Hello Friends,
I’m fetched up on the shores of California once more. And is it ever tiny. Most places are so microscopic that they could not possibly be surfed. And where there are waves, for the most part it’s in the ankle to knee high range. But, as can happen at this time of year, there are very occasional one or two wave long period sets, and such were turning up every now and then at local Santa Barbara west swell magnet Sands beach which is just west of Isla Vista, the bedroom community adjacent to the University of California at Santa Barbara campus.
Figuring there were no waves, I hopped on my pushie for a 25km loop that would give me a chance to see the beaches. The first picture I took was at the eastern end of Isla Vista beach, looking west. A tiny but very long west line was coming in, so I thought there might possibly be something out at Sands (which is on the other side of that treelined point in the distance.
I continued west through the student-crowded streets of Isla Vista to the bike trail running out to Deveraux point and Sands. There were some people out messing around with longboards at Deveraux, but it was ankle to calf high at best.
When I went around Deveraux to look at Sands, it looked to be just as flat. Plus there were only half a dozen people along the whole beach (usual minimum crowd is 2-3x that). But as I watched, a waist high set wave came in to have its picture taken. Amazing.
