Redevelopment Won’t Stop Surfers at Huntington Beach : North County: Despite 18-month interruption during construction of new pier, sport is not expected to suffer in its cultural heartland.

“If Hawaii is the heart of surfing, Huntington Beach is the brain.”

--Five-time U.S. surfing champion Corky Carroll in 1982

“Huntington is an example of redevelopment that will defuse the surf culture in Orange County and, I suppose, it will be the end of an era as the cultural focal point for the sport of surfing.”

--Surfer magazine editor Steve Pezman in 1988

Are developers going to render surfing brain dead in Huntington Beach? Will urban resuscitation suffocate Surf City U.S.A.?

Not likely.

Sure, the city’s downtown redevelopment project might force some surfboard shop owners to hang their string bikinis in windows a bit farther from the waves. But unless they blow up the offshore reef that the U.S. Coast Guard constructed in the 1950s or mount machine guns on the lifeguard towers, those powerful peaks that slash through the Huntington Beach pier will continue to be the essence of the surf experience.

From small swells in the west to big swells in the south to thunderous swells in the north, the pier probably will continue to produce some decently shaped waves, from two feet to 15 feet. And for most surfers, riding good waves in the shadow of a luxury hotel will be little more than an aesthetic flaw.

One good blast off the lip of one of those head-high walls of moving water still will be enough to make a surfer’s day.

“They’re going to turn the area into Disneyland, but I don’t think it will make the waves any more crowded and that’s the important part,” said Mark Metcalf, a 27-year-old Anaheim dentist who started a surfing club 13 years ago at Sunny Hills High School and still surfs almost every morning. “I considered buying a condo down here, but I think the traffic congestion could be a problem.”

Clearly, most surfers are taking a wait-and-see-if-it-affects-the-surfing approach.

“They can (mess) up the downtown area any way they want, man, and if they can make money out of it, they’ll do it,” said Brad Taylor of Fountain Valley. “But if they tried to make this a private beach or something, there’d be a revolution. Those are the best waves around.”

Hold the revolution, but indeed a portion of those prime waves--500 feet of surf on both sides of the pier--will be off limits for nearly a year and a half beginning Aug. 7 when demolition of the old landmark begins, giving way to construction of another pier. What is left of the old one has been closed since it was ravaged in a storm in January 1988.

“For a period of about two years, we’re going to have to wait this out,” said Gary Clisby, currently No. 8 in the world in the Professional Surfing Assn. of America rankings. “But in the long run, I think reconstruction of the pier and the downtown redevelopment can be really cool for surfing.

“Huntington Surf and Sport (a local surf shop) has already secured the best position in that new mall at the pier.”

Clisby, who can check out the surf from the terrace of his 6th Street apartment, certainly doesn’t relish the idea of going 18 months without his favorite waves. The area next to the pier is being fenced off for safety reasons, but Clisby says a group of local surfers plan to attend city council meetings and will try to negotiate some kind of limited-use agreement to ease the inevitable cases of pier-withdrawal.

“I can’t imagine they’ll be working on the pier every minute of every day for 1 1/2 years,” he said.

To the uninformed observer, moving 100 yards down the beach would not seem to be that big of a concession for surfers. But the pilings of the Huntington Beach pier are much more than just a barnacled-covered gauntlet that serves to boost the egos of those who dare to “shoot the pier,” a storied ritual of riding a wave between the cement pillars.

The pilings create shallow and deep areas that in turn create waves that are ridable when it’s not worth paddling out at most breaks.

“The pier breaks on any swell direction, even a straight-on swell that is closing out (breaking all at once) everywhere else,” Clisby said. “It’s ridable almost any day of the year here.”

The pier has long been a powerful magnet that attracts surfers to the area. Undoubtedly it will remain so . . . even after it crumbles into the sea this summer and rises again.

Good waves and a big reputation make for crowded conditions, and a central, easy-to-find location does nothing to reduce the throngs.

Huntington Beach sits at the end of a geographic funnel of sorts. With the exception of Seal Beach--which usually offers a couple of small surf breaks--there are no waves for miles to the north. And, as Clisby puts it, “all the inland people from Garden Grove to Norwalk seem to end up here.”

It’s a bit ironic that Huntington Beach also offers some of the best uncrowded waves in Southern California. To the north of the pier are almost six miles of potential breaks at The Cliffs and Bolsa Chica State Beach. To the south is the two-mile-long Huntington State Beach. All three areas are primarily sand bottom beach breaks that feature shifting peaks and a wealth of opportunities to surf away from the multitudes.

The Cliffs produce a slow-breaking wave that is perfect for beginners, but the area also can feature a big-wave adventure during large swells. The trick is having enough energy left to surf after battling through walls of whitewater while paddling out.

From Beach Boulevard to the Santa Ana River Jetty, surfers can drive along the parking-lot road at Huntington State Beach, checking the breaks along the way before picking a spot to park and paddle out. When the right swell hits a certain sand bar from the right direction and the tide is low to medium, the surf can be great.

The beach at the end of Brookhurst Street, for example, has been known to look like a mini-Banzai Pipeline, with hollow tubes spitting spray as they peel off in machine-line precision.

Bolsa Chica State Beach is a similarly capricious break, but it almost always has plenty of waves and seldom is one forced to engage in any battles to catch them.

“I went out at Bolsa Chica the other day and it was really pretty good,” Clisby said. “There were only two other guys out with me. There’s a lot of beach in this town that a lot of surfers don’t take advantage of.”

Most are too busy trying to wedge their way into a wave at the pier.

While the redevelopment battles rage in Huntington Beach, nobody who owns a wet suit in Newport Beach is complaining much about progress.

T.K. Brimer, owner of the Frog House surf shop on the West Coast Highway across from the Santa Ana River Jetty, has been surfing in Newport Beach since 1966. He pines for some aspects of “the good old days,” but he’ll take today’s waves.

“Back then, I actually used to look for a spot where other guys were out,” he said, laughing. “Part of the sport’s appeal was the camaraderie. You used to be able to pick out a surfer on the street by the way he dressed. Now, kids buy their surf clothes at Mervyn’s.”

Brimer, however, is not one of those veteran surfers who perpetuates the myth the waves were somehow bigger and better 20 years ago.

In fact, he says the surfing situation in Newport Beach has improved over the years with the construction of four jetties, which were designed to slow beach erosion and protect million-dollar beachfront houses.

“The groins have meant eight new surf spots (one on each side of each jetty),” Brimer said. “I was living on 39th Street when they built the first one at 40th Street. I mean there was nothing worth riding there, and then they put that first steel-wall groin in and all of a sudden we had these peaks peeling off both sides. It was like an instant surf spot.”

Few surfed at 56th Street before the construction of a groin there. These days, however, the break will hold its shape during swells up to eight feet (which means the face of the waves could reach 15 feet or more).

A combination of nature and the hand of man has played a key role in numerous Newport spots. The Santa Ana River jetties have helped produce one of the fastest waves on the coast at the mouth of the “river” on the northernmost tip of Newport. And the Newport Pier, while not nearly the attraction of its neighbor to the north, features a popular winter spot known as Blackies.

Two blocks south of the pier is 18th Street, or The Point, or--as it is sometimes called during big south swells--Newport Pipeline. When huge surf shuts down almost every other spot on the Orange County coast, The Point can be ridden . . . if one dares. And that makes it a favorite with non-surfers (and plenty of surfers, too), who would rather watch other people ride waves that big.

So, the next time you hear that a 10-foot south swell is pounding the coast, drive on down and bring your camera. It can be a memorable spectacle of nature’s power and man’s attempts to control it, and it probably will increase your respect for surfers.

Brimer says the new breed of Orange County surfer already has removed most of the tarnish on the sport’s image, however.

“My high school swim coach in Florida kicked me off the team when I admitted I was a surfer,” he said. “And face it, alcohol and, later, drugs have been associated with surfing. I’m sure there are still some problems, but most of these kids now are so clean and straight.

“A lot of the surfers I knew years ago dropped out of high school. These kids are into getting good grades so they can stay on their high school surf team.

“Around here, the sport has become totally anti-drug, pro-education and pro-society.”

NORTH COUNTY SURF SPOTS

Seal Beach

The breakwater at Ray Bay produces a well-shaped right on big south swells and the warm water--caused by a nearby power plant--is an additional attraction for some. The south side of Seal Beach Pier offers a hollow left on south swells, but the north side is mainly a shore break. Surfside and Sunset Beach are surfed primarily by residents because of inaccessibility and a short, snappy little beach break that is often unrideable.

Huntington Beach

Bolsa Chica was a favorite with surfers decades ago when it was known as “Tin Can Beach” (because it was covered with liter) and the slow-breaking waves are still popular with beginners and longboarders. From 9th Street north to Bolsa Chica, The Cliffs can be a treasure chest of uncrowded peaks. It’s best on west swells, but can also handle south swells. Offshore reefs make it especially fun in big surf . . . if you can manage the paddle out. Huntington Pier is the biggest attraction in Southern California surfing and with good reason. It is one of the most consistent breaks on the coast and the waves, especially on the south side, maintain their good shape under most swell directions and conditions. State Beach, which runs from Beach Blvd. to the Santa Ana River, is a relatively uncrowded stretch of beach breaks that can be good on most swell directions during low to medium tides.

Newport Beach

The sandbar at the mouth of the Santa Ana River Jetty produces a fast, hollow wave that attains it’s best shape on a direct west swell, but it’s also popular in the summer during south swells. Shifting sandbars at Orange St. and 62nd St. sometimes create a similar wave and draw a bit less of a crowd. The most popular spots in the groin field--a series of man-made jetties--are 56th St. (which is best on strong south or southwest swells and will hold its shape up to eight feet without closing out), 36th St. and 28th St. (which are best during three- to six-foot southwest swells). Blackies, on the north side of Newport Pier, is a popular west-swell, winter spot. The Point, located at 18th St., can produce one of the biggest rideable waves in California. It received the nickname “Newport Pipeline” (after the legendary Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii) during a giant south swell in the fall of 1972. The beach break at 15th St. is best on a southwest swell.

Corona del Mar

Corona del Mar Jetty can offer a well-shaped, hollow right on four- to six-foot south swells. Big Corona is also good only on big south swells.