With January approaching and the Southern California swell finally beginning to pick up, frustrated Santa Barbara surfers are finally getting their fix. Flat spells hit every summer, when swells are blocked by the Channel Islands and parts of the Pacific turn into a lake. After such a long stretch of nothing but ripples, I can’t help but think back to the amazing El Niño winter in 2009 when I surfed 57 days in a row.
At the time, I was a freshman in college, recently relocated from the frigid waters just north of San Francisco and basking in my newfound proximity to what have become some of my all-time favorite breaks. To celebrate my good luck and the seemingly tropical temperatures - at least compared to what I was used to back at home - I made it a point to catch at least three waves every single day during UCSB’s winter quarter, and I almost made it.