Save the Coast (Part II)

 The 300-mile maritime journey has hit the halfway point and Santa Barbara surfers Nole Cossart and Chadd Konig have had an incredible – and tough – trip so far. They shoved off May 12 from Gaviota Beach on a benefit paddle all the way to Tijuana Sloughs, at the US-Mexico border. Along the way, they’re raising awareness about pending development projects along Santa Barbara’s Gaviota Coast, a 31,000-acre gem of coastal Southern California that’s more rural bliss than urban sprawl.

Click here for Part I. 

Traveling on paddle boards loaded with about 40 pounds of gear (food, water, clothes, camping gear, and alaia surfboards), they hit good glass on the first morning but were so pumped on the outset of their journey that they forgot to put on sun block. Roasted, they hauled out just north of Isla Vista, camped out, and stroked the next day to Montecito. With chest-high waves and nobody out, they paused the paddling to take advantage of some good surf at Hammonds. Then it was off to Ventura, where they caught more good surf.

Also in Ventura, they joined the Scared Craft surf expo, shaped an alaia, and the Save Naples organization got a $1,000 donation. Next stop Oxnard, where The Daily Habits’ Ian Hill put them up. Getting an early start the next morning to beat the south wind, they sprinted across the harbor mouth at Port Hueneme, trying to steer clear of Navy vessels and dredgers. Heading toward Malibu, Cossart remembers, “a northwest wind picked up and we just charged to Leo Carrillo, scoping out little nooks along the coast in case we couldn’t score a camp site.” But they did score a site, and after that some of the Malibu elite hooked them up to camp out at a private beach near Little Dume. Memorial Weekend surf sessions at Malibu also led to local insight on where to camp without getting spotted by prowling patrol cars at midnight.

From there? Malibu to Marina del Rey to Manhattan Beach, padding long days and crashing with family friends.

And this morning: a 4 a.m. start to get around the Palos Verdes Peninsula before that south wind picks up.

How will they safely get past the incredibly busy ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach?

Cossart pauses for a second: “Um . . . we’re not sure, really.”

Stay tuned for Part III

-PoolSnob

Again, special thanks to photographer Branden Aroyan.