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

Half of the Northern Channel Islands Now Foriegn Pop Out Surfboards

Friday, March 24, 2006

Al Merrick announced the spinning off of his Foreign pop outs into the new line of "Anacapa Surfboards", which will be produced by Global Surf Industries.

The “Anacapa” line consists of four performance designs; two small wave shapes, one all around shortboard, and one hybrid. All boards were designed by Al Merrick and the range and brand has been licensed to Global Surf Industries for production and worldwide distribution.

At first glance, this seems like a smart move for Al. He'll still be able to profit off the oversees pop-out market, yet he won't water down the CI name. He'll have two distinct product lines, each with their own brand recognition. This will allow him to continue to pour his energy into custom boards for his team riders, continuing to advance CI has the dominant brand in the marketplace. Weather or not people worldwide will scramble for an Anacapa Surfboard has yet to been seen though.

Surf Reports and Etc
A new surf report from Wednesday. We haven't heard from Surf Happens yet if the Rincon Classic is on or off this Saturday.
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Officially Springtime

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Surf Reports
The week that was. Seems like every swell we've had lately has been accompanied by wind and rain and these last few were no exception. The buoys jacked up out of nowhere on Wednesday morning but the wind was on it. Somehow the wind died in the afternoon and so here is Montecito Coast on Wednesday on the new 6'5". Thursday at Sands was a dawn patrol session on the snappier 6'3", so snappy the leash snapped. Saturday on the Central Coast finally continued the streak of fun waves although sub-par surfing, whereas Sunday on the Central Coast it all came together.


Bobby's Barrel
If you missed the barrel Bobby Martinez scored against Occy in his first ever man on man WCT heat, you can catch it posted on this site.

Ellwood and Deveruax
The Surfrider Foundation is gearing up to understand and comment on UCSB's new off campus housing project that is being proposed to attract faculty with reasonable priced homes. The project website is at www.ellwood-devereux.org and they found three conceptual drawings pertaining to proposed parking at the end of I.V. to think about. Also, there is a hearing this Wedneday March 22nd at 7:00PM at the Francisco Torres Linda Vista Room.

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101 Closed along Gaviota

Friday, March 17, 2006

Update: This was on Friday evening it's all over now. Reports came in that even after the freeway opened it took an hour and a half to get from Goleta to the Tunnel.

As a service we provide to our readers the 101 has been closed between Winchester Canyon and Highway 1. Both North and Southbound directions are closed. This was all due to a high speed chase that ended somewhere along the Gaviota Coast.

We'll provide updates if we hear anything.

Update: KEYT adds some details. Update: Is estimated the freeway will be closed until 6:30PM.
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Local Surf Contests Status and Michelle Housego Benefit

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

There are two surf contests slated for this weekend, the Rincon Classic and the Arden Taylor Benefit in Ventura.

The Rincon Classic has been postponed for the 3rd time this year. They will try again next weekend, the 25th and 26th of March. From the orgainzer:

We understand that the re-scheduled date may present some scheduling conflicts for some contestants and a full refund will be issued if you are unable to attend. Please advise us as soon as possible if you will be unable to make it as we have alternates standing by.

The Arden Taylor event in Ventura however is on, and according to the organizer:

Yes, the event is going to be running rain or shine. Same for the big party we are having afterward at my house. Everyone is welcome. 1 mile from the surfing event.

The Michelle Housego Benefit is this Friday, March 17th at the Marjorie Luke Theater. Doors Open @ 5:00pm and the event will start at 5:45 pm. Tickets are available in advance or at the door for $10. The event will feature a live auction, huge raffle, the film: The Craving, and live music by Amateur Sam. This all benefits her daughter Kali. If you can't make it, you could buy some Surf Forever gear instead.
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Carpinteria Animal Stories

Sunday, March 12, 2006

An interesting session at Rincon on Saturday followed by a normal session in Montecito on Sunday. I didn't know it at the time, but two seals were attacked by a Great White Shark, just North of Rincon on Thursday, making the Rincon lineup pretty empty during the Saturday session. Reader Henry grabbed the NewsPress story on it:

Carpinteria city officials warned residents on Friday about an attack by at least one great white shark on seals in the Harbor Seal Sanctuary. Two separate attacks on Thursday left two seals dead, according to a news release from the city. No people were nearby in the water when the attacks occurred. The killings were witnessed by visitors to the Seal Watch viewing area on the bluff above. Portions of the beaches in Carpinteria have been posted with warnings about the possibility of sharks being present in the water. The sanctuary, on a secluded stretch of beach next to an oil and gas plant pier, is where seals give birth to their pups. The beach and waters adjacent to the sanctuary are already closed to the public during the birthing season.

In addition to shark fears on Saturday, I saw an errant baby seal wandering the lineup chewing on surfer's leashes. Rain bookended the session in 44 degree air and according to the Stearns Wharf temperature gauge, the water was a chilly 51 degrees, dropping 5 degrees in 4 days. With all the weird weather and weird animals, the session was glassy and chest high at times, certainly a diamond in the rough.
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Snow

Friday, March 10, 2006

Snow on the pass today, from the cold front that arrived last night and should hang around all weekend. Things aren't looking good in the surf conditions department, so a snow day may be in order.

All that cold crazy weather has postponed the Rincon Classic for the 3rd time this year. This from Keets at Surf Happens:

We are now aiming for each consecutive week hereafter until we can get her done. That being said we appreciate you helping to get the word out that the next waiting weekend will be Sat. and Sun March 18 & 19. We will send out an email the Wednesday prior to that if the event is to be
further postponed.

Stay tuned right here to Santa Barbara Surfing to see the contest gets the green light next week.
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Slater and Martinez Results

Thursday, March 09, 2006

2:15PM PST, Bobby and Kelly surfing the semi's, we'll update this post with the results when it's over. You can watch it at aspworldtour.com

Update: Kelly crushed Bobby in the semi and puts an end to Bobby's miracle run. Still a great job from the rookie, and he'll now be currently tied for 3rd in the World.
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Slater vs. Martinez Semi Final

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Bobby Martinez beat Daminen Hobgood in the quarterfinals at the Quiksilver Pro today. He moves on to the semi-finals against 7 time world champion Kelly Slater, in what will be their first heat together. One has to wonder who Al Merrick will be rooting for.

CI For Sale
Speaking of Channel Islands, Doug is selling his new custom shaped Channel Islands M13 for $800 in the classifieds.
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Bobby Martinez Makes QuarterFinals

Bobby Martinez went 15 minutes into his heat with Parko before catching a wave, but then packed 5 waves into the final 15 minutes. His 4th wave was judged a 7.27 and was a little controversial since he fill off on his last snap. This score however gave him the lead by .43 points with just a few minutes left, and Parko waited and waited for a higher scoring wave. As Parko waited, Bobby-O then finished Parko with an 8.83 to clinch the victory from the local. That makes 3 favored Australians in a row Bobby has beaten down under. Bobby advances to the finals against Damien Hobgood (USA).
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Bobby Martinez Round 4 On Today

Update: Bobby is will be surfing his heat against Parko at 3:40 PST today, Wednesday the 8th and the live feed is here.

The ASP has clips of his waves in Round 2 against Occy by clicking here. The footage of Bobby starts at 1:16. Clips of him in Round 3 are at the start of this segment.
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Bobby Martinez Wins Again

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Surf Reports
Finally some rideable conditions, although with some forth involved. A Thursday session at Rincon, and a Friday session at Sands.


Bobby Mania
Bobby had an interesting yet positive today on Australia's Gold Coast. Being in the first heat against Phillip MacDonald at 8:00 in the morning, neither of them caught a wave for the first 15 minutes. The contest directors restarted the heat from scratch and when 15 more minutes went by without a ride they postponed the event until 11am and moved it to a different break. Bobby then defeated Phillip MacDonald by over 2 points in the heat. He moves onto Round 4, where he will surf the first heat of the round against his 3rd Australian in a row, Joel Parkinson.
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Martinez Unleashed

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Bobby Martinez had an amazing heat against Occy today in Round 2. He had an event high 9.93 wave that had him crushing the lip then pulling into the one of the best tubes of the day. He'll advance to round 3 against a yet un-named surfed at a time TBD. We'll try to find video of his wave. UPDATE: He'll surf against Phillip MacDonald in Heat 1 of Round 3, which should probably start at about 2:00 our time here. Fox Sports has an article on his heat victory too.

From the ASP site:

Rookie Martinez KOs His Hero
Rookie Bobby Martinez in only his second heat on the Foster's ASP Men's World Tour completely dominated heat 11 over the legend Mark Occhilupo. Martinez locked into what was the highest wave score of the event when he tore into a four foot grinder with unfounded aggression. The hotshot then tucked under the lip for what was the best tube of the day. He was unlucky not to be scored a perfect 10 but he came awefully close with a 9.93.

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Santa Barbara Surfing. Created by Tim Maddux. Continued by Pope.