Ventura C Street & Pipe

This was a Friday dawn patrol. Gorgeous wakeup in Carpinteria, and we had checked out a few breaks the night before.

We hada 13 mile drive south past Little Rincon, Mussels Shoals, Emma Wood State Beach marks the definitive bend in the coast between Ventura proper and the points and reefs beyond.

Through the years, California Street has endured numerous face-lifts. Two decades ago, when it was known as Surfer's Point, a crew of hard-core locals proudly guarded their break against invaders from the south (Oxnard and Malibu), the east (the Valley) and the north (Santa Barbara).

These days, with a boardwalk, pay parking machines (a buck an hour), islands of well-groomed sod and bathroom and shower facilities, the three-fourths mile series of points known as California Street, located in front of the Ventura County Fairgrounds, has been tamed into submission.

The top and most popular point, known as Pipe (there's only one, so don't call it Pipes), tends to be the highest quality wave of the bunch. Like Upper Trestles, it's an ever-changing configuration of sand and cobblestone -- dependent on the flow of the Ventura Rivermouth -- but the wave remains the same: long right walls. This is true primarily during the winter, but it's also good on southwest swells with the occasional hollow section that runs for 50 to 75 yards. On the biggest winter days, it's possible to connect it clear to California Street, a distance of a half-mile or so. Pipe tends to be the most crowded break in Ventura, with a tight dawn patrol crew and a huge army of weekend warriors that keep the place humming.

Lot's of stories to be had in this area, my first job in California was a consulting job for the Telephone company out of Ventura, and I got in a great summer run through some lemon groves. Later I had a girlfriend with a boat in the Ventura Harbor. I met Chuck Barfoot in overhead Rincon one session, I surfed my Russell in front of the Holiday Inn for the first time ever in California. I also met Preseidnet Reagen, Nancy and Fess Parker up here in 1983.

What a long strange trip its been.