Waving Goodby to a Washout Season at Wedge

It was a party for the summer that never was. The Wedge just didn’t fire.

For the past three months, Mel Thoman and other members of the Wedge crew dreamed of seeing Newport Beach lifeguards hoisting yellow or red warning flags at the famed body-surfing spot, signifying macho-sized waves.

But the summer of ’94 is best remembered for its many green flags and calm ocean. So with Wedge regulars looking on and hooting--some having arrived from San Diego and New Mexico for the occasion--the 37-year-old body surfer ceremoniously said goodby to summer and hello to autumn as he propped a flagpole at the Wedge. Hanging on the end was one of his wash towels. Green, of course.

“We’ve had an amazingly bad summer for body surfers,” Thoman said. “The weather’s been great, water temps have been great, but the whole Wedge crew is down in the dumps about the summer of ’94. That’s why we’re drinking champagne . . . to toast autumn and drown our sorrow.”

Yes, it’s illegal to drink alcoholic beverages on a public beach, they acknowledged. But kissing off a bad summer is part of a ritual as Southern Californian as palm trees and strip malls.

“In 1981, when there was a bad year for the Wedge,” Thoman said, “we had a ‘Death to Summer’ party and we all wore black. But our motto this year is to wear green. Everybody has to have something green because we’ve had the green flag flying for most of the summer.”

The Wedge, at the end of the Balboa Peninsula, usually produces some of California’s premier waves, known for their steep drop and high speed. During a good summer, powerful south swells bounce off a rock jetty, creating waves 20 feet high or larger. It’s a Southern California attraction that draws hundreds of spectators who “ooh” and “aah” while fearless body surfers--clad only in trunks and swim fins--attack “Big Wedge,” as it’s called during big swells.

Newport Beach surf photographer Ron Romanowsky, who records only big days at the Wedge, said, “The first swell that made it over 10 feet at the Wedge was Aug. 14. And, by 5 o’clock, the swell had virtually died.

“It’s funny,” he added, “because we had so many swells last year. (We had) 22 days in July, 1993, with waves over 6 or 8 feet at the Wedge. But this year in July? Zilch. There might have been something there, but nothing big to record on my calendar. It got so bad I stopped logging waves!”

Newport Beach Marine Safety Lt. Jim Turner disagreed with Thoman’s belief that the lifeguard tower at the Wedge hoisted only one red flag this summer--though he did concede that there have been better seasons.

“We’ve had a very quiet summer in regards to the Wedge,” Turner said. “But we had the red flag up at the Wedge five days. I think they have that old feeling that as experts at the Wedge, they feel there’s no need to put the red flag in. But the flag system is not only for the locals, but for the public. And it’s the public’s safety we’re concerned with.”

Sean Collins, a wave forecaster at Surfline/Wavetrak in Huntington Beach, said it’s been one of the poorest summers in terms of hurricanes and big swells.

“As far as the overall swell, it was one of the worst years we’ve had with regard to major Southern Hemisphere swells,” Collins said. “The kicker is that we had a great summer for consistent waves for board surfers, but nothing over the 7- or 8-foot threshold. A lot of us surfers were pretty stoked.”

Daily “Wedge watching” may seem obsessive to inlanders. But after all, this is a spot whose reputation extends to a Wedge Preservation Society, a local surf wear company (Wedge Wear) and a drink, “The Wedge,” a concoction that includes white and gold tequila and is poured nightly at Newport’s Studio Cafe.

The Wedge is such a magnet that Ian (Eli) Johnston, a 24-year-old UC San Diego student living in La Jolla, doesn’t think twice about body surfing here.

“I grew up in Venice Beach,” Johnston said. “I remember that after I got a car I would come here as often as I could. On that big day on Aug. 14, I called Mel’s message machine because he gives the surf report. But his machine was broken. Well, I called him later and he told me there was a big swell in and that was at 5 p.m. I left immediately. Two hours later I was in Newport.”