Sunday, October 30, 2005 @ 8:00 AM
First Day of PST
| Location: | Rincon | ||
| Weather: | Sunny and Warm | ||
| Conditions: | Clean with some mini pitch outs | ||
| Swell: | NW and SW Mix, smaller than yesterday | ||
| Surf: | Waist High Sets | ||
| Wetsuit Life: | 21 Sessions in Rip Curl Bomb |
Comments:
Made it to Rincon two hours earlier than yesterday, but with the time change it was the equivalent of only one hour. A lot of the same faces from yesterday, the springsuit guy with the yellow board was one of them. The tide was higher than my session yesterday so it took some time before things were ideal. Also the crowd seemed a little bigger or a least a little more competent. A lot of 14 year groms killing it. The waves were perfect for these kids, one of them was so small he had to be like 8 years old or something, and the little mini tear drops that pitch out at the indicator were perfect vaccum's for these little dudes. All wearing Xcel wetsuits, it was obvious these were all Carp groms and chatty at that. The rally cry for this little posee was "Pull In!" No matter what size wave or how badly formed it was, if some grom was taking off, some other grom was yelling "Pull In!". Sprinkling groms around a lineup is always a good thing, they bring a certain youthful energy to things, getting stoked from just about anything. Of course these kids were severely decreasing my wavecount, but I managed to find pockets to sit in where everyone lived in harmony. Yet again the weather was spectacular, not a cloud in the sky and that sun low in the sky still managed to put some warmth on the skin. The left off of the indicator wasn't breaking as good today. Things were much more lined up to go right which may have been why less waves available. Still this session was super fun and I was surfing in my 90th percentile.Getting out of the water I saw the guy with the Aviso board from yesterday. Yet again he was getting some attention with this new board. I saw him get one wave with it, and i can attest it is surfable. Aftewards some coffee at French Bulldog.
Saturday, October 29, 2005 @ 10:00 AM
Last Day of PDT
| Location: | Rincon | ||
| Weather: | Sunny and Warm | ||
| Conditions: | Clean with some mini pitch outs | ||
| Swell: | NW and SW Mix | ||
| Surf: | Waist High Sets | ||
| Wetsuit Life: | 20 Sessions in Rip Curl Bomb |
Comments:
Mid morning session on the Fish at Rincon. Little Bear ran to Carp while I surfed at the Indicator. A few dozen surfers spread out at the indicator and the rivermouth. A super fast yet makeable left breaking up top, along with a very workable right. Between Indicator and Rivermouth was a mushy right that held back too much but was uncrowded. The rivermouth had a nice right going. I speant most of my time at the indicator but played the rover card and moved where the wave/crowd ratio was good, doing several laps from the top to the rivermouth and back over several waves. The weather was gorgeous. Last weekend at this time it was foggy and drizzly and I honestly felt like I lived in Seattle. Today is why we live here, a warm sunny morning, the smell of fall in the air, clean waves and good vibes. This was my best session in many days, caught a lot of waves and didn't suck. Had many workable waves with some racy sections with powerful (for me) cutbacks. A few little attempts at getting covered up, but that was only really pulled off by the 14 and under groms out there.Tide was getting low, and the rocks were starting to show more and more. Some big lulls came in but the sets were fun if you were sitting in the right place. The indicator started to closeout out a little bit at the right and connect more with the mushy in betweener section from earlier. It was getting fast.
In the parking lot was a guy and gal from down south somewhere. He worked for Lost and had one of their new Aviso boards of Carbon Fibre. He was raving about it and showed us the lightly damaged nose that ran into a pier a few days ago. Seemed like a nice bloke. Afterwards some coffee from French Bulldog then putting in some hours at work to get some stuff out the door for our first million dollar month.
Friday, October 28, 2005 @ 1:30 PM
Isla Vista Halloween
| Location: | Sands | ||
| Weather: | Sunny and Warm | ||
| Conditions: | Clean yet often closing out | ||
| Swell: | NW Windswell |
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| Surf: | Knee High, Some Waist High Sets | ||
| Wetsuit Life: | 19 Sessions in Rip Curl Bomb |
Comments:
A late lunch session with Kyle at Sands. Isla Vista was gearing up for Halloween weekend. Tons of fences erected to deter people from parking places, and tons of tow trucks roving the streets like sharks. Lots of cops out there too, and a funny feel in the air, with the warm day and all, the vibe was full of anciness and excitement and a touch of chaos. The water was pretty crowded but their were some waves at first. We just paddled out into the thick of it at Stu Peak and got as many waves as we could. A much different crowd than usual. I thought they were more talkative and friendly, but Kyle thought they were more kooky. I guess that's one and the same in the surfing world. Chatted with a kid with a ball cap on, he was from Santa Maria originally so we talked about SB North County surfing and SLO South County surfing. A couple of longboarders were out there sitting far out and stealing waves, a little uncool. With great power, comes great responsibility I wanted to tell them as they kept paddling deeper then me.Got a couple of fun turns in, and got taken down hard over the falls a few times on accidental stall at the lip. A nice Fall Friday session.
Thursday, October 27, 2005 @ 5:30 PM
A Little Rain
| Location: | Goleta Beachbreaks | ||
| Weather: | Clearing Up From Scattered Showers | ||
| Conditions: | Somewhat Chunky From The System | ||
| Swell: | 6.1ft at 12s @ 295° |
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| Surf: | Knee High, Some Waist High Sets | ||
| Wetsuit Life: | 18 Sessions in Rip Curl Bomb |
Comments:
Last nights session was such an unexpected good time that I thought I'd try it again. Today the buoys showed even more action, and I had images of chest high waves. Not so, said the ocean. Waves were smaller and less consistant than yesterday, with chunky conditions to boot. An older guy on cool yellow board out there at the peak I was out and 4 kids further down the beach. Waves often closed out, and sometimes doubleed up and got funky from the wind that was driving them mad. The weird rip current thing from yesterday was in effect today also, making a whole swath of ocean turbulent and not so fun. Didn't have that many good waves, mostly short rides and a few head dips. Bird Island looked completely gone, just a few oil boats and a barge out there doing something. No dolphins or seals but I encountered one of the worst Tar Storms of my life at this spot. I could see a mixed up edge of water outside of my position and soon enough the leading edge of this thermocline or whatever it was had so many tar balls I didn't know what to do. It was like surfing at sands there was so much junk in the water.Sunset was pretty good, still happy to see the sun.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005 @ 5:30 PM
Surpise Session
| Location: | Goleta Beachbreaks | ||
| Weather: | Cool and mostly clear | ||
| Conditions: | Clean little lines. Some roughness from rip currents. | ||
| Swell: | 4ft at 12s @ 295° |
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| Surf: | Knee High, Some Waist High Sets | ||
| Wetsuit Life: | 17 Sessions in Rip Curl Bomb |
Comments:
Further proof that some of my funest sessions are when I least expect it. For example today, no Monster Swell predicted and no hype out there, not much energy showing up on the buoys. No expecations of waves whatsoever, and I barely convince myself to suit up. Glad I did because it was tons of fun. Just 3 or 4 high school kids out there and me. Mostly small waves but rideable on the Fish and sometimes a waist high set would come in for some shrap shrap. Sunset was great, which is the first sunset in many days of fog and drizzle. Really can improve ones mood seeing that great glowing orb. Some of the kids were getting some sick micro pits that they were compressing their adolescent little frames into. I actually didn't suck and managed to pull off a couple of little tuck ins and some mad turns.Bird Island destruction has come along at a good pace, still a lot of activity out there but the main structures apeared to be down. No dolphins or seals out there. Pretty quite day in small town america.
Monday, October 24, 2005 @ 12:00 PM
Sands With Swell
| Location: | Sands | ||
| Weather: | Fog | ||
| Conditions: | Cleaner yet Closing Out | ||
| Swell: | 8ft at 14s @ 305° |
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| Surf: | Chest High, Some Head High Sets | ||
| Wetsuit Life: | 16 Sessions in Rip Curl Bomb |
Comments:
After a frustrating day trying to find the right place to surf yesterday today I headed to Sands with Kyle at lunch. The conditions were much better, plenty clean, some glass and people were getting tubed. I once saw the lip come over me but I snuck out the backdoor before the tunnel vision. Worst mistake of the day. Stu peak was filled with surfers so we surfed down in front of the Plovers and the shape was often too closed out there. The bigger sets, a touch overhead would just detonate and offer nowhere to go, whereas anything shoulder high and smaller would offer some shape. First half of the session I surfed like garbage. Missed a lot of waves, blew a lot of drops. After that I got a handful of waist high waves to restore confidence and then dropped in on more chest high or so waves but seldom made the 1st section. Best wave of the day for me was a right that offered down the line speed for pumping, a duck down and try to get covered section that was unsuccesfull and then a nice little hit on the lip at the end.Kyle got some good ones, actually took off on some of the better sets and get rides faster and further than I. The crowd was killing me, they seemed to be on every wave I was going for. So this swell pretty much was a bust for me, either chunky cruddy conditions, bad surfing performance and crowds brought the fun factor down. Next time.
Sunday, October 23, 2005 @ 5:00 PM
Cheese with your Swell
| Location: | Mesa | ||
| Weather: | Fog/Drizzle | ||
| Conditions: | Chunky, Cheesy, Brown and Depressing | ||
| Swell: | 8ft at 17s @ 305° |
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| Surf: | Infrequent Head High Sets | ||
| Wetsuit Life: | 15 Sessions in Rip Curl Bomb ($18/session) |
Comments:
In retrospect, a poorly executed plan for our incoming NW swell. I tried to play it cool, knew the swell wasn't coming in until later and that if I dawn patrolled or tried to surf a long session I'd be too tired for when the swell was really here. However I couldn't resist and so checked out Rincon about 10am. I stood at the top of the steps above indicator and watched for about 20 minutes. Half a dozen surfers came and went and this was their response to the T:- Hmmm
- Yeah, hasn't shown yet
- Hmmm
- Must be too steep
- Going to fill in good tonight
- Wait, that set was mostly South showing
- Tommorrow morning will be good
- Or Maybe I'll drive to *North County Spot*
By evening time I did not have the fight left in me to battle southbound traffic for the 'Con and was feeling lazy enough to surf in town. Stood watching my first choice on the Mesa for about 20 minutes, it had some chest high waves but just no shape, crashing on the beach and cheesed out. I looked at a 2nd Mesa spot and went for it. Only 3 or 4 guys out, waist to chest high waves with an infrequent sneaker set about head high or so. I surfed on "Joe", the blue 6'3" that is really too high performance for me. Got a handful of fun ones but a lot closed out, and the boils from the rocks were a little sketchy. Held off on quite a few takeoffs cause some kid kept getting caught inside right in front of me. Got one or two hits on the lip that surprised me, my board was actually going where I told it to go, unlike the Fish which often times refuses to come back down.
Walked up the steps afterwards, back into the depressing Seattle like conditions of overcast and drizzly. The only good think is the Mesa smelled like some hearty fires were going on in some of those warm and cozy houses.
Saturday, October 22, 2005 @ 10:00 AM
Rincon: Day Before Opening Day
| Location: | Rincon | ||
| Weather: | Fog/Drizzle | ||
| Conditions: | Gross Brown Water, mini Waves | ||
| Swell: | Mostly SW sneaking thru |
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| Surf: | Calf to Knee High | ||
| Wetsuit Life: | 14 Sessions in Rip Curl Bomb |
Comments:
I knew, as well as the rest of California, that a swell was coming in Sunday. It probably wouldn't show until late, and it would probably be too steep to be epic, but it was coming. I needed to get over this funk this Seattle like weather was putting me in, so I went to the 'con with the longboard. Do it like I always do when there are no waves: No surf check, no leash, no second guessing the paddle out, just go for it. Sure enough, only a few people out, and only a few waves to be had.Surfed for an hour or so in these red tide conditions. Mostly surfed a little down from the glass house with a shaved headed guy I see out there a lot on these tiny days. We traded a lot of waves when the sets came in. Waves were so close to the rocks you almost couldn't make a cutback because you'd be on dry land.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005 @ 12:30 PM
Post Storm Clean Conditions
| Location: | Sands | ||
| Weather: | After the Storm | ||
| Conditions: | Clean and glassy but powerless | ||
| Swell: | Leftover too steep NW Groundswell |
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| Surf: | Knee High Sets | ||
| Wetsuit Life: | 13 Sessions in Rip Curl Bomb |
Comments:
Went out with Kyle at Sands at lunch, this time we put the cruisers in his truck and rode out in style. Got us an extra 10 or 15 minutes surfing time. There was no one out at Sands at all. I haven't seen that in a long, long time. The waves were small, but were rideable. Super clean little mini tubes breaking off right and left. Some were inspiring. Others were disapointing.We caught a few waves and it soon became clear we weren't going to milk much out of these. We saw a heli at Bird Island again but no bombs. We cut the session short, tried to bank some time for when we really get waves.
Saturday, October 15, 2005 @ 7:00 AM
Jehovahs Witness
| Location: | Mesa | ||
| Weather: | Cool Sunrise | ||
| Conditions: | Clean Waves yet Small | ||
| Swell: | No |
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| Surf: | Ankle High Sets | ||
| Wetsuit Life: | 12 Sessions in Rip Curl Bomb |
Comments:
The buoys looked great, long period out of the NW, but I guess too much N in that NW. Got up at 6:00 and stopped by a reef known for high tides, and it was not breaking. So I went to Rincon. Looked at the indicator for a while. There was cruddy morning sickness and not appealing at all. Where was the swell? I had to go out so I headed to a Mesa beachbreak trying to get anything. Wasn't breaking here either. Watched it for 20 minutes. Even got hit up by a Jehovahs Witness trying to give me Awake magazine. I can't believe this guy would track me down at the beach, enjoying myself, before 7:00. I let him know my displeasure, but it's not his fault. At least it wasn't Tom Cruise.I had to go out, I was heading up North right afterwards for Jonah's wedding. So I went out and was the only guy out in a sea of ankle to knee high waves. I kept losing my leashless board on super small waves. Waves were small but I had some fun rides. Jacked my neck up somehow and I couldn't look to my left all weekend.
Friday, October 14, 2005 @ 12:30 PM
Bombing Bird Island
| Location: | Sands | ||
| Weather: | Sunny and Hot | ||
| Conditions: | Clean Waves, Closing Out | ||
| Swell: | NW Windswell, First Trace of NW Groundswell? |
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| Surf: | Waist High Sets | ||
| Wetsuit Life: | 11 Sessions in Rip Curl Bomb |
Comments:
Had a dr's apointment with an ENT guy named John McCaffery in Goleta who said I had a sinus infection which is why my last 6 weeks have been feeling less than healthy and why the VC session on Sunday really hit hard. I wrote a review on the Doc, cause I think he could be helpfull for surfers in the area.So after the doc, Kyle hit me up at lunch to go surfing. I figured I might as well get some more junk up those sinus cavaties while I'm on the meds, so we headed to Sands. He was on his 6'3" round tail and I was on the Fish. Sands wasn't too crowded, but it was hot there were plenty of beachgoers everywhere. Less than 15 guys out, mostly at first peak, although shifted to the West somewhat because of the low tide. We'd only been out about 10 minutes when there was this huge "BOOM" coming from the West. There was a helicopter there, and I put two and two together and realized that was Bird Island that I've seen them dismantling for the last few weeks from various vantage points. Here is the NewsPress article:
A deafening explosion went off at Bird Island today and a column of water shot into the air -- but the giant caissons of the old pier did not tumble as expected.The 1 p.m. detonation off the Goleta coast was part of a monthlong effort by BP America Inc. to dismantle and replace the crumbling structure off Sandpiper Golf Course, part of an oil pier that was built in the 1930s.
The pier remnant had become a hangout for cormorants and pelicans, and plans call for erecting new platforms for the birds in its place. Originally set for 9 a.m., the explosion was delayed for hours as monitors on land, at sea and in the air scanned the ocean within a half-mile radius for signs of sea lions and other marine mammals. Kayakers in the area were told to leave. The explosives had been set earlier at the base of the columns by divers, but some of the charges did not go off, observers said."
It was pretty loud, and we did see white smoke come up from the structure. The helicopter kept circling, it wasn't a heavy lifting chopper, I think it was solely there as a spotter. After that big explosion, we moved from 1st peak and sat at 2nd peak to get some waves to ourselves. Every now and then a real fun set would come in, but the lulls were long and unfruitfull. The biggers waves were closing out but the thigh to waist high ones were fun. Kyle was the MVP, he got two fun lefts, one of them even bigger then waist high. Huge.
Thursday, October 13, 2005 @ 5:30 PM
Grom Convention
| Location: | Sands | ||
| Weather: | Sunny and calm | ||
| Conditions: | Clean little lines | ||
| Swell: | NW Windswell |
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| Surf: | Thigh High Sets | ||
| Wetsuit Life: | 10 Sessions in Rip Curl Bomb |
Comments:
Smaller than yesterday, which in retrospect was the best day of the week for me. All in all a pretty unspectacular and short session. A lot of groms out there and on the trail, must have been some surf team practice or something. A lot of local high school kids, it's good to see them tear the place up in front of the out of town college students.Sat at 2nd peak mostly by myself and picked off a few waves. Got a few fun rides.
Better than nothing.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005 @ 5:15 PM
IanI in the House
| Location: | Sands | ||
| Weather: | Sunny yet breezy | ||
| Conditions: | Somewhat chunky, calming down at sunset | ||
| Swell: | NW Windswell |
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| Surf: | Waist High Sets | ||
| Wetsuit Life: | 9 Sessions in Rip Curl Bomb |
Comments:
A super foggy day yesterday but today the sun was back. However with it was wind. I surfed for the first time with IanI, not to be confused with Ian, who now lives in North Carolina. We headed out between 1st and 2nd peak but pretty much surfed the rights at 2nd peak and some real fun lefts that were breaking in between the two peaks. It looked small and crappy, I didn't think it would be fun at all, but I was surprised, it was super consistent and waist high waves came thru nonstop, especially towards the end.I did my maddening race for waves, catching as many as I could before somehow, someway, it got really crowded and I never got another wave. It was fun, actually got a few cutbacks to the source ane some succesful pushbacks off the whitewater and then raced down to beat the section I just came from. No snake wars with students, and no one ran into me.
IanI surfed his 6'4" after several frustrating sessions on his shorter yet wider board. The 6'4" confirmed to himself that yes indeed he could surf, but his new shorter board was a slippery slope. He caught a ton of waves too, and we pretty much had a peak to ourselves the whole time. We surfed until after the sun went down, for sure a way better session than I had anticipated.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005 @ 5:15 PM
Tar at Sands Was Back
| Location: | Sands | ||
| Weather: | Foggy | ||
| Conditions: | Small without much shape | ||
| Swell: | NW Windswell |
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| Surf: | Thigh High Sets | ||
| Wetsuit Life: | 8 Sessions in Rip Curl Bomb |
Comments:
A warm sunny day turned to pea soup fog towards the end. The walk out to sands was a little chilly, and the fog was getting too thick to check out Deveraux. The crowd at Sands was pretty small, actually small enough for me to surf at 1st peak for awhile. After getting ran into by one guy, and getting into a snake battle with another guy, I headed over to 2nd peak for my own sanity. It wasn't breaking as good, it would real in the sets but they wouldnt' hold up as nicely.There was a kid out there I've seen for a long time, I think a Goleta local who surfs in contests, blond hair with a black wetsuit with red trim. He was shredding it out there, getting the best waves, and working them the best.
It's been about my 5th Sands session in a week, and this was the worst. Water had lots of smelly tar crud too.
Monday, October 10, 2005 @ 5:00 PM
Monday Night Football Session
| Location: | Mesa | ||
| Weather: | Sunny and Warm | ||
| Conditions: | Clean, Small and Fast | ||
| Swell: | NW Ground and Windswell |
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| Surf: | Knee High | ||
| Wetsuit Life: | 7 Sessions in Rip Curl Bomb ($35/session) |
Comments:
A quick one hour session at the Mesa before some Monday Night Football. Water was super warm, way too warm for the new 3/2, at least 4-5 degrees warmer than VC County yesterday. Only 1 guy out when I headed out and I sat a different peak than him. His peak had nice reelling lefts, and mine had lefts and rights that were both usually too fast to make. The point up the coast was breaking, one guy was on it, and I should of gone out there, it looked do-able on the Fish.Dolphins playing outside, and a lot of groms came out after awhile. One guy was trunking it. I was over-prepared with a fullsuit and a leash. A kook I was. I caught a ton of waves, usually they didn't last very long. Tried to get covered up about half a dozen times but only sorta happenend once, but I'm sure it only felt that way.
Afterwards it was the $3.95 chili dog/beer combo on Victoria.
Sunday, October 09, 2005 @ 7:00 AM
My Little Pony
| Location: | Ventura County | ||
| Weather: | Sunny with Light Offshores | ||
| Conditions: | Shifty Jacking Peaks, morning sickness then groomed | ||
| Swell: | SW and NW Groundswell |
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| Surf: | Head High, Some Overhead Sets | ||
| Wetsuit Life: | 6 Sessions in Rip Curl Bomb |
Comments:
Mank was in LA for the weekend and had 4 hour window to surf. I convinced him to meet me half way between there and Santa Barbara for a dawn patrol. We decided on a beachbreak in Ventura County that I'd never surfed despite my folks living 15 miles away. A mile long beachbreak that funnells South and North swell onto shallow sandbars, with a dallop of localism on top. The plan was simple, meet at dawn, keep to ourselves and find our own peak. No interaction with locals, no attempting at being anywhere near a heavy if he was taking off. This plan worked well because we were the first guys out in water. Several were looking at the waves and we couldn't tell if they were big or small, makeable or not-makeable, so we headed out, trying our best to look like we knew what we were doing.We found a peak that looked fun, but the peaks kept shifting, and we kept drifting south. Soon there were a few guys at the main peak, and we stayed at the next peak over. The sets were big monsters that were fast and tough to make. I took off on a couple of mid-sized waves, would get one turn in, and then high tail out of the impact zone as the curtain came down, exploded behind me, and then took me under. This was one of the most powerful waves I've surfed per unit volume, even head high waves would put your body to the test underwater. It was shallow, and interactions with the sandbars were common both on wipeouts and duckdives. Mank gets the MVP for this session, he took off on 3X as many waves as I did, most of them unmakeable, and came up somewhere down the line. It paid off big time for him once as he got a glorious left that took him all the way to the beach, and way down the line. It also caught up with him, by the end of the session his key had been forcibly removed from his interior key pocket and was loose inside his wetsuit down near his knee. He also got dis-orriented under water once, and when he made it to the surface he almost puked.
The size and power of this place, added with the many years of hearing localism stories, completely got in my head. By the end of the session I was a physcological mess, wussing out on any wave that didn't come with a money back guarantee of not closing out, and staying equadistant between other surfers. A few big sets came in, I think those were the sets that combined the SW and NW swells together into supersets. These things were a foot or so overhead and feathered on the outside sandbars, held up for a few moments and then exploded on the next sandbar. I was about .05 seconds from dropping into one of these. I caught it, was angled to got left, and Mank was on the inside paddling out. I would of been the MVP with eye witness proof of wrangling in a Big Momma. Instead, I opted for pulling out, to see it detonate wall to wall behind me. We didn't encounter localism on the human front, but mother nature dealt with us non-locals in kind.
Saturday, October 08, 2005 @ 7:30 PM
Avocado Festival Session
| Location: | Rincon Indicator | ||
| Weather: | Fog Lifting to Sun | ||
| Conditions: | Short Lived Peaks | ||
| Swell: | NW Windswell |
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| Surf: | Waist High | ||
| Wetsuit Life: | 5 Sessions in Rip Curl Bomb |
Comments:
Headed down to Thousand Steps with Little Bear for Tony and Julie's sunrise wedding, which was a great time. Had some mimosas and scones, then headed south to Rincon with the Fish. Bear ran, and I surfed. I had visions of it picking up some south swell, or the NW groundswell coming in, but the cove was not going to work for anything other than a Longboard, which would of been a good time. However I did the best I could and headed to Indicator and surfed.Caught a few short lived waves here, got a few turns in, but it was pretty gutless so I started to surf back to the cove. Caught a few knee high ones in the cove and called it a day. After that it was French Bulldog followed by the Avocado Festival in Carpinteria.
Friday, October 07, 2005 @ 5:15 PM
You Gotta Go To Know
| Location: | Sands | ||
| Weather: | Sunny and Calm | ||
| Conditions: | Peaky Windswell | ||
| Swell: | NW Windswell |
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| Surf: | Waist High | ||
| Wetsuit Life: | 4 Sessions in Rip Curl Bomb |
Comments:
I had a super fun session yesterday, and today the buoys were almost twice as big in height and bumped up to 14s periods, so I thought it would be going off. I even contemplated taking the shorty instead of the Fish but Little Bear convinced me that I shouldn't get my hopes up. She was right and I'm glad I took the Fish. The waves seemed smaller and less consistant than yesterday, with just as many people. I walked all the way to the very last person, which was past the 2nd Snowy Plover sign. From there I slowly surfed my way down to the 2nd peak where it started to get a little more fun.Got dropped in on by a couple of students, a couple of times I should of dropped in on waves that people didn't make, and other aggravating things like that are bound to happen if I surfed Sands a few days in a row like this. So not as good as yesterday but according to buoys looked twice as good. That's why I just have to go to know.
Thursday, October 06, 2005 @ 5:30 PM
Third Session
| Location: | Sands | ||
| Weather: | Indian Summer, slight offshore | ||
| Conditions: | Peaky Windswell, Clean and Sometimes Pitching | ||
| Swell: | NW Windswell |
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| Surf: | Waist High, Some Bigger Sets | ||
| Wetsuit Life: | 3 Sessions in Rip Curl Bomb |
Comments:
Two days in a row of fun windswell at sands, and I go back once again. The buoys have dropped all day, and Wild Bill said his lunchtime session was pretty small, so I was expecting disapointment. Sure enough walking out there I didn't see much. The crowd was a little smaller than last night, I only had to walk to the 1st white sign to find some space. My first 15 minutes I was catching waves like the world was ending, catching anything that moved, paddling out, and spinning around before I even made it out to get something else. Once I was satsified on wave count I got a little more picky and waited for the sets.The sets were about 5 minutes long with 5 minutes lulls. Or so. When it was on, it really was on, with wave after wave coming in and providing fun rights and lefts. I worked a lot of lefts, until I started to drift East into the main peak and I started to take a lot of lefts. The sun was going down and it was getting so consistent and I found myself amongst people that were not taking off on the walled up ones, so I took wave after wave that often ended up being a race down the line followed by an explosive floater attempt where limbs flailed everywhere. For 10 or 15 minutes right around sunset I was out of my mind taking fun wave after fun wave and becoming a better surfer by the minute.
Then a long lull came, a new group moved to where I was and my last wave in I got dropped in on by a guy who got drug over the falls right in front of me. That's when I noticed all the rocks I was surfing in front of.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005 @ 5:30 PM
Windswell Savior
| Location: | Sands | ||
| Weather: | Indian Summer | ||
| Conditions: | Peaky Windswell, Sporadic Racetracks | ||
| Swell: | NW Windswell |
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| Surf: | Waist High Sets | ||
| Wetsuit Life: | 2 Sessions in Rip Curl Bomb |
Comments:
I certainly can become a creature of habit. If a session works for me one day, I'll go back to the same place, same time, with the same board. With Santa Barbara being so fickle, one doesn't want to take the chance of jinxing yourself by assuming it is good somewhere else, or that you can bring out a higher performance board for tommorrow's session. So it was on the Fish, in the Bomb, at Sands, after Work. Again. The habit paid off because it was just like yesterday, a crowd of students strewn from the Cliff House to the Docent, with two very dense packs, one being the peak I surfed yesterday.
So I walked even further, all the way down to the 2nd white sign saying to not disturb the snowy plover. Here the density was more agreeable, and I was soon trading waves with like minded lower density surfers. The Fish was the right choice, those on potato chips were scratching and grimacing and it was painful to watch the missed waves. Not that I let it stop me from scrapping into anything I could find.
Surfing two days in a row on the same equipment at the same place has a real postive effect on one's surfing. The blown takeoffs and bogged down turns that haunt me on day one are mostly gone by day two and I'm surfing like a super hero (in my own mind), taking off with confidence on late pop up peaks breaking in shallow water, and actually getting in turns off the top and cutbacks off the wash, and in general surfing in the zone.
The sun went down and it was me, a guy and a girl, all equadistant from each other and occaionsaly, overlapping on lefts and rights. A good session.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005 @ 6:00 PM
The New Wetsuit
| Location: | Sands | ||
| Weather: | Santa Ana Conditions | ||
| Conditions: | Peaky. Gutless Rights, Racy Lefts | ||
| Swell: | NW Windswell |
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| Surf: | Waist High Sets | ||
| Wetsuit Life: | 1 Session in Rip Curl Bomb |
Comments:
Did a lunchtime check, with board and all, to the beachbreaks and there was nothing. The tide was high and was shutting it down although the buoys were showing some windswell. Disheartened I went back to work and planned a glass off assault at Sands. So had others. It was crowded out there for those medicore conditions. Over 50 people strung out between the main peak and Snowy Plover Docent Station. I was baffled so walked as far West as it took to get some space.
What followed was a very fun session on the fish in the new suit. The waves were peaky and fun, yet the rights wimped out quick, allowing a fun drop and one turn before petering out. The lefts were racetracks that looked like were going to close out but instead offered fun times down the line and held up enough to come off the top. Sort of.
The new suit was awesome. Picked up the Rip Curl E-bomb in 3/2. Preparing to writeup a review on it after some more sessions. Initial session was good though. Forgot how nice and toasty a new suit is, and this seems like one of the best sealed suits I've had. Other nice features was the water repellent coating on the chest and the key pocket. Of course, it is also a light and flexible suit ideal for these after work jaunts where I try to get as many waves as I can before the sun goes down.
The sun did go down and I stayed as long as I could, getting back to the coche at 7:30. Some strange people out along the path today. A group of 5 girls with their latest OC clothing, body parts practically falling out, were toting an old CI board that was yellowed beyond belief, and a rolling suitcase. Not sure what they were all about.
Sunday, October 02, 2005 @ 9:00 AM
Shooting The Pier (Sort Of)
| Location: | Central Coast | ||
| Weather: | Sun with wind picking up | ||
| Conditions: | Smaller, shifty, crumbly | ||
| Swell: | Fading NW Groundswell |
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| Surf: | Chest High Sets |
Comments:
Same time, same place, however today the swell dropped considerably from yesterday. Still some of the same guys owing the takeoff spot. However today the best spot was even closer to the pier and if you didn't want to shoot the outer pier piling, you'd be picking up scraps. So for the first time in my sessions at this spot, I started taking off and surfing thru the pilings. What first appears to be a macho thing soon appears to be neccesary to catch these waves in the one sweet spot, shoot thru the pilings, make a bottom turn, and race down the line. Any other way and you didn't have enough speed to make the section ahead.
Once again, I surfed on the Joe, the 6'3 CI I picked up used a few weeks ago. Today Joe had more wax and held my feet better than yesterday, I actually got Joe vertical a few times. There were some good kids out there, that milked the waves. Soon the waves started to get blown out and one by one we headed in for shelter.
Saturday, October 01, 2005 @ 9:00 AM
Pier Rat
| Location: | Central Coast | ||
| Weather: | Foggy with wind coming up | ||
| Conditions: | Walled out | ||
| Swell: | NW Groundswell |
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| Surf: | Head High, some plus rogues |
Comments:
Back up in the greater SLO region for a first surf session up there since May. There was some real swell in the water and was often closing out this spot, yet there were some nice rights peeling off the pier, and if you got the sandbars right you could get a good left towards the pier. Surfed on the new 6'3" for the first time, I've decided to call him "Joe". It was nice to get waves big enough to surf this board, although adjusting to later takeoffs was an issue. Once up the board was fun to ride, a lot of drive and responsive on the rail.
About a half dozen locals were owning the main takeoff spot, I'd usually pick up scraps when it emptied out, or on occaision suck it up and sit deepest. Oftentimes this meant either shooting a piling on the pier or turning to avoid that piling. I never shot the pier, and I chickened out 2 takeoffs right on front of the piling. Locals, however, had it wired.
Little Bear and Wild Bill came to watch and right as they did the set of the day came in. This thing was well overhead and the whole lineup got caught inside. Ducking the first one on this smaller board was a dream, but the 2nd one got a hold of me and did some dragging. Bear said from her vantage point the wave was 10' but I think a safe estimate is "overhead."