Tuesday, November 30, 2004
High tides and small conditions thwarted any epic Thanksgiving sessions in the area but a report from Saturday in Ventura is up anyway. Our recent cold snap left cars and boards like the one on the left with a dusting of frost in the morning and parts of the county are still under frost advisories in for the next few days.
Shaun Tomson will present his self-narrated "Spirit of Surfing" slide show this Wednesday, December 1st at 7:00 at SB Outfitters which is at 1200 State Street at Anapamu. The cost is $4.00 and it benefits the SB Surfrider Foundation. While you are at it check out SB Surfriders newly laid out site, it's quite nice.
Some links worth checking out; Bay Area Skimboarding, Surfing in Santa Barbara, and a local real estate site with some crazy SBS embedding going on. Will report back if she can cut local surfers a deal on the $4.275 "Hope Ranch Dream."
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Wednesday, November 24, 2004
A small fall for surfing in Santa Barbara. No Back To School Swell, no Halloween Swell, and now it looks like no Thanksgiving Swell.
Reports from Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving and make sure to make it out there anyway. Santa Barbara Surfing will be switching to a new server over the holiday weekend and there could be outages with the site and email so hang in there.
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Wednesday, November 17, 2004
For those interested in supporting local radio and receiving nice premiums while doing so, than Audrey from KCSB has a deal for you. Audrey hosts "The Real Junk" on 91.9 KCSB from 10am-1pm on Monday's. Audrey interviewed the Malloy brothers (not Jack Johnson as previously reported here) last Monday as a run-up to the premiere of A Broke Down Melody. This week KCSB is having their pledge drive and some cool surfing related premiums are available. Currently they have eight seven signed DVD's of A Broke Down Melody, tickets to see Riding Giants on Nov 22, and gift certificates to Surf Country. To get such amazing premiums one would simply need to call 893-2424 and pledge $25 if you are a student or $40 if you are a non-student towards "The Real Junk" show on the KCSB pledge drive. Specify which of the premiums you'd like (and make sure to pledge for the "Real Junk") and you are well on your way to happiness. Special thanks go out to the Moonshine Conspirator's and Surf Country on this one.
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Friday, November 12, 2004
Brian was successful in purchasing a board from a SBS reader in the classifieds. Pope did not get to see the new Moonshine Conspiracy surf flick, so if anybody has a writeup and wants to post it let him know.
Rip Curl 4/3 Ultimate Fireskin Review:
(Disclaimer: My own personal experience. Although I've written several reviews on Rip Curl wetsuits I have never received any money nor discounts from any surf shop or wetsuit company based on my reviews.)
With the water temp in October 57 along the Central Coast I knew my year old 3/2 Ultimate Elasto wouldn't hold me through the winter. I was very impressed with the Elasto, it being perhaps my best wetsuit ever in terms of flexibility, warmth, and durability. I lost count on sessions in it way back in December of 2003 at 46 session in 3 months. It is safe to assume I had over 100 sessions in it in the last year and have not had to have it repaired yet. Although still holding up it was getting noticeably colder, at least north of Pt. Conception where the true nature of the flexible seams was showing through. My biggest complaint about this 3/2 was sometimes water got flushed down the back of the neck where the "batwing" was. This happened so rarely and the suit heated up so well afterwards that it was seldom an issue.
The decision came down to an Elasto 4/3 or a Fireskin 4/3 by Rip Curl who I swore brand loyalty to after several recent bad experiences in my 15 year relationship with O'Neill. The Fireskin being Rip Curl's warmest suit ever, utilizing polypropylene in about 50% of the suit, making it a lot more restrictive than the Elasto yet much warmer. One has to ask themselves weather they want a super flexible suit good for about 90 minutes in cold water or a bomber suit that is going to be more restrictive but will allow you to sit outside on cold days and wait out the sets. I chose the later, which retailed at $299 as opposed to the Elasto which was $269.
My first two sessions took place in 57 degree water on partly cloudy days with air temps in the low 60's and 5knt offshore winds. I used the suit in conjunction with last year's "Core 357" Rip Curl Booties (I believe the new models come out next week). The great thing about a new setup is you feel like you are in a dry suit when entering the water. It took me a while to actually feel the water in my suit because it was put together so well. I wear a size M in super stretchy suits but had to go with MT on this one cause it didn't stretch as much. Even then it was a little tight in the neck and shoulders and I was rolling the dice that it would loosen up after a few sessions. This suit is without a doubt the warmest suit I've ever worn, being too warm for these first two sessions. I found myself opening up the batwing and dunking in the water a lot in my sessions. As the water goes south of 55 and we get some cold damp mornings I think this suit will be in it's element. Rip Curl did away with it's superhero looking coating on this suit, instead opting for an old style "smoothy" approach. It felt like a step backwards to me, as I really love that coating on the chest and arms, it helps to bead water off of the suit and repels wind. The Fireskin instead only has a small patch on the chest of the smoothie material making it more vunerable in my opinion.
The loss of flexibility can't be underestimated when going from an Elasto to a Fireskin. Although still more flexible than old style Neoprene wetsuits of the 90's, you still feel like you've taken a step backwards from the Elasto. It is a huge tradeoff, flexibility for warmth. As time wore on the suit did start to open up some more, but it still left me tired and ragged after a 2 hour session. This of course is going to be offset by the confidence that I can go out on cold mornings in deep winter and know I've got the warmest thing going.
In summary it's tough to give a detailed review of the suit since I've only had two sessions in it, and in relatively warm conditions for what it was purchased for. However I can say this suit is put together very well. The fit and finish of the suit is excellent, with all seams looking and feeling great and the suit going on and coming off easy. The polypropylene in the torso is like bringing along a comfort blanket, it is warm and fuzzy and if nothing else will mentally make you feel immune to cold. I figure I'll try to write another review in January, after I've gotten to know the suit some more and the cold is in it's prime. In the meantime, if you want a bomber suit to sit outside on cold mornings north of Pt. Conception, get this suit. If you are looking for something south of the point or for quick lunchtime sessions I'd recommend an Elasto or equivalent.
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Monday, November 08, 2004
New reports from Saturday and Sunday and Brian is looking for a longboard in the classifieds.
Not unlike a poor attempt at fixing a delaminated surfboard, the IV Parking Plan haunts us more. This from Surfrider:
Board of Supervisors to Hear IV Parking Permit Plan one more time. The Board of Supervisors hearing on the Surfrider appeal of the I.V. parking program will be held on Tuesday, November 9 in Santa Maria at 9:30am. It will be possible to provide testimony via remote t.v. at the BOS hearing room in Santa Barbara (105 E. Anapamu, 4th floor). They will also hear an appeal from a resident who wants to see two separate zones (originally proposed). Email is also a good idea.
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Friday, November 05, 2004
Things look a bit messy out there so here are some old reports from Halloween Eve and Halloween.
The next surf movie in the queue is "A Broke Down Melody", the long awaited film my the Moonshine Conspiracy, which is this Wednesday, November 10th at the Arlington Theatre. Tickets are $8.50 and pre-sale at the box office or TicketMonopoly. I think 91.9FM KCSB will have a Jack Johnson interview this Monday on the "Real Junk" show around lunchtime. More details as they become available.
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Monday, November 01, 2004
This Thursday, Nov 4 is a showing of Change The Subject, a 
surf movie by LynchFilm at Victoria Hall in downtown Santa Barbara. Showtimes are at 6:00, 8:00 and 10:00, cost is $8.00, and the trailer is here. This benefits the SB chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. The lowdown: "Captured on 16mm adn digital video, Change the Subject focuses on modern performance surfing. From epic contest clahses between world champions, to free surfing in some of the world's best waves, Change the Suject offers a unique perspective into progressive surfing."
Pope's attempt at hijacking the SB Independent's Readers Choice award for "best surf spot" failed. It was, of course, Rincon which won again. The humorous thing is they got the person who wrote the script to North Shore to write the blurb: "It's really kind of an exclusive club, but one envied and known around the entire surfin' world. In early winter it starts to kick up, and throughout that season there's nothing like it on this coast for speed, shape, consistency, and power. But you must prove yourself, and only the best and most assertive surfers are welcomed by the athletically elite band of board riders." All of this time I thought I was just out there enjoying some fun waves. Hey tommorrow is Election Day, so no matter if you agree with P. Diddy or Trey Parker you know what to do.
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Santa Barbara Surfing. Created by Tim Maddux. Continued by Pope.
