The Old Rincon Creek Brick Quarry - Part 2

So hmmm.. Part Two. I knew I could dig up some more information on this subject if I was just patient. Well.. um. First we have to back up the first paragraph of Part One. I take that all back. Oops.. The Brick Factory was not 6-8 miles up the creek as it was related to me by, surf ski friend, Barron. According to David, who maintains a small file on the factory over at the Carpinteria Historical Museum, the factory was much closer to the rivermouth than that. That also confirms what another long time Carp local, beachcomber, and brick collector had told me.

The factory which operated under the name of Carpinteria Clay Products Company was located on what is now the L.L. Brenter Ranch. That puts the site about a 10th of mile up the creek from the railroad track. This of course makes my foray into the upper part of the creek, which resulted in the worst case of poison oak I have ever had, or seen for that matter, and subsequent scarring, completely unnecessary. Nice..


Carpinteria Clay Products Company operated in the 1920’s using native yellow adobe clay dug on site, hence the unique color of these bricks. The production machinery cost $37,000. They also manufactured tiles and in 1922 made the claim “our product is much superior to the tile that is made near Los Angeles" I have no trouble believing them on that one. I found both tiles and bricks in abundance after this winters consistent surf, and sand rearrangement.

I also took a quick drive around Carp and found two chimneys using these original bricks. One was painted but the other is still in its natural state. On a side note: When I first began thinking of moving down to La Conchita I found one of these bricks in the back yard of one of the houses I was looking at. (used in construction, not from the creek) Sly’s Restaurant on Linden Street is also reputed to be built of these bricks as well. However there are far too many layers of paint on those to really tell.

The Carpinteria Clay Products factory closed presumably around the start of the great depression, and reopened again in 1931 under the name, Montecito Clay Products Co. This time with an expanded product line which I assume included all the other colors of bricks that come out of the creek. I have had at least one person tell me “it’s just the yellow ones” Hmmm.. The yellow ones may be the original Rincon bricks but I can assure you that the pinks, oranges, beige, and multicolor bricks have all come out of that creek.

There is no information as to when Montecito Clay Products closed but, in 1960 they began construction on the double lane divided highway that was to be cut though Rincon. The factory was buried under the debris from cutting the highway and the terracing of the hillside. One idea is they tossed imperfect bricks into the creek and eventually washed out in all their glory. If that were the case I would assume they would have all washed out long ago. My guess is they are still buried and when the creek really gets going, like 2005, 1995, it uncovers a few more. Maybe the creek had to cut a new path right through the buried factory. I don’t know but the long time collectors say they come out every time we get one of those really, really, wet years.

No bricks came out of there this year. My collection has been built entirely on littoral drift and the non-stop wave action we had this winter. Speaking of littoral drift.. The furthest south I have even found one is Stables at C-Street in Ventura. That is a good 15 miles to the south at least. I am sure some have made it as far as the Mugu Submarine Canyon never to be seen again. Actually my ex-wife found that one for me at C-Street. Ouch. Dang it.. Thought I could get through a whole blog. Someone save me..

When you see Santa Clara Rivermouth doing this..

It time to go looking for bricks!!

Field notes from Dolphins of the Rincon.

8:15 am - Getting a late start so lets get started. There have been a lot of fins this past week so I spent the early morning posting new fin id shots and.. Yeah! I finally saw the same dolphins twice. Earlier in July I ran across that huge pod, which I will now call a herd (Pods may combine for several minutes or hours to form larger social groups called "herds" ) Anyway.. I came across some fins about 7:00 am on the 1st of August at Indicator. Of course didn't have my camera. I was down for a quick walk with Riley who got a cut on one of his pads last week. I was trying hard to keep him out of the water and test out the new waterproof/sandproof bandage design I came up with. He had this super nice bandage job courtesy of Animal Medical Clinic in Carp that I didn't want to mess up so I wrapped it in a plastic bag and threw a sock on over it. It would have worked if he just stayed out of the water. Oh well. So here come the fins heading south. I was over the waterproof bandage experiment so I figured I would head them off down in the LC. Riley was like hey, "no way we just got here" Even though he is smarter and more handsome than me.. I tricked him into getting back in the van and we headed home. Grab the Canon and got on the beach by 7:23. The surf was minimal so they were coming in quite close and a got a few good shots. This was a good size pod of about 7-9 dolphins and I called them Riley's Pod. Turns out 3 of the fins are from the Solimar herd back on the 19th July. After cataloging over 50 fins.. Finally a match. I guess that's a good thing. More dolphins than you can count..

8:26 am - After months of anticipation, and thanks to David over at the Carpinteria Historical Museum I am proud to announce I will finally be writing part two of the Old Rincon Creek Brick Quarry Anyway I went to the cove to get a few shots of one of the bigger stockpiles of bricks i have seen. Mission accomplished. Not quite. Riley still insisted on taking a walk so we headed around Indicator and up the coast..

8:53 am - I saw it exactly the same time as Riley which is too late. I made a run for it but Riley had it and was off down the beach. California Brown Pelican. This is quite a conundrum. On the one hand I don't like the leash laws but, sick and injured birds are no match for most dogs.. Curtis excluded. About a hundred yards down the beach we ran into Debbie and her dog which was enough distraction for me to get the pelican. Surprisingly he was looking good as far as injuries go. Riley had him by the scruff of the neck so no blood, no broken wings, didn't even really lose any feathers to speak of. But he was still sick so I figured I should get him to June's seabird rescue in SB before another dog came along. With the help of Debbie, I got the bird back to Lou's in the upper parking lot. Lou made a call to our local seabird care expert Connie, and a couple hours later he was looking pretty good and heading to June's.

Disclaimer: Dogs are Dogs. I don't like seeing any animals getting hit by a dog, cat, or car for that matter. I worked for a few years at the SB Wildlife Network for those exact reasons. In the case of birds that don't fly away when they see a dog coming.. Well.. They are usually pretty sick or injured already. In this case the pelican was lucky that Riley didn't get him, and lucky that he ended up getting the fluids and nourishment he is going to need survive. So if I twist it enough I could say Riley did him a favor.. but really.. bad dog.

9:33 am - Of course while all this is going on I caught some fins heading south out of the corner of my eye. Sheesh.. Walking on the beach is a full time job.. lol. There is probably enough time for a bowl of cereal before cutting them off in LC. I came out of the tunnel and there they were.

9:43 am - Haven't had a chance to do the fin id's yet but there were about 6-7 in this pod with another 2 following close behind (about 200 yards) I followed them for about 10 minutes down the beach then headed back to Rincon to check up on the Pelican.. Lot's of other sightings this week. A couple surfing down in Oxnard Shores.. A few more along Bates. See you out there tomorrow with the Dolphins of the Rincon..

Wednesday 6/30/2010 - POD Dolphin Research Boat Trip #2

This was my first boat trip, and the first time I got to meet anyone from the POD team. I have been doing my own research for a little over month but have just started to dig in lately. I have made a number of fin id's on my own and hope to get some matches on this trip. Anyway.. On board today are Lindsay Griffin, Lindsey Eltinge, Pod Director Dr Toni Frohoff, Captain Jim Klein, and myself, Don Jayne. What a boat. The FINADDICT is a 38' Radon Sportfisher. The boat is fully equipped to say the least and highly recommended. I didn't even know they made a Radon this size. Ok well.. Off we go.

9:45 - We are heading out. I had seen at least 3 pods down my way along the Rincon so off we went. I kind of wanted to go the other way towards the Ranch... Maybe another day. Samy's Camera was cool enough to loan Lindsay a Canon D40 with the same lens I use. EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L. Brooks graduate, Lindsey was in the cabin giving Lindsay some last minute photography tips. I should have been in there myself. I don’t know what I was doing but I heard the word “RAW” and I knew that word locks up my computer every time, so I went outside. I am really stoked, and grateful to be aboard with this crew. Our mission today. Try to get some good shots which can be used later for Dorsal Fin Identification. Easier said than done.

10:00 - We are already on our first pod. Just off the Biltmore and Coral Casino in Montecito. Good job Jim. I am going to have to start writing some notes down because my mental notes are starting to get a bit fuzzy. I think there were about 5 in this group and, I don’t know about the girls but, I really ended up with nothing from this pod. Timing and luck is everything in this game... Oh!! and a fast autofocus! Composition and all your other photo skills don't really mean a thing. Just looking for a clean detailed profile shot of the Dorsal Fin. Well. My first thought was. This was way easier from the beach. Anyway as far as I can remember these guys did come in close a few times. You know.. I thought I had my timing down with all the surf shots I have been getting but these guys are underwater and kind of unpredictable most of the time. They zipped around us for a bit, a little curious, might have been feeding, and then continued heading north. By 10:15 we are heading south. One thing I really like about Toni is her concern for the dolphins’ well being, and we are trying to be as non-invasive as possible, so if it seems like the dolphins are tired of us, we will head out…

10:45 - Passing by Santa Claus Lane. You can tell its summer because the surf camps are set up wall to wall on this tiny stretch of beach. No fins though.

11:00 - We are already in Rincon Bay according to Jim... I call it Bates Beach and the Carpinteria Bluffs. Really I call it my backyard and I spend a ridiculous amount of time walking in both directions with Riley looking for magic sea glass. Still no dolphins, but there is a big male sea lion surrounded by a bevy of beautiful sea lionesses, so break the cameras out! Apparently the polyamorous lifestyle is quite popular off the coast. More on that one later. Well I just saw a pretty good size pod of 8-12 here on Monday but, today it is as flat as a lake so maybe that explains it. We head pass Indicator and into the cove.

11:17 - We are passing my house and the sleepy seaside town of La Conchita del Mar. I can almost see Riley lying on a very sandy couch because there was no time to give him a rinse this morning.

11:30 – I’m hungry as we are rounding Arco Island and passing by my one my favorite spots for lunch. “The Shoals at the Cliffhouse Inn” Some Dolphins’ thought it would be a good idea for me to get married here and swam by and gave us their blessing right during our ceremony. I guess they only blessed us for 3 years.. What do those practical jokers know about monogamy anyway? Seriously.. I knew that dolphins were among the only animals besides us that have sex for pure enjoyment, but I always thought they mated for life. I used that line in many an argument. “look at those dolphins they can stay together, so can we” Ok now. Well that’s out the window... Thanks for clueing me on to that Lindsay. By 11:45 we are passing Hobson’s and turning around. No fins. Time for lunch.

12:47 – We needed to get some new profile shots for our facebook pages so Lindsay, Toni, and I pretend to spot some dolphins of the coast of Sandyland and the Carpinteria Salt Marsh. Got some good ones!

1:11 – We are back in the dolphin research business. Just off the northern end of Summerland in front of the cool secret house you can’t see from the freeway is another small pod of 3 -4. Ok. Whatever you see, there is probably 1 or 2 more. From an early check on the photo one of these guy’s looks like a dolphin I nicked named Simon Anderson. Not only the inventor of the Thruster and, grizzled veteran of the ASP tour but, also one of my first fin ID shots. I will have to do more work on that but, right now I am having huge problems with my database. This is pretty cool, and the whole idea behind this project, great. Get to know you local dolphins.. Got a few good fin id’s from these guys and by the time we hit Sharks Cove...

1:48 – I will call them the Gumby Pod because someone painted a cool little Gumby on the seawall at Sharks. Well... This was the most entertaining group of the day. Jumping, spinning, flying, bumping into each other, and popping up all over the place. There were 4 of them and they looked to be having plenty of fun. Almost always staying pretty close together but at one point 2 of them swam way behind us and came back trying to trick us in to believing there were 6. Those practical jokers. I could hear them laughing when they went by but.. I did get a few good shots. Well these guys and girls were up to something without question. We stayed with them till about 2:30 all the way to Hammonds. There was even a little sea lion trying to get in on the action jumping and porpoising all over the place. Nice..


2:39 – We are in the harbor. Perfect day but I did miss an opportunity to have my shark photo published by the Independent. Maybe I should get an IPhone. Naaaaa..

They are out there... Closer than you think!

So.. The great thing about walking on the beach is how much things change everyday. New sand, new stones, new logs, no sand, huge waves, driftwood, baby seals, etcetera, etcetera.. Warning. This is my second post about shark attacks so if you are squeamish or a non believer you might want to skip it. This is all speculation on my part anyway but, that has never stopped me before.

Yesterday during my daily morning walk with Riley we almost immediately came across a baby seal. Actually a baby sea lion. You can tell by the ears, and the fact that they speak. This one was saying "get this stupid, though quite handsome, dog out of my face" "don't you know there is a law that says you need to stay back 150 feet from all marine mammals" Stupid Riley no matter how many times I tell him this simple rule.. He forgets! That's why I always carry his leash even though there is no one else on the beach for miles. Well.. with Riley secured, I took a good look at the seal and while small he seemed to be pretty healthy. So I let him be. Just like they will tell you to do when you call the marine mammal rescue line.

A few weeks back I came across 3 medium sized seals on the beach. 3 is a lot for any one day, so I call a few people, and the mammal rescue even returns my call. It is determined, that they were in fact, baby elephant seals. They are pretty big for pups, super cute, and have these huge round heads. They don't look anything like the adults. Anyway they looked like they were on their deathbed to me. Turns out they were just dead tired. They come in to sleep after their first long trek from the islands (75 miles I am told) By the time I came back later in the day to shoot a couple photos using my EF100-400mmL series lens and staying at least 150 feet back.. they were gone. So back to our new baby seal. Here comes the sad part..


I continue my walk down the beach and about 500 yards to the north there is a dead adult seal rolling back and forth in the surf. Dead seals are not that uncommon on the coast but, this one is fresh, and and has a pretty huge chunk of flesh taken out near his rear flippers. As you will see in the pictures it is a pretty round chunk, and there are also a couple of deep incisions (tooth) Immediately I am thinking this is probably the mother and was a victim of some toothy creature, making our new favorite baby seal an orphan.



Here's where my speculation comes in. Mother and baby are swimming in the nearby waters possibly in the shark zone about 3-4 miles north of here, yes Carpinteria.. at the harbor seal rookery/sanctuary. This is where the violent attack occurred back in March of 2006. Two baby seals had there heads bit right off by a toothy creature known as "whitey" There were witnesses to the this attack and it made front page news in the Coastal View. This is the same stretch of coast that my friend Billy and his wife were on SUP's paddling from Indicator to the Pier one beautiful morning. She had "whitey" do a pass by on her. Just rose to the surface, looked straight at her, and went back down.. Yikes! Anyway back to the seals. Harbor seals do not have ears and do not speak so they hired some volunteers from seal watch to speak on their behalf. Seal watch volunteers are located on the bluffs just above the rookery. Stay back! They use signs so they don't have to yell and scare the seals.. Wait.. they don't hear. Actually the signs are for the people that don't hear. Anyway.. Unless your dog is right in their face stay back..

More speculation. The wound is not debilitating so mom and baby manage to get away from said toothy creature. Unfortunately, the wound is near some major arteries so she eventually bleeds out and they both land on the beach in LC. At this point I am pretty convinced our baby seal is likely an orphan. Hopefully he has learned enough to feed and fend for himself. Lots of seals (sea lions) nearby. Surely one can help him. But he needed to get back to the water. It was low tide and quite far away. I thought I come back at high tide without Riley and convince him to get back in. Anyway.. He decided not to wait for high tide and casually slid off the rock and walked on down to waters edge and went in..

Side note: I use to work for the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network and love wild animals with a passion. We used to rescue everything from mice to coyotes. It is a great feeling to nurse one back to health and be there for the release. Most of what we dealt were animals in distress as a result of people, cars, dogs, cats, etc. I support that 100%. But if you have a naturally occurring death or circumstance, I think you need to take a step back and let nature take it's course. imo..I did a number of unnecessary rescues of these animals too. Only to have them put to sleep. I really believe they should have been left for the vultures, crows, opossums, other carrion eaters, if you know what I mean. From what I know.. The Marine Mammal Rescue which is separate from the Wildlife Rescue, will only get involved if it's is endangered by humans. They may move it to a quieter location or something. They may also get involved for research with some sick animals at times as well. Aside from that, they tend to let nature take it's course. Which is fine by me. God speed baby seal...

A simple drive. self help books.. therapy... or something..

This one is just about some personal reflection. Skip it if you are looking for something funny or informative.. Like bricks, or Banana Growers. Otherwise bare with me while I just write down some stuff for no reason. The seasons are changing and the surf up here is starting to wind down. I missed some good wind swell while I was up in Mammoth over Easter and since I have been back. I had one pretty nice day at indicator, and another average day sitting inside a bit.. the rivermouth. 2 surfs in one week. maybe it was 3.. That is still about 4 short! This definitely is a problem. The surf feeds my soul..

Getting waves in the summer means driving. Now that I live in LC.. It is about 5 minutes closer to Oxnard or Ventura. That is about as far south as I like to go. And of course there is "the left" Not to mention some small usually crappy, waves in front of the house. Those can be a blast some times. Now that I live downstairs I can't see the surf in front of the house so I could be missing it right now! When I lived in Oxnard I would make the occasional trip to the Malibu area but.. otherwise I have a mental block which ends in Port Humneme. I love Jalama but it is a drive, gas is expensive, camp spots are hard to get, and face it, it's hit or miss there. Anyway pray for some continued west swell to bring me through spring and into summer. Please.

Really that's not why I am writing. It's been a little over two weeks since the huge fight with me wife that left us both hurt, and injured, and ready to finally give up. I've been going through a series of revelations ever since. Revelation 1 Wow.. I am really hurt by everything "I said" in the middle of the fight. The things she said were painful as well but what I said, was the most damaging to me. My wife is really sick of the fighting and ready to move on and maybe I should be too. But still there is something there. We both know. And that something is good, and fun, and playful. But really I want her to depend on me for anything. Something she has given up on..

Revelation 2 This occurred to me when I was en route to Mammoth with my my daughters. They had a horoscope book and Sara was flipping through reading excepts on relationships, and general personality traits. Now while I have always believed you can hear whatever you want in those things and fit them into your life there is always some truth to these things. There is no doubt that I am stubborn as a bull! That is just fucking great! What am I supposed to do with that gift? Most of the time this just a huge personality flaw. Anyway.. combine that with some Bipolar Disorder and I can act quite childish at times. So.. it may appear to the casual observer that I am in fact a jerk!


Take for example one of my trips to Mammoth this year.. I let every one know as we hit the road.. We will be stopping in Mohave.. and Bishop.. for gas. Maybe dinner in Bishop. "It would be better if you just grab some food at the AMPM" I just want to get there, have a glass of wine, and wind down from what is a long trip with 6 people and a dog in the Syncro. But.. the restless passengers are getting hungry way earlier than that. This is when that stupid bull starts to rise above. I end up with all this anger, and frustration, because things are not going according to my plan. Practically ready to throw a tantrum. I stop anyway in Lone Pine for some Pizza but, I am being such a jerk, to my wife, and all the kids, mine, hers, J's friend. Arrrggg.. Told them I didn't want a pizza and ordered a sandwich instead as my final desperate childish act. That will teach them..

Wtf.. I couldn't give up my dream plan to enjoy a nice dinner with my family??? Madness! I really just wanted to say. I am so happy everyone is here on this trip with me and I love you all. But I was too mad.. Too Stubborn. So who's to blame. The stars! Them for not adhering to the plan, or me for not being flexible and just happy to be there.. I can't see anyone to blame but myself. I am just glad my wife let that outburst go and we ended up having a great trip. Revelation 3 I make myself mad. I thought they were making me mad. Duh..

So I began reading the Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz I have gotten through the first three, and number one is really the basis for the the other three so I will dwell on that for a moment. No wait! I will tell you the four agreements first.

1) Be impeccable with your word

2) Don't take anything personally

3) Don't make assumptions

4) Always do your best

"Be impeccable with your word" The definition of impeccable is: without sin, flawless, etc.. I thought I was being impeccable but, when I looked deeper I see I wasn't. I was throwing out so much poison in the form of words, carelessly, or intentionally, it didn't matter. Agreements were being made, by both parties. Accepted to be true. So now they are. I don't know how to fix this. Whats done is done but, I am sorry. Only today matters. People don't realize the power of their words or see the harm that can be caused with speaking carelessly, thoughtlessly or aggressively. I didn't. Man I speak so carelessly, and thoughtlessly, that I don't even remember what I said half the time. I can't even pinpoint when the conversation went from friendly banter to whatever it was that upset my wife, my kids, or my friends. Aggressively?? Look out! I am going to let that f- bomb fly and worse. Most of us are aware that screaming at someone may be upsetting to them, but subtle little digs at them, or gossip behind their backs, can hurt others more than we realize, and in hurting them, we hurt ourselves. It is those little digs that put a lot of poison into my relationship. Revelation 4 Words hurt more than I realized and I need to be a bit more thoughtful with what I want to say..

Anyway.. Just acknowledging these things has somehow brought a new lightness to my personality or being. I feel it. And it feels good. This is a good way to be. Nothing has really changed.

Bananas..

I promise to get back to the bricks soon. It hasn't been a great couple of weeks for me.. Just floating around in relationship limbo. Then I just had the worst fight of my life with my wife. Not that I didn't believe in what I was fighting for, I did, but, the way I fought it was.. Painful. Hurtful.. To both if us. In the end I think I hurt myself the most. I know I did. In the end it's like the song. Nobody right.. Nobody wrong.. Most of us are just trying to get heard..

I know what you are thinking. That doesn't have anything to do with bananas. You are right. So my friend John told me recently.. "You got to be grateful" Followed up quickly by "don't you hate that" you know "people telling you to be grateful" So.. yeah.. I do hate that. But still.. You got to be grateful. Even in the midst of the worst of it. There is always something good going on. Hopefully.. Got to be hopeful I guess too. So.. What am I grateful for this week. Well.. the surf just keeps coming like it has for the last 6 months. It was the flatest I had seen all winter over the weekend but, still fun enough for for a longboard go out with Kalie in front of the house..

I was definitely grateful that by Monday things were getting back to normal. Some punchy head high windswell at Indicator going overhead on a few of the sets. Tuesday (the day of the worst fight of my life with my wife) Well.. Tuesday brought super clean conditions in the morning. A nice sized wind swell comboing up with a south squeaking through islands. It was so pretty out there. All green and blue.. Crisp and clean with some pretty nice looking barrels rolling in. Maybe a bit peaky for Rincon but some of them would line up perfectly. I had such a good time I couldn't believe I was in the worst fight of my life with my wife. (name withheld by request) Wednesday. The south took over a bit and made for a few incredible left hand barrels, though they were few and far between. The right had that south swell sectiony thing going. It's like a beach break really but, you are at Rincon, so if you are going fast enough, it's possible to connect about 10 of those beach break waves together, and end up half way to the cove before you know it. Thursday. Yesterday.. Another west swell. Long intervals so it was a bit inconsistent, and windy, but going overhead and plenty of fun to say the least.. So.. yeah. You got to be grateful.. and hopeful. And yes.. the bananas.

We moved in here in October of last year. See post previous post: "Right smack in the middle of La Conchita" So hopeful.. I was. Anyway my house is literally about 25 feet from the entrance of Doug Richardson's old Seaside Banana Plantation. So we transplanted about a half a dozen banana trees from our old house in SB to the new house in the LC. I have to point out, at this point the lawn was dead, the only palm tree was dead, this yard was dead! So these bananas trees all green and lush were a huge improvement. I planted them on the north end of the yard about 25 feet from the Banana Plantation. Then.. They started dying. Leaf's turning brown, Riley running into them knocking them off.. One by one they were dying a slow death. I felt like the laughing stock of La Conchita. I mean bananas grow like weed here in the LC. Oops. I mean weeds. Mine were looking pretty sad. Some were down to just a stock, trunk, I don't know what to call it but not a single leaf. Sad. But I was hopeful..

Here's a nice healthy grove on SurfSide

So I brought over a Pygmy banana tree I had growing at the trailer in Carp. This thing was beautiful. "I will show this town I am no banana killer" It died faster than the others. Banana killer!!! Or just a bad time to plant bananas I guess. But what about that infamous La Conchita micro climate? Bad time to plant bananas. I looked around the town at the established bananas and they were holding up pretty well. I heard Doug, owner of the Seaside Banana Plantation, used to put sheets over his puppy's on cold nights. Someone else told me to do that also but, it was too late for mine. Can't put a sheet over a dead banana tree. Too sad.. So I suffered the torment and shame, of looking at dying bananas, 25 feet from the former site of the only successful Banana Plantation in the United States just hoping.. they'd come back. Got to be hopeful.

Then.. Just in the last two weeks new leafs started sprouting out of all of them. I even have one with bananas starting to drop down that on that flower stock thingy. Whatever you call that. So I am grateful.. and hopeful... Thanks John.

Turning over a New Leaf.. Have a great day!

2010 Rincon Classic "Killing it Edition"

After 4 weeks of delay the Classic finally got underway this past Saturday. Unfortunately after week, after week, after week, after month, after month, after over four months of consistent often perfect surf.. I awoke Saturday morning to the dreaded south wind and 2' slop. I was pretty excited to go shoot some photos so I went on down there and had a look. Good turn out, warm weather, and some of those guys can turn blown out, white capped, south wind water.. into wine.. That is for sure. I lasted about 15 minutes took 4 photos, then went home to drink beer and cry about my wife moving out. The good news is I found some great tenants to move in upstairs. So "I" wont be moving out anytime soon.. And I can still see the 'con from the front yard. Life is good in the LC..

Sunday morning was looking nice as I glanced out the window. Glassy conditions, a bit more swell in the water, and shaping up to be another sunny and warm day. I looked at my watch.. and I was an hour late. Just kidding. Haven't had a watch in years. I didn't know what heats were running at what times anyway, so I figured I would just hang out till I get some good shots or run out space on my card (wannabe photographers only carry 1 card and usually a 3/4 charged battery)


Like I said.. Yesterday wasn't that great surf wise, or in terms of emotional stability, so when I pulled up and saw a few fun looking peaks coming into Indicator. Hmmm.. Well. You know. Surf first.. Shoot later. Luckily for the competitors, Indicator wasn't quite lining up into the Rivermouth Section, or I would have won the event right then and there. lol. By the way the water is freakin' freezing up here.

The surf felt great and with a clear head, frozen feet, and ice cold hands, I grabbed my camera and set up camp on the north side of the creek in Santa Barbara County. Most everyone else was set up in Ventura County. Anyway.. This contest is really about the locals and there are a million divisions for just about everyone. I am sorry to have missed most of the regular folks and mere mortals but.. I stumbled into some of the Mens and Bud Light Pro heats and they were lighting it up.. Check it out the full session at.. EppicSurf

A big thank you to everyone at SurfHappens for making it happen! Defending champ Kilian Garland took down the top spot again in the Bud Light Pro, with Spencer Regan nailing down first in the Mens 18 and up. For full coverage and complete results check out.. Santa Barbara Surfer


First Place Bud Light Mens Pro.. Kilian Garland

The Old Rincon Creek Brick Quarry - Part 1

I have searched and searched but I can not find a thing about these bricks on the web. Well.. There was a PDF file mentioning Benotite and something about a brick quarry at the mouth Rincon Creek. You had to pay for the article and that is frankly against my internet policy regarding information. So I will tell you what I know, and probably make some stuff up if I have to. I well tell you this. Facts or no facts this will be the most comprehensive piece useless information ever written about the subject. Please if you know anything about the subject feel free to school me in the comments. Our journey starts way further up the creek on a private road off Gobernador Canyon Rd It's here somewhere around 6-8 miles up the creek that the brick quarry stood. This was confirmed by Barron a long time resident of the Rincon Point enclave.

Now.. When I say private that's means I drove up there, and couldn't find any access points to the creek so I let it go. Well.. Not quite. Last summer desperate to find the source, and subsequently more bricks, I entered the creek at the only access point I could find. This creek does flow year round but it was a mere trickle this summer. Lined with massive amounts of poison oak on both sides, only an idiot would attempt to enter the creek dressed in shorts. So I jumped right in. In my 47 years I have had Poison Oak only one other time, but it was just a few weeks before this incident. Anyway.. I was armed with plenty of Mugwort, an old Chumash remedy which grows conveniently next to most poison oak groves. Well the creek was a bust, no bricks, and lots of private ranches lining the creek with plenty of dogs. Normally this would not have stopped me but, I brought my dog Riley along so and there was just too much barking. I came away with the worst case posion oak I have ever seen. Seriously.. I have permanent scaring.

By the way. Thanks to the California Constitution. It is legal to enter any creek, river, within 30 feet of a public bridge crossing regardless of of whether the creek flows through private property. I learned this from Kayaking days. The right to navigate the rivers and streams of California, including Rincon Creek, is guaranteed to the citizens by the State Constitution (Article 10, §4), which states:

No individual, partnership, or corporation, claiming or possessing the frontage or tidal lands of a harbor, bay, inlet, estuary, or other navigable water in this State, shall be permitted to exclude the right of way to such water whenever it is required for any public purpose, nor to destroy or obstruct the free navigation of such water; and the Legislature shall enact such laws as will give the most liberal construction to this provision, so that access to the navigable waters of this State shall be always obtainable for the people thereof.

The state retains ownership of navigable rivers and streams, and retains the power to regulate boating activities. This public right supercedes the rights of neighboring landowners, including situations in which waters flow through private property.

Way off on a tangent there. Sorry. Back to the bricks. I first learned of the bricks in 2005. We had those torrential rains to start off the year eventually causing the hillside here in La Conchita to slide, killing 10 people. We have had a lot of rain this year but, nothing even close to that. Well over 40 inches of rain fell over the course of a week or so. Thats over 26 feet of snow for you winter bound folks. Even more on Rincon Mountain. Two trash barrels according to Jessica. That is a lot of rain. That is the kind of rain you need for Santa Clara Rivermouth to do it's thing and form it's perfect V shape sand point. Long hollow rights or lefts, take your pick. And.. That is the kind of rain it takes to get these bricks out of Rincon Creek.

I was living in Carp during the slide, and the freeway was closed for about a week, so I rode my bike down to Rincon and there was a freaking huge pile of sand, rocks, and debris standing about 10 feet high and at least 100 feet wide at the mouth of the creek extending way out in the break. And the bricks.. Wow. I didn't really think much about them at the time. Cool colors I thought. But people were collecting them by the tons. Wheel Barrels, wagons, you name it. Actually I don't know who all was collecting them. My friend Wayne from Carpinteria is by far the biggest collector. I saw another huge stash in the mobile home park behind mine. There is a cool looking wall and walkway someone built right on the point. More on that in part two. I don't know why I didn't start collecting them.. This is kind of thing is right up my alley. Wow this is going long. Sorry.


Anyway last April, shortly after I moved out of Jenny's house in SB, and back home to Carp.. Just north of here.. I started finding a few bricks here and there on my morning walks at the point. I was hooked. Unfortunately the point has been pretty pick over and no bricks have been released since 2005. So finding even like one a day is nearly impossible. This is about the time I started to fix up the backyard and I wanted those bricks sooo bad. Just enough for a little walkway, patio or something. Had to have some. Wayne was not giving any up. No one. Period. But he did predict a rainy winter.. I needed them now! So I settled on a small round meditative patio, using a mix of creek bricks and some new bricks from a Masonry yard in SB. More on that in Part Two..

Flash forward to this winter. It has been pretty much non stop surf! Most of it has been pretty big but also really consistent! Lots of littoral drift going on. Best winter since '69 some say. We have lost at least 6'-10' of sand from the beach here in La Conchita. This has unearthed a gold mine of bricks that have been buried deep, deep, in the sand since 2005.


Thousands driving by every day oblivious to the gold mine of bricks for the taking.


Anyway the inspiration for this story was a walk on the beach waiting for a sunset that would never come. I decided to shoot these bricks in there natural state. So for the first time, I stopped picking them up, and just looked. The bricks get pretty cobbled and broken up making the trip down the creek, but after 5 years in the sand and sea these are even more cobbled. Large small, round, flat, square, broken it doesn't matter. I collect them all. Why...This kind of thing is right up my alley!