Santa Barbara Area Surf Reports

Location:	Campus Point
Weather:	Cloudy
Conditions:	Somewhat Disconnected
Swell:	NA
Surf:	Waist to Chest High
Rip Curl Bomb Wetsuit Life:	63 Sessions in Replacement Suit.

Comments: Session courtesy of Greggory's parking pass. Surfed the Mongrel and Kyle surfed his single fin and only a few others out there. Some fun takeoffs on the outside that often didn't make it past the 2nd peak. Towards the end I discovered 2nd peak was breaking faster and more consistent, by then Kyle lost his board into the rocks, so we called it a day.

Location:	Ventura County
Weather:	Cloudy from a front coming in
Conditions:	Powerful Gut Crunchers
Swell:	5.9ft @ 14s @ 305°
Surf:	Waist High with Bigger Sets
Rip Curl Bomb Wetsuit Life:	62 Sessions in Replacement Suit.

Comments: Meeting of the minds with me, Greggory and Mank. I had the 6'5" Mongrel which was the wrong choice for the day. The lack of rocker on these steep fast takeoffs made for a movies worth of wipeout scenes. Greggory's brought the Bettis Fish which is really a Bus that is a thick plank of foam that could not possibly fit in the shape of the wave. Mank on the 6'4" Dan Taylor had the right equipment. The lefts were the best, they would jack up for a quick breathless drop in and then a down the line screamer. Between the three of us there were only 4.5 turns made during the session. Mank made it the furthest on these waves, ending up way far down many houses worth. The current outside wasn't bad, but if you caught a short wave to the left, you'd get sucked 4-5 houses to the north. We tried to line up on a pink house but soon a rip current developed just north of that house and we got stuck on the other side of it.

Some board swapping, I tried the DT again and felt what it was like to turn. Mank tried the Mongrel and couldnt' stop laughing at how little rocker there was. He claimed the board tried to kill him after missing a few critical drops. I also tried the Bus, and dropped into 3-4 waves in a row where half way down the face as it got steeper the board simply was to wide and flat to stay in it and it was bailorama. Got caught inside with this hunk of foam, actually punctured through an open face on this thing, got a breath of air on the backside, before getting pulled back down a 5 foot wall of water backwards. A few more waves later, I'm paddling in knee high water on a sandbar trying to duckdive into sand. It was ugly.

Swithed up again and caught a few more on my board, before all three of us were pooped. I'm pretty sure Greggory never stopped laughing the whole session at one comment or another of Mank's.

Location:	Mesa
Weather:	It's been warm
Conditions:	Closeout Windswell
Swell:	6.4ft @ 12s @ 305°
Surf:	Knee High
Rip Curl Bomb Wetsuit Life:	62 Sessions in Replacement Suit.

Comments: Quick after work session on a Friday along the Mesa. About 4 or 5 others out there. The bearded longboard guy who I see a lot and a few groms. There were some rideable waves, sometimes getting over knee high even. A lot would just closeout leaving no where to go. A few turns, but not many. Cloudly sunset. Afterwards to The Neighborhood for Fat Tire Amber Ale during the UConn/BC game.

Location:	Goleta Beachbreaks
Weather:	Sunny in the 60's. No Wind. Yet.
Conditions:	Small Oil Seep Waves
Swell:	7.4ft @ 12s @ 310°
Surf:	Knee High
Rip Curl Bomb Wetsuit Life:	61 Sessions in Replacement Suit.

Comments: It was small and no one was out. It was good for a half hour lunch session. Water still cold, around 52 degrees still. Waves in the knee high range and breaking in shallow water. The good news is a lot of the sand is back. Just as quickly as it was gone it's back now. Weather or not the bars are back yet here is hard to tell in knee high water. The most memorable thing about this session is the oil in the water. As bad as I've ever seen it out here. Worse than Sands or Pitz gets. Imagine a two foot wide line of oil and tar floating in the surf line. Imagine duck diving a 2 foot wave thats face is completely filled with tar. There was no escape from it. Everywhere. I caught 5 or 6 waves, the lefts were best, and got outta there.

Location:	Central Coast
Weather:	Wow, warm and sunny before strong winds
Conditions:	Less Close Out O-Rama
Swell:	8.3ft @ 12s @ 320°
Surf:	Head High
Rip Curl Bomb Wetsuit Life:	60 Sessions in Replacement Suit.

Comments: To have a good surf session, you really have to have confidence in your equipement. So after two sessions in a row of leash malfunctions, it was good to surf today with a brand new leash I know I got on right. Today wasn't closing out as much, but the paddle out worked me worse than yesterday. The paddle out highway was shut down early and required some brute force duck diving thru very cold water twice as long as yesterday. When I made it out, I honestly thought I would puke, I have never felt that before in cold water on the head. Next season I swear I'm buying a hood. A lot of better rides today. Converse Clan said hello from high up on the pier, and I showed off for them. The lefts were sweet litte wedgy things that you kept thinking would peter out but instead kept building mo. Best wave of the session was the last, Bear was on the pier, I waved then backdoored a left towards the pier. I hadn't seen a single barrel here all weekend, but this thing pitched out, and I rode in that purgatory of not being in the tube and yet feeling like you are almost there for a few seconds before the lip hit clocked me. Best wave of the weekend.

Location:	Central Coast
Weather:	Cold Front Departing
Conditions:	Close Out O-Rama
Swell:	7.4ft @ 11s @ 310°
Surf:	Head High
Rip Curl Bomb Wetsuit Life:	59 Sessions in Replacement Suit.

Comments: Session 2 on the Mongrel, this time North of Pt. Conception, although the water felt about the same as our water temp in Santa Barbara. Paddle out was easy, just keep within arms reach of the pier pilings and you'll only have to duck dive the last few waves. 4 duck dives however was enough to give me an ice cream headache so bad I thought I would puke. These waves were going nowhere. A lot of guys out in the lineup shaking there heads, not knowing what to take off on. So everyone went on what they could. Right or left, it really didn't matter, although sometimes the left that breaks towards the pier made the most sense. An hour into it I lost my board. I was using Wild Bill's spare leash after Thursday's breakage and I guess I didnt' tie the leash string tight enough. That was along swim, from the end of the pier to the shore, getting hit on the head with whitewash every 11 seconds. I rolled into Pancho's and bought the 3/16" DaKine leash again, this time in red, and somehow suckered the kid into giving me the bro discount. He must of not seen my session.

Location:	Sands
Weather:	Coming on Sunny
Conditions:	Less Shuffled
Swell:	8.8ft @ 14s @ 300°
Surf:	Waist High
Rip Curl Bomb Wetsuit Life:	58 Sessions in Replacement Suit.

Comments: Dawn patrol, on the 6'3" CI with Kyle. 2 guys out already. We got some fun waves at first at the Western Peak of Stu's. Got more crowded, or little peak got invaded. Not a summertime mass of people invaded, but a wintertime core group of competent surfers invaded. Which is worse? Half way thru I broke the 3/16" DaKine leash I'd been rolling with for a year. That reminds me, I should probably get a new leash every year. Luckily although there were a lot of rocks inside my board floated in a no mans land un-harmed. That's good, because after I paddled out I proceeded to lose my board twice more. Best wave was the last one, a rail grabbing wedgy left that had a wave coming in sideways on it producing and endless jacked up wedge.

Location:	Montecito Coast
Weather:	Windy all Day but calm now
Conditions:	Shuffled
Swell:	12.8ft @ 14s @ 305°
Surf:	Waist High
Rip Curl Bomb Wetsuit Life:	57 Sessions in Replacement Suit.

Comments: Bought a 6'5" Dave Johnson shaped after the CI Mongrel template off of Josh yesterday and wanted to see how it rode. Massive wind all day accompanied the new swell but by 3:00 the flags were dead. Afterwork session with just 2 or 3 other surfers along the Montecito Coast. Waist High or so, sometimes some bigger sneaker sets would come in. Shuffled, and funny, sometimes highly makeable and sometimes shutting down. The Mongrel caught waves like a champ, it's bound to with 2 5/8" thickness and a lot of "forward volume." Sort of reminds me of the old 6'6" Haut single fin, lost of foam in the nose, very little rocker, and really thick. Only this board was modernized with a thruster setup and double concave thru the fins. The Mongrel surfed like it should, got into waves real good, was fast, and was good for well thought out turns. It wasn't very good in situations that merited swift manuvering, and I found myself digging rail a few times, and floating off the back too. It's a lot like the 6'2" Dave Johnson Fish, and I don't know which I like better yet. The sun went down and the temperature started it's rapid descent. The water was up to 52° now, and it didn't feel bad in the 3/2 without booties for evening session. Not sure that equipment would work well for dawn patrol.

Location:	Montecito Coast
Weather:	Chilly in between Showers
Conditions:	Clean Deep Blue Lines
Swell:	10.2ft @ 14s @ 320°
Surf:	Waist High
Rip Curl Bomb Wetsuit Life:	56 Sessions in Replacement Suit.

Comments: After learning about the Shark on Seal event on Thursday, I figured I'd give the 'Con a break today. Yes fulling admitting in writing here that seeing baby seals chewing on surf leashes in the rincon lineup 2 days after 2 mama seals were taken out by a Great White gave pause to my Carpinteria surfing for a day. Instead I surfed in a safe spot, at LEAST 5 miles from the seal birthing place. Only 2 or 3 surfers out there too, and it was clean. The rainy skies gave way to bright clear skies for a few moments, and the suns rays were giving the waves a deep blue hue. Waves were smaller than yesterday at the Rincon, but perhaps had a little more power to them, didn't quite surf as stiff as yesterday but certainly wasn't the guy throwing spray off the backs. Water still cold, 51 degrees at the Wharf, gave me ice cream headaches and cold hands. Got a couple of little cover ups, one was almost like a suction cup over my back as I went in. Few little floaters and some down the line driving and maybe I'm ready again for the smallest board in quiver.

Just like yesterday, it started raining on the drive home. Two non windy, non rainy sessions in a row and it's all gravy this week from here.

Location:	Rincon
Weather:	In the 40's and in between squalls
Conditions:	Cleanest Day in Weeks
Swell:	14.5ft @ 17s @ 320°
Surf:	Waist to Chest High
Rip Curl Bomb Wetsuit Life:	55 Sessions in Replacement Suit.

Comments:

One of my most eventfull sessions at Rincon which involved Seals and Dolphins, and tales of Sharks. I did a no look paddle out at the Rivermouth, there were only 3 or 4 other guys out up there, and waves were breaking from the Indicator down into the Rivermouth. It looked glorious, waist high+ waves with super clean blue/green faces peeling off. Once out 2 guys were talking about a shark attack on some seals. I didn't hear the details but figured it must of occured in Northern California. I didn't find out untill the coffee shop after my session that 2 seals were eaten by a Great White on Thursday just 2 miles North of Rincon. That might have attributed to the uncrowded lineup. Would I have surfed there had I known a Great White was trolling nearby? Unknown.

Thanks to reader Henry for grabbing the Newspress story on it before it went away:

Carpinteria city officials warned residents on Friday about an attack by at least one great white shark on seals in the Harbor Seal Sanctuary. Two separate attacks on Thursday left two seals dead, according to a news release from the city. No people were nearby in the water when the attacks occurred. The killings were witnessed by visitors to the Seal Watch viewing area on the bluff above. Portions of the beaches in Carpinteria have been posted with warnings about the possibility of sharks being present in the water. The sanctuary, on a secluded stretch of beach next to an oil and gas plant pier, is where seals give birth to their pups. The beach and waters adjacent to the sanctuary are already closed to the public during the birthing season.

However during my session we saw no sharks and instead we saw dolphins, which is always a good site in the lineup. The other creature we saw in the lineup today was a baby seal. I saw this in the last 10 minutes of my session. It was floating around in the lineup, only about 2 feet long and looking like a piece of driftwood. It had a really loud cry, not a bark like a full grown sea lion, but a very loud cry. It kept swimming around us making this erie cry for a little while. Then a few minutes later I looked at the guy next me, a bearded hooded fellow in his 40's on a CI who I've seen out there a lot, and the seal's chin was on the back of his board and he was chewing on his leash. The surfer, however, wasn't surprised or scared, he just commented that the poor seal was looking for his mother. One can only wonder now the fate of this baby seals mom in light of the recent shark attack at the breeding grounds.

After that Little Bear ran by in her bright orange shorts and was waiting for me in the freezing pre-rain skies. I caught one in, and almost trashed my board on the rocks on the inside. When we left the house this morning the outdoor thermometer said 44 and it was partly cloudy. When we got home around noon it said 43 and it was pouring rain. It was certainly snowing on the Pass. It was cold. Not only was the air cold, the water was cold. The coldest session of the winter. Felt about as cold as surfing North of Point Conception, comparing equally to my winter sessions in Morro Bay last year. Was warm in a 4/3 and booties but hands and forehead were taking a beating.

Location:	Sands
Weather:	Sun - Rain - Sun
Conditions:	Some Texture Yet No Complaints
Swell:	10.9ft @ 17s @ 305°
Surf:	Waist High+
Rip Curl Bomb Wetsuit Life:	54 Sessions in Replacement Suit.

Comments:

Rained sometime after midnight, yet the day was looking clear and wind free. Some big clouds were forming over the hills and the resident wind expert said surfing would be on hold, big wind coming soon. Kyle and I went anyway, and tried to beat the wind. Riding the cruisers from the end of IV to Sands was half the fun. Half of the riding was in mud puddles, and I was covered in mud from the spray. Bike was coated with mud, the tires were getting sideways in the clay filled soil. No wipeouts. The surf looked good, and no wind was on it yet. Shape wasn't perfect, some cheese on it and a bit shuffled but no complaints. Surfed at Stu's and right off the bat Kyle picked off a nice set.

Got a lot of fun waves. There was a reeling left that was working for awhile. Long, fast and nice shape, my best wave was one of these lefts. Right were nice and workable but many times closed out. Got more crowded, our left seemed to not be working, and even the right were taking was getting squatted on by the crowd. A big cloud started to move from the West, and was just off of Platform Holley. It was a cell that bringing rain in the channel. 15 minutes later the skies opened and it just poured on us for about 10-15 minutes. Then it stopped and soon the sun came out. Ride home just as fun, getting sideways in the mud.

Location:	Rincon
Weather:	Storm Front Moving In
Conditions:	Some Texture Yet No Complaints
Swell:	11.6ft @ 12s @ 300°
Surf:	Chest High Sets
Rip Curl Bomb Wetsuit Life:	53 Sessions in Replacement Suit.

Comments:

Hadn't surfed in 3 weeks. At first it was pickiness having surfed great waves for 2 months. Then it was flat, then it was weather. The buoys were at 2 feet at 8am, rose to 6 feet at noon, and by 4:00 they were at 12 feet. A storm was forecast to move in tonight, so action was needed. Rincon it was, a no look jaunt down the path. About a dozen people in the cove but only 4 surfers up from there. Paddled out at the Rivermouth and caught one of the best waves of the session right off the bat. A thick shoulder high wave or so that raced down the line, and dumped be out almost to the Cove lineup. A long paddle back and a few shorter smaller waves. Two more nice long set waves. The cold front was developing, you could feel the cold wind starting up, you could see the clouds starting to gather over the hills. It looked like it would rain at any moment but it didn't.

Rincon homeowners came home from work and stared up there fireplaces. The smoke streaming from the homes looked cozy, but my wetsuit gave me a warm feeling too. The 4 other surfers I was surfing with were good, one guy pulled a giantic floater, and we were an escalator of wave riders. Water was dirty, tasted pretty nasty, and didn't look much better. Even though, it was good to be out.