Santa Barbara Area Surf Report

Lucked into a free spot, especially choice now that the fairgrounds has installed a new kiosk at the park-n-paddle lot and upped the fee to $5. Looked better than I expected from a glance, figured I would need to venture further into beachbreak territory to find size but the swell was definitely filling in.

Kayakers in the water for some sort of contest out by the rivermouth, but they were exceedingly polite and essentially a non-factor -- I don't remember a single wave I wanted that they were even on, let alone having them drop in or wipe out on me. Very uncrowded in general. The contest or the parking situation or perhaps the recent rains and pollution sign postings may have been the reason. Whatever the reason, it was nice to get some good clean waves.

Sets were fickle and roved back and forth across the various peaks at Stables, hitting best on the inside bowl and way out the back. Got a lot of fun late drops followed by very fast and eventually unmakeable sections (for me), others were having better luck and pulling off longer rides. Biggest wave was my last in the Stables lineup, pushing 10' on the face with a steep drop and a big mushy wide shoulder, followed by a section breaking way off by the showers. Stayed out a little longer and grabbed a short ride at C Street in to the sand.

Dinner tonight was at the Cold Spring Tavern, never been up there before, overpriced and not very good meal but the roadhouse blues next door was outstanding.