surf

febraury 2000

» surf archives

Location	Date/Time	Conditions
Newbreak	02/26/00 7:00 am - 10:30 am	2 - 4' + Swell had straightened up a bit but was still a little junky. Do the Cliffs check with Shane and Newbs is looking good albeit a bit slow in places. Get out there and it is much better than it looked. Pick the right ones and they were lining up very nicely and throwing some big barrel sections in places. Caught a bunch of really good waves with one of the highlights a double up that barreled across the inside for a good three second tube ride and also a fat peak that swung wide were I just missed back dooring but lined up all the way through. Good stuff.
Parking Lot	02/23/00 6:30 am - 8:30 am	2 - 4' + Swell had dropped over night big time. It was huge yesterday and when I drove through Santa Barbara on Monday it was seriously huge up there - in all my years of going through here I have never seen the Gaviota coast have swell. Big junky, mushy waves pushing through Refugio (looked surfable) and El Cap (not so good). Rincon was macking but looked impossible to get out, plus the water was a sick chocolate color. Anyhow, lope down to the Lot were it is a bit mushy but clean compared to everywhere else on the beach. No one out so I have the pick of the few good lined up waves coming through. Mostly soft but a few were holding up. One kid on a longboard paddled out and the tide started moving in and all of a sudden for about a half hour it turned on. Still a wee bit soft but lining up nicely on the inside. Tide moved in a tad more and it killed it.
Pico Creek, San Simeon	02/19/00 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm	2 - 4' Ultra clean and rare conditions on the central coast. Check out Rosas which had a real fun looking left peeling through but my brother, who lives up here said it would be better somewhere else. Looked at the Light House which looked like we missed it by an hour and than San Carpoforo were the rivermouth was closing out and the inside cove wasn't breaking, so back to Rosas we went, but we stopped at Pico Creek on a lark and there was a small right breaking off the rocks. Paddle out and it is cold but blowing a warm offshore breeze. A few fun rights but real fast and sectiony. The tide started dropping out and the right started closing out so went down the beach were this left was breaking but it was really hard to get into with the offshores and super lined up. Got a couple that let me in and lined up fast for a few wacks. Moral to the story - never drive away from good waves.
Rivermouth - Rincon	02/18/00 8:30 am - 10:30 am	2 - 4' Was hoping for more swell on my way up to the central coast but on the bright side it was not flat. First time ever surfing the Rivermouth. Every time I have surfed here I have surfed the Cove because it always looked the best. Arrived around 8:30 and the tide was already turning around from an extreme high a half before but the Rivermouth really seemed to like this, throwing barrels across the inside, and once the tide started moving out it got even better with some nice speed walls. Swell was kind of pulsing but there were head high sets which came in threes or fours. Tucked into one nice open barrel that I made it out of and then popped into a bunch that slammed shut across the front of the rivermouth. Once the tide started moving out and the crowd started picking up the Rivermouth started going slack so by this time I was getting ready to go and saw some sets go wide into the cove were there was only two other guys. Picked off a couple waist high peelers through the Cove with the last one going all the way to the freeway. Not epic conditions but a lot of fun.
Parking Lot	02/15/00 7:30 am - 9:00 am	2 - 4' + Swell had really cleaned up and picked up on V-day but couldn't get out in the water. Had to settle for even bigger conditions today. Out front easily 6 foot plus but horrible form. Drove up to Scripps hoping for slightly smaller and cleaner surf but was let down with lumpy closeouts. Then looked at every high tide reef from Scripps to my house only to see wash throughs or very small conditions - very weird. Anyhow, by this time I'm frustrated and decide, what the hell the tide is sucking out majorly fast, so why not try the Lot. Very crappy and mushed out at first but you could tell it wanted to break with the right tide. By 8:00 the tide hit a critical turning point and the waves started to magically turn on with chest to head high walls pushing across the cobble. Real fun and shared it with about 4 other guys who were surfing a bit further outside trying to catch the bombs that would connect through but the real action was on the inside were the wave would slip on through the outside break and double up across the inside. Real fun speed walls.
Parking Lot	02/13/00 7:00 am - 9:00 am	2 - 4' Real messy from the storm. After it looked good right before dark I had high expectations that were dashed quickly by a stiff south wind and lumpy storm surf that had a little size. Lot was about the only thing around here that was showing anything half way surfable. Amid the closeouts and mushballs I managed to sneak a few decent lined up waves but it wasn't much.
Newbreak	02/10/00 7:00 am - 8:00 am	2 - 4' Nice and clean medium sized swell hitting the Cliffs. Newbs was really the only spot getting it well on the medium tide while Abbs looked a little mushy but not as crowded. Opted for Newbs after seeing a couple sick tubes roll through. Kind of crowded but not out of hand. Combination of swell direction and tide was making for some insane waves. Was a little out of sync at first but once I got in the groove on the corner (the peak was impossible to get a wave with the locals taking their pick) I got a bunch of nice waves that were swinging wide and throwing nicely over the mid to inside reef. Got one really nice tube that I forced my way into and got one really nice speed wall amid a bunch of other nice shoulder high peelers. Would have stayed out longer but had to be at a meeting by 9:30.
Church	02/06/00 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm	2 - 5' Big swell filling in with it a solid 8 foot in town. Too big and messy for around here. Drive up to Swami's and it is a zoo with at least 150 people out. Hop on the freeway and jet up to Church. Luckily I have a military sticker that gives me front row parking. Beautiful waves peeling across the inner point even with a strong north west wind. Caught a ton of good waves with the highlight being one from Middles all the way through Church past the lifeguard tower and then my last wave which was a shoulder high one way inside Church that tubed across the inside sandbar. Well worth the drive.
Scripps	02/04/00 6:30 am - 7:30 am	2 - 3' Couldn't take the close outs any more so I hopped in the car and headed into La Jolla. Really nice left peeling off the stairs at the parking lot. Lots of guys out but most seemed to be doing the buoy. Caught a ton of waves right away and then went in once the tide started shutting it down.
Crystal Pier to Missouri St.	02/03/00 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm	1 - 4' Swell really cleaned up and with the glassy Santa Ana conditions looking pretty fun by the pier with a long hollow right pushing through into the pier in-between all the closeouts. Go out and wait awhile and pick off a really fast tube right into the pier. The illusion of the right holding up was that - an illusion - waves were mostly closing out, but the tide was filling in so I moved down the beach and started catching some walled up lefts and close to dark I was a little north of Missouri St and there were some sporadic rights pushing through that were lining up nicely. Average, probably better somewhere else, but at least I didn't have to drive.
PB Point	02/02/00 6:30 am - 8:00 am	2 - 3'+ Swell has really dropped off but expected to pick up again probably while I'm at work. Some fun but slow waves pushing through the point with a stiff offshore probably helping slow down the waves. Caught a couple nice walls but most were drops to mush or lined up closeouts, with generally nothing forming real good across the reef. It was trying hard though at first and then the swell just kind of slacked off. I'm dying to get some good surf out these swells! Update: Well I was right it picked up while I was at work and it seemed to be hot and glassy all day from the Santa Ana conditions. Well tomorrow I'm getting off early and surfing low tide. Cross the ol' fingers.
Tourmaline Cove	02/01/00 7:00 pm - 9:00 am	4 - 5'+ After driving around and seeing nothing but a mess everywhere the only place attempting to hold the swell was Tourmaline Cove. Actually surfed The Parking Lot a little more today but was more inside the Cove. Big drops with mushy shoulders. Lots of roundhouses. Very unspectacular. Would like to surf the low tide but have to work.