Cinco de Mayo
May 5th, 2009. Cinco de Mayo.
It started off beautifully, with an early morning offshore flow creating some ghostly clouds
creeping over the coastal range. Looking at it now, it was a strange sign of things to come.
Except the clouds would turn to smoke.
Getting to the beach, we found some fun waves with a strong side wind. Only a handful of
guys on it and the strong possibility of it turning straight offshore soon.
Jonny Kono was out for his second session of the day and was making the most
of anything that even resembled a wave.
It was an unusually warm day. And the islands were looking close enough
to paddle to.
Brian Wilcoxen was out, enjoying the day.
They say the best surfer is the guy having the most fun.
Give today’s trophy to Adam Rondepierre.
Preston Berk was dealing.
At exactly Seven P.M., the wind made a turn almost straight offshore.
And almost immediately, a pack of about 15 surfers descended upon the beach and paddled out.
Preston again.
Curtis
Jonny Kono
At long last, Goleta surfers were getting a little something to be stoked about.
And then we got up to the parking lot, and saw the beginning of a long week .
This was the early hours of the Jesusita Fire, that would end up burning thousands of
acres and nearly 100 homes.
A huge, flaming pain in the ash.
