Santa Barbara Area Surf Report

November Overview | 1996 Overview


Date/Time:
Tuesday, November 19th, 11:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Location:
North County
Weather:
Early morning fog and drizzle in town. At the spot, clean and glassy and sunny, with very faint breezes from sideshore.
Conditions:
Excellent, almost perfect.
Swell:
Head high to overhead wave heights with some sets pushing to 15+ feet on the face.
Comments:
Early morning made a trip down to Rincon hoping to catch the west but nothing was showing. Knee high to waist high at best. Turned around on the highway to double back north. Lost a wiper blade while driving. 15 bucks to replace it. Stopped on Milpas to get some food and got caught in a traffic jam. Bad start.

Finally got my feet in the sand 4 1/2 hours after the alarm clock went off in the morning. It was pumping! Paddled out with a dry head, feeling good. Picked off the first right that came to me, casual paddle into a head high wave, and slipped off on the bottom turn, right off the front of the board. What!?!

Most of the larger sets were closeouts. Most of the overhead waves were as well, forcing a lot of pick-and-choosing. Surfed the rights, which meant a punishing trip back outside, but it was worth it.

Then the real sets started coming, and everyone got beat 50 yds inside about three times in a row. After the fourth time an hour later, turned around and let the whitewaater carry me in. Biggest waves I've seen in months.


Santa Barbara Surfing -- Last updated 11/18/96.