April 2002: Surfing at Dux




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Six Years Ago on DogMan's Chronicles

The Green Room

April 2002: Surfing at Dux


Smokin' Right at Dux Beach Break.

Dux is a favorite DogLand surf spot. In fact, it's many breaks in a small area. It includes many individual lineups; reef breaks, point breaks, beach breaks, and even don't-hit-the-rocks breaks. It offers long peelers, short slammers, walls, bowls, tubes andÊ closeouts. Waves go left, waves go right, and some waves go left and right.


Some waves go left and right.


Zone Dome right.


Seasonal Surf

Every Spring the "opening day" for Dux is eagerly anticipated. It goes off Spring, Summer, and early Fall, but shuts down for the Winter. Mostly. Once in a blue moon the sand bars of Winter will build specifically for the NW swell. When this happens you have to get on it quickly, for the same forces that build the bars also tear them apart. The magic doesn't last long. This phenomenon has been named the "Zone Dome" by my long time surf bud: MLP.


Droppin into a nice left.


About to close, shudda pulled in.

Spring into Backside

But mostly the magic of Dux is long peeling lefts across reefs and bars thru the long Summer months. It can handle a low or even minus tide; these are common at dawn during the season. DM never gets tired of backside riding, even when in Indo. In the Land o' Rights that is Santa Cruz County, lefts are rare. So Dux is a haven, a place of refuge from frontside waves for the natural footers among us.

Long sweeping backside left.


Boogie left down a long wall o' water.

A pod of grey whales in the surf zone at Dux

Whale Time!

In April the grey whale migration is in full swing, as the big mammals swim North with their calves. Traveling with youngsters, the going is slow, close to shore (for security) and filled with discovery. The young whales are curious, and are known to swim right up to surfers to investigate. The older whales nervously nudge the offspring away from the lineup, and back to the swimming lanes headed North. This is unlike the Fall migration South. At that time the whales are not traveling with newborns, and are in a hurry to get to the Sea of Cortez for the Winter. They stay further out to sea and make fast steady progress. No time for sightseeing!


Surfer snakes a seal at Dux.

These Are the Breaks

From one end to the other, here's some specific breaks at Dux:
  1. Libas: a sharp critical hollow left over extremely ragged reef. Better at higher tides. You can see some extreme surfing here as young turks show off their stuff.
  2. Full Point: The center of the reef that can go left or right, but mostly left. There's many peaks even to this break, take your pick.
  3. Shoulder Hoppers: The shoulder of the main reef, and a very popular spot with longboarders. It's here that the longest smoothest walls peel forever.
  4. J's Peak: Named for my bud Dr.J. If J is out, it's guaranteed he'll be on this break. It's off the shoulder of the reef and into the channel slightly. Bigger waves that miss or close out Shoulder Hoppers steam thru here for the brave and courageous.
  5. Zone Dome: A fickle beach break that can be unrideable for years at a stretch, then go off big time. Can be ridden left and right. Wave specifics depend entirely on the sand bars.
  6. Pilots: Popular break, in part because of ez access. Also aÊ small stream sometimes terminates here, helping to build the sand bars.
  7. Coli: Not named after E. Coli. This spot is itself a spread of microbreaks, and is fickle from day to day, and tide to tide. It's primarilly a beach break, but you gotta dodge the rocks, especially at low tides.

Shoulder Hopper left.


Another Shoulder Hopper left.


Close up and personal at Shoulder Hoppers.


Zone Dome goin' right.


Another Zone Dome right.

To Every Thing There Is a Season

Some spots in DogLand (like HL's) go flat for the Summer. But Dux comes alive and fills the gaps. We can look forward to many months of Dux lined all in a row. It is susceptible to blowouts from the afternoon NW windz, but other than that this spot will offer many many fun waves for lots of surfers before it too shuts off late this Fall. But of course at that time other DogLand spots open for business.

CU Out There,

DogMan


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