Santa Barbara Area Surf Report

May Overview | 1996 Overview


Date/Time:
Friday, May 17th, 7:00 am - 11:00 am
Location:
Sequit/ Secos / Leo Carrillo
Weather:
Fog on the drive down, warm sun and light wind in the lineup.
Conditions:
Clean and glassy.
Swell:
Fun 5 ft. 17 s. SSW groundswell, chest to head high with overhead sets.
Comments:
New long-period southern hemisphere swell that began to arrive at around midnight or early Thursday morning. By yesterday evening the buoys had climbed as high as 7 ft. 17 s.

Woke up early and made the dawn patrol drive south... didnn't see even a hint of swell until making the round past Mugu Rock. Sets were thumping and heaving out there, with nobody braving them.

After watching a solitary shortboarder in the lineup for about 15 minutes, decided to give it a go-out rather than heading further south to more crowded Zeroes or Malibu.

The tide was low early on, which mean fewer of the larger set waves were lining up properly, instead closing out from rock to rock. But there were other fun and uncrowded waves up to head high out there between the set wave punishment.

Best waves of the day skirted the line between closing out all the way across and doing the typical mushdown before building up again. Got more than plenty of those. Also got a bunch of hairy late drops on overhead closeout bombs, and a few kamikaze jumps off the top as the curtain folded beneath.

Passed the time by adapting to the tide increase which pushed the lineup closer and closer to the rock, and chatting w/ some fellow Rincon locals with the same method of dealing w/ summer flatness.

Nice waves, great day, will be out there tomorrow.


Santa Barbara Surfing -- Last updated 6/17/96.