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Whomp

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Late Fall 2016.
Not a whole lotta surf, unlike last year.

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Mostly just wind swells to keep the serious satisfied.

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Sierra Emrick got her fair share of fun ones this morning…

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The weather was glorious most of the time….

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But November did bring us a little rain.

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This dark Sunday afternoon in November,
I got a text from a friend with a photo of an empty barrel, its lip being blown back by offshore winds.
The message simply said, “Bring your camera”.

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I dropped everything and jammed to the beach, and the photo didn’t lie.
Thick, empty barrels were firing consistently.
Vinny Leonelli, Trevor Scoggins and Bobby Morris were the only guys out.

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And the boys were not afraid to take a whomping.

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Bobby Morris lives for these days….

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He commits to waves most guys would never drop into….

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No matter how slim the odds…

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Swallowed whole and pounded.

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Occasionally they would be rewarded with a wave that provided an exit.
Trevor Scoggins scored this nugget,

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That lip would pack a wallop.

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Trevor was stoked to see light at the end of the tunnel.

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Vinny Leonelli was scoring some fun ones too.

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These guys grew up surfing in Goleta, and they are no strangers to the shore pound session.

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A couple other guys saw the boys scoring, so they paddled out to give it a try.

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But it wasn’t as easy as they made it look.

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Dropping into a speeding barrel is no easy task.

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But Morris makes it look effortless.

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Consequences be damned.

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Bobby Morris

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Deep in the slot.

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and deeper….

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and deeper still.

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Leonelli got intimate with some hollow barrels.

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<!p>And found a way out.

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Decisions have to be made quickly.

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And Trevor decided this door was closing…

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Vinny taking a straight drop..

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….into a dead end.

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Exit, stage left.

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For every barrel sequence like this….

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Bobby took five closeout poundings.

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The wonder of surf photography. Just show the good stuff….

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Vinny knows when to hit the eject button.

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And sometimes he gets a little creative with it!

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Scoggins on a clean one.

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Vinny in the fold….

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The skies grew darker, The rain was forecast to start at 4 PM and it was 3:30.
But the conditions were still ideal, and the boys were charging, so I wasn’t going anywhere…

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Despite the incoming storm, clean nuggets like this kept popping up..

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And Bobby slipped right into his happy place.

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Trevor dropped into another subterranean tunnel as the raindrops began to fall.

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Shelter from the storm….

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Vinny found a thick lip to hide under.

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As I decided to head out before I got too drenched,
Bobby sent me off with one of his patented Morris airs.

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A perfect ending to a classic Goleta session.
Three good friends, sharing waves.

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And yes, I got drenched, but it was way worth it….
Thanks for the call Trevor and
bring on the rain!