As spring turns into summer, Southern California’s attention always turns to Newport Beach’s worst kept secret: the Wedge. If you have ever surfed the Wedge, you know the feeling of walking out to the beach, hearing the first rumbles, and the instant butterflies that come with it.
Before the water was full of surfers, boogie boarders, lifeguards, and body surfers, there was a core group of men who swam out here first. Without these guys, we may all still be spectators on the beach. As far as the history of the place – which sometimes seems like it’s made up of urban legends – some Newport Beach sailors like Ernie Minney of Minney’s Yacht Surplus, have the story straight. “They dredged and built the jetty when two kids borrowed their dad’s boat,” Ernie says. “On return, the boat capsized, killing one of the sons that happened to have polio at the time. He couldn’t swim with his steel braces. His father made it a priority to build decent break walls and get the harbor mouth dredged.” According to the Encyclopedia of Surfing, the wave turned into what we know now when the Army Corps of Engineers extended the jetty from 1,000 to 2,000 feet. After two decades of watching the wave explode into this little nook of the peninsula, bodyboarders finally started catching waves here consistently.
A friend, Finn-Erik, who is also part of the crew, says Mel Thoman is the guy to talk to about the history of the Wedge and the people who first charged this wave. “When they first made this change to the jetty there were poles with wires that led out to a lighthouse with a foghorn, which was all taken out in 1997,” Mel says. Mel used to work a night shift so he could be in the water all day during the 80’s and 90’s, leading some people to believe he was jobless, homeless, and living on the beach. And the man has seen the side effects of “Wedge Syndrome” firsthand, witnessing six broken backs, four necks, has been there when six people have died (four fellow bodysurfers and two other unfortunate people he didn’t know), and was also there when Christian Fletcher broke his femur. But if you don’t recognize him from all the stories, you probably would recognize the famous shot of him – captured by Ron Romanosky – riding a blow-up neon dragon known as “Odie.” Romanosky, along with guys like Danny Kwock (Luigi), Greg Deets (Beets), and Terry Wade, were some of the watermen who first fearlessly tackled the Wedge. Just like Thoman, the old school Wedge crew all have stories. Some of them also have nicknames, like Terry Wade, who’s known as “Sac,” which ironically has nothing to do with how hard he charges.
Mel Thoman riding Odie, the blow up dragon. Photo:Ron Romanosky
Today, the new Wedge crew is a lot like the old crew, consisting mostly of bodysurfers and an eclectic mix of watermen from different walks of life. There’s the Olympic backstroke gold medalist, there are plumbers, firemen, photographers, lifeguards, the owner and creator of Viper fins, and countless others.
So while plenty of professional surfers are seen here every summer, there are other dedicated watermen who charge the Wedge without much fan fair. “The Wedge crew is anybody that gets addicted to the adrenaline rush the Wedge provides,” Mel says, “whether there are cameras or not.” These less than famous members of the Wedge crew are used to being overlooked in surf media, but they have a saying around the east end of the Balboa Peninsula: “The boys know who they are.”
