Santa Barbara Area Surf Reports

Comments:

The long drive to Ventura for waves during a solid south swell. Saw it driving up the coast yesterday but couldn't stop. Sunset, Topanga, Sequit, County Line, C-Street... all lined up in a row and going off. Then as soon as were past Emma Wood it was as if a giant wall was erected to block all energy northward. Rincon had not even a soul out and for good reason, 180 degree it does not like. So today take the 45 minute drive down from Goleta to find something. K-dog had been out along the PCH at lunch and said it was great. Kevin called and I was going to try to meet him, but I had the fish and when I pulled up there was no way I could catch anything with my fish and the tide was too high to walk to where I'd of wanted to go. Unkle's red jeep was parked in the spot we park in on our long lost Saturday Longboard sessions, but I didn't see him in the lineup. He may have wandered beyond eyesight.

So I head further south and it gets a little windier but I paddle out at Emma Wood. The big sets would break way outside and closeout. The whole lineup was in at the inside peak, picking off waist to chest high reforms or energy the outer bar didn't take. I hung outside playing on the big sets that normally took me nowhere. I'd catch one on a hairball drop and see a dozen kids inside waiting for me to fall on them. Later in the session I headed to the inside section where I got longer waves and much better turns. Took one of my most intense turns on the fish. I got the fish planing super fast down the line and took a few pumps when a little section was building up so I put everything I had into a big cutback where I tried to really keep my feet behind the fins and "skate" the back out. I dug so deep and the transfer of energy felt so good until something didn't work out and I ate it, in the middle of the biggest turn ever on this board. It's not like the giant twin fins couldn't grab enough water. Perhaps the tiny center fin came out of the water and the back of the board skated out beyond my ability to control it. Either way it still felt great. A few more waves like that, with lots of super fast pumping down the line and big energy sucking turns and it was well worth the drive.