O.C. Q&A: Waveriders Edition

August 29,1966 -- The last day of surfing at the famed "Killer Dana" surf break before the Army Corps of Engineers closed it for the construction of Dana Point Harbor.

Q:  How long have people been surfing in Orange County?

A:  Perhaps a local Native American stood up in a canoe and surfed here thousands of years ago. But the first documented surfing in O.C. occurred over a century ago. 

Huntington Beach's new concrete pier was dedicated June 20, 1914, kicking off a two-day celebration that included dances, band concerts, sack races, swimming and fishing competitions, baseball games, demonstrations of diving and kendo, a church service on the pier, and a demonstration of "surf board riding" by former Waikiki resident (and first U.S. surfer) George Freeth. 

This "walk on water," generated less excitement than the fact that 15,000 automobiles came to town. Today, Huntington Beach celebrates surfing and downplays the traffic. 

Q:  Why do people from other states always ask me if I surf?

A:  It’s a big country, and few have time to develop nuanced understandings of each nook and cranny. Regional stereotypes are frequently wrong, but people do love falling back on them. 

Surfing is just exotic enough to qualify as a local quirk, but not exotic enough to fall outside inlanders’ comfort zones. For instance, taking visitors from landlocked states to the pier to watch surfing is always a hit. But taking them to Little Saigon for lunch and shopping may leave them with blank stares. They weren’t expecting that, and now they’re confused. 

So don’t upset the apple cart. When they ask if you surf, just say yes – Even if you can’t swim and need a walker to get around the house. 

Q:  Where does the stereotypical surfer exclamation “cowabunga” come from?

A:  Howdy Doody Show head writer Eddie Kean invented the nonsense word for use by the character Chief Thunderthud. He didn’t want him to say “how,” like other TV “Indians.” Cowabunga was later adopted by 1960s surfers as an enthusiastic exclamation or greeting, which was later re-revived by certain ninja turtles. 

The nonsense prefix “kawa” (cowa) was already used on Howdy Doody. Perhaps not coincidentally, the “nga” ending is a standard suffix for place names among the native Gabrielino/Tongva people of Southern California (including Orange County north of Aliso Creek.) Place names like Tujunga, Cahuenga, Cucamonga, and Topanga are among the only Tongva words still popularly used. Although a New Yorker, Kean was undoubtedly in touch with Hollywood folk who perhaps shared the only real Indian words they knew.

A 1990s OCN surf report ad featuring Mike "Mr. Anaheim" Tucker.