Rincon Alert Guide

California, USA · part of the Rincon spot guide

The East Santa Barbara buoy (46053) is the standard Santa Barbara Channel gauge about 36 kilometres out, and a live channel reading resolves the island shadow better than an open-ocean forecast point — so a live-observation alert is the right call. The height below is a buoy reading; the long-period wrap makes the face bigger.

The forecaster's checklist

1. 1.Watch for a strong North Pacific or Gulf-of-Alaska low producing long-period west-northwest swell, 13 to 18 seconds and up.
2. 2.Confirm the angle is west to west-northwest, roughly 270–300°, so it threads the Point Conception and Channel Islands gap and wraps the point.
3. 3.Discount direct south swell — it is island-shadowed here, so don’t be fooled by a big south reading on other buoys.
4. 4.Read the East Santa Barbara buoy (46053) for the tell — rising height and long period from about 270–290° is the green light — and use the outer West Santa Barbara buoy to time arrival.
5. 5.Aim the session at a low-to-mid, dropping tide with a morning northeast (Santa Ana) offshore — that combination is when all three sections link and glass off.

Local winds & tide

Best wind: NE–E offshore; a Santa Ana is the magic — from 20° to 90° (NNE–E).

Rincon is tide-sensitive and prefers a low-to-mid, falling tide, which keeps the wave from fattening and turns on the Rivermouth tubes; it rides all tides but fattens and sections at high.

Dial it in