Sandspit says “no”

I’ve been living in Santa Barbara for a little over one year now, and while Sandspit has broke in that time I’ve never seen it live. Got my chance to change that yesterday, as the usually calm Santa Barbara Harbor came to life.

It’s awesome.

When it breaks everyone comes to sleepy Santa Barbara to give it a shot. You’ll see bros from Orange County up here riding their Lost Surfboards. I heard from a buddy in Santa Cruz that every surfer there was planning a trip to SB this weekend. It’s a trip.

There were way too many people out for me to find any joy in surfing this day, but watching from the breakwater is a fabulous alternative to the lineup.

You have to give it to anyone out there on a day like yesterday. Even this guy, who took was Sandspit gave and received what Sandspit gives. Hell of a wipeout, but he make the crowd cheer.

Locals Give The Best Directions

Funny sign now on display at a super-duper “locals only” spot that’s visible only if you look our the window of your car as you drive along Hwy 101.

The most interesting aspect to this act of localism is how Rincon is spelled in ALL CAPS but Malibu isn’t.

Keep Surfing.

Lunch Break

This is right outside my office. It’s a wave that closes out 99.9% of the time, but not last week. There’s a seal rookery right at the base of the pier, so it’s probably a pretty sharky place too. Looks tempting though, huh, also considering the amount (0) of other surfers out.

Deli Iced Tea as Long Island as it gets

via @gregmadey

Who Knew Leadbetter Broke This Far Out

Well for one, I didn’t know it breaks this far out! But hey what should I know. I’ve only been here for 2 1/2 months. I do know that it’s been a swell run of swell for us here on the central coast. If I had a longboard I would have been way out there today, but the beach at Leadbetter was breaking like I’ve never seen it and there were several screamers to be had on my 6’2.

The December Ski Report For New York Is Super Duper Sad

It’s December 24th and temps on Long Island are supposed to reach 72 degrees. Sure, you could count the number of white Christmases in New York on one hand, but this weather is bizarre with a capital B. Just check out the mountain cams for these two favorite Ice Tubes ski places in the Catskills.

Windham Mountain where there are apparently three trails open! C’mon man.

And then there’s Plattekill Mountain who’s not trying to fool anyone into coming.

These conditions were sorta predicted for the northeast thanks to the famous El Niño weather pattern, but for the sake of these great little NY mountains and the people who work and ski them we hope it gets colder and things start to happen soon.

Coming at you live from Santa Barbara – Less ice but hopefully more tubes

My wife and I may have left our hearts in San Francisco (along with a pretty nice rent controlled apartment!), but we left ’em for the beautiful beaches of Central California. From here on in the new outpost for Ice Tubes West is Santa Barbara, CA.

We’ve been here for about one week, and I’ve already scored some nice little waves. While it’s been flat since then my alternative to surfing is to bike to the beach for a dip in the ocean, which I did today in my board shorts on a balmy November afternoon 🙂

Just Left Warm Water And Big Waves In New York For Colder Water And Smaller Waves In California

All the surf mag Instagrams are posting about the waves in New York last week. I was lucky and happened to be on Long Island when all the action was happening. Today I was back in San Francisco. The weather was great. Hot day at Ocean Beach kinda great, but the waves were tiny little suckers. Fine by me, but funny how the Atlantic had all the energy and warmth while the Pacific was doing just enough to let you surf.

Here are a few shots from today. I got out smack in the middle of the workday on account of me being in between jobs at the moment, so while it wasn’t all too awesome it was nice surfing OB somewhat to myself.

Of Course I Surf, I Grew Up On An Island

I moved to California over ten years ago, but I began surfing way before then – in New York. Whenever a landlocked person or someone adverse to the ocean asks me how long I’ve been surfing they’re usually amazed when I tell them it’s been almost a couple decades. To which I then inform the inquisitive person that I did, in fact, grow up on an island.

Well, I’m back on the island this week and was welcomed home to rippable surf. My brother and I shredded Gilgo on Monday, returned for more on Tuesday but had to give good old Robert Moses a try due to the rising tide. The swell was pretty scattered – a la Ocean Beach, San Francisco – but still plenty rippable.

Chris is the guy going left in the first photo below, and I’m doing my best stalled out turn in the pic that follows.

You may have longer periods of flat spells depending on which island you grew up or current live on, but let’s be sure about one thing – if you’re on an island you better be surfing.

Watch Out for Spearfishermen in the Lineup

This seems crazy. I know almost nothing about spearfishing, but would assume that good visibility in the water is a necessity for identifying a fish and being able to propel a spear directly towards it. I’ve opened my eyes during plenty of duck dives at Ocean Beach and didn’t see much more than the nose of my board. There wasn’t anyone surfing when this guy slowly made his way into the ocean, although three people did paddle out once the spearfisherman made it past the break. I felt I should have told the surfers about the guy snorkeling around them with a really sharp projectile object, but I guess that’s just part of the fun of surfing Ocean Beach.