B757 flight crew reported a heading deviation due to confusion flying the sbd obstacle departure.

Attributes
ACN	1580887
Time
Date	201809
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	SBD.Airport
State Reference	CA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Dusk
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B757-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Route In Use	Other ODP
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Track / Heading All Types

Narrative:

We were assigned the obstacle departure rwy 24 sbd. The departure reads 'rwy 24 climbing left turn. All aircraft climb direct pdz VOR.' after discussion we understood the departure to be a climbing left turn while climbing for terrain clearance then after the turn direct pdz. After departure (while in a left turn) departure control queried us about our heading. We stated we were in a left turn per the obstacle departure. He said we had overshot the direct turn to pdz it didn't require a full circle then direct. We were given a heading for pdz and proceeded as directed. The rest of the departure was uneventful. There was no traffic conflict or terrain warnings. A note in the guide describing the procedure might make it more clear. From rwy 24 it's really not a climbing left turn rather a left turn direct to pdz. It's not a complicated procedure however the high terrain near the airport led us to make more of the turn requirement than was needed.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B757 flight crew reported a heading deviation due to confusion flying the SBD Obstacle Departure.

Narrative: We were assigned the obstacle departure Rwy 24 SBD. The departure reads 'Rwy 24 climbing left turn. All aircraft climb direct PDZ VOR.' After discussion we understood the departure to be a climbing left turn while climbing for terrain clearance then after the turn direct PDZ. After departure (while in a left turn) departure control queried us about our heading. We stated we were in a left turn per the obstacle departure. He said we had overshot the direct turn to PDZ it didn't require a full circle then direct. We were given a heading for PDZ and proceeded as directed. The rest of the departure was uneventful. There was no traffic conflict or terrain warnings. A note in the guide describing the procedure might make it more clear. From Rwy 24 it's really not a climbing left turn rather a left turn DIRECT to PDZ. It's not a complicated procedure however the high terrain near the airport led us to make more of the turn requirement than was needed.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.