Friday, May 8th, 2020
First surf since the COVID-19 shutdown, first surf at C-Street / Ventura Point
Location: C-Street/Ventura Point, Ventura, CA
Time: Early morning (6:30am-8:30am)
Conditions: Slow 1–2' rights breaking at different peaks up and down the point, low tide rising through the morning, no wind, clear skies early before thick fog encroached towards the end of my session
Equipment: 8' Almond R-Series
Company: Plenty of other friendly surfers that I didn’t know
Well, it had been exactly 2 months since my last surf session due to the COVID-19 beach closures so you know I was itching for some waves. Los Angeles County beaches remain closed and, while I could have gone south to Huntington Beach in OC, I decided instead to try C-Street in Ventura since I had never surfed Ventura before. The weather has been hot and Ventura point had been pumping over the past two days when I checked the surf cams. I had originally planned to go first thing yesterday morning but unfortunately I had to meet the roofer at the house at 6am. According to Surfline, the 3–4 foot swell from yesterday was supposed to die down a little bit today but I figured there would still be some remnants of that swell on offer. Perhaps there would be fewer people on account of the smaller surf forecast. Wrong!
I woke up at 4am. All my gear was already in the car and ready to go so I just had a banana and a glass of orange juice and waited a little while until I was able to “empty” myself before the long car ride to Ventura. Hopped on the 405 to the 101 North all the way to California street and Ventura and found a parking spot in the parking lot of a surf shop 2 blocks from the beach where some other surfers were parked and changing into their wetsuits. I was so excited to finally catch some waves!
My excitement to get to surf was tempered by the lackluster waves on offer. Slow, mushy 1–2' rights peeled along the drained cobblestone point breaking in various sections up and down its length. There was already a pretty considerable crowd in the water by the time I got in. I paddled up the point a little ways, looking for gaps in the crowd where I might be able to snag a wave to myself. I overheard other surfers in the water remark on how drastically the conditions had changed since the epic surf of the day before — err!. Over the next two hours, I probably managed to catch about 10 waves — all rights.
While the size and consistency of the surf may not have been what I’d hoped for, it was nice to once again paddle out on a beautiful Friday morning in beautiful Ventura! Even though it was fairly crowded, I was struck by how mellow and friendly the vibe was in the water. It’s a very long drive for a surf session but I would definitely like to give C-Street another go…next time hopefully I won’t miss the swell!
