Santa Barbara Area Surf Report

November Overview 1997 Overview

Date/Time: Friday, November 14th, 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Location: Campus Point
Weather: Clearing conditions with westerlies pushing across the point.
Conditions: Fair to poor. Clean way inside Poles in the shelter of the bluffs.
Swell: Strong WNW swell, 15-20 ft at 14-17 s on the buoys. Big waves pulsing off a stationary low that has been reeling over a large fetch for a few days now.
Surf: Semi-consistent, thigh high with sets to shoulder high on the peaks, lines as small as ankle high on the inside.
Comments: At 3:00 pm saw Rincon: victory-at-sea with gales atop the indicator and junk in the cove. A thick crowd managing it, getting rides nearly to the freeway from atop the cove, but the takeoffs are mushy and difficult. Wrestled with the decision for about 30 minutes but eventually decided to give it a miss in the hopes of better conditions late in the evening.

Headed out with the 9'2", meeting up with Tim' and Surfer Bob for a late evening / night surf. A bit crowded early on but that's when I got my best waves. My leash failed in 3 places midway through the session; the velcro around my leg separated, a fin cut the middle of it, and the stitching on the railsaver unravelled. It felt good to surf unhampered by the leash, and my performance improved immediately, even pulled off a few cross steps without even giving it much thought.

Things cleared up with nightfall until there were only five of us out looking for the sets that occasionally reared up. The wave proved to be a lot more difficult to surf at night since we couldn't see where to cut back anymore and wound up popping out the backs of most of our waves. The situation improved a little bit as the moon began to rise. Unfortunately, I only had my springsuit on and got cold and went in first, while Tim' and Surfer Bob stayed toasty in their 4/3's.

Heavy surf advisories have been extended through Sunday for all of Southern California.


Santa Barbara Surfing -- Last updated 11/14/97.