Dawn Patrol:

Good timing — last week I told you about Surfrider Newport Beach’s RockWater Relay Race for awareness of our Santa Ana River watershed. The ol’ watershed’s getting a workout this week so rain and surfing makes a good topic.

I remember a big storm long ago, and maybe someone can help me with the year, where we had nearly a weeklong, relentless pour.

San Mateo Creek dumped so much silt onto the reef at Lower Trestles that the break was wrecked for several years. It’s a great wave today, but I‘m not sure it’s the same break it was before that storm.

Every once in a while, if we get a lot of runoff rushing down San Juan Creek for a sustained period, and other forces of nature align just right, sand bars form that create a new break.

One year I was hawking the creek mouth during a series of heavy rains and it looked like a sand-spit was forming. I hit it at dawn of the first day it was prime for surf and it was all-time — a right, sand bottom point break spinning flawlessly for over 50 yards.

I had it to myself for over an hour before being joined by a few others who were driving over the bridge and must have seen what looked like a miniature El Capitan firing at head-high plus.

Those were the best waves I’ve ridden in OC. That wave evolved into a two-point spot and lasted for a couple of weeks.

I should note that surfing those temporary creek mouth spots involved being in brackish, brown runoff water in defiance of angry park rangers and signs posted all over the beach with “Danger – Keep Out,” “Polluted,” “Swimming and Surfing Prohibited,” and such.

I’m sure that was another reason for the relatively sparse crowd.

That reminds me of a humorous surf video my friend Terry Smith shot titled “The Chocolate Chargers.” It featured Mark Solberger leading a group of Blackie’s die-hards into post rain storm wind chop and flailing in runoff water the color of coffee with lots of cream.

Terry reminded me that Mark emerged from that session with a broken board.

The best pollution surfing story I’ve heard involves Rick Chatillon and me at Las Gaviotas in Baja, but I’ll have to tell that one next week.

During the downpour on Thursday I checked San Juan Creek and it wasn’t flowing as hard as I had imagined.

Doheny and the adjacent metered parking lot were both closed. With runoff from the little creek at the north end of the beach as well, the ocean looked like mud and the sand was covered with debris.

I also stopped at Aliso Creek. Again, pretty manageable runoff but there were some big storm waves there, eight- to 10-foot faces, crashing on the beach.

The golf course, one of my favorites, is hanging in there, but will be closed for a while. The creek did overflow earlier and covered most of the fairway on 1 and 9.

Let’s see what today brings.

JOHN BURTON’S surf column appears Fridays. He may be reached by e-mail at [email protected].