CROWN CITY HISTORY: Catching waves throughout the years

Crown City History

IN COLLABORATION WITH CORONADO HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

Catching waves throughout the years

By CAROL PASTOR, CORONADO HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION VOLUNTEER

n any given day, while strolling the boardwalk by the Coronado Shores, one can enjoy watching the surfers in our small, beautiful part of the ocean. You might even be one of those frequent surfers. Did you ever think about how this sport came to be a part of our daily lives? Let me give you a bit of the history of surfing that is so much a part of the Coronado lifestyle.

Believe it or not, surfing dates back to life in Polynesia many hundreds of years ago as a means of transportation. When surfing came to Tahiti years later, people began using the boards standing up. The boards became known as “surf boards” over time.

As early as 1778, British explorer Captain James Cook wrote of his crew observing the surfers in Hawaii. By the mid-1880s, surfing came to Hawaii. In 1907, Hawaiian surfer George Freeth came to Southern California and gave demonstrations in the Los Angeles area. This was followed by visits from Duke Kahanamoku, also from Hawaii. An Olympic swimmer in 1916, Kahanamoku is considered the Father of Modern Surfing. His boards, many of which can be seen in Hawaii today, weighed as much as 100 pounds — a far cry from the boards of today.

Coronado residents would leave their own mark on the surfing world by the 1950s with such surfers as Tom Carlin. He later became a Navy SEAL, and later still, established his career doing underwater film for TV and movies in the Caribbean working in the ocean once again. Margie Manock is said to be one of Coronado’s first female surfers. Local lifeguard and Coronado natives Russ and John Elwell had ventured to Honolulu to attempt surfing on the wild North Shore in 1958.

Best remembered for her role as “Lenore ‘Casey’ Case” on the 1960s television series “The Green Hornet,” Wende Wagner was known as a local surfer girl. Wende was one of the first, if not the first, Coronado High School student to wear a bikini bathing suit as far as anyone can remember. She was a bathing beauty as well as a skilled swimmer and surfer. As a Coronado teenager, Wende found herself attracted to the waves and the collection of youths who were informally known as the Coronado Gypsies, guys with nicknames like “Dooley” (Tom Carlin), “Skeeter”and “Gunker” (Chuck Quinn).

Russ Elwell stands in the Coronado surf with his lifeguard equipment. (Coronado Historical Association Collection)

Wende Wagner and Tom Carlin relax after a day on the water in Hawaii in the late 1950s. (Courtesy of Vince and Pat Flynn)

Other well-known locals from the 1980s and ’90s included two families. We had Jim and Dave Montalbano along with Mike and Terry Gillard and their sister, Christine. She is considered by some as the best female surfer in the world.

Members of Coronado’s surf community posing on the beach including Dave Montalbano, Tim Coon, Patrick Mower in the back row (L to R) and Terry Gillard, Jim Montalbano and John Gillen in the front row (L to R)

With so many taking to the waves over the years, we drew the attention of board builders and shapers. Bob Simmons returned to the area in 1951 and began shaping boards for some of Coronado’s elite surfers. He worked on boards for such water athletes as Jim Voit, Johnny Elwell, Tom Carlin and Margie Manock. He designed shorter boards for both Tom and Margie. On any day, the coastline was theirs, from Imperial Beach to the Silver Strand to North Island in Coronado.

Next time you are at the beach, check out the waves and think about where it all started. Best viewing is still Shores beach, now known as Stan’s Beach, named after beloved surf coach and lifeguard Stan Searfus. Check out the parking lot; if you see surfers donning gear, you know SURF’S UP.

CHS surfer Andy Orsini rides a wild wave in 1991. He described surfing as controlling his own roller coaster. (Coronado Historical Association Collection)

The newly formed surf team at Coronado High School in 1988. (Coronado Historical Association Collection)