Santa Barbara Area Surf Reports

The tide was so high at Rincon that if one entered from the upper parking lot, one had to paddled straight out from the stairs because the approach along the beach was impossible. What had to be hundreds of cubic yards of wood was piled up on the beach by the high tide, and log thicker than my torso were being rolled in and out of the surfline. It was a run from the stairs and into the water to avoid getting nailed by an errant log.

A drive to a Gaviota Coast spot that yielded too many cars, we drove back south and surfed on the Mesa to get wet. It was junky.

What use is a 13ft long period swell if it's blown to bits by a stiff overnight SE wind? That it was we found this morning, although a pretty empty lineup. IanI said it was clear and windy at his house on the Westside, but down here it was cloudy w/o as much wind. However after a half hour or so, the front passed us, the clouds left but the wind came. It got ugly. The two dozen surfers out there soon all left within just 15 minutes until it was just a 4 of us out there trying to survive in Victory at Sea.

Quick session after work, which is amazing that the sun is noticeably setting a little later so you can get a half hour in if you cut out early. There were waves, and this Mesa spot was holding them, although perhaps holding them up for a bit too long. Some sandbar outside would attract the biggest of set waves, then a middle no mans land and then the smaller waves would break inside. It was frustrating when you'd catch a wave outside and then it would die out in no mans land. I only surfed half an hour. It was a nice session, but I think I only took 1 turn because the waves were either closing out or holdng up.

Rincon session after a little bit of rain this morning. Cove didn't look to crowded so I parked there and walked up the Rivermouth. Used the channel blasted out by the creek to paddle out in between the Rivermouth and the Cove, which were two distinct breaks because they were not connecting on this tide. The far side of Indicator wasn't working, most people were within the Rivermouth or Cove. My first wave was a little bigger than head high, a screamer that slammed me hard on the inside. I caught a few more here just below the Rivermouth before sitting at the top of the cove, midway between the rivermouth and the Glass House, right where that house is under construction. The crowd was thick here but somehow I managed to get a head high wave that I could work all the way down to the call box, certainly my longest Rincon ride of the winter. By the time I pulled out it was down to waist high, there were many weird sections on this wave, not really your classic Con.

Surfed the indicator at Rincon with a lot of people out there both from in and out of town. Georgeous day, super warm and a slight Santa Ana feel to it, warm offshores and clear skies free of smog. Pack was dense and had to surf far to the right on the waves that didn't connect into the Rivermouth just to get some waves. Some allowed for a workup of speed and some allowed for a quick tuck in. Didn't recognize anybody out there from the typical Con crew. A guy who was visiting from San Francisco wanted to know where a good spot would be to hit up on his drive back up North. Mavericks?

Same spot again with IanI. Spotted regular pro ST out there, he was turning these chunky dis-organized waves into something worth watching with his arcs and off the tops. Small crowd, varried from 6 to just the 2 of us in the 2+ hours we surfed. Conditions got better as the morning wore on, got a little glassy inside although outside still felt the effects of the southern wind.

Surfed with Petey at the place I watched yesterday for half an hour but opted to go to it's little brother instead. The size had dropped and today this break was a tad overhead and more crowded. Foggy with a little breeze bringing up some chunky texture, felt like early summer conditions with early winter waves. Water is still warm out there, pretty comfortable south of conception in a 3/2 without booties, which seams warmer than usual for this time of year.

The Harvest buoy doubled in 12 hours, hitting 17 feet with 17 seconds from due West. I can't remember if I've ever seen that before. I headed to somewhere I thought I might actually be able to surf. Took photos and watched the reef for a half hour or so. I had the 6'3" and it felt small. A lot of guns heading out there, and it looked hard to get in those beasts. Some chop and junk was making it not quite epic conditions, but the size put a great buzz in the air. It was well overhead here, and the beachbreak just around the corner was even bigger. Two insane guys out there taking turns getting drilled on puerto escondido looking waves.

Session two for the day, this time a trek up to the Gaviota Coast with IanI. Waves not as large as anticipated, but certainly long and workable. Long lulls but the sets were just as long. We both caught many waves from the outside takeoff spot all the way in. It was an exhausting session from all of the waves we got. Mid sized crowd from my experience with the place, friendly and experienced. Was riding the 6'3" which worked well on the steep and fast sections but the slow section in the middle took some working.

IanI checked it a little before 6:00 and said no one was in the water but it was smaller then when he looked at it last night at 10:00 and there were 10 guys in the lineup. I hadn't surfed this spot right under my nose in at least two years, also with a guy named Ian. We met in the water and were the 3rd and 4th in. In half an hour there would be a dozen in the water. All the groms had this spot wired, the takeoff, the sitting in the position without paddling hard against the surge, the tucking into the tube the instant they dropped in. It was amazing a wave that breaks so infrequently could get so wired by so many people. I figured this spot was going to go off on wednesday when the big west swell rolled in, and wanted a taste of it because I knew I wouldn't be riding it then.

Today was a dawn patrol with Greggory and IanI at Campus. G: 9'2" Longboard. I: 6'6" Rocketfish. P: 6'2" Fish. Greggory headed to Poles while IanI and I paddled to Campus. At first is wasn't too crowded and the waves were awesome. My first wave from the outside lineup was a medium sized one that was fast and long. The fish is fast, I kept outrunning the wave and having to cutback, although I think the outrunning had more to do with me trying to not get smacked by the errant lips. Greggory then soon moved over to the cove at the point, and we crossed paths often, although only going opposite directions. He was charging into some big stuff for that board and pulling it off. I'd keep trying to paddle back out to IanI but a mid-sized beauty would always come through that was too good to pass up.

Finally Rincon once again, although high tide was the only time I could make it out. A little more crowded than expected, spread from the indicator into the Rivermouth. Was cloudy when I paddled out and started sprinkling midway thru the session. Caught small and short waves at the indicator at first until I realized that the sets were actually worth taking seriously, and then speant the session traversing between the indicator and the rivermouth. The biggest and best sets were connecting all the way thru while the other waves broke in both places. The rivermouth was working nicely, some very long waves in there, although smaller and slower.

Solo session at Sands for lunch. Deveruax looked good, taking a longboard out there looked mighty inviting as it was glassy and holding up nice with the tide. Around the corner at Sands was good too. One of my best sessions in a long time since I had no expectations and it wasn't that crowded. Everyone was resting up for the set of Hyped Up monster swells on the way, so it was pretty chill out in the lineup. Waist to Chest high waves with some shoulder high sets were very fun. Some of the bigger sets closed out too often, but not always. Was having a blast, catching a lot of waves and getting a lot of speed. Succesfully slashing off the top once or twice, pulling a floater or two and getting in the slot a few times, was a great utility wave.

Chasing the end of the swell, and it we chased too late. It was much smaller than yesterday and by noon was already starting to blow out and the tide was too low. 10:00 may have been the perfect time, but now there was capilary waves already jacking things up and rocks were showing, and waves were sucking up intense on the inside into muddy shallow water. Some fun waves to be had but after surfing a few fun days in a row you can't get too exicted.

With the swell that started building yesterday afternoon I headed to a sheltered spot along the central coast that I surfed a lot last year on big days when living in SLO. A reef that is mostly a right with some lefts, and another reef 100 yards north or so. With the shortboard broken I took out the Fish. Something about surfing on the central coast, in thicker rubber with booties, and rocks and wind, you feel like a true hero for pulling off a session at some of these spots. This break has a quick paddle out if you walk along a spine of rocks and then jump in the water in between sets. I didn't time it right, the first wave of the set was so big it was going to wash me off the rocks so I jumped and started to paddle, and took 5 waves on my head paddling out. Got the full ice cream headache.

Longboarding with Wild Bill along the Central Coast. 4/3 wetsuit, booties, and ice cream headaches. Sunny and the waves were small and the crowds weren't too bad. We found a peak 100 yards from the pier and traded waves for a good amount of time. Many of the bigger waves closed out, but it didn't stop us from seeing how far we could get. Right, Lefts, Straights, it didn't matter we were going.

Dawn patrol with Kyle and later on with IanI. Only 1 guy out at Stu's, but at first it seemed the swell had dropped. Our first 15-20 minutes were speant catching super small waves on our shortboards, knee high or so and going nowhere. Eventually some fun sets started coming in, waist high or so, some bigger on occaision. Super clean, yet often way to close out to get much going on. A lot of waves to ride though with no one really out. Got to do some lip hitting and take some fun turns, although adjustment to the shorty after the fish yielded many flounders.

Didn't expect waves today, but a buoy check in the morning showed enough long period swell out of the West to warrant a lunchtime expedition. Kyle and I headed to Sands where we were greated by a dozen cats out at Stu's peak. It was well worth it, and although not a swell of much significance it was big enough for some fun waist high rides with a very infrequent chest high set coming in, although the span of time between these was tremendous.

Just to get wet, drove up to Goleta, walked out to Sands, walked down past Stu's and past the rock in front of the Snowy Plovers, and paddled out into the water as West as I could get. Waves were 2-3 times better than the waves at the Mesa which I checked before the hoof West. Which means sometimes a waist high wave came in. Some fun long rides on the Fish, all the way to the shallows that were getting shallower as the tide dropped. Hardest part was watching for sets, the wintertime mid-day sun having dropped so low to make one need polarized sunglasses out there.

Surfed over to Stu's, and caught a couple of waves in the pack. Nothing much going on.

Some big football games this Saturday between big rivalaries and maybe that put something in the air. However before that I drove south so find a good high tide spot. The place I choose was shut down, perfect little 1 foot pipes combed by stiff offshores breaking on the sand. As opposed to furthering the drive south into stronger winds I headed to the Mesa and checked it out. It was windless and with more wave action and while I was scoping the waves two of the tweakers that hang out in the parking lot and get drunk decided to start puffing their chests out and yelling at each other. Soon there was a little fist fight right behind me, but it was over before it started. The drunks continued to argue and talk about cops and suing. I wasn't spending my Saturday morning detailing to law enforcement what I saw so I suited up and hid in the water.

Small knee high waves, sometimes thigh high. Some little barrels would come in, but most of these waves were breaking shallow. A couple of kids came out in front of the rivermouth which was the better peak while I surfed in front of a lifegaurd tower. It was small but I had a few waves that were longer than 3 seconds. Water still quite warm, and the sun was strong. Cops showed up and started playing babysitter to the two tweakers, and I was able to moniter the situation from the comfort of the water. I got a couple of little cover-ups and a couple of fun race down the lines, but it wore out after an hour. On my way back to the car, tweaker #1 was firmly planted in the sand where I'm sure I would be able to find him for the rest of the day.