There have been a few columns about beach breaks recently on DMC; here's one more. Last December offered an opportunity to surf and shoot yet another famous beach break in Southern California. Gazing at the photos the other day stimulated these thoughts. Waxing philosophic or merely stiching pictures together with words? You be the judge.

Like many surfers, DogMan learned to surf in beach breakers. It was a long time ago on a different coast, in a different ocean that DM first paddled a foamy longboard into a tiny shore-pounding swell. All the kids were doing it, so it felt natural to try it too. Just like many other beginning kooky gremmies, DM found it difficult just to navigate to the break zone. Can't really call it a lineup; beach breaks sport peaks all over the place.

Like many other budding wave riders, experience and repetition brought a measure of success. Since there weren't any reef or point breaks in the vicinity, these lousy miniscule waves at Mayport Beach, Florida were really the only game there was. Luckily one didn't need a wetsuit to play.

Shift forward many years and move to another coast with another ocean. This time a thick rubber suit is an absolute necessity. DogMan hasn't surfed much at all since those boyhood days, but now is the time to get reacquainted with the stoke. Picture a remote and largely deserted beach in Northern California with bigger but still lousy waves. DogMan is once again a beginning kook, but not so young.

Beach break is excellent for learning to surf; it makes you a better surfer too. Repetition is needed to learn technique, and you can snag 20 or more waves per hour in these conditions. Wave anticipation is critical, as is a strong paddle, a quick pop to the feet, and a speedy bottom turn. You snooze you loose. Beach break is sort of like a drill sergeant at boot camp. You won't like it, but you will learn fast or you will get out of the water fast. Lessons learned here can be applied to point and reef breaks, but surfing exclusively at those spots will not help you perform well in at the sandy shore.

This relearning happened many years ago; most time in the water is now spent surfing the point breaks of DogLand. But it's an occasional joy to return to the groove with the waves along a stretch of sandy beach. December in Southern California brought just such a chance. After enjoying a dozen water walls of wonder, it was time to snap the others out there.

You can see a wide variety of waves, wave riding vehicles, and wave riders in these pictures. It was all at the same beach on the same morning. Check the freak waves throwing scare tactics in the middle of the beach. No one wanted any part of those. But every other peak along the sandy shore had at least one or two eager surfers. The primo peaks had real crowds vying for rides. Didn't recognize any of them personally, but it's a safe bet a few of the better surfers were sponsored.

Sand bars come and go, making for shifting conditions across the seasons at these breaks. Sometimes the waves are epic, other times months or years elapse before the sand configures once more for peelers. While a point break presents largely the same face to the swell year after year, a beach break is literally never the same twice. That can be a good thing, but it can also be a complete bitch. No wonder many of us have love/hate relationships with our favorite beach.

Still, it's a joy to return to the roots, come full circle, and jump into it once again after so long. Some say the beach breaker is the purest of waves, que ultima. At the least, variety in surf breaks provides for our enjoyment, and a good beach break fills a special niche. After all, it's where many of us first put board to water, first caught a moving wall of soup, first struggled to our feet, first felt the stoke of surfing that becomes a passion of our life. Here's hoping the stoke doesn't end any time soon.

CU Out There,

DogMan