A Little Newport Surf History

A Little Large Swell Nostalgia

The biggest and best shaped swell I've ever seen hit the lower jetties occurred in the winter of 1982... Back then there was no surf forecasting tools to speak of. You just woke up, looked out, and the surf was what it was. One particular morning everyone in the neighborhood awoke to an awesome sight!..... Perfect sunlit bombing lefts stacked to the horizon off 32nd St.. One of those swells that hits that particular jetty much bigger than anywhere else. Luckily the word about the swell hadn't filtered out yet, and the crowd was minimal. Now no one used to come down and shoot photos of the lower jetties back then, it was all about the Kodak Reef/Hottest Hundred Yards/Studio 54/Echo Beach surfing that was happening up at 54th. My roommate however was taking a photo class at OCC and had some borrowed camera gear in his room, so we woke him up and pleaded for him to break it out and set up on the jetty, which he did.

While not really that big of a wave, it's one of the biggest waves I've ever seen break @ 32nd St. jetty... The board is a 5'11" four fin Schroff, the surfer is the newportsurfshots.com guy, and yes... the wetsuit is pink.

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Don't bother looking for this wave because it doesn't exist, and probably won't again for another couple years. The great thing about it is you could read every surf report, study every surf forecast chart, and still not be sure if it's going to break. Read a little below about life before there were surf forecasters, and internet surf reports.

Life Before Surf Forecasters

Part I of II

25+ years ago forecasting a swell or finding out how the surf was throughout Newport was a primitive and crude process. During that time one of the easiest surf forecasting tools to obtain for Newport was reading the Marine Forecast in the local paper... but have you ever compared the Marine Swell Forecast in the paper, to the swell that actually arrives in Newport? Reading Tarot cards is more accurate.

During the summer months we had a little better forecasting tool, ABC News's Dr. George Fishbeck. He was an entertaining and knowledgeable weatherman, that was pretty good at predicting hurricane swells, even if he was a day or so off on their arrival. We used hang out at a house on the corner of Balboa and 18th St. back then. Like clockwork within 20 minutes of Dr. George's report that south facing beaches were expecting large surf, cars would come racing around the corner, and guys would come speeding down the boardwalk on bikes to look at the surf out front. It was like a stampede of wild bulls as they ran to the end of the bike path to see if the swell had arrived at "The Point" yet.

By far the most reliable swell forecast back then was the Harbor Department's Marine and Weather Report (675-0503). Our crew of young surfers spent many an afternoon listening to this report, and trying to figure out what a falling barometer, a combined seas of 3 to 5 feet, and a small craft wind advisory in the outer waters meant for the surf in Newport.

Then there were the local forecasting tools that had been passed down in my family. If the water in the toilet bowl is moving back and forth, it will be windy the next morning. If there's a lot of seagulls standing around on the beach, local storm surf is fast approaching. And if there's a ring around the sun in the sky, big surf is coming. These can sometimes be accurate, but I wouldn't bet a day off of school or work on them.

Admittedly, one of the dumbest ideas to forecast the local surf was mine. I came home from elementary school one Friday afternoon desperately wanting to know how the surf would be for the weekend. So I called "information" and asked the operator what the waves and weather would be like. I can still hear the operator's laughter as she explained to me that the phone company's 4-1-1 information number doesn't have that kind of information.

Newport's Surf Report

Part II

Growing up on the Peninsula the most important phone number to me and my friends was 673-3371. It was the only source of information on how the surf was near the Newport Pier, and the area where the jetties now are. The problem 30+ years ago was the lifeguard department had only one phone line for the report, and it was always busy! Rotary phones were the norm back then, and any die hard Newport surfer had a large callus on their index finger from dialing the number over and over and over again, trying to get through. Once you did get to the report however, the information on the size and shape of the surf was surprisingly accurate

Later on in the 70's the lifeguards got a few more answering machines and phone lines, and it was easier to get through to the report. This however was not good for me! My parents used to take an hour of surfing time away from me whenever I did something wrong. To them it was the ultimate punishment for a head strong surf rat. So when I owed them a few hours, and was getting ready to ride off on my bike for a surf, they'd stop me and call the report. If the report said the surf was bad, they'd send me on my way. But if it said it was good, that was it, no surfing for the day. Damn the surf report I'd curse!

Later during that same decade, the Newport surf report became a dating service of sorts. By this time there were numerous telephone lines running into the report, and it was rarely busy. The problem was that for some reason you could hear people talking on the other lines. The word spread that this was occurring, and girls from all over Orange County started calling the report and yelling out to the guys on the other lines. Then guys started yelling out "what's your number" to the girls, and soon the report became cluttered with people trying to hook up. This went on for an entire summer before it was fixed.

By far the worst part of not having really accurate surf report information like today, was in trying to find waves up and down the coast. A lot of beach cities had their own surf report phone numbers, but the reports often had day old information, or the reports were not that detailed. With a copy of "Surfing California" in hand, many blindly headed out of town expecting to find surf similar to the pictures found within the pages of the book. No swell, wrong direction, wrong interval, wrong tide... It wasn't fun when you pulled up after a 2 hour drive to find dribble. Today with wave-faxes, web-cams, internet surf reports, cell phone reports, computer satellite reports, international surf reports, international surf forecasts... there is far less chance of that occurring, and that is good !

Guaranteed this guy has no trouble finding surf!

Surfline's Sean Collins using his years of forecasting experience to score this Tahitian gem.

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Tsunami

(Click here for link to other tsunami relief sites)

One day in the mid 80's, a bunch of us lived in a place on the boardwalk at 33rd st., when the news reported that an earthquake had occurred off Alaska , and had the potential to cause a tidal wave along the California coast. The anticipated time of arrival for the surge was to be around 11pm that evening. The advisory further stated that people should avoid the coastal area. We'll our crew did what we felt we should. We bought some cheap champagne, made some calls, cranked up the music, and had a "tidal wave" party. Now you would think the warning that went out would keep people away from the beach... but no way. As it neared 11:00pm the boardwalk became as packed with people as on any sunny summer afternoon, all of them eager to view the anticipate ocean surge. As it neared 11:00 we turned the news on, grabbed flashlights and binoculars, gathered around the upstairs windows and balcony and waited... and waited...and waited. And after a while we gave up on waiting, and went back to partying. No noticable ocean surge ever occurred.

There's no dumb story that goes along with what happened in Asia. An earthquake occurred in the Indian Ocean that unleashed 20-foot tidal waves, ravaged the coasts, and at last toll resulted in more than 150,000 deaths, with millions others left homeless. It appears Sri-Lanka, Thailand, India, Nias and Northern Sumatra were severely devastated by the wave. The surf meccas of the Mentawai and Maldive Island chains were also in it's path. Word is that Bali was unaffected. It currently is not surf travel season for the Indian Ocean area

 

The waves, surroundings and culture of the people is truely amazing. If you're ever given the opportunity to travel to that side of the globe, by all means go!! Jo -Jo Kick'n back @ Sultan's

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"The Point"

In 1887 the growing harbor entrance sandbars resulted in the the harbor becoming increasingly more dangerous to navigate into or out of. This resulted in the lumber being brought to the area, and the farm goods being shipped from the area by ship being nearly halted. The Army Corps of Engineers agreed to survey the entrance and determine if dredging it would be feasible. They decided however against dredging, based on their belief that the railroad could offer the same transport of goods to and from the area, and that the large amount of money it would take to make the harbor safe would not provide an abundance of commerce. In their report however, they noted that there was a deep water canyon off of what is now The Point/Newport Pier area, and they suggested that if a wharf was built there, that went out into the ocean, large ships would be able to navigate the area without running aground. Mc Faddens Wharf, where the Newport Pier now is, was soon built, and the area thrived with industry... When big short interval souths swells show up in Newport, they hit that deep underwater canyon, bounce around, and stand tall to produce thick well shaped pits at a place we call "The Point". The Canyon wakes up, and Josh Hoyer rides it.