sandspit shredding and kelly slater

Continuation of an epic day…

After heading back from Rincon and dropping my self-employed buddy Tim (who does not have as much free time as a self-unemployed person like myself) off at his office, I was off to checkout sandspit, at the end of the breakwater in the Santa Barbara harbor. The parking lot was a total gnarled mess but I luckily pulled up just as someone was leaving, else I may have just gone home. While the waves were much smaller than Rincon there was still plenty of action to be seen. (note to self: put on sunblock tomorrow)

surfer arial action sequence, Sandspit, Santa Barbara december 2007

sandspit santa barbara

surfboard santa barbara 2007

surfer at sandspit, santa barbara large winter swell december 2007

surfer at sandspit, Santa Barbara, large swell december 2007

surfers and large wave crashing, Sandspit, Santa Barbara, large winter swell december 2007

surfer at Sandspit, Santa Barbara, december 2007

surfer in barrell, Sandspit, Santa Barbara. December 2007

I returned again in the afternoon, and Spotted Kelly Slater among the lineup.

Kelly Slater at Sandspit, Santa Barbara. December 2007

Kelly Slater at Sandspit, Santa Barbara. December 2007

And so the light faded…

surfer, Sandspit breakwater, Santa Barbara december 2007

crowd looking over breakwater, Sandspit, Santa Barbara

crowd looking over breakwater, Sandspit, Santa Barbara, December 2007

rincon dawn

Got myself up at 5:00am this morning and headed down to Rincon for some pics of the big swell coming through. Even though we arrived in the darkness of the pre-dawn, the parking lot was already almost filled to capacity, a good sign. The surf was big. With sets coming in of at least 2x overhead, if not bigger from time to time. People were getting pounded left and right and a few boards were broken within the hour and a half I was there. By the time we left, there were people everywhere, with cars parked past the 101 north bound on-ramp.

Here’s a few pics from the morning. I stopped by sandspit around noon, and got a ton more shots there as well, which I’ll post later, as its time to get back to the beach for some more shooting…

rincon sunrise 2007

silhouette of surfer at rincon point. cody duncan photography

large wave at sunrise, Rincon Point, Santa Barbara

broken surfboard on rocks, rincon point

surfer in large wave, rincon

surfer getting air, Rincon

surfer bailing from large wave, Rincon

surfers walking along shore, Rincon

surfer carving on wave, Rincon

surf’s up

The storm that has been battering the Pacific north-west the last few days has sent a massive swell down to us. I didn’t get to the beach until near sunset, but the normally quite placid Ledbetter beach was breaking overhead. Tomorrow morning it’s an early 5:00am wakeup to head to either Jalama or Rincon for sunrise.

A couple pics from this evening, but the light was pretty much gone by the time I arrived. Better stuff tomorrow, with luck.

surfer at ledbetter beach

surfer at ledbetter beach

68º North: Arctic Surf

A small day at Unstad back in April. Checkout this video for some better conditions. About makes me want to make the effort to get my board all the way up there…

Cody Duncan Travel Photography: Arctic surfing at Unstad, Lofoten Islands, Norway. © Cody Duncan Photography

Cody Duncan Travel Photography: Arctic surfing at Unstad, Lofoten Islands, Norway. © Cody Duncan Photography

Cody Duncan Travel Photography: Unstad, Lofoten Islands, Norway. © Cody Duncan Photography