What’s It Like To Share The Session Of The Winter With Dane Reynolds And Conner Coffin?

Editors Note: If you follow us on TikTok, you may have noticed a familiar face plastered across our attempts at going viral. After he made a remarkable short film explaining how he got dropped by his longtime sponsor, we started tossing Josiah Amico a few shekels to help us grow our presence on the Gen-Z focused platform. Watching him get thoroughly barreled in the above clip, we thought it only made sense to have the Ventura local (and self-proclaimed Ch11 benchwarmer) prosaically walk us through the star-studded session.

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No, this wave never gets like this. You probably won’t believe me after watching this clip, but the lack of crowd proves my point. More often a closed out beach break, overly susceptible to onshore winds, dead birds, cattle, and human feces filtering into the lineup, this wave has spent two decades stubbornly refusing our prayers for sand. 

For weeks leading up to this day there was minimal swell with tons of heavy weather. Smack right in the middle of winter. Ideal for sandbar formation, less than ideal for water quality. But, as the estuaries filled and sewers overflowed, I couldn’t help but think about every story I’d heard from local Ventura dudes about the infamous Starbar. Could it be? 20 odd years since, and all I’ve ever seen is a rip bowl left with too many groms on it. Not much of a Starbar. After a brief check amid the storm, I wrote it off. 

Three days of heavy rain later, I was standing in front of a sandbar the size of a football field, with a firestorm of offshore winds and NW swell on the forecast.

I’m not an early riser, but that’ll get anybody out of bed. Pulling up to the football field at first light the next morning, there was nobody in the parking lot. Either a good sign, or the waves are shit… The swell was solid, a light offshore breeze was flowing, but I was looking at a slightly closed out, empty,  poo-infested lineup. Less than enticing. So, me and my rusty Volvo 240 peeled out to check a few other spots.

With the football field lingering in the back of my mind, I rolled the dice and paddled another spot. I was certain I’d made the right decision, but mid morning came around and none of my usual friends were out. 

The waves were fine, fun even, but I started to get that sick feeling in my stomach. You know, the feeling you get when you realize you’re at the wrong spot? That you may have jumped the gun and shoulda walked down the beach to get a better look? That maybe all you friends are getting tubed out of their minds, getting clips, and that  “you should have been here earlier.” 

So, stomach still churning, I caught a meager wave in, hopped in my Flintstone chariot and returned to the chocolate factory. Only this time there were more cars in the parking lot — and I recognized them all. ‘Dammit…’ 

I didn’t even check it. I whipped out my Black Beauty and sprinted down the beach as fast as I could. As I was running I saw Dane get blown out, then Chad Compton, then Conner Coffin. I was losing my mind. Excited beyond belief, and at once feeling like such an idiot for showing up late to a wave I wanted to surf for years, on a day that may never happen again. Fortunately, the blessed offshores hung around all day, and the swell was only increasing. The closeouts I thought I was looking at earlier ended up being stretched out tubes, and the lulls were few. 

I had the day off work and ended up surfing 8 hours straight. I don’t think I’ve ridden more waves in a single session in my life. We were surfing so far down the beach, it’d be hard to tell what was going on unless you made the trek. This meant there were maybe 10 dudes out the whole day and we all knew each other. I remember Shane Borland broke his leash and didn’t have a backup or anything, so he just surfed the rest of the day with no leash — he definitely did some swimming. 

It felt like everyone was ripping, but looking back at the footage Conner and Dane went psycho. Sean Hayes is a Ventura legend. He’s always out on the biggest and best days, and has scored every swell here in the past 30 plus years. When you see him out, you know you’re at the right spot. Talking to him during the session, he said it still didn’t come close to the original Starbar. I guess they don’t make ’em like they used to. 

It was a surreal day spent trading off barrels with friends and some of my childhood heroes. The fact that Hunter Martinez, Mini Blanchard, and Ryan Perry were filming from land, while Scott Soens was shooting from the water was just a bonus. Documenting a day like that is what filmers and surfers dream about. And, not having to share it with a bunch of blow-ins might not ever happen again. 

Sadly, it was a one day affair. Big swell and heavy weather continued and the football field returned to its original state. A polluted dog crap beach break with 10 groms on it, who I had the pleasure of telling ‘you should have been here yesterday.’

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