as big as further south, but I didn't go out there so it could been bigger for all I know. Shape has been good and the morning session had slight offshores. There are a lot of folks in the water and the lulls were really long so it allowed a big buildup of people. Clean-up sets were coming thru and catching some off-guard but they weren't frequent enough to form a wave conveyor belt for the masses. I'd say yesterday afternoon around 4:00 was the biggest I saw it, and it was well overhead. I took some 35mm photos which i'll try to post on monday when i get the photoCD back. This foto i "took" with the C-street cam at 10:55a.m. on Wed.

Water quality is good, only warnings at Hammonds and East Beach.
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Tuesday, October 29, 2002

The Combined Current Bouy Wave Heights Summary has been a good tool to watch this swell fill in. The SE Papa Bouy saw a burst of energy around 8pm last night, and now just a few hours ago the California Bouy doubled in size. I don't believe any of this 17s swell has hit the California coast yet though, but it's already been hiped up enough so we'll just wait and surf.

It seems rare that the tide cooperates with a swell as much as now, but seeing how we are in the neap tides most any hour of the day should be a good time to surf. This hopefully will keep breaks less crowded since they will be more surfable all day.

After beta testing it 5 times, I bought a used 7'2" Dave Johnson Progressive Tri-Fin officially off of a friend yesterday and can't wait to try it out in some size. I'll have to get a "quiver" section going soon much like Tim once had (for my 2 board quiver). In order to buy the Progressive I sadly sold my 1979 Haut 6'6" Single Fin Pintail that i bought off a neighbor for $5 when i was 16. The 14X profit was the best investment I've made yet.

Sadly it looks like Blue Pacific is no longer in business, making Surf Country the only surf shop left in Goleta.

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Monday, October 28, 2002

<---- New Reports for the weekend sessions. The swell that was predicted for late Saturday did arrive and provided fun waves but apparently shall pale in comparison to the "Monster Swell" that Wetsand is calling out for Wednesday and Thursday. Happy Halloween.


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Friday, October 25, 2002

The swell model looks pretty small today, but the California Bouy started jumping, which means the swell thats due late tommorrow is on it's way. Wetsand posted a new report today that is claiming the end is near with a HUGE swell expected to arrive on Wednesday and get bigger on Halloween. This Halloween swell is supposed to be DOH up North and stand-out spots down south. What we'll see in SB is uncertain, but it's gotta be fun.
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Thursday, October 24, 2002

<---- New Report from Coal Oil Point. The smallest day of the week. Should be the bottom of the bell curve for waves for us, as it is predicted to get better this weekend. Not so sure when the next swell will get here, most folks are saying Saturday afternoon. Looks like a chance of showers is on the way for SB on Friday afternoon.

Last night the California Fish and Game Commission approved the Marine Reserve for the Channel Islands. Read about it here or read the SnoozePress. (edit: there should be a map below linked from the NewsPress, but it is slow)

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Wednesday, October 23, 2002

<---- New Report. Day 5 of decent waves. The swell is smaller yet still fun. Read about it on the latest report. SBPHD has posted warning signs at a few beaches about high bacterial levels. There has been no rain so I don't know what has prompted it, but you may want to avoid some of those beaches. Sands is actually 10X over the limit on Enterococcus.
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Tuesday, October 22, 2002

<---- New Report. So today is supposed to be the last day of this 4 day swell. What a fun swell it has been and boy how much my boss thinks I'm a slacker.

Another Frenchie has asked that I link to them. Their site is Sausset on the Beach (which I'm a little confused on since they are from Marseilles which is in the med) but it has some recent pictures from the same swell that hit the Mundaka contest I think. I also recommend using the Google translator which will produce gems such as "You would not have seen my surfer? "
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Monday, October 21, 2002

<---- New Report
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Sunday, October 20, 2002

<---- New Reports for my Saturday and Sunday a.m. sessions.

My first photographic contribution to the site is this weeks home page image. I took this from our campsite in Baja a few weekends ago.

Fixed a link to the Gaviota Coast Conservancy in the links section.

Added a search function to the site. Let me know if it works or not.

William requested an easy way to look at tides. It's in the java menu to the left now.
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Saturday, October 19, 2002

hay holas hoy. this am super fun session down south. Harvest was reading 4.0ft @ 20s @ 295°. Now Harvest is 6.8ft @12s @ 275°. It is even breaking in town. Harvest seemed to switch from predominately 300° to 275° around 5:00 this afternoon. Full Moon on Sunday. Beware the Spring Tides.
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Thursday, October 17, 2002

It's not looking good out there folks. An afternoon jog down to Coal Oil Point showed no one at Deaveruax because of no waves and 25 guys out at Sands, battling it out in knee to waist conditions. I really thought that pulse would give us something Tues or Weds but instead nada. Too steep. The 72 hour models that are on Wetsand's site show a nice West swell due in this weekend. At 277° it could make us happy, but I'm not holding my breath.

Some Site Updates:

-Pacific Waverider is now charging to view to their surf clips so i de-linked the vids.

-The Ventura County Star's C-Street Cam is back up in the Java bar to the left. It had been offline for sometime but now it's working again.

-New to the links section: Kore wa "Okinawa Surfing" Desu ka.

-In what could be one of the worst designed and sexist sites out there, the PSTA is reminding us that the Subaru Brat Baja U.S. Championships starts today at Ventura Point.
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Wednesday, October 16, 2002

The swell model looks quite good but a 09:45 check of Coal Oil Point showed dismal conditions.
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Tuesday, October 15, 2002

A check at 07:30 in North Goleta showed small conditions.

This Saturday, October 19, at I.V. Theatre the Far Shore is playing at both 7:00 and 9:00 for $5 for students and $7 for everyone else.which goes a little like this:

"In 1972, young Kevin Naughton and Craig Peterson took to the road with surfboards, camera gear and an untamable desire for adventure. For ten years they scoured the planet in search of perfect waves and experiences only a traveler on the road encounters. This documentary film chronicles their journey. "

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Monday, October 14, 2002

Missiles over Costco
We took these images of tonight's Vandenberg launch outside of our work around 7:05PDT. In the background is the Home Depot/CostCo center. Irony.






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A 5:00 check of Coal Oil Point showed not much in the cove although a healthy amount of fellows were heading out towards Sands. I imagine a little bit is showing up around the corner but instead I'm opting to work and wait for the alleged swell that should be on our doorstep in the next 24 hours or so.

Vandenberg is having yet another Missile Launch between 7:00-11:00 tonight. If it's early enough it should be good for photography. Launch Alert recommends these settings for you SLR folks:

To capture the vehicle on the way up, use Fuji Superia 800 film and 4, 2, 1, and 1/2 second exposures at f/2.8.

To capture the aftermath (twisted contrail), use Fuji Superia 400 with exposures of 16, 8, 4, and 2 seconds at f/2.8
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Friday, October 11, 2002

I'm sticking a fork in the summer by posting my Summer 2002 Wrap-Up. Therein you will find the surfing conditions of this last summer from one guys point of view. Not an epic summer by any means, but by Santa Barbara standards enough little pulses to fill in the doldrums.

The sea continues to be flat.
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Wednesday, October 09, 2002

La Escalera Nautica is a good starting point to read about the plan to develop Baja for the enjoyment of rich cigar smoking golf players and powerboaters. Granted, I am not a Mexican citizen, so why should I have any say in what they do to their country to empower themselves financially. Yet Baja to me is all the things I read about in history books and hear from old timers about how California used to be. Do I want to tell my grand-children about how we used to be able to drive down on dirt roads and surf fun waves with just our buddies in clear water teeming with life?

The entire Southern California Bight seems empty of waves today.
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Tuesday, October 08, 2002

the wave forecast does not look interesting at all, but wetsand writes about next tuesday:

"Tuesday the 15th is an interesting forecast day. Some SE swell is due from a fairly large system forming near Chile. And the Northern Hemisphere is looking to throw a swath of W/NW energy our way. The SE energy is too steep for most of SoCal with 170 degree energy. But the W/NW is looking to have a nicer angle, more around 280-290. The fly in the ointment is the timing of the swell from the W/NW. These systems form in a closer proximity to the coast, within only a 3-5 day swell window. This means we need to watch this very closely through the remainder of the week to see how it will unfold. With all that said, it looks like west facing breaks will see the best size, chest to head high on Tuesday. South facing breaks are looking at waist to chest. We’ll need to keep a close watch, and will keep you posted as things progress."

I like the sound of both of those swell directions.
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Monday, October 07, 2002

this is some surf art from bruno from france. Bruno says, "I am very happy to receive you. This site is dedicate to all that loves the Ocean."

baja was fun. i want to stay down there. forever. i was worried we were going to get bageled but the little Punta we had decided upon had some decent waves so we speant the whole time learning how to surf a new break while avoiding hazards such as urchin and a sucking section over a ledge. Apparently the point we were at breaks pretty good on a swell, but since there wasn't much swell we were surfing a little reef break about 100 yards south of the point. the waves were shaped perfect, yet the sets were only about waist high. you don't realize how over-regulated we are camping in california until you find a nice plot of land in mexico with no people. the most liberating feeling i've had in some time.

Weekend in SB was apparently hot and flat. The wave forecast does not look too promising.
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Thursday, October 03, 2002

11 years ago at the young age of 18 i left the healthy little village of Ventura in order to attend UCSB. in those 3 days when you live in the dorms before classes actually start i didn't do the typical IV drinking, but instead was concerned with boyish pursuits such as surfing and discovering stunts to do on/under/around the Goleta pier. My first time out at Campus Point i took my trusty Breezin' 6'4" tri-fin and headed out unknowing of all the history Campus had. I walked past the block house with "No Stus!" written on it wax, not understanding what a "stu" was or that there was healthy bunch of Goletians that were not looking forward to this new crop of students to crowd the water with their LA and SF style. I got a few waves, mostly on the inside, but didn't get many because of the seemingly older and knowledgeable longboarders that dominated the outside. As time went on i kinda had the quirky little point wired but i was always a Stu and couldn't jostle with the "locals".

Now more then a decade later a whole new crop has arrived. You can see it in their eyes. Some are cocky, having worked their way up the ladder at their local spots in Orange County or Santa Cruz. Some are shy and inexperienced, having come from inland and certain that they are going to be a surfer at UCSB. Either way, they are people and I hope to God they are in the water for the same reason I am. To escape everything that consumes them in their daily lives and have get some moments of bliss. I can't speak for the hardened Goletians who have lived here all their lives but I can say to our new water mates: There is history here, and respect is due to those that have been surfing here since before you were born. Some may seem like grumpy jerks (and some may be). but please surf here like you would in a foreign land; tentative at first and respectful of the natives. The first big swell will clear things out a bit anyway.

Have a good weekend, I'm leaving on a Baja mini-surfari tonight.
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Wednesday, October 02, 2002

<-- New Report

a visual check this am in Goleta showed minimal signs of the NW swell. At 320° I think it is just too steep to break here. Waves looked in the knee high range, but it was sunny and glassy. What i need is a boat and no job.

The precursor to the Americas Cup started on Monday with all 3 of the American boats beating their foreign counterparts. Catch all the action from the US or NZ perspective.
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Tuesday, October 01, 2002

a disappointing session down south last night. small waves, choppy water, and overcast sky. swell was still obviously out of the south by the way the sets came marching up the beach, but the size had dropped considerably and the shape was pretty bad. still great to get wet, but when you are getting pumped up all day at work to go surfing afterwards you can get some pretty high expectations that can't be met.
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Santa Barbara Surfing. Created by Tim Maddux. Continued by Pope.