Culprit: Harbor 

Corona Del Mar, Newport Beach California

Corona del Mar was a surf spot that was very rich in history. It was home to the mainland’s first surf organization, The Corona Del Mar Surfboard Club. It was also home to the first mainland surf competition an event organized by none other than Tom Blake in 1928. The Pacific Coast Surfriding Championships took place on August 5, 1928. Very large waves used to break to the right along the jetty that marked the original Newport Harbor entrance.

The first jetty had a way of causing the waves to pile up making even a three feet wave really fun according to Lorrin “Whitey” Harrison. On good days the ride would stretch from just inside the bell buoy then along the rocks to the bath house which totaled a distance of around 3/8 of a mile according to Charles “ Chuck A Luck” Ehlers a well known surfer in the thirties.

However, in 1935 the harbor developers dredged the channel until it was sixty feet deep. Doc Ball eulogized the loss of this great wave “In Memoriam Corona del Mar”. A quote from the eulogy described the break as, “ Corona Del Mar’s zero surf was hell on yachtsmen but—holy cow—what stuff for the Kamaainas, Yes! Those were the days.”

During the dredging the workers had cables that stretched across the surf break connecting various pieces of machinery. The local surfers would have to jump or prone out section in order to avoid the construction equipment all while maneuvering wooden planks with their feet.