A C152 PLT FOUND HIMSELF IMC IN VFR.

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I MADE A VFR FLT FROM SANTA INEZ (IZA) TO TORRANCE (TOA) DEPARTING IZA AT APPROX XA45 ON MAR/WED/02. I CALLED FSS WHILE ON THE GND AT IZA AND GOT A STANDARD WX BRIEFING. THE WX BRIEF WAS WITH HAWTHORNE FSS FOR CESSNA 152. THE BRIEFING STATED THAT THE WX IN TORRANCE AND AT LAX WAS 20 NM VISIBILITY; SCATTERED CLOUDS AT 12000 FT; BROKEN AT 2500 FT; ETC; AND THAT A MARINE LAYER WOULD BE ROLLING INTO THE AREA AT XE00 AND XH00 LCL TIME; LONG AFTER MY ARR TIME. THE BRIEF ALSO STATED CONDITIONS AT SANTA BARBARA; BROKEN CLOUDS; ETC; AND A MARINE LAYER MOVING IN. WITH THIS INFO I MADE THE DECISION TO GO TO TOA. I CLBED TO 5500 FT OUT OF IZA AND CONTACTED SANTA BARBARA APCH FOR FLT FOLLOWING TO TOA. AFTER PASSING THE VENTURA VOR I SAW WHAT LOOKED LIKE A BLANKET OF CLOUDS OVER THE S BAY. I STATED THIS TO MUGU APCH WHO GOT BACK TO ME WITH INFO FROM TOA WHICH WAS 20 NM VISIBILITY; BROKEN AT 2500 FT; ETC. I PROCEEDED AND WAS CLRED FOR THE SHORELINE RTE WITH SOCAL AT 5500 FT. I STATED TO THEM THAT I DIDN'T HAVE THE SHORELINE IN SIGHT AND THEY GAVE ME VECTORS WHICH GOT ME OVER TORRANCE. OVER TORRANCE THEY ASKED ME TO START A DSCNT WHICH I DECLINED BECAUSE THERE WERE NO BREAKS IN THE CLOUD LAYER WHICH SEEMED TO BE AT ABOUT 5000 FT. TOA WAS CLAIMING THEY HAD CLR SKIES TO THE S; THEY COULD SEE THE OCEAN. SOCAL VECTORED ME AROUND WHILE I LOOKED FOR AN OPENING. I WAS STARTING TO GET LOW ON FUEL AND THERE WERE NO OPENINGS IN THE CLOUDS. THERE WAS A FULL MOON AND I COULD SEE A BLANKET FOR AS FAR AS MY EYES COULD SEE. I TOLD SOCAL THIS AND THAT I WAS PREPARED TO GO THROUGH THE CLOUDS TO GET DOWN BECAUSE THAT LOOKED LIKE MY ONLY POSSIBILITY. THEY GAVE ME A VECTOR AND I STARTED A DSCNT DOWN THROUGH THE CLOUDS. I BROKE OUT OF THE CLOUDS AT ABOUT 4000 FT OVER SAN PEDRO HARBOR. AT THIS POINT I COULD SEE TOA CLRLY AND WAS ABLE TO COME IN AND LAND SAFELY. TOA WAS CORRECT WHEN THEY SAID THEY COULD SEE OUT TO THE OCEAN; BUT THEY HAD NO IDEA THERE WAS A CEILING AT 4000 FT FROM THE MARINE LAYER THAT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO BE THERE UNTIL XG00. I BELIEVE THE PROB WAS WITH THE WX FORECASTING. IT DIDN'T REALLY SEEM LIKE ANYBODY KNEW THE MARINE LAYER WAS THERE EXCEPT FOR ME SINCE I WAS RIGHT ABOVE IT. I'M NOT INST RATED BUT HAVE FLOWN IN THE CLOUDS WITH INSTRUCTORS BEFORE AND HAVE LOGGED QUITE A BIT OF HOOD TIME AND MADE A FEW PRACTICE APCHS IN PREPARATION FOR AN INST RATING. THIS HELPED ME GET DOWN THROUGH THE CLOUDS AND MAKE A SAFE LNDG; BUT NONETHELESS I ONLY HOLD A PVT PLT CERTIFICATE AND THE WX BRIEFING I RECEIVED PUT ME INTO A DANGEROUS SIT. UPON LNDG I TALKED TO SOME OTHER PLTS WHO HAD GONE UP BUT CAME RIGHT BACK DOWN BECAUSE OF THE WX AND THEY WERE UNDER THE SAME IMPRESSION I WAS; 20 NM VISIBILITY; BROKEN CLOUDS; ETC; THE CONDITIONS THAT WERE BEING RPTED TO THEM FROM FSS AND LCL ATIS RECORDINGS.