April 2018 Surf Sessions
4-30-18 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 18
Miles Driven: 78
Mostly wind swell was left in the water this morning along with a healthy dose of more south wind. I had a look at everything to Emma with out much stoke. Ryan called and said North Strand had a few worth a paddle. It looked peaky and somewhat fun out there. When I hit the water finding a good one was a lot harder then it looked as the sets were all over the place and most waves either closed out or died out. The water was once again freezing as was the air. I some how lucked into an overhead six turn right to the beach. Besides that there was a left or two of less then notable quality, It took my entire car ride home with the heated seats and heat blasting before I actually felt warm.
4-29-18 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 78
Another day of Devil winds and few options found me back at the Strand. For whatever reason it was still clean there. The ship was glassy with some kill-able peaks. Stoked I suited up. The water was even colder then yesterday. Even though it was clean finding a good on on the high tide and short period wind swell was tough. Then the wind came up out of the NW making it very difficult to surf. I was determined to get a few good ones and pretty much beat a dead horse while taking some cold shitty beatings myself. After surfing my girl and I decided to take a drive up the 33 into the mountains to find a cool place to hike. My car is fun as hell to drive on those windy mountain roads and it is always nice to get off the beaten path away from everyone.
4-28-18 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 40 mins
Waves Surfed: 9
Miles Driven: 78
I woke up and was still a bit tender. I didn’t want to let my back get to stiff and decided to try and get a few waves. There was another annoying south eddy trashing all the line ups from Santa Barbara to C-Street. Ventura Harbor had some potential, but there was an NSSA contest happening. I had heard Strand had some waves and headed that way. The Ship was far from good, yet had some bowls with no one out. I really had no place else to go and just wanted to surf. It was about as bad as it looked if not worse. After five minutes the turned on hard out of the NW trashing what meager offerings there were. The water was freezing, so was the air. I decided to cut my losses and bail. That night I catered a private event in Santa Barbara and Billy Zane was in attendance.
4-27-18 No Surfing: 3-4+ ft
I woke up and my back was so bad I couldn’t get out of bed. I had to call out to work let alone be able to surf. I heard the south swell was pretty solid and the wind stayed light the majority of the day. I meanwhile spent the day laying flat on the floor. I forget that I am no longer all that young and it doesn’t take much to tweak my body adversely.
4-26-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 64
I got my lazy ass out of bed earlier this morning only to find that a bit too much NW wind swell was mixing in with an annoying south eddy thus trashing the Harbor. I had a quick, yet fruitless check at Dredge before paddling what looked like very small shitty Emma on my step down. My friends Kevin and Rex were out not really selling it. As it turned out there was a pretty fun bowly left coming through that was super fun till the tide got too low and completely turned it off. Unfortunately I must have tweaked my back during the surf as it got progressively more painful through out my work day. By the time I was about to quite I could barely load a few light weight platters into a customer’s car. I got home and found out that my girl and I had to represent her museum at the Hope Awards, some charity benefit for the Santa Barbara public schools. Ironically those last few platters I mentioned earlier were for the event. I took a muscle relaxer, suited up and headed out. I was still in a bit of pain at the even and decided to have a few glasses of wine. Somehow I end up filling random spots at a multitude of charity events here in town as an attendee. Maybe it was the booze, but some how I got caught up in the heat of the moment during the donation bids and gave $100. Every so often I suppose it is good to give something back. From there we had heard a rumor that John Mayer was going to be playing for a private event at the Santa Barbara Hotel. Their venue is open air, small and close to the street. State street was closed to traffic in front of the hotel to traffic, but not pedestrians. There was wall blocking us from seeing the stage it didn’t effect the sound and we got to enjoy an entire set. From there it was dinner at Loquita, a somewhat popular Spanish topas spot in the funk zone, that Bizarro actually worked at for like two days. Everything was amazing. If you choose to go there it is pricey and everything is small plates. If you don’t mind dropping a few bucks you will get your money’s worth.
4-25-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Hobsons
Time in Water: 40 mins
Waves Surfed: 11
Miles Driven: 56
The early bird at most times catches the worm and the guy who over slept gets stuck surfing sub-par Hobsons before work. With fresh south in the water and clean conditions I should have been at Ventura Harbor. I decided to roll over and slept an extra forty five minutes leaving me barely enough time to surf locally before work. I had really hoped Indicator left would have had a little something for me. It was too small to be worth the paddled. Emma was already too low and also small. Solimar had a mushy right that almost got me. On the way down I had taken note that Hobsons was not bad and went back for a make it or break it paddled. Sure enough it happened to be the best wave I had come across and thus I grabbed my step down and paddled. I may have wanted my fish since it was so mushy. None the less I managed a few alright chest high rights that didn’t run down the reef all that bad. Work went smooth enough as well. From what I heard I didn’t miss much at the Harbor. I guess Malibu was the place to be and I couldn’t be there no matter how early I got up. I even managed one little tube. It was just another cruisy day at work, That evening there was a good deal of WSW swell in town and I had a look at the Montecito spots. The wind got all over it making it far from fun so I just walked the beach from Mira Mar to Sharks and back with my chick, skipping rocks, watching whales, birds and dolphins.
4-24-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, New Jetty
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 64
The swell had dropped quite a bit leaving few options. With a limited amount of time due to work and sleeping a little late I drove straight to the Harbor. There was plenty of swell getting in at the River Mouth. Unfortunately a south eddy had formed right when I got there and was beginning to tear up the line up. New Jetty can hold the wind a little cleaner and I did see a few off the Jetty. It looked a bit mushy causing me to opt for my step down. I was glad I took it out. The waves were even weaker then they looked. Every now and then a really good left would come in. I got three of those that basically salvaged the session for me.
4-23-18 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 44
I woke up and conditions and swell were pretty similar as yesterday. I had to work at some point in the late morning and didn’t have time to really dilly dally. Considering Pitas was where I should have paddled the previous day it was my first stop. There was one guy out and some decent broken up combo bowls up top with the occasional stretched, but surf-able south set. Though a tad drained it looked fun enough. The oil glass helped my stoke meter. I jumped in and the water was freezing. The surf could have been a bit larger, but it was super fun. I even managed a few little tubes. If I didn’t have to go to work I would have surfed another hour at least. What a fun little surf.
4-22-18 PM Session: 3-5+ ft, South Jetty
Time in Water: 3 hr
Miles Driven: 78
Waves Surfed: 22
Another frustrating Sunday was the way of things surf wise. I got up early hoping to get some fun combo swell beach break action in the VTA. There was a bit too much NW mixing in causing most spots to be rather walled. Pitas looked the best actually. After checking everything down to Strand I decided to give up on the morning and took my girl to breakfast. I figured I would let the tide come back in and have a look around early afternoon. Pat called and said that Pitas looked decent, but was crowded. Considering I was passing Ventura Harbor at the time I figured I may as well give it a look if not for any other reason then to rule it out. River Mouth was all closed out. New Jetty had potential and told Pat he should come over and have a look. We watched it for about twenty minutes and decided to paddle the Wedge at South Jetty. Though that spot can be one of the most frustrating spots to surf and is where I seriously injured my back two years ago, an injury I am finally no longer suffering from, I paddled. It turns out the wave was way trickier then we had thought and only about one out of every thirty were any good. Every half hour a solid three wave set would come and actually peel. It took three hours for me to rack up a few decent rides. My best wave I managed to slide into the barrel, come out, hit it and then boosted a solid air on the close out. Besides that good ones were few and far between. It was nice to catch up with my boy at the very least.
4-21-18 AM Session: 3-5+ ft, Jalama
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 20
Miles Driven: 126
Finally there looked to be a break in the wind up north. It had been nearly two weeks since the last time I saw clean waves and had the time to head that way. With some NW/SW combo in the water I figured it was the perfect day to head to Jalama. My girl has been wanted to go up north to check in on her family’s ranch so why not kill two birds with one stone. At the moment everything is really green from all the rain earlier this spring. Since it is most likely finished raining for the season this would be one of the better times to go just bask in the beauty of nature. It was Earth Day afterall. We were greeted with solid head to over head glassy conditions, a light crowd and a wonderfully sunny warm beach day. I wish I could have said the same for the water. The ocean was even colder then yesterday. I am calling high 40’s. Straight up every duck dive was an ice cream head ache. There was a tad too much wind swell in the water mixing things up making very hard to find a good place to sit. I felt like I was watching good waves spin off everywhere and just was not in the right spot. Then there was this racy inside barrel that I kept attempting to make. I would get deep as fuck and then either get closed out on or pinched. Those were some cold ass beatings. I did manage a few fun ones, but ultimately had to cut my session due to the oncoming signs of hypothermia. After the surf I took my girl to get a Jalama burger. Apparently she had never had one and I though it be shame if she missed out. From there it was off to the ranch. The main road up proved too soft and sandy and after sliding down once and getting stuck twice we opted to go the back way around leaving us to have to walk a quarter mile on a path known to have a rattle snake or two. We made it safe enough and just in time for tacos with her Grandfather and uncles. The cows were healthy and happy. All the calves are starting to get big. As a city person I find it such a treat to be able to enjoy such large open spaces. What a fun day.
4-20-18 AM Session: 5-7+ ft, Silver Strand
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 78
Strand never fails to amaze me. Just when I think I have the buoys and conditions wired it goes and throws me a curve ball. I headed to the points this morning looking to take advantage of the wind swell from last night. As my luck would have it as I pulled into the Rincon parking lot I was greeted with hard south wind trashing the line up. I cruised on to Pitas, where the wind was a tad lighter though still adding a very annoying bump to the face. It was not very big also, only about chest and weak at best. I hung tight waiting to see if I could get a report from the beaches from Ryan. He came back that Strand was over head. Despite the impending threat of onshore wind I didn’t hesitate to speed down there. Fuck, it was solid way over head. I found myself under gunned on my 5’10 on the sets. There were some huge barrels to be had right off the Ship if I had a slightly larger board to allow me to back door them. That being said I found a few super fun medium sized ones. Unfortunately the wind came up at the half way point of my surf like a light switch. Ryan and I surfed for as long as we could before it got just way too disorganized and closed out. The session may have been short lived, but I was stoked to get what I got.
4-19-18 No Surfing: 2-3 ft
Miles Driven: 56
I had a thing I had to handle down in Ventura early. It was my hope that the wind would be down and I could finagle some fun beach break action. The trend of early onshores held true and I found myself hunting around the points for something to surf to little avail. There were a few fish waves abound, but at the moment the water is absolutely freezing making mustering up the motivation to take on waist high weak waves marginal at best. I have been scoring a bunch lately anyway and didn’t mind taking the day off. A littler wind swell picked up in town with the gnarly gale in the evening, but once again it was just not decent enough to get all cold for.
4-18-18 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Little Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 31
Miles Driven: 40
Finally it was my last day of work for a few days. I had the morning shift, which was fine cause the wind was already on it at sunrise anyway. An afternoon at the points seemed like a fine idea to me. Work went as smoothed as ever, a platted lunch for 105 people. From there it was time to hit the surf. Rincon was my first stop. It was tiny, mushy and weak there. Not in a rush to paddled that I headed south to Little ‘Con. I really wasn’t expecting mush more there, except maybe a slightly more rip-able wall. Though still a bit fat with the tide there was a solid waist to chest high wave coming through. No one was out and I didn’t hesitate to suit up and be the first one. Considering the size and the mush I opted for my Fly Guy step down. I could have rode it on my regular short board, but I had yet to test this model on a point and figured I would five it a go. Also it was a bit mush and flat on certain sections that would have been a pain in the ass on my normal board. My leash decided to break on my second wave in front of the rockiest part of the break. The surf gods must have been smiling in my favor cause somehow my board missed all the outside rocks and I was able swim in fast enough to catch it before it hit the inside rock wall. This leash was about a year old and a comp. light. If you surf as much as I do it is always smart to change out your old leashes regularly. This is a point I make sure to do on my good wave boards. Then I pass the old leashes down to my small wave boards figuring they are less likely to give out in the weaker conditions. I ran back to my car, swapped out the broken leash, which I took with me. I am tired of seeing surfers leave broken leashes littered all over the beach. Take your trash with you please. I paddled back out and was actually very impressed with how the board handled itself for the duration of the session as I pushed it above what I though were it’s limits. I am currently in the process of building a second more refined version of this stick to see how much further the performance level can be taken. At the half way point of my surf my boy Robbie paddled out and three other randoms. There were plenty of waves to go around. When the tide bottomed out it got a bit broken up and weak. I was cold and exhausted thus called it quits. I heard from my boss that it got super fun with incoming tide right before dark. Looks like that is the end this amazing little run of NW swells.
4-17-18 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 16
Miles Driven: 30
More wind this morning found me at Rincon. I was debating having a look around as the mostly mush chest to head plus inconsistent sets and thirty strong crowd in the Cove was far from stoking me out. I started talking with the older gentleman I know Tony, who has been surfing 40 years and is 68 years old. We sold it to each other and paddled. Though a bit tricky there were a few really good ones. The water was freezing and air rather cold with all the wind. With the inconsistent sets it was very hard to sit out there for a long session. I managed a handful of long ones. The longest being my last which ran all the way to the freeway. My legs were burning and I was freezing. It seemed like a good choice to quit while I was ahead. Meanwhile Tony was still going strong. Dude was charging. I hope when I am his age I can still be snagging sets at Rincon.
4-16-18 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 21
Miles Driven: 30
I had the luxury of a flexible schedule today. Normally I will always opt for the morning surf before working. This morning the wind did not want to cooperate thus I decided to go to work early and hope for better conditions in the afternoon. When that time came the wind was still howling out of the WNW and swell a bit too steep for some of my favorite town or Gaviota haunts. Rincon was my best bet and I headed straight there. The lot was empty and though it was nice that there wasn’t going to be a crowd it doesn’t leave much for optimism. There were three guys out and few people beaten by the current on the beach. It was smaller then I had hoped only about chest plus in the Cove, with the top larger but completely blown out. I grabbed my fish and gave it a go. There were some really good ones out there if one was lucky enough to get out before a set and be in position. I did six drifts, two of which I mistimed and pretty much just got ripped down the entire point to the freeway. It was good exercise and I got a handful of keepers I would not have found had I stayed home on the couch.
4-15-18 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Little Rincon
Time in Water: 45 mins
Waves Surfed: 11
Miles Driven: 82
Today I decided that I was going to put on an epic car surfing performance. I started at 9 am with my poor yet patient girl friend in tow. After checking everything down to Emma Wood I decided the tide was too high and with prediction of new swell filling in for the afternoon opted to get some breakfast and run some errands. Around 2 pm we got back on the search. Emma was all over the place and a bit too low. Pitas looked alright. My bud Carlos was out there making the most of it, though not really selling it to me. I decided to drive back to Emma, but couldn’t muster up the stoke there. It was back to Pitas, which now looked even worse with more guys on it. Then I headed to Rincon. It was crowded, mushy and terrible. Little Rincon looked fun, but had easily fifteen guys on it and more looking. I should have just paddled and worked the crowd for the majority had no idea where to sit or what to pick or even how to surf for that matter. Got to love the kooks that come out of the woodwork on the weekends. Everyone loves surfing. We left Little ‘Con to go back to Pitas. Now it was way too drained and had some ugly wind on it. My lady and I hiked down the point to see how Faria looked. It was small and weak there. At this point I decided just to kill time till the incoming tide push in hopes of more swell and dying wind. We cruised back to Ventura to do some shopping. Around five I was back on the path. Emma and Pitas still sucked. I found myself on the beach at Rincon, which also looked like shit contemplating just calling it. On one last ditch effort we went back to Little Rincon. There were four guys out and some decent incoming pulses off the rock. I finally suited up. At this point there wasn’t much time before dark. Rather then burn time paddling and considering the higher tide I walked out onto the rock jetty that abuts the pier and jumped off there. This is a pretty tricky entry over gnarly sharp mussel and barnacle covered rocks and not one I recommend if you don’t know what your doing. Some other guy decided to follow me and dude was bare foot. I caught my first wave, a screamer down the point. As I was paddling back out I saw the dude get washed right off the rocks into a very shallow rocky lagoon with three more solid set waves bearing down on him. I frantically paddled back to the top and luckily the guy survived with just a few scrapes and no rescue necessary. I was trying to enjoy the rest of my session when this other dude out there on a 8 foot gun!?! gets one and gets into trouble just before the hotel in attempt to go in. I just happened to finishing a ride and came in to see if I could help. Despite this guy getting all beat up over the inside rocks he didn’t want my help. So I paddled back out and let him figure it out, which I guess he did. Besides the kookery of the weekend warrior I must say it was a fun session, though I wished I would have got over myself and paddled earlier.
4-14-18 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Little Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
Miles Driven: 40
Once again I was lucky enough to be graced with a morning session. My afternoon was booked with a post Spirit of Fiesta contest party. If I had not been working the event I would have been an attendee, but money always comes first when you live by he seat of your pants. I got up early and headed to Rincon hoping for some high tide River Mouth bowls. Instead I was greeted with mega mush and close outs. My plan was to just check everything going to south till I found a wave worth my time. Little ‘Con was my next stop and I must say has had some of the better sand around this spring. That being said the wave is still racy and wonky, but here have been a few gems to be had. One guy was out sitting off the molar rock and I saw a few sick ones come through. I didn’t need to waste any more time and paddled. Unfortunately there was this van of kids and what I thought was some type of weekend surf program. I almost gave the buy a piece of my mind. It is one thing to crowd out on the map spots like Rincon and C-Street, but its a whole different story when they starting making their way over to the more local spots. Luckily I held my tongue, after all who am I to talk I write a surf blog. As it turns out it was just a kook dad and his kook kids, who were all way over matched for what was on offer and spent the entire session dodging sets and getting worked. With the exception of one of the kids being a deer in head lights and interrupting one of my lines they were not a problem. What ensued was a super fun rip fest. This dude Steven paddled out, whom I have shared waves with up and down the central coast and we traded really fun waves. Then towards the end of my session these three old guys on logs paddled. I though they were just going to be a bunch of weekend kooks. As it turned out they dominated and were charging super hard for their age and equipment. It wasn’t long after that the people started showing up from every corner of the beach. That was fine cause I had to go to work anyway.
4-13-18 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Hammonds
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 10
I must say that despite some annoying evening issues at home it was a rather pleasant Friday the thirteenth. Why wouldn’t it be since the week of winter in the spring had continued with some solid west swell in town. I had to work at some point in the late morning. Considering the high tide I decided to just paddle at Hammonds and stay close to home. As absurd as it sounds it was my first surf there in 2018, in April no less. It really has been a strange winter. The crowd was light when I checked it and the parking lot was not full of guys suiting up. At Hammonds this can always be a lie since there are two access points not visible to each other. Sure enough when I walked up the trail there were easily ten guys on it and another four changing on the meadow. Not to mention the three guys that were behind me on the trail. It was wind swell and a bit broken up leaving a few take off spots. There was also a bit of south wind on it making selection of the good ones rather difficult. Luckily for me I have spent plenty of time at the spot and found my share of fun ones. The real stoke of the surf was that I ran into my old friend Chris, this guy I actually met while I was traveling in New Zealand. Turns out he recently moved back into town. Hopefully we can connect and surf more together. I am always on the look out for a good surf connect.
4-12-18 PM Session: 3-5+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 29
Miles Driven: 44
Last night and today we had a super strong gale that both picked up the swell, but also made picking the right spot a bit tricky. Town had some west swell and was off shore. I had a look around after work, but everything looked a little smaller then I would have liked. Instead I headed south hoping to score Rincon. The ‘Con was going off, but it was also packed. I figured before paddling I should at least look at Pitas to rule it out. The top was completely blown out. I walked down the point a bit and the Faria section looked about chest high clean, peeling and contained some double up tubes. I figured I would start up top and just float my way down to the money section. I got rocked on the paddle out by a way overhead set. I got a few choppy bombs till I got to the Faria section. From there despite the current and non stop paddling I did manage some sick tubes. On my best wave I got three barrels. As the tide came up the current got impossible and I just about couldn’t even find a wave in. Still I would say it was a pretty damn fun surf. What a week!
4-11-18 PM Session: 3-5+ ft, Little Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 35
Miles Driven: 40
Somehow Bizarro and I ended up having to make and roll 600 enchiladas thus I didn’t get out of work until nearly four. From what I heard the swell was super down. The buoys had enough WNW on them to lead me to believe that Rincon would have a wave and be clean from the onshore wind. Rincon was mushy, weak, tiny and crowded. I could have surfed it on my fish, but after watching it for like fifteen minutes I just couldn’t get into how bad it was. I decided to have a look at Little ‘Con, where though it would be more torn up it may be a bit more punchy. There were three guys out and it was solid waist to chest with some fun little tubes right off the pier. Stoked I grabbed my short board and jumped in. After about the first twenty minutes everyone left and I had the place to myself. Then as the tide came in the swell kept growing till it was solid head to overhead. I ended up getting some sick ones till the tide got too high. What a surprising surf. I feels so great to surf real waves again.
4-10-18 PM Session: 3-4+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 27
Miles Driven: 44
I got out of work a little later today. Luckily for me the tide was a little later too. I heard the swell was on the downward trend and that the Ventura beaches were all blown out. I headed back to Pitas in the hopes that the wind would be more side shore there and not mess it up too much. Though a bit bumpy there were still some solid sets coming in up top with only three guys on it. I paddled and it was actually way more fun the I had thought. It was super rip-able. Angers paddled and it was fun to surf with him. I think the last time I surfed with the guy was at Strand months ago. Unfortunately the wind slowly began to come up and the crowd grew. I floated down the point catching waves till I was as far as I could go and still catch waves then got out. It’s like we are getting the winter we were suppose to have in one week in the spring.
4-9-18 PM Session: 4-6+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 25
Miles Driven: 44
Bizarro and I breezed through all the prep we had to do by noon. With plenty of swell in the water we decided to head south and find something to surf. Rincon looked good, but crowded and kind of all over the place. The sand there is still really fucked up. With any luck this swell will help straighten things out over there. Ryan had paddled Strand though never gave me a positive on if it was good there or not. I heard conflicting reports from all different people. With the mixed intel I decided to look at Pitas, which I had heard good things about. Upon walking up to the break wall it was solid head plus, clean long lines with only two guys on it. It was a tad bit racy and some of the sets were a bit walled. I would have had to be crazy not to paddle. For a solid hour I had the top peak all to myself. Unfortunately I cracked and creased the tail of my board on my first wave as I air dropped into. I still managed to ride the wave alright enough. There was a spare in my car, but I didn’t want to jinx conditions by going in and changing sticks. Since the trashed board was working well enough I figured I would just ride it hard till I snapped the entire tail off. This never happened, which is sometimes the case when a board gets creased. It actually gets so flexible that breaking it is near impossible. I did notice towards the end of my session that I started to get a gnarly amount of flex in the tail and had to compensate for that. By then I had already got my fill. The tide had gotten a bit fat and I was tired anyhow. By far it was the best surf I have had in a month.
4-8-18 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Sand Spit
Time in Water: 35 min
Waves Surfed: 10
Miles Driven: 2
Thanks to a power outage on Friday I was not able to finish my prep work for Monday. This forced me to have to put in about four hours of work today. I thought the morning would have been the optimal session and that called proved to be incorrect. I did what I had to do and was finished by 6:30. There was plenty of short period west swell in the water and I figured I may as well have a look about town. Mesa Lane was solid head high, but average shape and had forty guys on it. Lead Better was chest to head, yet all over the place. Sand Bar though a tad high had an occasional chest high runner coming in off the break wall with two guys out. I suited up and ran down for the last bit of light. Yeah it was far from epic Sand Bar there were still a few fun ones and with no one really out I had the luxury of only picking the good ones. I didn’t really find any tubes cause the tide was a bit too high and the swell a little mushed up from the light south wind. Even with less then average conditions Sand Spit is still a super fun wave to surf.
4-8-18 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 56
Finally we had some alright swell in the water. It came with more ugly south wind. I was really hoping to get some Strand action in when Ryan called and said it was all windy and terrible there. This caused me to get off at Sea Cliff and have a look about. Emma Wood was my first stop. Considering the swell and angle, period and wind it seemed like a definite possibility. The tide was already too drained and though doable I didn’t have faith in it being a really fun surf out there. I missed the boat by an hour or so. I headed back to Pitas and was astounded by the fact that Tanks had easily twenty guys on it and the wave was terrible. Pitas had only a handful of guys up top and though a little wonky from the south wind I saw a few that warranted a paddle. I was just about out of options and time since I had to go into work for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Turns out the surf was as bad if not worse then it looked. That being said there were a few corners to be had if you were in the right spot. Beggars can’t be choosers. On the way back to Santa Barbara it appeared the wind had come down and bit and Rincon looked pretty solid. A fat lot of good it did me.
4-7-18 AM Session: 2-3+ft, Pitas
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 32
Miles Driven: 44
To be honest I really didn’t know if I was even going to surf this morning. The weather was shitty, gloomy and rainy and the buoys were small. My girl wanted to get out of the house and I figured I would have a look. Rincon had a little wave and considering the wind I decided to get off at Sea Cliffs and have a look figuring the south beaches were going to all be blown out. Pitas was my first stop and sure enough there was a waist to chest high wave coming in up top with two guys on it. Though small I saw enough to paddle and grabbed my short board. In all actuality I should have rode my fish. Its been so small I am sick of riding that thing. These days I have been looking at the surf as if I were wearing beer goggles. As I hit the water the two guys out there bailed leaving me all by my lonesome. Stoked I began systematically tearing apart whatever came my way. Ryan pulled up and paddled on his softie with one other long boarder. I don’t if we made it look too much fun or what but it didn’t take long for another three guys to paddle followed by another three guys, followed by wind, followed by me over it and leaving. It didn’t matter I had already got mine anyway. No sense beating a dead horse and getting frustrated.
4-6-18 No Surfing: 2-3+ ft
I had to work in the morning and was suppose to be finished by three. As I was wheeling a batch of vegetables over to our storage walk in I caught one of the wheels of my cart on a rock and spilled the entire batch. A clean up and redo took place leaving me not out till four and at that point Friday traffic was not worth fighting for less then average surf. I had a look at Lead Better, but it was too small to bother. Instead my girl and I went down to the Neighborhood for a burger and a beer.
4-5-18 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 24
Miles Driven: 77
The buoys indicated some more south in the water and a better angle then yesterday. Feeling hopeful I cruised to the Harbor. Once again was let down with small fast, shifty borderline closed out lines and a solid crowd. Ryan and I couldn’t get into and decided to check the Point. It was larger there, but it was also packed and all over the place. I couldn’t see enough decent waves to make fighting the crowd worth while. I headed back to River Mouth, but it still looked like shit. I had some Clarks Surfboard business to take care of and figured I would just look at Emma on the high tide. When I got to Emma it was tiny and just about not surf-able. Over it I was about to go home when I noticed the wind had died. On a desperation I went back to the Harbor. The high tide had made it a tad more surf-able and I paddled. Every now and then there was a really good left, but the line up was super shifty and sets few and far between. I did manage to get one sick barrel, though that was about all. One is better then none I suppose
4-4-18 PM Session: 2-3+ ft, Zeros, Malibu
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 10
Miles Driven: 65
Ryan and I kept our suits on and jumped into the car. I thought that we should have a look at Zeros first. There were three guys in the line up and some fun looking lefts coming in. Keeping the bird in the hand we paddled. There must have been a few other guys up in the lot thinking the same think cause by the time we got out there the pack had tripled. The winter sand was still in full force making the line up way more tricky then it normally is. I couldn’t get in the groove and seem to always be on the worst ones. As the minutes ticked away the crowded kept mounting till it was twenty heads strong. At that point it seemed like there was always someone deeper then me or I was out of position. Over it I sneaked into a wide one that I hit twice, pulled into the shore break and came out. To get something like that in such a shitty session I would have had to be crazy to paddle back out. Plus we needed to get Gabe to the Chiropractor by 6pm to work on his messed up back. In retrospect I probably should have stayed in Ventura and surfed either the Point or Emma Wood. If you don’t then you don’t know.
4-4-18 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Zuma, Malibu
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 15
Miles Driven: 65
Ryan, Gabe and I found ourselves looking at some pretty drained out, onshore River Mouth. With not much to get us stoked on we had a look at Shores. It was already too fat there. The call was made to cruise to Malibu to try our luck there. We piled into Ryan’s car and rolled. There was a little less south showing at both County line and Leo. The wind was still non-existent allowing us to give Zuma a check. Sure enough it was clean solid chest plus and barreling out there. I threw my suit on in less then a minute and ran out there. As per usual as soon as I hit the water the wind began to come up. My goal at Zuma is always to walk away with one sick barrel. Most of the waves close out or are way too fast. Every so often you luck into that cherry one that just get so hallow you can drive a car through it and then get spit out. With the wind my hopes of a tube fest were steadily dashed and with the swell and banks it just went to complete trash. I managed one decent ride and two others that I at least got a turn on. Besides that it was just close out after close out. Gabe was surfing injured from fucking around on Ryan’s back yard skate ramp yesterday and was the first to call it quits. Ryan and I wanted to get a little more and decided to pack it in and head towards County Line.
4-3-18 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 64
After two weeks of barely ride-able surf there was finally a bit of south swell on the buoy. Gabe was in town and I wanted to get at least one promotional photo shoot done while he was here. Knowing the forecast looked bleak for the remainder of his time in town I pulled the trigger and woke up Bizarro to shoot. On the way down I was super nervous since I saw little sign of any real swell. The only thing I really had going for me was the fact that the marine layer was light and the sun may actually poke it’s head out thus enhancing the photos. When I got to Ventura Harbor it was a bit drained, but there was nice shape to the south sets and with incoming tide for the duration of the morning I knew we would be in good shape as long as the wind would hold off. The sun was beginning to come out meaning there was only about an hour at best of clean conditions. River Mouth is notorious for blowing out by noon with cloudy skies let alone the sun out. We jumped in down by the opening of the Mouth and there were with out a doubt some racy Lefts and occasional rights. Ryan, Gabe and I began dismantling the quick little peaks and though the wind began putting texture on the faces it held down for a solid hour or so before blowing it out. Ryan got the barrel of the day. I had a couple of large boosts that I was stoked on and Gabe banged out solid four turn left. Bizarro got the shots we needed. On the way home we had look about to see if any of that minor WNW was making the points fun. Everything though surf-able was a bit to small to kill the buzz of the morning session. Sometimes we get lucky.
4-2-18 AM Session: 2-3 ft, Emma Wood
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 26
Miles Driven: 56
There was a little more SW/NW Combo on the buoy then there had been over the weekend. I headed down hoping for a possible Strand or Harbor session. Ryan got there first and said the wind was all over the Harbor and not to bother. Lucky for me I had not passed Emma Wood yet so I got off the freeway and headed there. Emma had some tiny crossed up bowls with one guy on it. Overall I was less then enthused to paddle it. Ryan had decided to head towards the Ship and I opted to hang tight and decide if I should stay at Emma or head to the Point. As it turned out all of Strand was flat. Durfing the interim I saw enough to lead me to believe that Emma was on the verge of one of it’s magic 45 minutes with the incoming tide. I paddled and was correct. For about an hour there were lots of fun lefts coming through on the south peak with only five guys out and everyone was really spread out. I managed to get a few really fun rides on my fish and almost contemplated running back to my car to get my short board. As fast as it turned on was as fast as it died out. The water was freezing and with the cold, damp, grey conditions from the marine layer I found myself feeling very stiff. Yesterday’s ten hour shift didn’t help my case. Rather then stay out and cause an injury I got one more fun one and bailed. According the surf forecast it is only suppose to get better for the rest of the week into the weekend.
4-1-18 No Surfing: 1-2 ft
I had an Easter event to work at a somewhat prominent television actor’s house from the late 90’2 early 2000’s. The gig had me working from 8am to 6pm and the ticket was large enough that I should be in good shape for a little bit. The event though grueling to work went off famously. I got home and had a look at Lead Better. It was barely ankle high, it was cold and foggy and I was over it. I heard there were a few grovelers down south, but was not all that motivated to drive for waist high surf. When I got home my girl had painted and hid Easter Eggs all around the apartment for me to find. Good times.
