A series of short but sweet stories about surfing in or near the Santa Barbara area. Keep them coming!
- There's No Place Like Home by Robert Rainwater.
- After spending 2 weeks in Hawaii, where, of course, there was warm water, some pretty nice waves, wonderful tropical vegetation, etc. etc., I come home. First thing I do is load up the surfmobile and head to one of our local Goleta spots.
As always, driving into the area is about as close to God as I get. The route is totally sacred; I am at peace. I am blessed at Home by the sight of really nice shoulder highs. I am greeted by my friend, the champ surfer at this spot. The water is clear and, thanks to El Nino, plenty warm to be handled by my spring suit.
I paddle out and the first wave I catch is about shoulder high, walling up in front of me so that I can't fool around and must keep perfect trim for maximum speed to haul ass through several sections. It was easily a better and more fun wave than any I caught in Hawaii.
There's no place like home.
- Return to the Fold by Jimmy Cantrellaire.
- I started surfing way too late in life... 1976 to be exact, and surfed only briefly til 1978.
A year and a half ago I started my own A/C business and have finally found time to hook up with my long lost love...the ocean. In September of 1995 I bought a new board and set out to re-aquaint myself with a great sport.
I never was that great but got totally into it this time around. Pretty much self-taught, and with little instruction back in my youth, I spent many a days frustrated and sometimes a bit over my head.That winter got me tuned for anything up to 4-6', and on February 13, 1996 I scored an epic day that was simply awesome.I'm driving up the coast just above Solimar and catch a glimpse of a good wave through some houses. I spot a vacant house, jump the fence, get out onto the patio and could not believe my eyes.
Perfect right point break! I'm not going to mention the name but anyone from that area knows where I'm talking about. I grab my board, do the trespass thing, (didn't care about the fine or even jail) and paddle out into 8' faces.
I'm totally stoked! 200 yard rides easy! I wasn't good enough to get the few barrels that were there but had the best day of surf of my life!My friend and I surfed that morning from day-break 'till 8am before even one more surfer was seen -- at first it was frustrating watching so many perfect waves go by un-ridden, but after a while we just watched with pure appreciation. By 9:30 the line-up was pretty full, and being totally exhausted we finally got out of the water and watched some guy ride for what seemed like 5 minutes.
- Memories of Rincon in the 70's by Jeff Kaplan.
- I attended UCSB in 74-75 and lived, by stroke of luck, in a mansion in Montecito (that's another story). I got a lot of really good, uncrowded days at Rincon then.
My best memory is of a morning in -- I believe -- 1975. I woke up and there was snow on the hills. That's right, snow! It had even snowed in San Francisco (where I now live) that day. It was cold, in the low 40s, and Rincon was just firing. Way overhead sets, straight offshore and less than 10 people out. From the water, I could see snow in the mountains and hills.I'll never forget that day.
- Whale Watching and Surf Stoked in Gaviota by Surfer Bob.
- I scored one of the best waves of my 20 year surfing career just west of here a bit on that afternoon, half again overhead plus, golden green,long, steep, fast hollow, tubey, jabber, jabber, enthuse, enthuse, stoka boka... Anyway, you get the idea.
Then after about a 15 minute paddle back out to the peak, I arrived just in time to see a gray whale breaching about 1/2 mile offshore. Enthused or just itchy, it stuck around and leaped several more times, making huge splashes. The local harbor seal was there too. A glorious winter afternoon chilling with Mother Ocean and her good friends.
- Rincon - Too Perfect!! by Boardaid.
- I was out last weekend at Rincon by fluke -- was on my way up to Santa Barbara for a mellow weekend, and, lo and behold, the most perfect waves I have ever seen. Three straight days of surfing Rincon, for a minimum of five hours each day! I had my share of "Wave Buddies" as I called them. Some of those guys just did not care if you were on the wave or not, and more than once I had someone drop in on me and mess me up. One occasion the guy landed on my head, knocking me out for five minutes, but that weekend will remain in my memories forever - it reminded me of what I love about surfing:
Perfect waves, watching others excell, and being at one with the ocean.
- Christmas Present by Jon Obermeyer.
- The dream session story reminds me of Christmas Day, 1975, the last year I was living at home with my parents on Chelham Way in Montecito. I did the usual family stuff on Christmas morning, even though I knew there was a swell.
About 4pm, right after turkey and stuffing, I headed for Rincon and it was so socked in with fog that I couldn't even see the outside sets from shore. I suited up anyway and paddled out on my 7'2" Channel Islands. The waves were 4-5' with 15 guys out on the inside point. As it got dark, most started to leave. Then the fog moved offshore and I had about 45 minutes of clean walls without anybody dropping in or shoulder-hopping. Surfed until I couldn't see anymore. What a great place for cutbacks and lip riding!
No matter how crowded and agro it gets, everyone gets a surf day to remember.