We satisfied our dinner cravings at Charly's place, where we were served a piping hot Molcajete sizzling with fresh shrimp, peppers and cheese. Certainly a favorite we'd go back for.
When we weren't catching gentle rights out front of the house, we'd venture into Puerto Nuevo for some tourist-y finds and a traditional lobster meal. Another memorable location was on the inland side of the local mountain range, in the valley of Bonito. Wine country is a common attraction down in Baja.
Another past time when the tide was too high- hitting up the Salinas Bar and knocking a few scavenged golf balls out into the desolate beach.
Our last day came too soon but we squeezed in one last session before checking out and gearing up for a lengthy border line. Baja is always a trip worth taking!
]]>Noah Cardoza in Baja from San Onofre Surf Co. on Vimeo.
]]>Film & Edit by Wiley Archbold @wiley_archbold
]]>El Ensueño - The Daydream from San Onofre Surf Co. on Vimeo.
]]>SURF WITH FRIENDS from San Onofre Surf Co. on Vimeo.
]]>Watch MORE about Nick Gabaldon's Story Below:
]]>LINK TO SURFER ARTICLE HERE
]]>(1946 - 1978)
The life of Eddie Aikau is the incredible story of the ultimate waterman. The surfer, lifeguard, family man, friend, traveler, musician, and hero inspired future generations of wave riders, all around the planet.
write up from SURFER TODAY
"Eddie Would Go." Edward Ryon Makuahanai Aikau was born in Kahului, Hawaii, on May 4, 1946.
He was the second-oldest of the five Aikau kids, and the leader of their pack, since their earliest days on Maui, through to their surfing days on the South and North Shore of Oahu.
"Eddie was a pretty quiet guy, but when there was a challenge, or some risk to be taken or a game to be played that everybody wanted to win, Eddie seemed to rise to the top. He was high risk at an early age," says younger brother Clyde Aikau.
Eddie was the first official lifeguard hired by the City & County of Honolulu to work at Waimea Bay, on Oahu's North Shore, back in 1967. At the same time, he challenged the biggest waves on offer in the Hawaiian Islands.
The two brothers worked together for ten years up until 1978 and never lost one person. At the time, there were no jet skis or zodiacs - just two youngsters with a board and swim fins.
During his career as a lifeguard at Waimea Bay, Eddie Aikau managed to rescue and save the lives of over 500 people.
An Accomplished Big Wave Surfer
Eddie took on every major swell to come through the North Shore from 1967 to 1978. As a competitor, his best contest result was a win in the 1977 Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championship.
Eddie Aikau saw big wave surfing, not as a competition, but as a personal goal. He dreamed of reaching the height of his heroes.
Greg Noll, Mike Stang, George Downing, John Kelly, and Sammy Lee were a huge inspiration to him. In 1967, Eddie cracked a giant swell at Waimea Bay and made his mark in the world of big wave riding. To this very day, November 19, 1967, remains the biggest day ever surfed at Waimea Bay.
During the early to mid-1970s, Eddie traveled to South Africa, South America, and Australia to participate in a few early-era pro surfing events.
A Warm and Gentle Person
He was always a central figure in bringing people together and a pivotal character in maintaining calm and camaraderie on the North Shore when competition intensified the lineups.
Eddie Aikau has never had any children of his own, but his compassion and care extended to all who came within his reach. He and Clyde were famous for entertaining people at parties and luaus.
According to maritime historian Mac Simpson, Aikau was already a legend on the North Shore before his death. "The expression 'Eddie would go' actually predates Hokule'a," Simpson noted.
"He was already doing what no one else dared to - pull people out of Waimea Bay's big surf. And that's where the phrase came from: Eddie would go when no one else would or could."
The Death and the Legend of Eddie Aikau
When he was not on the North Shore pulling people out of the heavy surf, Eddie dedicated his time to other hobbies and interests he had.
In 1978, Aikau was among a handful selected to join the cultural expedition of the Polynesian, double-hulled voyaging canoe Hokule'a, which set sail from the Hawaiian Islands on March 16, 1978 - more specifically from Magic Island, Oahu - and bound for Tahiti.
Hokule'a soon encountered treacherous seas outside the Hawaiian Islands and the canoe capsized.
On March 17, after a wild night adrift, Aikau paddled his board toward Lanai in search of help for his stranded crew members.
He was never seen again. The ensuing search for Aikau was the largest air-sea search in Hawaiian history. The body and soul of the well-known Hawaiian lifeguard and surfer lie on the Pacific Ocean forever.
In 1984, the Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau was established at Sunset Beach, in his honor. The event moved the next winter to Waimea Bay and has been a fixture there ever since.
For the 2019/2020 edition, the contest was renamed. The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational only runs when swells reach a minimum height of 20 feet.
Baja Chronicles from San Onofre Surf Co. on Vimeo.
Memories of a trip to Baja
Featuring:
Noah Cardoza
Hallie Rohr
Zahid Rodriguez
Carson Franck
Blake Michaels
Kandi Patterson
Film & Edit by Noah Cardoza
]]>write-up from Sacred Land
More Information on the Acjachemen Tribe & their History: Read More Here!
For more than 10,000 years, Acjachemen people thrived on the coast of what is now Orange County in southern California. They lived in several villages, but Panhe or “place at the water,” at the mouth of San Mateo Canyon, was the most significant.
Today the Acjachemen consider what is left of Panhe to be their most sacred site. Pre-contact, the village spanned the entire valley now occupied by the Camp Pendleton Marine Base, San Onofre State Beach and much of the town of San Clemente. To this day the tribe conducts ceremony and an Ancestor Walk on a small designated area within San Mateo campground, which is also a burial site. This designated Panhe site is two miles up San Mateo Creek from the world-famous Trestles surf beach, four miles from San Onofre State Beach and five miles from the decommissioned San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant.
The site was almost destroyed a decade ago by a proposed six-lane toll road that would have connected new development to Interstate 5. A coalition of Acjachemen Nation activists, environmentalists and surfers fought the proposal for more than a decade, finally reaching a settlement to protect the site in 2016.
The toll road was essentially blocked in 2008 when the California Coastal Commission denied the project permit. This victory is largely credited to the activism of environmental and surfer organizations. But as Dina Gilio-Whitaker (Colville Confederated Tribes) observes in her master’s thesis, Panhe at the Crossroads: Toward an Indigenized Environmental Justice Theory, the tribe’s claim to the site heavily influenced members of the California Coastal Commission. In a February 4, 2008 letter to commission chairman Patrick Kruer, the Ti‘at Society and Traditional Council of Pimu wrote:
“And…here we are, once again, as native people, in another struggle to protect land that is deemed by us to be sacred. We inherited this obligation from our ancestors. It may be 2008, but those obligations hold a sanctity that we honor. There are numerous communities who are here representing their interest, from surfers protecting their sport, to homeowners fearful of encroaching populations and dwindling real estate prices. Yet, we argue, none of them could possibly understand our dilemma as the original people of this land. Our loss has been significant and yet we continue to fight for the dwindling remnants of land our family has known for countless generations. This is a fact and not a solicitation of sympathy!”
The people of the Acjachemen Nation are the original inhabitants of what is now Orange County, and parts of San Diego, Los Angeles and Riverside Counties. For thousands of years, they thrived in oak woodlands, valley meadows and river marshes. As they explain on their website, “The native Acjachemen viewed the land as something sacred that needed to be protected and carefully used to insure the livelihood of their people.”
Two hundred and fifty years ago, Spaniards invaded the area and enslaved the Acjachemen to build many of today’s landmarks, including Mission San Juan Capistrano, which was founded by Junipero Serra in 1776. The Spanish dubbed the people “Juaneño,” as in “of San Juan Capistrano.” Today they are politically organized as the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians/Acjachemen Nation. A tribal council governs the 1,941 blood descendants of the Acjachemen. While they are a state-recognized tribe, they do not have federal recognition and all the rights that would entail.
In 1981, the U.S. National Park Service determined that Panhe was eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. It was also recorded with the State Historic Preservation Office and included in the San Mateo Archaeological District. After extensive documentation by Acjachemen elders, California’s Native American Heritage Commission added Panhe to its Sacred Lands inventory in 1989. Developers must consult the Sacred Lands inventory as a part of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) environmental review process.
In 2002 local citizens learned of a project proposed by the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency (TCA) to build a six-lane toll road to connect a planned new development with Interstate 5. Two miles of the route would run parallel to San Mateo Creek, a mere 20 feet from the current Panhe site. Environmental groups like the Sierra Club were already concerned about the new toll road being built near environmentally sensitive areas in the San Mateo watershed. But if construction of the toll road destroyed San Mateo Creek, which empties into Trestles surf beach, it could have also disrupted the near perfect wave quality that Trestles is known for. Once surfers understood the threat, “Save Trestles, Stop the Toll Road” bumper stickers, lawn signs and t-shirts sprouted up all over San Clemente. When the surfing community became concerned the issue gained international attention.
In 2006 the California Native American Heritage Commission (CNAHC) brought a lawsuit against the TCA on behalf of the tribe, on the grounds that the destruction of Panhe would seriously infringe Acjachemen religious freedom.
“Construction of the Toll Road as approved by the TCA would cause severe and irreparable damage to a Native American sanctified cemetery, place of worship, religious or ceremonial site, or sacred shrine located on public property.” (Native American Heritage Commission v. Foothill Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency)
In 2007 grassroots Acjachemen activists created the United Coalition to Protect Panhe (UPCC) to assert the importance of the area to the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians/Acjachemen Nation. UPCC became part of a broad coalition of interested parties that aren’t always aligned on issues but succeeded in lobbying the California Coastal Commission to deny the TCA permit in 2008. Many observers may not realize what a role Acjachemen standing had in convincing the commissioners.
In her groundbreaking book, As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock, Dina Gilio-Whitaker points out that “what is clear in hindsight is that few people outside the Native community and the Coastal Commission realized the important role Panhe would ultimately play in the fight to stop the toll road.”
Gilio-Whitaker goes on to quote Commissioner Mary Schallenberger, “There is a huge disconnect in understanding between the Native American culture, and the—what would I call it?—the rest of the culture of California…What I learned and came to respect is that for the Native Americans, quite often, their sacred sites are different. They are absolutely tied to, and integral to a specific place on the earth. Churches, synagogues, and, I believe, mosques can be moved. They can be moved, and they can be re-blessed, or whatever that particular religion calls for, and the worship can go on in a different building, in a different place. With the Native Americans, that is often not the case.”
The TCA appealed the Coastal Commission’s decision to the U.S. Commerce Department, but was denied later that year.
Out of fear of further development the coalition formed the Save San Onofre Coalition. In 2016 the coalition reached a settlement with the TCA that if the TCA committed to keeping their route out of the San Mateo Creek watershed the coalition would drop the six lawsuits filed against them.
What You Can Do
If you live in the area, attend the annual Panhe Earth Day event.
Support San Onofre Parks Foundation which serves as a steward of San Onofre State Park and Panhe.
Support Acjachemen sovereignty and the United Coalition to Protect Panhe.
]]>Rilynn in Mexico from San Onofre Surf Co. on Vimeo.
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Born in Dana Point, California, Hoffman started competing at an early age. She went on to win numerous honors including the US Surfing Championship for Women from 1965–67 and 1971, and the Makaha International Open in 1964 and 1966. In 1965, she was named LA Times Woman of the Year, making her the only surfer to ever win this honor. Also that year she won the U.S. Women's championship (held in Huntington Beach), the World Championship (held in Lima, Peru) and the International Women's Surfing Championship (held in Makaha).
In 1966 she was voted best woman surfer in the world by the International Surfing Hall of Fame. Between 1965 and 1967, Hoffman won three consecutive United States Surfing Championship titles and won her fourth title in 1971. She won the Women’s World Surfing title in 1966 and 1967. In 1964, Hoffman was the first woman to win the women’s division of the annual SURFER poll. She was the first surfer to be named Los Angeles Times Woman of the Year in 1965. In 1994 she was inducted into the Surfing Walk of Fame as that year's Woman of the Year (the Walk is in Huntington Beach, California). Oh yeah, and she was also a leading female motocross rider!
At the age of 12, Joyce Hoffman learned how to surf. By 13, she was competing in contests. By the time she turned 16, Hoffman had emerged as the budding sport’s bright new star. From 1963 to 1971, the Capistrano Beach native, dominated women’s surfing competitions across the globe, cementing herself as a true legend and pioneer for a whole generation of surfers.
Hoffman’s stepfather, Walter Hoffman, was an accomplished big-wave surfer and introduced his teenage stepdaughter to the sport when the family moved to Capistrano Beach. The first time Joyce rode a wave in competition was with Walter in a tandem ride. However, Joyce did not like the fact that she was not in control of the board and was merely a passenger while Walter steered. From that point on, Hoffman was determined to be in total control out on the water.
Hoffman surfed up and down the Southern California coastline but called the breaks off San Clemente her home turf. When she paddled out at San Onofre or the Pier as a 12-year-old girl, she was greeted with some sideways looks. Surfing was predominantly a male sport when Hoffman started out back in the 1960’s, and only a handful of women ever ventured into the water looking to ride waves.
Hoffman’s skills as a surfer quickly turned those looks into approving nods.
“As soon as you’d ride a few waves and they could see you knew what you were doing, (the surfers) became supportive and protective,” Hoffman recalled. “(The surfers) were real supportive of me when I was surfing. If any guy from out of town would come out and try to give me some vibes, (the locals) would be like, ‘Hey, don’t even go there. She’s one of us, she belongs here.’ It was really neat.”
The wins began to pile up for Hoffman as she toured the West Coast, earning victories in the Bay Area on down to San Diego. She would travel to Hawaii and at the age of 16, won the Makaha International Open, a landmark victory. Her professional career would take her across the globe, from Australia to Europe.
Hoffman devoted herself to the sport and particularly to fitness. She incorporated cross-training exercises like paddling, swimming and running into her training regimen, which she said kept her in top physical condition and gave her an edge in competition.
Now, Hoffman resides in San Juan Capistrano and runs the 25-acre Tar Farms Stables, which has been in the Hoffman family for years. She still paddles out in the Capo Beach area to catch a few waves, where she is usually joined by family out on the water.
“We all love the same thing. We love the water and we love the experience of it all,” Hoffman said. “It always feels like I’m at home because I’ve spent so much time doing it and it’s so integral to my family.”
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Skvarna on the Log & the Fish from San Onofre Surf Co. on Vimeo.
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Paskowitz was born March 3, 1921, in Galveston, Texas. He was one of three children born to Russian Jewish emigrants Louis and Rose Paskowitz. He attended Point Loma High School, San Diego State, Stanford University, and graduated from Stanford Medical School in 1946.
After two failed marriages (including one that resulted in two daughters), he realized that he was unhappy as a doctor. Paskowitz went to Israel for a year where he found joy & purpose that he had been lacking. He volunteered for the Israeli army in 1956 during the Suez crisis, but was rejected. He then returned to the United States and focused on surfing full-time.
After marrying his third wife, Juliette, Paskowitz and his new bride began a period of roughly 25 years of a transient bohemian lifestyle on the road. The couple produced nine children, and the entire family lived and traveled together in a succession of used camper vans. Paskowitz's personal philosophy about education and money and healthy lifestyle was imposed on his family.
None of the Paskowitz children were formally educated during their time on the road. Paskowitz's philosophy about the difference between knowledge and wisdom led him to believe that the formal education systems in all the countries of the world were not useful. He believed that achieving wisdom came from real experiences in the world, and from meeting and learning from everyday people. He believed formal education was dangerous to young minds, despite being a Stanford graduate and a professor at community colleges.
A consistent theme of health pervaded Paskowitz's approach to family life. Most mornings, the family ate a breakfast of multi-grain gruel (as one of his children described it), and they were all expected to improve their surfing skills on a daily basis. Several of Paskowitz's children reached a competitive level in surfing, winning contests and earning endorsement income.
In August 2007, Paskowitz launched the Surfing For Peace project to deliver surfboards to the small surfing community in Gaza. Paskowitz had to persuade the Israeli government to let him deliver the surfboards because after Hamas took over Gaza in June 2007, Israel has only let in essential humanitarian supplies. Paskowitz founded Surfing For Peace together with his own son David Paskowitz, as well as Arthur Rashovan and Kelly Slater, after reading an article in the Los Angeles Times which highlighted the lack of surfboards in Gaza.
Surfing For Peace worked with OneVoice Movement, a pro Israeli-Palestinian peace organization, to successfully deliver the surfboards and hold a follow-up benefit concert in Tel Aviv in October 2007. The successful surfboard delivery gained international attention for Surfing For Peace and launched a global community of surfers and supporters who aim to use the shared-surfing experience to bridge cultural and political barriers.
Paskowitz was described as a health guru and had a strong interest in health issues. He advocated natural diets low in fat accompanied by exercise. Paskowitz wrote a book in 1997 (republished in 2007) on his philosophy about health and other issues titled Surfing and Health.
Like many American outsider-adventurers, Paskowitz set out to realize a utopian dream. Abandoning a successful medical practice, he sought self-fulfillment by taking up the nomadic life of a surfer. But unlike other American searchers like Thoreau or Kerouac, Paskowitz took his wife and nine children along for the ride, all eleven of them living in a 24 foot camper. Together, they lived a life that would be unfathomable to most, but enviable to anyone who ever relinquished their dreams to a straight job. The Paskowitz Family proved that America may be running out of frontiers, but it hasn't run out of frontiersman.
In 2000, he was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Paskowitz died on November 10, 2014, in Newport Beach, California at 93 years of age. His health had declined following hip surgery earlier that year.
Today, we share waves and good times with one of Doc's sons, Israel Paskowitz. "Izzy" has carried on the family legacy with a career in professsional surfing & transitioned into becoming a co-founder of the Surfer's Healing Foundation alongside his wife Danielle. This organization offers free surf camps across the globe to children with Autism and does amazing work for thousands and their families!
The Paskowitz Family was introduced to a broader public in “Surfwise,” a 2007 film by Doug Pray that captured their barefoot lifestyle.
For MORE on the Paskowitz Surf Camp, click THIS LINK
For MORE on the Surfers Healing Foundation, click THIS LINK
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A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood from San Onofre Surf Co. on Vimeo.
]]>A Late Morning with Kyle Perez from San Onofre Surf Co. on Vimeo.
]]>SKVARNA & CARDOZA from San Onofre Surf Co. on Vimeo.
]]>A Session with Brock from San Onofre Surf Co. on Vimeo.
]]>Jetty Halloween from San Onofre Surf Co. on Vimeo.
Video thanks to Jessica Krauss (@houseinhabit)
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Hallie getting a few all to herself one morning.
Hours of the day were spent either staring at or catching the consistent lines coming in. What seemed to be the unofficial "last South Swell of the season" kept us occupied in and out of the water. The warm weather decided to stick around for us too and we relished in the September sun.
When the tide got lower, we piled ourselves and a bunch of logs into the van and set off to a different spot that would favor the conditions. You'd hardly see anyone else at any particular break, but if you did, they'd be pretty friendly.
Zahid taking out the Roger Hinds single fin.
The cliff was a special place for those few days. Usually visited by the local dogs in the mornings, we'd enjoy coffee out on the edge. Climbing down the cliff to go surf was another aspect of its rugged appeal. You'd say a little prayer that you don't lose your board into the rocks below.
What could be considered "sketch" was actually delicious. The burrito stand adjacent to the nearest gas station became an instant favorite for the crew. For only a few pesos, you could get lunch and a soda.
Once you went inland, the heat was much stronger. Nothing a cold Victoria couldn't fix though
Carson, no stranger to Mexico, made friends wherever we went and could easily chat up the locals. A real solid guy to have on a roadtrip. Even when he burned his foot on a bonfire ember, he was a good sport!
With probably a dozen or more surfboards in tow, we got to try out all sorts of shapes. Blake here with a brand new Nick Melanson shape, glassed by our other buddy Max Caldwell.
It was yet another rad trip with some real quality people. There is something so uniquely special about film photography that captures the color sand textures of a stunning location.
Special thanks to everyone involved and our host Richard for everything!
]]>FALL 2020 VIDEO LOOKBOOK from San Onofre Surf Co. on Vimeo.