Santa Barbara Area Surf Reports

Comments: K-dog and I headed down to our favorite big sandy beach for our weekend ritual of surfing and running. It was the first day of May, and it was sunny and warm out. K-dog opted out of surfing and went on her run and I headed out with the shortboard. I went sans-booties because it's been getting a lot warmer up here, my first time barefooting at this beach. There were millions of those giant sandcrabs (Spiny Mole Crabs) tunneling into the sand, and they were squirming and sharp on my feet as I headed into the lineup. I had to start paddling way earlier than usual to avoid the feeling of walking on sandcrab shells.

The lineup was spread out and the current was moving us north. I started out in front of the park ranger station and ended up a the rivermouth because I didn't' fight the current the whole way. I caught some pretty fun waves, most of them closed out pretty quick but sometimes I got to get a few turns in before coming off the top in a blaze of glory.

Meanwhile I had devious intentions.

After 45 minutes I got out of the water to prepare for K-dog's arrival back from her run. I went to the car to grab my towel, camera, along with a special something. I saw her in those bright orange shorts coming from the south and convinced her to jump in the water with me. She went to put her bathing suit on but came back with her wetsuit on with intentions of bodysurfing for awhile. We started walking out and the sandcrabs became unbearable. K-dog bellyflopped into knee high water and dog paddled around to avoid stepping on millions of sandcrabs, and it became clear we were not going to bodysurf today. Back on the beach I asked K-dog if she could carry my surfboard for me. I did this because my covert ops had enabled me to leave a secret message under my board.

That's right, a few small sanddollars, some swift writing in the sand, and a rock on a ring and I popped the question right then and there. The answer was yes and we went about our day in a daze. Headed over to Wild Bill's and family for the announcement and champagne and then spent the afternoon exploring the shores of Morro Bay's back bay, followed by dinner at Mare Blu in Los Osos and a bottle of Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio.