When Chevron built the El Segundo Jetty in 1984 to protect its marine terminal, surfers feared it would ruin El Segundo’s waves. Instead, the jetty created Hammerland, one of the heaviest winter wave breaks in California. The wave rears up in front of the jetty and forms a left (north) breaking, stand-up barrel that accelerates down the line until it explodes on the beach. A second unexpected benefit of the jetty is the El Segundo High Surf team now has a world class break to train at. The Eagles are currently in first place in the South Bay Scholastic Surfing Association Premier League.
Photos by Steve Gaffney (SteveGaffney.com)
