surf

december 2006

» surf archives

Location	Date/Time	Conditions
Hanneman's	12/31/06 7:30 am - 9:30 am	2 - 4' + New northwest swell in the water but coming in from a steep angle so inconsistent. Cold and clear offshore conditions coming off a very high tide. Some decent lefts off the peak right after the tide turned with just me and a couple of long boards. Decent power for some good roundies. As the tide dropped rapidly became more sectiony. Actually caught a decent right at Sewer Line to go in. OK.
Swami's	12/29/06 6:00 am - 7:30 am	2 - 3' + Major drop overnight. Still some waves coming though doubling up on the inside for a few good turns. Nothing great but fun.
Swami's	12/28/06 6:00 am - 7:30 am	6 - 8' some 10'+ Major clearing wind after a front moved through quickly and violently that kicked up an impressive amount of wind swell. Offshore wind trying to clean up huge shifty lumps. Just a few guys partaking as it was tricky lineup. Didn't have enough board on the 6'5" to get in out the back so flung myself inside the peak and caught a couple squirrely bombs. Just wasn't digging it so went in after catching one all the way inside. Extra chunky.
Swami's	12/27/06 6:00 am - 7:30 am	3 - 4' some 5'+ Wind offshore at dawn but a extremely fast moving front had the winds swirling form southeast to north at about 20 mph just hacking the surf. Tried to surf the peak but wasn't able to connect with anything. Moved inside where the reforms were a bit cleaner with some face to carve. Conditions worsened as the north wind started puffing to 30 mph. Wild.
OB Jetty	12/26/06 6:00 am - 7:30 am	2 - 4' some 5' Long period swell notched up a bit from the day before but still a bitt inconsistent. Some sweet waves off the jetty. Fast and lined up. Kind of day were you just take off and pump as fast as you can looking for a barrel or section that will slow down enough to hit. Just a few heads out so really fun.
Swami's	12/25/06 6:00 am - 8:00 am	2 - 4' some 5' A little Christmas gift for those of us lucky enough to make it out at dawn. Uncrowded lineup with flawless conditions with a new long period swell wrapping sporadically. Some flawless waves from the peak all the way through. Tide started filling in and backed it off a bit as the heads started showing up. Fun.
Swami's	12/24/06 6:30 am - 10:00 am	3 - 5' some 6'+ Finally cleaned up some more overnight. What I like to call fun sized Swami's with enough size to get the adrenaline going but small enough to keep it real rippable. Even on the pushing high some really nice double up wedges on the inside and some bigger peaks on the outside lining all the way through. Really fun.
Swami's	12/23/06 6:30 am - 9:30 am	4 - 6' some 8'+ Swell still pretty sizable and lumpy. Higher tide had it smoothed out though as I sat a little inside of the peak picking off the ones that swung wide. Form not all that great but if you picked the right one you were well rewarded. OK.
OB Jetty	12/22/06 6:00 am - 7:30 am	4 - 6' some 8'+ Looked a tad bigger at dawn than the day before so suited up. Wind east south east but kind of shifting around as a front was approaching. Still kind of twilight when I paddled out along the jetty and noticed that suddenly there seemed to be a lot of water moving around. Swell a bit chunky but looked like it is lining up good off the middle bar pretty wide. Wished I would have caught one right away because in a space of about twenty minutes from me checking it and then making it out to the lineup, the swell had doubled in size and is now basically out of control. Sets sweeping out of the north and washing over the top of the jetty. Managed to get one thats a bit more inside and freight trains through. The rest of the session I spent fruitlessly paddling round for any semblance of a makeable wave and franticly duck diving. Finally got one in. Crazy.
OB Jetty	12/21/06 6:00 am - 7:30 am	2 - 3' some 4' Still some north swell but the southern hemi swell hanging on for some inconsistent shoulder high sets. Tide not so much an issue with the high tide bar at the jetty pretty decent with the biggest sets bouncing and lining up for a couple of good cracks. Was out by myself for about a half an hour during the freezing sunrise. Kind of fun.
PB Point	12/20/06 6:00 am - 7:30 am	2 - 3' some 4'+ Lingering northwest swell with a pretty decent dose of southern hemi. Point sucking up the combo swell as well as Hermo. Tide perfect level at dawn at around 5 feet but rising quick. Once again first out but a couple of heads joined me this time but overall the crowd negligible. Combo swell directions had the better sets wrapping from the top of the point to the stairs for a full on run. Super fun for about an hour until too much water got on it and backed it off.
PB Point	12/19/06 6:00 am - 7:30 am	2 - 3' some 4' Swell way down but really clean. Some howling offshores early with some very cold air temps once again. Nobody out at dawn so it the point to myself for a little while. Some good lines early on from the outside to the top of the point with lots of face to work with. The tide swamped it out quick and then only the biggest sets really delivering the goods. OK.
Swami's	12/18/06 6:00 am - 7:30 am	3 - 4' some 6' Swell pretty clean but smaller. Some good offshores with near freezing conditions. Surf pretty good even with the five foot high tide peaking. Some waves a bit fat but definitely lining up for lots of solid carves and roundies. Add to that a light crowd and you have yourself a pretty good time. My wave in was a perfect u-shaped double up. Nice.
Swami's	12/17/06 6:30 am - 9:30 am	4 - 6' some 8'+ Swell a bit bigger and a bit cleaner with unexpected offshores in the morning, but overall, still pretty large and lumpy. Clean surface conditions when I first paddled out with and a just a few heads on it. Some bomb sets on the outside but shifty. Choice was critical because for all the paddling work you wanted to nail down a decent wave. With the unstable weather the wind began to shift a bit turning south than north and then offshore again. Sat a wee bit inside of everybody trying to get the waves that had a bit more line toward the channel. Caught a few bombs but the best waves were the ones feeling the reef a bit more inside. Fun but a lot of work.
Swami's	12/16/06 6:30 am - 9:30 am	3 - 5' some 7'+ Swell had filled in a bit more but south wind hacking it. Still surfable with the bigger sets smoothing the surface. A few gems to be had between all the mush and bump, which of course, kept the crowd down. OK.
Swami's	12/15/06 6:30 am - 9:30 am	3 - 4' some 6'+ New pulse and a fat tide in the morning. Inconsistent but the sets were good and peaky with a good offshore wind on it. Crowd the lightest I've seen all week with just a few of us partaking the corner. Fun stuff.
Swami's	12/15/06 6:30 am - 10:30 am	2 - 4' some 5'+ Swell still hanging in there. A bit cleaner today but inconsistent coming off the high tide. Smaller board the call today with lots of fat round house sections. Stayed out way too long trying to get the wave count up. OK.
Swami's	12/14/06 9:00 am - 11:30 am	2 - 4' some 5'+ Swell down a notch more. Still some good sets rolling through the corner. Actually even paddled out to the peak were I managed to pull down a couple but ended up waiting for the bigger sets swinging wide on the corner. Fun.
Swami's	12/13/06 8:30 am - 10:30 am	3 - 5' some 6' Swell down overnight and much cleaner. Tide perfect and crowd thin. Super rippable waves off the corner. Long period swell lining up beautifully. A lot of fun.
Swami's	12/12/06 7:00 am - 10:00 am	3 - 5' some 8' Swell bumped up overnight but was a bit wobbly and mushy. Soft and sectiony at first and not so hot although there were a few insiders to be had. Was on my 6'1" and wasn't feeling so hot about it as the swell continued to rise and the peak was starting to get pretty big and ugly to go along with an increasingly frothing crowd. Crowd out of hand and only the best sets really had the line on them. Frustrating session.
Rincon	12/11/06 7:00 am - 10:00 am	2 - 4' some 5' Swell really down over night. Looked at Little Rincon first hoping to escape the crowd but conditions weird and wobbly. Headed back to the Queen who didn't disappoint with the Cove producing some wonderful chest high screamers all the way to the freeway if you were lucky. Pretty fun and uncrowded until the tide started getting a bit too high and the wind started howling out of the northwest. Fun.
Hammond's	12/10/06 6:30 am - 9:30 am	4 - 6' some 8' + Swell really filled in overnight. Pumping. My brother and I were camping at Carpinteria State Beach so headed up to Miramar and Hammond's. Miramar squeaky clean and rippable. Paddled out at Miramar first and caught a couple of bomb sets but the tide was filling in fast and hurting it so headed up to Hammond's which was firing. Steep wedge bowl take offs and beautiful walls. Crowd was a bit thick but if you caught some swingers a little off peak, you could get some to yourself. The first wave I lucked into a nice quick cover up. Amazing how you can watch the swell wrap in and then bend over the reef. A truly classic wave. Wind finally started swinging south east and ruined the party. On the way back down the coast stopped to take a look at Loon Point which seemed to have a lot of swell at the top of the point but you can't see it. Guys walking back from around the top of the point said it was good but the wind was starting to hack it. One of those swells where all sorts of mysto spots breaking. Wind hacked it the rest of the day unfortunately so no second session.
Rincon	12/08/06 2:30 pm - 5:00 pm	2 - 4' some 6' + Tiny at dawn. New swell supposed to be on the rise but just trace lines on an incoming tide. Waited around till the afternoon to see if the swell would fill in. Arrived back around 2 and swell had definitely popped up but south east winds thrashing it. Was surfable especially on the bigger sets so hit it up. Extremely crowded and the inconsistency and poor form was a bummer. Managed to get a few decent ones but was pretty disappointing overall.
Black's	12/01/06 8:30 am - 11:00 am	1 - 2' some '3 Very small southwest in the water. Inconsistent and a bit fat coming off a 6 foot high at dawn. Nice conditions with no wind and when the tide started pulling a few little peaks popping at south peak good for an end hit but thats about it. Light crowd becoming increasingly busy as the day progressed to totally packed by the time I left. Poor.