Surfing Newport Beach 
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Today Newport Beach is considered the uncrowned jewel of the fabulous Orange County Gold Coast, the glamour and glitz center of the West Coast. But the Newport Beach you’re going to find in this book is quite different. It’s the Newport Beach before World War II—a lively, lusty, beach resort where rum runners openly docked and unloaded their illegal brew, where drinking, gambling and dancing paid the bills. It was a city that was hell on wheels from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and then it went into hibernation the rest of the year except for a brief awakening during Easter vacation. It was a city where every weekend during the summer there was some aquatic event which included wave riding, but not the kind you think of today. Aquaboarding was the “common man’s” way to tackle the ocean, standing on an aquaplane board, holding on to an attached rope and being pulled by a boat—an early ancestor of water skiing.
Back then surfboards were big and heavy; the most famous surfer of the age, Duke Kahanamoku, rode the waves of Newport Bay in a canoe, and when he could he borrowed an actual surfboard from his friend Felix Modjeski, grandson of famous Polish actress Madame Helena Modjeska, who owned a beach cottage nearby. Eventually Duke and some of his friends brought their own surfboards to Corona del Mar and left them at the Sparr Bathhouse (the boards were too heavy to carry back and forth) starting what would become one of the first surf clubs in the United States—the Corona del Mar Surf Club. It was this club that initiated the first surf contest on the mainland—the Pacific Coast Surfboard Championship in 1928, but even then canoes were featured in the main events!
The surf changed as the bay changed. In the 1920’s an 800-foot cement jetty was constructed off the rocks at Corona del Mar. It was a body surfer’s treat. You could get into a wave at the end of the jetty on the channel side, ride in next to the jetty for an 800-foot long adventure, climb up a chain ladder, run out on the jetty and do the same thing all over again all day long. Unfortunately, it was difficult for boaters to get through the channel due to sandbars and the waves. Alas, a new jetty, completed in 1936, destroyed the perpetual surf at Corona del Mar.
Surfing also changed with innovations to surfboard construction. With these newer, lighter boards more people were drawn to Newport and Corona del Mar (across the bay from Newport) to enjoy the fabulous surf of the 1920’s and 30’s.
It was in Newport Beach that the phenomena of Southern California surfing took on the persona it has today. That may be why so many surf manufacturers such as Quiksilver, Volcom and Hurley made their homes here—they wanted to be close to the roots of their trade.
Read about the Great Rescue of 1926 by Duke Kahanamoku and others, the rum runners of Balboa and the evolution of Newport Bay. Pioneering surfers such as George Freeth, Tom Blake, the Vultee brothers and Pete Peterson helped make a name for the city in surf culture. Authors Claudine Burnett and her surfer husband, Paul, have delved deeply into the past sharing stories that will give readers never-before-revealed facts not only about surfing but Newport Beach and Corona del Mar history as well.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE BAY
Early Days to the 1910s
The 1920s
1930-1941
NEWPORT BEACH BEFORE SURFING
Native Americans, the Spanish and Farmers
A City Begins
SURFING ARRIVES
The 1900s and 1910s
The 1920s
CORONA DEL MAR SURF CONTESTS
First Pacific Coast Surfboard Championship – 1928
Second Pacific Coast Surfboard Championship – 1929
Third Pacific Coast Surfboard Championship – 1932
The Mystery Pacific Coast Championship Contests – 1934 & 1936
GOODBYE CORONA DEL MAR: OTHER SURF CONTEST LOCATIONS
Sixth-Ninth Pacific Coast Surfboard Championships – 1938-1941
National Surfing and Paddleboard Contests – 1938 & 1939
Pacific Coast Watermen’s Championship and World War II
SURFBOARDS
Surfboard Evolution
How to Ride a Surfboard
OTHER WAYS TO RIDE THE SURF
Canoe Surfing
Bodysurfing
Aquaplaning
Auto Shoes
Surf Sled
Pillowcase Surfing
NEWPORT BAY & SURFING TIMELINE
INDEX
A
Alamitos Bay 14
Allen, Chuck 90
Anaheim 14, 32, 42, 80
Anaheim Landing 36
Aquaboarding 9, 109, 115-116
Army Corps of Engineers 16, 24
B
Bailey, Jim 87, 88, 89
Balboa 22, 25, 39, 40, 44, 50, 51, 54-55, 58- 59, 60, 63, 64, 79, 91, 109, 110, 113, 115, 124, 125, 127, 128
Balboa Bay Palisades 66, 67
Balboa Fun Zone 63, 126
Balboa Island 9, 14, 37, 40, 54, 91, 109, 123
Balboa Palisades Club 68- 69, 79
Balboa Pavilion 39, 40, 51, 54, 58, 59, 124
Balboa Peninsula 9, 13, 14, 17, 22, 34, 35, 37, 39, 54, 58, 94, 123, 124,125, 126, 127
Balboa Pier 34, 39-40, 82, 114, 115, 121, 124, 128
Balboa Theater 59
Ball, John “Doc” 75, 82, 89
Bal Week 10, 59, 79, 127
Bayer, Adolph 86, 88
Bay Island 14, 51, 124
Beach, Lansing 24
Beal, Mac 78
Beard, A.D. 89
Beckett, Jack 76
Beckett, Paul 76
Beck, Kenneth 90
Beckwith, Fred 109-111
Belshe, Gene 101
Berry, Jack 61
Bertolet, Carroll 56
Bitter Point 19, 20
Bixler, Alvin 91
Blackie’s surf spot 57, 119, 121
Blake, Tom 21, 58, 69, 70, 71-76, 86, 89, 99-101
Bland, Myron 61
Blom, Walt 89
Bodyboarding 94, 95, 115, 125
Bodyboards 43, 118
Bodysurfing 10, 27, 78, 80, 81, 93, 94, 109, 113-115
Brown, Don 81
Brown, Fred 110
Brown, Matt 78
Burton, Wally 56, 80
Butler, Charles 88
C
Cabrillo, Juan Rodriguez 35, 84
Campbell, Don 90
Canoeing 9, 10, 17, 35, 43, 48, 50, 52, 54, 55, 70, 76, 93, 97, 109, 110-113, 115, 124
Cappy’s Cafe 15-16, 19, 20
Carey, Charles 81
Catalina Island 33, 35, 60
Chapplett, Henry 60
Church, Homer 110
Clark, J. Ross 38
Collins Island 91
Collins, William S. 38-39, 91, 110, 124
Cornell Company 67, 125, 126
Corona del Mar 9-11, 13, 14, 22, 23-31, 33, 34, 35, 44, 45, 50-51, 52, 53, 54-58, 60, 65-85, 91, 92, 93, 97, 101-103, 109, 112, 113, 115, 119-120, 124, 125, 126, 127
Corona del Mar Bathhouse. See Sparr Bathhouse
Cravath, Gavvy 61
Crispin, Thayer 89
D
Dale, Dick 11, 59
Dana Point 57, 86
Dawson, Ralph 33, 34, 127
deGroot, John 121
Deraga, Antar 60, 61, 80
Dole, Sanford 47
Dredging 17-18, 21, 30-31, 64, 81, 82, 83, 127
Drownings 23, 60, 61, 83
Drummond, Ron 97, 113, 115
E
Eaill, R. 76
Earthquake 32, 81, 127
East jetty. See Jetties: Corona del Mar
East Newport 22, 51
Edgar, Bill 88
Edrington, H.E. Jr. 29
Ehlers, Tom 90
Elections 15, 16-17, 18, 23-24, 30, 32, 40, 64, 81, 91, 125, 127
Everett, Boyd 67, 125
Eyestone, Merle 87, 89
F
Farwell, Steve 7, 57
F.D. Cornell Company. See Cornell Company
Fishing 38, 40, 47, 54, 59, 60, 61, 62, 64, 84, 127
Flint, Bixby & Company 35-36
Floods 14-18, 30, 32, 34, 123, 125
Ford, Alexander Hume 43
Fransworth, Ralph 61
Freeth, George 43-50, 71, 95, 105-106, 124
Fry, E. 76
Fullerton 32
G
Gambling 9, 40, 55, 58, 59, 109
Gardner, Robert 19, 22, 55, 114
Gates, John 89
Genoves, Vincent 48
Grannis, Don 88
Grannis, Leroy 88
Granston, Chauncey 80
Griggs, Earl 61
Groins 25, 26-27, 29, 30
H
Hackett, Merton 87
Hale, Owen 56, 60, 61, 62
Hall, J.H. 87
Harbor Island 14, 37, 123
Harper, Helen 80
Harrison, Ethel 77-78, 80
Harrison, Lorrin “Whitey” 27, 31, 56, 57, 75, 77, 82, 85, 86, 87-88
Hart, George 67, 124, 125
Hart, Victor 113
Hawaii 29, 35, 39, 41, 43-47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 60, 64, 67, 69, 70, 71, 77, 79, 80, 91, 95, 96, 99, 104, 107, 113, 124, 125
Hawkins, Mary Ann 90
Henry, Bill 60
Henry, Tom 60
Hermosa Beach 77, 87, 88, 91, 121
Herwig, Bill 56, 61
Higgins, Bud 56, 101
Hock, Fern 61
Hock, Fred 61
Hollywood Athletic Club 70
Horner, Arthur 90
Hubbard, Walton Jr. 29
Huber, A. 61
Huffman, Helen 80
Hunt, Allen 80
Huntington Beach 14, 17, 19, 56, 85
Huntington, Henry 38, 47
Huntington Park 81
Hurricane of 1939 32-34
I
International Star races. See Yacht racing: International Star
Irvine, James 35, 37, 41, 67, 123, 124
J
Jarvis, Harold 69
Jetties
Corona del Mar 10, 23-29, 30-31, 33, 50, 56, 64, 78, 80, 82, 83, 92, 93-94, 102, 113, 119-120, 122, 127, 128
Peninsula 17-18, 19, 20-21, 23-27, 30, 33, 50, 54, 60, 64, 70, 81, 82, 93, 94, 119, 121, 122, 125, 126, 127, 128
Johnson, Albert 61
Jones, William 109
K
Kahanamoku, Duke 9, 16, 21, 23, 44, 45-47, 48-54, 55, 56, 58, 60-63, 68, 69, 70, 71, 73, 76, 97, 101, 102, 103, 106, 124, 125, 126
Kahanamoku, Sam 52
Kalami, Sol 78
Kayaks 80, 82, 85
Kerckhoff, William 69
Kerwin, Fred 87
Kerwin, Jim 87, 88, 90
Kinner, Ralph 89
Klotz, Barney 78
Knight, Harold 110
Kressley, Paul 24
L
Laguna Beach 50, 55, 56, 81, 127
Langer, Ludy 113-114, 125
Larsen, Philip 61
Lavagnivo, Gladys 87
Leenhouts, Grant 77
Lenkeit, Erwin 88
Lido Island 14, 30, 37, 39, 123
Lifeguards 47, 48, 58, 60, 61, 77, 80, 93, 101, 118, 126
Lighthouse 60, 126
Lindbers, Verne 89
Linda Island 14, 31
Lindberg, Vincent 57, 87, 88, 89
Lind, John 90
Lippincott, Gardner 75, 82, 85
London, Jack 41, 43, 44, 47, 104-105, 122
Long Beach 52, 53, 55, 60, 89-91, 92, 93, 113, 118, 126
Los Angeles Athletic Club 49, 62, 65, 69, 70, 76, 77, 115
Lugo, John 33-34, 127
M
Manhattan Beach 87, 89, 90, 91
May, Jack 91
McClain, E.E. 61
McDermott, William 61
McFadden, James 35, 37, 38, 123
McFadden’s Wharf 38. See Newport Pier
McGrew, Jim 89, 90
Modjeska, Helena 9, 51, 124
Modjeski, Felix 9, 51, 52, 80, 124
Morris, Edgar 61
Morris, Frank 61
Morris, John 61
Mott, Ellsworth 61
Movie stars 84, 108, 121
N
Native Americans 35, 109
Newbert Protection District 15, 124
Newport Bay 9, 13-18, 21, 25, 29, 32, 35, 36, 41, 42, 50, 77, 81, 84, 110, 115, 123, 124, 125, 127
Newport Beach 9-11, 16, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 29, 30, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37-42, 44-45, 47, 50-51, 54-56, 58-61, 63-64, 67-68, 77, 79, 80, 81-83, 91-92, 109-110, 113, 119-128
Newport Harbor 10, 19, 30, 31, 33, 37, 50, 55, 60, 64, 69, 70, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83-84, 92, 114, 122
Newport Harbor Chamber of Commerce 30, 80
Newport Harbor Yacht Club 29, 51
Newport Island 30, 31
Newport Landing 36, 37
Newport Pier 34, 35, 37, 38, 82, 114, 119, 121, 123, 128
Numbered Streets surf spots 121
O
Olson, John 90, 91
Olympic Games 21, 44, 48-50, 52-53, 113
P
Pacific Coast Highway 13-14, 16, 19, 32, 37, 50-51, 55, 57, 63, 67, 68, 126, 127
Pacific Coast Surfboard Championship. See surf contests: Pacific Coast Surfboard Championship
Pacific Electric rail line 24, 39, 40, 47, 50, 55, 124
Paddleboarding 35, 76, 77, 80, 85, 86-87, 89-90, 93
Paddleboards 43, 57, 71, 72, 74, 75, 100-101
Palos Verdes 77, 82, 88, 89, 90
Parsons, Joe 86, 88
Parton, Reggie 93
Patterson, Richard 81
Paul, Holmes 65
Peterson, Arlene 87
Peterson, Preston “Pete” 75, 80, 82, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 93
Plummer, Charles 61
Point surf spot 121
Port Orange 41-42
Prado Dam 32
Prieste, Haig 52-53
Pyle, Jack 56
R
Railroad 24, 25, 32, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 47, 50, 55, 64, 123, 124
Ralph, Houghton 77
Redondo Beach 47, 69, 70, 77
Reinhard, Bob 90, 91
Rendezvous Ballroom 11, 58-59
Reynolds, Jim 88
River Jetties surf spot 121
Riverside 39, 60, 61, 68
Roach, Eleanor 87
Rogers, George 81, 83
Rum runners 9, 22-23, 57, 113
S
San Clemente Island 35
Sandbars 10, 14, 21-22, 23, 25-26, 30, 35, 36, 39, 51, 52, 58, 61, 64, 123
San Diego 24, 29, 36, 41, 49, 50
San Francisco 24, 41, 69
San Onofre 33, 82, 85-89
San Pedro 42, 51, 52, 55, 79
Santa Ana 15, 37, 38, 39, 50, 78, 123
Santa Ana River 13-20, 32, 35, 119, 121, 124, 125
Santa Monica 42, 69, 79, 80, 86, 90, 93
Schoneman, Florence 52
Schoolyards surf spot 121
Sea Cove Village 67, 68, 69
Seal Beach 34, 36, 65
Sheffield, Thomas 57, 61, 65-66, 68, 69, 75, 76-77, 78, 79, 80
Sherman, H.L. 14
Shipwrecks 33, 61-63, 126, 127
Shutt, T. Bennett 113
Silver, Bob 92
Simms, Columbus 52
Sizemore, Ted 80-81
Skimboarding 121
Smith, Gene 78, 91
Sneed, Edward 61
Soilander, Albert 51
South Coast Yacht Club 50, 51, 124
Sparr Bathhouse 10-11, 23, 56, 57, 65, 66, 68, 69, 75, 76, 79, 126
Sparr, William 65, 66, 67-69, 126
Spohler, A.C. 91
Squires, William 61
Stose, Clem 29
Sunset Beach 34, 80
Surfboards 9, 10, 23, 33, 43, 50, 51, 52, 53, 55, 56, 67, 69, 70, 71, 72, 74, 95-108
Hollow 71-72, 74, 75, 89, 99, 100-101, 106
Surf contests
Corona del Mar. See surf contests: Pacific Coast Surfboard Championship
Hermosa Beach 121
Huntington Beach 85
National Surfing and Paddleboard 89-91
Pacific Coast Surfboard Championship 10, 30, 65-82, 85- 89, 109, 127
Pacific Coast Surfboard Competition 73
Pacific Coast Watermen’s 93
San Onofre. See Surf contests:Pacific Coast Surfboard Championship
Seal Beach 65
Surfing 10,17, 21, 33, 35, 39, 41, 43-108
Inner tube 116-117
License fee 121
Pillowcase 118
Surf sled 117-118
Surfing clubs
Corona del Mar 10, 30, 57, 69, 76,77, 79, 85, 126
Del Mar 86, 90
Hawaiian 91
Hermosa Beach 91
Hui Nalu 39, 53, 124
Hui Nalu (Redondo Beach) 47
Long Beach 90, 91
Manhattan Beach 90
Palos Verdes 82, 90
Venice 90, 91
Surfing Heritage & Culture Center 44
Swartz, Lewis Earl 88, 89
Swedson, Clyde 70
Swimming 43, 47, 48-49, 65, 80, 82, 85, 93, 98, 110, 113-114, 115
T
Thomas, Gordon 77
Thurston, Lorrin 71
Transpacific Yacht Race. See Yacht racing: Transpacific
Tucker, Cliff 75, 85, 88-89
Tudor, Harry H. 59
Two O’clock Kid 113
U
United States Coast Survey 14-15
V
Venice 47, 63, 90, 91, 117
Vieth, Vance 115
Vultee, Art 21, 44, 45, 46, 53, 60, 70, 80, 101, 102, 103, 124
Vultee, Gerard “Jerry” 53, 56, 58, 60, 61, 62, 70, 71-72, 73, 74-75, 76, 77, 101, 102, 103
W
Water skiing 9, 115
Watkins, George 86
Watson, Denny 90
Watson, Keller 56, 75, 77, 78, 101
Wedge, The 20, 21, 25, 93, 94, 115, 119, 121, 126
Weissmuller, Johnny 52
Welsh, Freddy 117
West jetty. See Jetties: Peninsula
Westminster 14
West Newport 9, 30, 119
Wheeler, Bill 117-118
Wilkes, A.H. 86
Williams, Dennie 76
Williams, Rusty 58, 89
World War I 17, 50, 71, 80, 109, 115
World War II 9, 77, 80, 91-93
Y
Yacht racing 17, 51
International Star 29-30, 64, 69, 127
Transpacific 29-30, 64, 127
Yachts 9, 22, 29, 60, 83-84
EXCERPT
Despite the signal beacons and lifeguards, Newport was fortunate to have swimming/surfing star Duke Kahanamoku, camped on the Corona del Mar beach the morning of June 14, 1925. Duke was with some of his buddies (the Henry brothers, Bill and Tom; the Vultee brothers, Jerry and Art; Owen Hale; and Henry Chapplett), and together they performed what others would later call a miracle.
The Hawaiian swimmer was just going out for his morning swim when he noticed the heavy ground swells which turned into tall-crested waves as they rounded the breakwater. Out in the breakwater, the forty-foot fishing yacht Thelma was in trouble. It had been chartered by a party from Riverside which had left Newport the previous morning bound for a day’s fishing out at sea.
The Thelma, a five-ton craft partly owned by Jeff Cravath, Philadelphia baseball star, was nearing the end of the breakwater into open sea when the first grounds swell loomed dead ahead. The swell, as it gained momentum, merged into a mountainous wave and crashed over the bow, smashing through the heavy plate glass of the engine-room flooding the compartment and stopping the engine. Practically all the Riverside fishermen were swept overboard with the first wave and were struggling in the midst of the torn wreckage and pounding waves. Another wave quickly followed in the wake of the first, which swept the boat its entire length, sending rigging overboard into a maelstrom of confusion. It then pitched the boat on its side.
Encumbered by heavy clothing, the Riverside men were thrown from the boat which started to sink almost immediately. They hadn’t had time to put on life preservers before the small boat was caught broadside in the teeth of three tremendous breakers and rolled completely over three times from starboard to port on the sands of the shallow Newport sandbar. Only a few were able to reach the upturned craft and cling safely to the keel.
On the near-by beach were Duke Kahanamoku, Antar Deraga, captain of the Newport lifeguards; Charles Plummer, lifeguard; Thomas Sheffield, captain of the Corona del Mar Swimming Club; Gerard Vultee, William Herwig and Owen Hale, who immediately went to the rescue.
Battling with his surfboard through the heavy seas, Kahanamoku was the first to reach the drowning men. He made three successive trips to the beach and carried four victims the first trip, three the second and one the third. Sheffield, Plummer and Deraga were credited with saving four; while other members of the rescue party waded into the surf and carried the drowning men to safety as Kahanamoku brought them shoreward. Fred Hock, A. Huber, Frank Morris, Myron Bland, Fern Hock, Ellsworth Mott, William McDermott, Earl Griggs, Jack Berry, Philip Larsen, Albert Johnson and Edward Sneed were rescued, several of them near death when they were brought to shore. The drowned were William W. Squires, Riverside; Ralph Fransworth, Riverside; John and Edgar Morris, Arlington, and E.E. McClain, father-in-law of John Morris.
Captain Porter of Newport Beach expressed the belief that at least eight or ten more would have drowned had not Kahanamoku and Deraga been ready with immediate assistance. “The Duke’s performance was the most superhuman rescue act and the finest display of surfboard riding that has ever been seen in the world, I believe,” he said.
When asked how he managed to rescue so many, Kahanamoku replied: “I do not know. It was done. That is the main thing. By a few tricks, perhaps.”
A few days later (June 18, 1925) the Edgewater Club of Southern California announced they were inspired by Kahanamoku’s performance and “surfboard riding,” which made possible Kahanamoku’s sensational rescue. Henceforth, surfboard riding would be taught on an extensive scale to members of the club. Surf riding had gained honor and respectability.
Years later Duke Kahanamoku remembered the experience:
Big green walls of water were sliding in from the horizon, building up to bar like heights, then curling and crashing on the shore. Only a porpoise, a shark or a sea lion had any right to be out there. From shore we suddenly saw the charter fishing boat, the Thelma, wallowing in the water just seaward of where the breakers were falling. The craft appeared to be trying to fight her way toward safe water, but it was obviously a losing battle. You could see her rails crowded with fishermen who, at the moment, certainly had other things in mind than fishing. Mine was the only board handy right then—and I was hoping I wouldn’t have to use it…
It was obvious that the Thelma had capsized and thrown her passengers into the boiling sea. Neither I nor my pals were thinking heroics; we were simply running—me with a board, and the others to get their boards— and hoping we could save lives…”
The Hawaiian Society of Los Angeles would present the Duke with a medal for heroism on September 4, 1925, before a large and enthusiastic assembly at the Alexander Hotel. On Christmas Day 1925, the Los Angeles Athletic Club would honor its hero with a gold watch. Thirty-two years later, three of the grateful men whose lives had been saved, thanked the Duke in person before a national television audience on NBC’s “This IS Your Life.” The embarrassed Duke simply replied, “That’s okay.”