| Santa Barbara Area Surf Report | |||
| September Overview | 1999 Overview | ||
| Date/Time: | Wednesday, September 22nd, 11:00 am - 3:00 pm |
| Location: | North L.A. County |
| Weather: | Warm and mostly sunny with mild westerlies by mid afternoon. |
| Conditions: | Good to fair. Some lump and bump. |
| Swell: | Swell from just about every place we get swell from, all in one day. Moderate southern hemi with tropical influence off of Hillary, and a NW windswell from the channel riding atop a small NW groundswell out of the North Pacific. |
| Surf: | All that added up to consistent fun waist to shoulder high surf with some sets to head high on the right spots. |
| Comments: |
Got much-needed sleep through the dawn and did a late
roll-out with Surfer Bob. Passed by Secos at about 10am
and saw inconsistent sets rolling off the big rock at high
tide. They looked fun but crowded when they came. After
yesterday's mind blowing session there
I wasn't amping to go out in more crowded, poorer conditions,
so I successfully lobbied for a food diversion. That took
us all the way to the 'bu and its fast food joints. Not much
happening there, waist-chest high and very crowded.
On the way back we decided to chance a mission to this spot, neither of us had ever surfed it before. I'd heard good things about some of the sections of the point and the words "problematic wave" ascribed to other sections. By all accounts it sounded like a longboard wave, so that's what we hauled in on a 45-min. stomp. We first paddled out to a mushburger reef that capped and then reformed before closing out. After a few waves I discovered the real trick was to get a wave off the monster mush, kick out over the shallow closeout, and then sprint paddle down the line to the next section before the set quit. It was a good plan that I pulled off successfully a few times, getting some great verandas on my leashless 9'6" that were as close as I'd have liked to getting barrelled. The sound of the wave sucking over the rear of my board and pitching was throaty and exquisite. Took a couple shots at another section 50 yards beyond that last one but didn't get a good wave out of it until my last one-two-three combination of rides all the way to the sand. Apparently the peak had just come into true form as three or four guys paddled out to it immediately after I took my wave in. Tired, I hung out on the beach and watched SurferBob get a few short rides. He came in and tried to get me to paddle back out, but I was feeling totally noodled. A playful, fun session, not a spot I'd likely hit more than once or twice a summer, but well worth the walk. |