The surf reports had their origins in the postings began approximately four years ago in the alt.surfing newsgroup, when a group of surfers from around the world got together and established a format for post-session surf reports.The purpose of these reports was simple; to pass some stoke and story on to the other readers of the group. The only drawback was the propagation delay of Usenet news feeds, a delay which if anything has only worsened with the increase in Usenet and general internet message traffic.
I began posting reports to the newsgroup in early 1993, and continue to adhere loosely to the original format. While the original format included a forecast of upcoming conditions, I elected to eliminate this portion along with reports of air and water temperature, primarily due to a lack of foreknowledge on my part.
The reports are still posted semi-daily to the newsgroup as well as on this web site, which has been up since September of 1995. Usually the reports will be from Rincon, and all are from southern California unless otherwise noted. Typically my travel stories will wind up in the stories section of the Surfing Source, as they cover more than one day. Summer reports are more often of windswell or southern hemisphere swells, the latter being caught either to the north or south of Santa Barbara.
Largely the information here will not provide intimate local knowledge, just a feel for how the session went. The focus is on story and stoke, not actual useful content. To that end, some more sensitive spot names have been obscured purposefully. "North County" refers to anything to the north of Point Conception where the coastline begins to run from south to north instead of from west to east. "The Ranch" refers to all spots between Point Conception at the west end and Gaviota State Beach at the east end. "Gaviota Coast" refers to all spots between Gaviota State Beach at the west end and the urban limits of Goleta near Elwood Beach at the east end. For more information on where to surf around Santa Barbara, consult the guide section.
If you do become inspired to surf some spot because of the surf reports, great. While you're there, please stay cool, don't drop in, be friendly, and pick up some trash along the beach.