So why do the old guys get frustrated? Is it only the crowd?

I don’t know when the city of Ventura started its plan for the beach area from the pier to the Fair grounds, but I remember when the big changes started.

It was the summer of 1967 when the big trucks started bringing the large boulders that were dumped on the shore line from the pier to the point. For what? The revetment that is under the promenade. And immediately the surfing conditions were changed along that stretch of beach. The high tide conditions were never to be the same.

Initially dirt was brought in that was used to fill in over the revetment… the promenade was built some years later. So all along the point you could park your vehicle and enter the water to surf from below Figaroa st. That was before the Hotel, Condos and Apartments were built too.

The storms of 1969 and the over flowing Ventura river deposited a tremendous amount of sand on the beach that migrated from the river mouth down and around the point. Over the days and weeks after the storms the sand eventually piled up against the first jetty and filled in the beach from the jetty back up and under the pier continuing up the beach west of the pier and filling in the lower point. The revetment helping hold the sand to this day has changed the way waves break at inside point, especially on south swells…. And it’s not better.

For reference… Harbour Blvd used to go under the pier, the old road is still there but now part of the pier parking area and the waters edge was not far off back then. Before these changes high tides would wash out that area of Harbour Blvd under the pier.

The promenade and bike path was built in stages and the first phase of the promenade ended at Figaroa st. The free parking area came later. The top of the point where the free parking are is now was an unstructured paved area that went right up to the waters edge. It started at the end of Figaroa and ended about where the restrooms and showers are on the point now.

During that period you could park inside at Paseo de Playa to surf or up on the point to surf. And if you wanted to surf pipe you could park at the top of the point and walk up there. You couldn’t drive up or park at pipe or anywhere along what some now call mid point or middles.

So until the bike path and parking area in what is actually the Fair grounds was developed not many guys surfed pipe. It was much easier to surf the point than hassle walking the distance for surf you really couldn’t see, and no one could see you.

D.R.

The Point parking before the free lot.


The top of the old parking area at the Point looking up to Pipe. This is as close to Pipe as you could park. The corner of the photo says June '83. But was taken a few months earlier after large surf busted up the parking lot... as you can see.

After construction started on the free lot high surf deposited a mess for the crews to deal with. This is where all the sand is now with the palm tree planters.