| Santa Barbara Area Surf Report | |||
| May Overview | 2000 Overview | ||
| Date/Time: | Friday, May 12th, 1:30 pm - 6:30 pm |
| Location: | Secos / Arroyo Sequit / Leo Carrillo |
| Weather: | Sunny and mild with light westerly air turning to moderate winds by sundown. |
| Conditions: | Uncrowded, glassy and perfect early but too low tide. Fair and choppy and crowded by sundown with higher tide and larger surf. |
| Swell: | Building SSW southern hemi, 3 ft at 20-25s from 200 deg. |
| Surf: | Very setty. Shoulder to head high early, filling in to well overhead by evening. Long waits punctuated by strong sets of more than 10 waves at times. |
| Comments: |
Timed the highway approach for this session to grab the
tide and swell just as both began to rise. Figured everyone
would be on it as I was, anticipating a packed session with
just a few waves for me. Imagine my shock when I cruised
past the lineup waiting to make the left turn into the
state beach lot and saw nobody out! Nobody! What the hell?
Was there another
sewage spill?
Despite the fact that a good friend of mine has just gotten
over a horrible infection (flesh eating bacteria) after taking
a fin cut at County Line, surfing alone at Secos was
too good to pass up.
Tide was really too low, and I wasn't out there by myself for long, but I got a bunch of shoulder to head high sets off the third reef, which was going totally dry and popping out as much as 2' from the water on every ripple that passed. Waves a mixture of playful, fast, and a bit messed up from kelp and shallow rocks down the line. The tide and crowd filled in together, particularly after one or two solid overhead sets rolled through. Kept getting waves, so I stayed out there. By the time I had my first thought of going in, it was already 5, nearly a 4 hour session! Sometime around that point I got my last really good wave, off the first reef, overhead and fun. The squaretail felt great under me, connecting my feet right to the water, giving the session a visceral feel. Couldn't help but paddle back out. Unfortunately the tide pushed in further, killing the reef and jacking the rest of the waves in to the rock. A younger and fresher crew was all over it, getting barrelled over and over again. I just didn't have the strength to get into most of them or the speed to pop to my feet when I finally would get close to dialing one in. In the end the swell sent me one last chance, putting me back out on the 1st reef, alone, and paddling in perfect position for one of the best waves of the afternoon with everyone watching me... watching me botch the drop and get tumbled to way inside the rock. I'd gotten as many waves as I was physically able to, and went in right then before the next wipeout would result in a ding or injury. Happy Mother's Day, especially to all the surfing moms out there! Catch a few for me, I'll be back in the water on Sunday... |