December 2019 Surf Sessions
12-7-19 No Surfing: 5-7+ ft
I had a feeling I was going to get fucked today. So far every good predicted swell I have been stuck on a shitty work grind. Today was not an exception. I had a very short window from first light till eight. Of course the west swell had not shown up yet and the wind was south. By nine when I had to go to work Ventura Point was easily double overhead. In Santa Barbara the wind stayed on shore all day and it never really got the size we had hoped. For those who did score I hope you snagged a few for me. I got the same window tomorrow. Hopefully I can snag a few in town before another ten hour day.
12-6-19 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Santa Clara River Mouth
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 23
Miles Driven: 64
Five days, five different spots talk about variety. The swell was down and I contemplated not surfing. I knew my chances of getting waves tomorrow was slim thanks to what was shaping to be a ten hour day. I cruised south. The wind was off shore when I paddled and it was about chest plus and rather crowded. I walked towards the Mouth and found a peak to myself. Though on the small side I was on a nice bar and picked off a few fun ones. Then the south wind came up right as Angers showed up and trashed it. Too bad cause I think it could have been a really fun surf. I grinded out the rest of the session anyway. I am glad I did cause work ended up being an eleven and a half hour day.
12-5-19 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Dredge
Time in Water: 1 hr
Waves Surfed: 10
Miles Driven: 78
What a wild goose chase I went on this morning. Few surf regions know the struggle of a surfer in the 805, where every five miles the surf conditions are completely different and it can be made by 5 degrees or 5 seconds of buoy readings. There was some mid period 305 on the Harvest leading me to believe the VTA beaches would be solid. I started at Harbor. There were corners, though a bit walled and very crowded for what was coming in. My time was limited and with the pick and choose corners out there I would need at least two hours plus to get fun surf in. Hoping Strand would pick up something I headed there. It was only like waist high there. Angers met me at Shores and it was also bad. Ryan claimed he had been getting Dredge fun the past few days and on a last ditch, make it or break it effort we headed there. Sure enough the place working even on the fatter tide. I have not seen the sand that good out there in years. It was still pretty racy and back wash riddled, but out of time we were out there. Man I had some keepers. Dredge is one of the few waves that keeps a pace to face ratio my back hand loves. Angers almost got impaled on the rocks attempting to pull into some gnarly back washy double up tubes. Then the wind went south right as Gordo and Ryan paddled. It was a bummer, though worked in my favor since I had to get to work anyway.
12-4-19 AM Session: 2-3+ ft, Surfer’s Knoll
Time in Water: 1.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 22
Miles Driven: 64
The swell was down a lot from yesterday. Overnight the south wind had howled and created enough wind swell on the buoy for me to believe I could find something at the Harbor. The wind was off shore down there as well. It turned out to be way smaller then I had hoped or looked that way anyhow. There were clean looking waist to stomach high bowls up and down the beach. I paddled just north of the lot and found a fun little A-frame all to myself. As it turned out there was the occasion chest to even head high one. The quality varied depending on how it hit the sand bar. That being said I got on a tear had decent enough time. The rest of my day was spent finally back at work. As it turned out my boss double and tripled book every day this weekend. Meaning slave ship like hours, but beggars cant be choosers and after not working for almost two weeks I was desperate for the cash. The life of day laboring chef isn’t always glamorous.
12-3-19 AM Session: 2-4+ ft, Rincon
Time in Water: 2 hrs
Waves Surfed: 19
Miles Driven: 41
There was still a fair amount of west in the water and I had Rincon on the brain. When I got there it was a bit soft and small for the crowd that was on it. Hoping Pitas might be better with small bit of South combo in the water I had a look. It was all up top a bit walled, close to the rocks and had a solid fifteen pack on it. Back to Rincon I went, grabbed my short board fish and ran up top. Despite the crowd I got into a rhythm and got a handful from Indicator to lower River Mouth. My back felt relatively good. I am stoked to be finding my point legs again.
12-2-19 AM Session: 3-4+ ft, Naples
Time in Water: 2.5 hrs
Waves Surfed: 27
Miles Driven: 43
The first real west swell of the season finally showed itself this morning. It was a bit smaller then I would have hoped. Still I had a feeling there would be enough in the water for Naples to be fun and took the gamble. From the hillside look out I could tell there were some solid sets. Of course as soon as I started down the trail the wind kicked up out of the south. I passed a surfer leaving on the way and he said the size was good but wind sucked. Sure enough had I gotten there an hour earlier I would have gotten my pick of whatever section I wanted to surf peeling at their finest. Now all I was left with was scalloped out remnants of a once great line up. I walked up to the Crack Peak and even on the high tide there was lots of beach, a sight I have not beheld out there in years. There was a few lines that seemed alright and I was hopeful that the wind might die so I paddled. It was solid head high plus on set and minus the south chunk it was running down the reef perfectly. I noticed up at Naples Reef it looked much cleaner and was actually shelving out and barreling. I paddled up there and got some real screamers, The wind was just coming up the face and forcing it tunnel over. I ran that for a bit before surfing back down to Crack Peak to get one out. It was far from the best Naples ever, but I had the entire place to myself and that alone was worth the effort.
12-1-19 No Surfing: 1-3+ ft
Once again we had great off shore winds down in Ventura, but very small. Jalama had some odd looking side shore south wind swell. The cam definitely showed some size though the quality was suspect to make the drive and it looked cold as fuck anyway. I put the word out to all my south friends and everyone came back with the consensus that I should save my gas. I can’t believe it’s December already and with that another year of surfing basically in the can. It was yet again one of the worst if not the worst year for surfing I have ever experienced in the 805. The winter had a few swells average swells and one or two size able ones that came with bad winds. It was also riddled with unprecedented flat spells. Spring I think for me was the best season of 2019. There was lots of wind swell days at the points and Strand. The first few south swells were fun too. Forget about summer. It was by far the worst summer I have ever seen out here. There was not one macking souths, no really decent tropical swells and the crowds were dumber then ever. Fall was almost non-existent. Rincon didn’t break till November and besides a few choice days at Strand it was more of grind then a pleasure to surf. That is a quick summary of 2019 in surfing here in the 805.
