Surf Del Mar, Day by Day: Where the Village's Own Surf Story Shows Up This October

"Jim Lischer, one of the lifeguards, documented all this footage, which he edited into movies. It was magic."

Jeff Baldwin said that to a Torrey Pines High School student reporter for The Sandpiper in March 2023. He was remembering the years when the Del Mar Surf Club hosted members' talks about their surf trips. Three and a half years later, that footage has a time slot. On Sunday, October 11, at 5:00 p.m., Lischer's film Del Mar Surf History: Roots plays in St. Peter's Church Parish Hall. It is the last event of the first Surf Del Mar Festival. The festival describes the film as built on stories and interviews with more than 75 Del Mar surfers and calls it the first of its kind to document Del Mar surfing history.

The festival runs four days, October 8 through 11, and the honoree list is long and famous. Shaun Tomson, Rob Machado, Joel Tudor, Linda Benson, Joyce Hoffman and Tony Hawk are among the Legends and Champions being recognized. Those names headline the awards ceremony at Del Mar Plaza on opening night. Del Mar's own surf history, meaning the reef, the shapers, the club and the lifeguard with a camera, shows up in smaller rooms. Most of those rooms ask you to register first.

A first-time event with a long memory

The Del Mar Historical Society is producing the festival, and this is its first year. Co-founder Susie Stevenson, the Historical Society's events chair, told the San Diego Union-Tribune in June that the idea began about a year earlier. She was brainstorming with James Gooding, the society's vice president and festival co-chair, about creating an original event for the organization. "Nothing like this has ever happened before," Stevenson said.

Every event is free and open to the public. The Historical Society's online "buy tickets" button processes a donation, not admission. The festival poster is by John Van Hamersveld, who designed the original Endless Summer poster, and signed, numbered editions are for sale.

The history sits on blocks you already walk

The festival's reunion page is mostly photographs. Several of them place Del Mar surf history on specific ground. One caption reads "15th St reef Del Mar Surf Club Contest 1981." Another shows a surfboard shaping building on the Jake's Restaurant property, dated 1965 to 1971. The page traces local surfing back to pioneers in the 1930s.

That 15th Street reef is the same break the Visit Del Mar Village surf guide, published in 2020, lists under Powerhouse Park, along with 18th Street, 23rd Street, 29th Street and Dog Beach. Rusty Del Mar, which The Sandpiper described in 2023 as a surf shop that had been running for 35 years, still features 15th Street on its own site.

Mike Doyle, the 1969 world champion, wrote a first-person recollection that the festival printed. He says that in the very early 1960s, Bill Bahne and Tony Chanan, spelled Channin on the honoree list, both had surfboard manufacturing shops in the old Del Mar power house. Doyle worked for them before partnering with Don Hansen. He recalls first noticing, at age 12, the stretch now called Dog Beach, "where they used to work the race horses in the surf." He writes that Hansen Surfboards opened in 1961 with help from Del Mar resident Bob Driver. The U-T places Hansen's shop in Cardiff, and the festival is paying tribute to Hansen, who has died.

The Del Mar Surf Club, founded by Grant Larsen and Corbin Taylor, worked with the Del Mar Lifeguard Department to run local contests, paddleboard races and beach cleanups. For a few years, the city ran its own annual surfing contest. Scott Bass, a festival honoree, told The Sandpiper that Larsen and Taylor "were sort of the foundational characters of the Del Mar surf culture." Lischer filmed that era, and Sunday's film draws on his footage.

Where everything happens, and what needs a reservation

The festival uses a small set of venues, each a short walk from the next. The outdoor events are open to anyone who shows up. The indoor sessions have limited seats.

St. Peter's hosts the most local programming, and it is also where seats are tightest. Registration for the hall events is through delmarhistoricalsociety.org, under each event listing. To register for book signings, go to Camino Books and look under Events.

Thursday and Friday, the science and the films

Thursday morning's symposium is moderated by Jeff Lehmann. The speakers are Kevin Whilden of Seatrees, Patrick McDonough of San Diego Coastkeeper, Ryan Simkovsky of Algenesis, and Yehuda Ben-Hamo of WILDCOAST. The day ends at 1:45 p.m. with Adam Young of Scripps Institution of Oceanography on the Scripps Coastal Mapping Program and erosion research. Stevenson explained the reason for the symposium to the U-T: "Climate has such an impact on waves, water, and the sport itself."

That evening, the Plaza patio shows surf art by Kevin Anderson, Wade Koniakowsky, Sarah O'Connor, Michael Leyva, Jesse Martin, Mac Hillenbrand, Ted Emrick, Andy Wright, Jim McConlogue and Norm Daniels. Jim Kempton of the California Surf Museum emcees the awards at 5:30.

Friday's films run all day. Birth of The Endless Summer plays at 11:45 a.m., and Shaped By The Sea plays at 4:00 p.m. Tomson's Bustin' Down The Door starts at 5:30 p.m., with a Q&A afterward. The festival frames that screening as "celebrating the 50th anniversary of a surf revolution."

Saturday, the longest day in the village

Saturday has the most events and needs the least planning. A full day might go like this:

1. 10:00 a.m. Chris Ahrens, author of Windansea, opens the book fair at L'Auberge. Tomson follows at 11:00, T. Jefferson Parker at 1:00 and Kim Dwinell at 2:00.
2. Noon to 3:00 p.m. Woodies are on display at the Del Mar Train Station. Festival merchandise is for sale there until 7:00.
3. 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. The Mar Dels play Powerhouse Park.
4. 5:30 p.m. The silent auction closes under the Welcome/Information Canopy, and winners are announced at 6:00.
5. Dark, between 6:30 and 7:00 p.m. The Endless Summer screens on the Powerhouse Park lawn. The schedule says to bring a picnic.

If you would rather have dinner before the movie, two newer restaurants on Camino Del Mar are close by. Honor Bar opened at 1404 Camino Del Mar in the former Bully's space. It is walk-in only and cashless, open 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and staff told The Sandpiper that its "ability to accommodate parties larger than four is very limited." Queenstown Del Mar, which opened May 21 at 1435 Camino Del Mar, serves until 9:00 p.m. with later hours on Friday and Saturday.

Sunday, when Del Mar tells its own story

Sunday's book fair leans toward photography and history. Todd Glaser speaks at 10:00. Jeff Divine follows at 11:00, talking with Grant Ellis about Divine Surf. Patrick Moser speaks at 1:00 on George Freeth and the birth of California beach culture, and Tom Keck closes at 2:00. Next door, at the Jim Watkins Outdoor Amphitheater, students from Torrey Pines High School and Earl Warren Middle School show surf art from 11:00 to 3:00, with a table where young artists can make their own.

Women on Waves starts at 1:00 at St. Peter's with artist Olga Freedman, then Kim Dwinell. At 2:30, Valerie and Victoria Du Prat speak; Valerie is a scientist and board shaper, and Victoria is a champion surfer on the Junior USA Team. Champion bodysurfer and engineer Meredith Rose speaks at 3:30.

At 5:00, the same hall shows a short film honoring Don Hansen, followed by Roots.

"What we hope younger generations take away is an appreciation for these stories. They're part of who we are."

Stevenson said that to the U-T about the festival as a whole. Lischer's footage of the Del Mar Surf Club years plays on Sunday evening, in a hall with limited space, and registration is open now at delmarhistoricalsociety.org.

Our team has followed Del Mar through many seasons, and we're glad to see the village celebrating the history that took place on its own beaches. If you'd like to talk about the village, its history, or a property near the blocks where that history happened, Danielle Short would be glad to hear from you. Let's Connect.