2024 PRESIDENT'S LETTER AND MEMBERSHIP

Aloha SanO family!

It's incredible to think that a whole year has passed since I took on the role of Club President. This first year has been nothing short of fantastic, thanks to the incredible support of our dedicated Board of Directors, Officers, and Club Business Secretary. I approached the responsibility with a mix of nerves and excitement, but together, we successfully steered our club through a year filled with fantastic events and activities. 

Looking back, 2023 was another unforgettable year for the Club! While the beach was closed numerous days due to heavy rain in the first few months of the year, we made up for these lost days with incredible weather, surf, and great events for our Club members. Here we are in December and we are still enjoying summer weather and warm water.

The Ten Buck Chuck or The Chuck kicked off our 2023 event lineup, after a year-long hiatus. A big shout out to event chairs, Charlie Z and Sabrina Pearcy for organizing another great contest. What an amazing turnout and day for the Chuck contest! We received plenty of positive feedback from attendees and they’re all stoked for the next contest. Chef extraordinaire, Kurt Winn oversaw the delicious food and donated breakfast for the entire beach. A BIG THANK YOU to all of the volunteer judges, tabulators, Board members, and contestants, who worked together to make this another truly special event.

The Horseshoe tournament was the next event in our lineup and although small, we had some new club members participate against our seasoned competitors to make for a fun day of competition. Thank you to event chairs, Jim Wynne and Scott Cuda for keeping this Club tradition going for our members to enjoy!

Family Day was the highlight of the year with great music, delicious food, and fantastic raffle prizes including two hand-shaped surfboards from Club members, Chris Schroeder and Corey Colapinto, an awesome Murf eBike, gift cards, and merchandise from local surf shops like Stewart Surfboards who donated hundreds of dollars of merchandise to the Club. We also hosted our first-ever silent auction featuring beautiful artwork and merchandise from local artists, Eric Keawekane, Joanna Garel, David Krovblit, Bill Stewart, and Don Craig just to name of few. A big shout out to event chairs, Bobby Lombard and Ann Marie Moneymaker for their work in organizing the event, especially the music featuring Bobby Lombard and Six Ways to Sunday band, and Ann Marie for gathering all of the raffle prizes and hosting the silent auction. Special thanks to Craig Ephraim, Sarah Chen, Rob Sachse, Jim Wynne, Lauren Wynne, and, Jen Cuda for organizing the merchandise and helping with sales and raffle tickets. Kurt Winn, George Laich, Mark Brown, Tony Salazar, and Misha Arias for helping with the food and beverages throughout the day. Thank you to Travis Zylstra and Angie Winslow's Family for always showing up at the Club events and helping out with whatever is needed. And of course, a big thanks to Club President, Scott Cuda and Vice President, Emmy Lombard, Josh Froley, and John Stwarz for organizing some fantastic games for all of our members to enjoy. Please also check out our Facebook page to see all the great pictures from the event that are taken by our club photographer, Matt Enright for everyone to enjoy.

Our Luncheon with the State was another great event where the Club gets to show their appreciation to all those State Park employees who help maintain our beloved Sano. Who gets up early to open the Gate? Who cleans out those bathrooms? Who informs the beachgoers when they are violating the parking rules by saving parking spaces? State Park maintenance, Staff Rangers, and Lifeguards!!!

Once again, the SanO Board and some volunteers treated the State Parks staff to a BBQ of Appreciation. We welcomed the Superintendent of Parks, Scott Kibbey, and hosted our second annual raffle for surf club gear, which was a great success. 

Special thanks to Kurt Winn, Bobby Lombard, and Rob Sachse for (once again) slaving over a hot grill to fill our bellies with yummy burgers and dogs, Ann Marie Moneymaker for shopping, and organizing our second annual raffle for the State employees; Stone Lake for helping out with the raffle. Emmy Lombard, Scott Cuda, Jen Cuda, Tiffany Lake, Craig Ephraim, Sabrina Pearcy, and Mark Brown for showing up and lending a hand with the setup and food prep and serving our much-appreciated State Park employees.

The 2023 Volleyball tournaments proved to be a memorable season full of sunshine, surf, and plenty of competitive volleyball action! A big thank you to event chair Mike Murphy for all his hard work organizing these events, As always, Kevin Beard hand-shaped a few custom wood trophies which were awarded to first, second and third, in addition to a selection of Wally Duesler carvings as prizes. It was so good to see some legends watching the action at the beach-- Larry Mear, Tom Beard, Willie Wilson, Bobby Lombard, and The Metzgers just to name a few. Big thanks to Tim “Senor” Baker, Jerry Skoda, the Cudas, and the Browns for all the prep that went into dialing in the courts. Thanks to Jen Cuda and Pam Brown for the merchandise store in addition to our first VB “raffle”. And a big thanks to Pat Murphy, the voice of Sano, who made the courts feel like an arena as he announced the entire tournament in the spirit of Chick Hearn. Here’s to a special place and the people that make it special!!

Our most anticipated event of the year, our annual surf contest, saw great surfing conditions and fantastic warm weather for all divisions to enjoy. A BIG THANKS goes out to event chairs Bobby and Emmy Lombard who spent the months leading up to the event organizing judges, helping assemble all of the trophies, making the heats, and organizing all of the volunteers who helped make this event possible for our club members. This event takes a lot of manpower to make it happen. Special thanks to Ann Marie for her hours spent working on contest entries, creating the schedules, and tabulating the entire contest. None of the club gear would be at any of our events, without the effort put in by Craig Ephraim. Craig Ephraim works behind the scenes all year managing our club merchandise which ultimately pays for all of our events. A BIG THANKS to Kurt Winn, George Laich, Misha Arias, Tony Salazar, and so many others for helping feed the entire beach for two days. A BIG THANKS to Jen Cuda, Rob Sachse, and Sabrina Pearcy for helping with the merchandise. A BIG THANKS to all of our announcers, Johnathan Tracy, Willy Wilson, Kevin Wold, Jim Wynne, Scott French, and Josh Froley. A BIG THANKS to our Ready Area volunteers, Sabrina Pearcy, Scott Cuda, Darren Eudaly, Aaron Hoffman, Casey Powell, and Josh Froley for their work in getting the contestants signed in and out into the lineup. A BIG THANKS to Charlie and Sabrina for helping with the PA, Sound, and horn system for the event. A BIG THANKS to the tabulators, Ann Marie, Laurie Thompson, and Mark Brown who worked all day tabulating the scores from the judges. A BIG THANKS to Glenn Brumage, Artie Castro, and the rest of the judging panel and spotters who work from sunup to sundown straining their eyes to score and judge the event, in sometimes very challenging conditions and severe glare. A BIG THANKS to Cam Faris for paddling out the buoys and helping to set up in the morning. A BIG THANKS to Matt Enright and Rick Fegley for photographing these events so all the contestants have a fabulous photographic souvenir to cherish for years to come.

The "Spirit of San Onofre" was established back in 1980 as a perpetual award to be given on an annual basis to the most deserving member as determined by the Vice President. The criteria not only include the obvious recognition of selfless volunteer work but also go beyond that to honor those who exemplify the Aloha spirit with no obligation in return. The award is presented (almost) annually by the Vice President before the awards ceremony at our annual surf contest each fall. Each winner gets the perpetual trophy for a year and also receives a lifetime club membership. 

The 2023 “Spirit Award” went to our beloved past President, Jim Wynne. Jim met his wife, Lauren, and later proposed to her right on the sand. They are now raising their children there. Jim made a special impact overseeing the Board of Directors as he worked towards preserving a positive atmosphere full of the aloha spirit. During his term as president, he had several accomplishments and dealt with multiple issues during the last few years which include: Donating a portion of our proceed from Aloha Family Day to the San Onofre Parks Foundation; navigating Covid; coming up with solutions for keeping the Coalition Surf Team compliant with our non-profit status; being active as an advocate for the lease renewal of the State Park; dealing with the ongoing beach erosion; staying up to date on the dismantling of the power plant and storage of Nuclear material; welcoming a new Superintendent of the State Park; tightening up and modernizing the club’s By-Laws; documenting unwritten club traditions to ensure that they are passed along; keeping all of our events running even if they get rescheduled with just a few days notice. He is extremely deserving of this award and it was a great privilege to present him with the Spirit of San Onofre award.   

Our partnership with the State remains strong, and the diligent efforts to maintain the park and its facilities continue. I am sure everyone has seen the ongoing beach erosion down at Sano. Unfortunately, we lost our iconic palm tree at the Point this past week, not to mention valuable parking spots south of the Point. Please know that the State is consulting with a group coordinated by the Surfrider Foundation, seeking viable solutions and mitigations to the ongoing beach erosion and sand loss at San Onofre Surf Beach. We will share any new details or plans the State has to manage the ongoing erosion as soon as we receive the information from the State. In addition, the State is in ongoing talks with Camp Pendelton to renew the lease. Again, we will be sure to update the membership as soon as we hear back from the State regarding these issues.

Your Membership dues help the Club to maintain the beach and road to Sano on an annual basis. A BIG THANKS to board member, Matt Enright for his diligent work on maintaining the showers down at Sano. I also want to express my gratitude to Tim Baker, Jerry Skoda, Mike Murphy, and the generous donation from Ry Monson of Imperial Concrete for their generous donation of the use of a tractor and to Tim Baker for his expert operating skills. Their contributions allowed us to regrade the volleyball courts and the road. We hope to do this again soon to help smooth up the road that has taken a hit from the constant use. A BIG THANKS to Bobby Lombard for always helping to repair the shacks and to the rest of the volunteers who help maintain the Arundo, aka Giant Reed and Bamboo from overrunning the beach and blocking the view of the break from the lifeguards.

A BIG THANKS to Lauren Hoffman and Angie Winslow for their work on organizing the SanO Surf Team coalition entries and for providing opportunities for more surfers to participate in those events. For all things surf team, you can follow them on Instagram @sanosurfteam.     

FINALLY, A heartfelt thanks to all the donors, volunteers, contestants, and members who played a vital role in making these events such a BIG success. Your support is invaluable, and we couldn't achieve what we do without you. If you haven’t attended a club event, I encourage you to take part in the festivities in 2024. It is a great way to spend the day with your family and friends! San Onofre is a magical place. Let’s work together to keep the stoke and aloha, whether you’re in the water, on the beach, or competing on the volleyball courts. Let’s all do our part to be examples to others by helping to keep the beach clean and in its natural state.  

 Sincerely, Scott Cuda 

President, San Onofre Surfing Club  

2022 FAMILY ALOHA DAY

raffle prize winners:

MURF EBIKE: TICKET NUMBER: 8528337 NAME: JERRY LEWIS

EPIC 16” KIDS ELECTRIC STABILITY BIKE: TICKET NUMBER: 8528398 NAME: RICHARD DELL

EPIC 12” KIDS ELECTRIC STABILITY BIKE: TICKET NUMBER: NAME: SAM KWESKIN

BRAWNER 7’ 2” TWIN FIN BOARD SHAPED IN THE CHICKEN COOP:TICKET NUMBER: 367274 NAME: GEORGE CUZIAK

9’0 SANO BOARD SHAPED BY PAT RYAN FOR E.T. SURFBOARDS: THE WINNER IS PICTURED ABOVE:

Family, fun, food, music, aloha, and prizes!

What's not to like? We had another great Aloha Family Day which the Club puts on, with the help of an amazing group of volunteers, to fundraise in order to maintain the beach and to provide funding for our other great events throughout the year.

Kurt Winn busted out his HUGE spatula and cooked up about a ton of delicious bacon for breakfast. The kids had a blast at the cherry spitting contest refereed by none other than Josh Froley and SANO's chief aviator, John Stawarz, glued up 50 balsa planes for the distance flying competition.  All of that was before lunch! We are already planning on adding additional kids' games for next year's event.  

The beach vibe lit up listening and grooving to some great tunes by Bobby Lombard and the Shorebirds.  Breaks from the good listening were taken for the highly anticipated raffle where a grip of fun things that surfers love were bundled up in killer gift bags.  The front row was filled with frothing kids hoping that their number would be the one called to get their hands on the goodies.  The ear-to-ear grins from the grommets always make these events so much fun to do! After some delicious hamburgers were gobbled down by a bunch of hungry groms and their families it was time for the main event.  Three electric bikes and two surfboards were raffled off to the lucky winners. Thank you to everyone who came down and shared the fun, contributed to the good vibes, and helped create some great memories.

My favorite moment of the day was when a young girl misread her raffle ticket number and came up to claim her prize.  As she was eyeing the Rainbow Sandals she was about to get, the proper ticket holder came up with the correct numbered ticket. The adult, who was the rightful recipient, pulled the ultimate classy move and let the young lady keep her prize.  You're the man, Joseph!  That is what showing aloha is all about.

A special thank you to Ann Marie Moneymaker for her many hours spent organizing our fun day.  This was her first Aloha Family Day, as club secretary, and you would think it was her twentieth by how well it all went.  I would also like to thank our past secretary, Sarah Chen, for all of her help with the merchandise sales and for answering the call to duty due to an unexpected issue.

None of the club gear would have been there without the effort put in by Craig Ephraim.

Be sure to look over our list of companies that donated the prizes and support them whenever possible.

We can't wait to do it all again next year! Please remember to love one another as much as you love our special stretch of sand.

Pray for surf! 

Jim Wynne, President

San Onofre Surfing Club

We would like to thank our generous donors for their raffle donations in supporting our efforts to maintain and preserve Sano in its natural state.

THE BREAK

LEASE HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO August 31, 2024

Release provided by San Onofre Parks Foundation:

SAN CLEMENTE, CA., April 25, 2020 - The San Onofre Parks Foundation is pleased to learn that the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton support an extension of the lease on San Onofre State Beach for 3 years to 2024. The original 50-year lease was signed in 1971 and was set to expire in 2021. San Onofre State Beach provides a unique “Coastal Wilderness’ experience in the heart of Southern California. Celebrating a rich natural and cultural history, the parklands are among the most popular in all of California. From the first people, the “Acjachemen,” to the modern era that identifies San Onofre as the best year-round surfing zone in North America, the San Onofre story is a fascinating tale of preservation, access and recreation. President Richard Nixon and California Governor Ronald Reagan graciously dedicated the land as a California State Park for all future generations. The Department of the Navy owns the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton land, which includes all of San Onofre State Beach. The State Park land extends south along the coast from San Mateo Point (Cottons surf break) to Trail 6 at the Bluffs Campground. The park includes nearly 2,000 inland acres along the Orange and San Diego County line, including lush wetlands, upland coastal sage habitat, the San Mateo Campground, extending to the Northwest corner of Camp Pendleton bordering the community of Talega in San Clemente and undeveloped land owned by Rancho Mission Viejo.

The San Onofre Parks Foundation understands that the 3-year lease extension is an interim solution, intended to provide the Department of the Navy with additional time to complete the work necessary to execute a succeeding long-term lease. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton has been a gracious partner and landlord to California State Parks throughout the initial 50-year lease period. Camp Pendleton has a legacy of mindful stewardship for all land within the Base and shares that tradition with California State Parks. Together they will continue to manage responsible public access to this spectacular zone, while protecting and preserving the treasured natural and cultural resources. The San Onofre Parks Foundation looks forward to working with all stakeholders, including Camp Pendleton, California State Parks, the Surfrider Foundation and Save San Onofre Coalition, amongst others, as a new future unfolds for San Onofre State Beach.

About San Onofre Parks Foundation The San Onofre Parks Foundation is a California 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to supporting education and interpretive programs within the State Parks at San Onofre and San Clemente. The organization serves as a voice for the community who share a love for these parks.

updateS on san onofre state beach ACCESS:

UPDATE (May 20, 2020): Letter from Club President

Dear Members,

I have received confirmation from our State Representative that the beach is now open to vehicles.

Annual passes that have March and April expirations will be honored, at a minimum, through the end of June.

Day use payment will be through an app called Passport Parking. Cash will not be accepted.  Proof of payment on the device is to be shown to the Kiosk worker for entry. To keep the line moving, please complete your payment BEFORE approaching the Kiosk. 

Below are the restrictions in place.

• The number of vehicles will be restricted to 135 (half the normal amount)

• Vehicles shall park with one car distance between them

• Social distancing is required

• Beach use is for active recreation only

• No Bar-B-Ques

• No fires in the fire pits

• No volleyball

• No congregating in groups

• Restrooms and changing rooms will be at 50% capacity

I realize that there are varying opinions about the virus and the policies that are being implemented by various governmental agencies. Our voluntary compliance with these restrictions, relating to the beach, will help us to keep the beach open.  The beach activity will be closely monitored, so I encourage cooperation so that vehicle access is not rescinded.

See you at the beach!

Aloha,

Jim Wynne, President

Dogpatch shack restored!

Dogpatch shack relocation and restoration is complete. As most people are aware, the original Dogpatch shack built in 1981 had succumbed to the elements of beach erosion and termites. With State approval, the San Onofre Surfing Club went to work and got things going. Special thanks to Bob Lombard for taking the lead and thanks to Tom Bistline, Matt Enright, Pam Enright, Clarence Yoshikane, Craig Ephraim, Jim Wynne, Cyndie Kontoes, Rick Fegley, Mike Riley and Ann Marie Lombard for all of their help with getting it done. Now the palm frond roof is complete and the Dogpatch shack is ready for all to enjoy for another 40 years!

Hot Shot Of The Month - Indie Hoffman

Email us your best shot, it could be next!

Indie Hoffman is just like any other 13-year-old girl from San Clemente, CA. She loves her family, loves her friends and loves her sport. Indie began surfing at the age of 5 and once she caught her first wave she was hooked. Surfing is in her blood. Her great grandpa Walter Hoffman is a pioneer in big wave surfing and her great aunt Joyce Hoffman, is a women’s three-time world champion surfer. Indie still surfs with Joyce from time to time and loves to talk to Walter about her surfing, he has become her greatest fan.

In 2018, Indie started surfing with the San Onofre Surfing Team. She has loved traveling to the Coalition events and surfing with the team. Indie also competed in the Noosa Festival of Surfing (the first leg of the WSL Longboard Open) in Australia for the past two years along with contests for Western Surfing Association and Scholastic Surf Series where she has been the longboard champion three years in a row for her age division. In addition, she has won the NSSA Scholastic State championships for middle school girls in shortboard.

When Indie is not surfing in a contest or practicing at any one of her local San Clemente beaches, she likes to learn how to shape boards from her shaper and friend, Josh Martin. Josh’s dad Terry Martin used to shape boards for Indie’s great grandfather, Walter and Joyce when she rode for Hobie Surf Shop. Indie quickly caught on that shaping a board is the ultimate way to improve her surfing. Josh Martin is very gifted in his art he learned from his father and teaching Indie is the best way to carry on their family legacies.

Instagram