Perfection Before the Storm at South Jetty

by Ted Bennett
(Arroyo Grande, CA)

This was to be the last session at the jetty before two of my mates were headed off to fulfill their patriotic duty in the first Gulf War. I guess it was in December of 1990. Only four months previous Saddam Hussein had decided to make the oil-rich country of Kuwait his personal cash cow thus sparking a massive buildup of an international coalition which unfortunately included a local National Guard unit which included a fair number of college students of whom several were my surf buddies.

I do remember that it was a Saturday and my friends and I had planned to spend virtually all day out at the jetty. In those days there weren't any internet surf reports, surf cams, or even accurate data from the weather section of the local news rag. We did as our counterparts had done for generations. We drove to the Rock at the crack of dawn and looked West. There was a definite swell in the water. It was also confirmed by looking at the south side of the Rock across the harbor mouth at the wave peaks marching in on the other side of south jetty. My stomach relaxed a bit because I knew that if I could see the tops of the waves on the other side of the rock jetty then it was sure to be overhead. The wind was very calm at that hour and we hoped it would remain cooperative for the rest of the day as we assembled at our good friends home above the kite shop to kit up for an all day excursion.

South jetty, at that time was still relatively uncrowded as it took a bit of effort to get to the break. This consisted of a 1/4 mile paddle across the harbor followed by a half mile walk to the far side of the jetty. Not bad at all to us as we had long since made it our adopted break and enjoyed the warm-up exercise prior to a good session.

There were six of us that would make the trip today. Our own little "insta-crowd". We had all stuffed our backpacks with what ever food, snacks and drink we could fit and set out an hour past sunrise under clear skies across the harbor which was at mid tide about two hundred yards as the crow flies from the kite shop. Upon reaching the beach on the opposite side we thus began out trek directly across the small dunes and ended up exactly where we had been many times before. While walking across we would crest a dune and be able to catch a glimpse of perfect dark, blue-green lines moving steadily in from the horizon. A few hoots, hollers, and some fist pumping were in order as we knew this was going to be a special session. As we came over the last dune our group stopped momentarily to take in the scene. The corduroy-like swells were organizing themselves into beautiful peaks which walled up and peeled into juicy 6-8 foot sections that screamed for half a football field before reforming and continuing another long, right slide before petering out an they dissipated on the hard-packed sand. The waves were empty- not another soul out. I looked north and also did not see any more surfers making their way across the channel or trekking up the beach. This time we all erupted in spontaneous hooting and hell yeses before scrambling toward a spot to shed our packs apply some last minute touches of wax, head for the water.

Depending on the swell direction, there is usually a strong channel right next to the jetty which can, even on big days, allow you to get into position with dry hair. It was working today. Our group of six hit the water almost simultaneously and then formed up in a two abreast line into the channel. Today the waves were breaking almost at the end of the jetty so upon reaching the end you had to then paddle south to get into position. We continued a bit further to a consistent right-hand peak that looked most inviting. After spreading out in a loose formation it didn't take long to catch a wave. I don't remember who went first. It really does not matter. My first wave was a late takeoff that I managed into a sharp bottom turn followed by a lazy lipper and then set off on a speed-run down the line carving small turns until the wave was about to close out I executed a long turn at the bottom, still maintaining speed and launched myself up the face and over the back. I didn't to get as much air as I did and seemed to hang there for a few seconds landing feet-first in the water.


As I paddled back into our lineup I watched two more of my mates take consecutive rights that they carved up with the abandon of people who might not ever surf again. As soon as I reached the takeoff zone I had time to take a few seconds of rest before another set came through. It seemed as though the time between sets was almost nil as if a giant, wave-making machine was in full swing somewhere out past our line of sight. I caught another smooth-fast right, paddled back and watched as another buddy came down the line spraying my as he backsided a crushing lip turn and continued on. I had as much fun watching my mates as I did surfing that day. There were so many good waves that after what I thought was only about 30 minutes in the water, my watch confirmed that we had been out for one hundred minutes.

Another hour passed and there was no end in sight of the good surf, we decided to take a break, eat and then return for more.

During our short respite, we noticed that a handful of other surfers had decided to make the trip across the harbor and head to the excellent waves at south jetty. It really didn't bother us much as there were plenty of waves to go around and we were grateful upon chatting them up for a few minutes they felt the same way. We returned to the lineup and surfed freely for at least three more hours before the onshore breezes made their presence known and picked up steadily. By the time we decided to pack it in and return back across the dunes to the harbor the wind had all but blown out our little spot completely. I felt a little bad for the people that had come across more recently as they missed some of the best conditions in recent memory. But our group had had their fill of outstanding rides unhampered by crowds and attitude.

We finally made it back to the kite shop and decided to regroup back at my place in Los Osos which had a hot jacuzzi, and cold beer waiting. Of course we were all in that state of relaxed exhaustion that comes with a superb session, but the beer and hot jacuzzi actually motivated us to make a store run for a massive tri-tip roast, salad and beans. The roast, I BBQd up and with the side dishes managed to feed the whole crew. We eventually had to call it a day some time after sunset.

In retrospect this was most likely the single best local surf session any of us had had. My friends went off to the Middle east shortly after and returned unharmed thankfully. Afterwords some of us finished college and moved on to join the "real world". The rest continued for another year or so and again graduated, moved on, got jobs, a wife and family and probably never returned to the water. I stayed here because it has been my family's home for decades. I still surf the jetty on occasion and have good sessions, but that one day will forever stay in my memory.