The four days of swell in San Diego featured a variety of conditions and waves. One day the winds howled with gale force, effectively closing the beaches to surfing.The next day started with an ocean full of morning sickness, however this smoothed away early, and the board riders came to play in the swell that graced the shores. By that time it was time for the drive north to Ventura county, for more waves at different beaches and different surf breaks.

While San Diego is lined with sandy beaches, rock groins and piers, it also has crumbly cliffs along the ocean much like Santa Cruz. Ventura has a few groins, but not so many as San Diego. In either case these are perfect for turning beach closeouts into surfable peelers. Ventura doesn't have so many piers, but what it has that San Diego does not is a few choice arcing point breaks lined with cobblestones. The most famous of these is Rincon, but this is not the only one. Unlike the sharper points of Santa Cruz, those in Ventura county are long sweeping gentle curves. They create multiple lineups and take off spots, so that one wave can wrap around the point and several surfers will get to ride it without getting in each others way.

The first notable session in Ventura was at a particular jetty, with overhead zoomers creating steep drops and fast barrells for the board riders. A trio of brothers, Chris, Dave and Spencer Ford, all of them accomplished body surfers, were in the water making the most of the challenging conditions. Men in black, they played in the surf and made it look much easier than it in fact was. In between the rideable waves, there were long lulls, and outside closeout sets that kept the brothers on their toes. Now and then they scratched hard for the horizon, either clearing the feathering lips or duck diving the top to bottom sheets of cascading water.

As fun as this session was, even more notable swell was on the way, and that will be the subject of the next in this series of columns in DogMan's Chronicles. Click back next time to see the big waves at a Ventura county point break.

CU Out There,

DogMan