Santa Barbara Area Surf Reports

Comments:

Craziest Rincon Session ever. Was heading to Pierpont for pa's birthday dinner and figured I could squeeze in a quick session in this quickly filling in post-storm swell. The stormy weather was clearing out and it was looking like it might give the ocean a chance to offer a stage for the big swell. Both parking lots were packed, people were parking on the road, the CHP was hasseling people. I parked and went for it, didn't even want to know how crowded it was or what it looked like.

I was in in for a big surprise. I walked down the steps to indicator and big bombs were coming in. I wanted to paddle in up top and backdoor the lineup but the beachbreak was looking imprentable. No one was opting for that route. So I crawled over lots of rocks above the rivermouth and began to paddle out. I then got worked for about 10 minutes paddling out and ducking wave after wave. Watching bombs explode outside, some coming in near double overhead. It was loco. I was undergunned on my 6'6" Sands board. I was also not nearly mentally prepared for such conditions and was losing hope I'd ever make it out.

By the time I made it out to the lineup I had been swept into the cove, and was sitting in the lineup just above the glass house. After some rest I began to figure out where to sit. The crowd was nervous. When big sets would come in, half of the pack would high tail for the channel, and the other half would head out to greet it. I did a little bit of both, depending on my confidence level at that particular moment. I only had 1 hour to surf and I was 20 minutes in without a wave but rested up from the paddle out. Sets were coming in and I was waiting for my magic chance, it was crowded but so big it was thinner than it could of been. I finally clawed by way into my first wave, a heaving giant that came sputtering along. This was, without a doubt, my biggest Rincon wave ever. I don't think it was bigger than the Jan 19th waves I caught along the Gaviota Coast, but it was way heavier. The waves had some mush to them but were heavy. There was a lot of water behind those walls.

I raced down the line, looking like some kind of frozen caveman on my short board, just hanging on down the line, no big turns, no hitting the lip, just praying to god that I didn't blow it. I only got dropped in on once, and a whistle took care of that problem. The wave then hit a slow spot and I finally made my first cutback, let a bunch of poor souls over the shoulder and then raced down the line again. Coming now down towards the freeway the wave hit another lull, and as I tried to milk it to callbox I noticed it was ramping up to close out inside. I chickened out and let it go blast on the beach.

I then sat on my board in disbelief for about 5 minutes. My first wave of the session was both my biggest and longest Rincon wave ever. Should I just stop now? I only had a half hour to begin the brutal paddle out and attempt to wrestle a wave from all star surfers. I should of gone in and treausred the single Rincon wave I got on an great day, but instead I decided to go out again.

The paddle out was eternal and I wasn't able to get in postion for my 2nd wave, so at 4:55 and visions of flaking on pa's birthday dinner in my head, I caught some smaller inside wave, blew the takeoff and then got pushed into shore by whitewash. Not a very victorious way to come in from a session with photogs and gawkers on the beach. I wish I had time to grab the camera and document the day, but I began the walk across the driftwood and rocks, thru the first parking lot, down to the road and up to the 2nd parking lot. Everyone along the way had big, relaxed smiles.