WiLD Blog

Family and friends of Jessie Raymundo celebrated his life on April 26 and 27 in Imperial Beach. On Saturday friends and family of Jessie gathered at the Marina Vista Center to honor one of IB’s longtime favorite surfers, educators, and fishermen. On Sunday after spending the morning with the IB and Coronado groms at the 5th Annual Kids for Clean Water Menehunefest in Coronado, I joined more than 50 people on the pier to observe the paddleout in Jessie’s honor. Jessie’s wife, Sharon, and his children Enrique, Ana and Monica, and lots of friends and family watched from the pier as 21 paddlers gathered in a circle just off the north side to honor a true IB Foamie.  

Some of the surfers in attendance included Steve Brown, Dave and Loukas Lopez, Steve Simonds, Miguel Martinez, Seth Fisher, Dave Parra, Jeff Knox and Joe Knox, Patt McClosky, Max Shineman, Lester Gill, Jon Strebbler, Dan Allen, the Palmatiers (Ken, Barry, Andre, and Natalia), Kyle Knox, and Fred Quisenberry. Fred Karsten had known Jessie, “For about 25-27 years. We did a lot of surf trips to Baja from K-38s to the tip.” Jessie Garcia attended with his children and said, “Jessie was my kindergarten teacher.”  

Kent Gifford who paddled out on Sunday said, “Over the last year I’ve been fishing with Jessie regularly. I’ve been scuba diving/spear-fishing and Jessie has been topside on the boat. As we came up with our game, we could hardly wait to see what Jessie would show us.  He demonstrated a few different ways of cleaning, and we talked in detail about different cooking recipes. A free diver friend of ours appreciates Jessie. The current spit the diver out into the channel and Jessie pulled the anchor, started the engine and went and got him. My family and I are blessed for the knowledge and experience he has passed down. We will never be able to replace this boat Captain.”

Joe Knox sent me this story:  “My earliest recollection of Jesse began when I was about six or seven years old. My father would take me to the foot of Daisy Street each and every early morning. I remember the first time I paddled out into six-foot surf. I was scared out of my mind. Here I was, seven years old in surf that looked 10-12 feet by perspective. I couldn’t move. I was glued to my board, and a good ten yards further out than everyone else. After about two hours of terror I hadn’t caught a single wave. At the encouragement of my father and Jesse, I had to take a wave in.  

Jessie said, ‘Ok Joe boy, when I tell you to turn around and paddle towards shore as hard as you can, you do it okay.’  

“Alright I’ll try,’ I shivered. “Okay here comes a set! Are you ready.’ 

‘Yeah I’m ready,’ I lied. As I looked out I could see the horizon darken. There was a monster set coming in. I knew Jesse was going to tell me to go on the biggest wave possible, and I had to show him I was brave enough to go.

‘Alright, turn around and paddle now,’ yelled Jesse. ‘Paddle harder,’ he called.  I shut my eyes and quickened my pace. I could feel the back of my board start to lift as the set began to scoop me up. I got slammed. Suffice it to say that I was reluctant to surf at all afterwards, But my father and Jesse thought that meant I ought to surf even more.”
         
Jessie Raymundo, a Vietnam Veteran was born on November 18, 1946 in Los Angeles and passed away on April 4, 2009. He is survived by his wife Sharon, and his children Enrique, Ana and Monica, his stepson Erico Gomez, his sister Elisa and brother Victor,  
 
Serge Dedina is the Executive Director of WiLDCOAST and can be reached at info@wildcoast.net.

Lots of good spring combo surf and long sunny, glassy days to make IB surfers very happy. It is ironic that we’ve had more surf in the past couple of months than we had all winter.

I first met Barry Palmatier at MVHS back in 1978. I was a freshman who was occasionally permitted to sit at the Surfer Bench at lunch with the small but talented crew of IB surfers that included Greg Parman, Mark Ganderton, Randy Garvin, Bill Johnson, Lindy Dalmas (RIP), Roger Benham, Tim Decker, Barry Muffley, and Lester Gill among others. Barry P. who was back and forth from Del Rey, would pop in and immediately the conversation would turn to the latest Sloughs session and board design.

So I’ve known and surfed with Barry for about 31 years. Over the past few years I have enjoyed surfing with the three generation Palmatier surfing clan on surf sessions in IB, La Jolla and Coronado in addition to the great times we’ve enjoyed at the Dempsey and Kids for Clean Water Contests.

I had a chance to talk story with the Palmatiers at the Kids for Clean Water event a couple of weeks ago. The family is head up by longtime IB surfer Ken and his lovely wife Midge. Barry has three children, Catalina (9), Andre (10), and Natalia (12). Both Andre and Natalia are integral members of the growing IB super grom squad.

Ken and Midge met back at Chula Vista Junior High when they were 13. Ken started surfing in 1956 when he was at Chula Vista High on a Buzzy Bent surfboard. He first surfed the Sloughs in 1957 with Eric Carlson, Jack Breese, and Bill Marshall. “Midge and I got married in 1960 and moved up to Cardiff. But we moved back to IB and decided to stay because of the Sloughs. I missed the power of IB,” said Ken.

Ken on the Sloughs, “During my first session in 1957 I got one wave, ate it and swam in. In ’58 I surfed it but it was huge. Too big and I almost drowned. In ’59 I rode it big. The biggest I rode it was in 1969, but it was big in 1970, 1974-75 and in the 90s we had some big days. I rode the Sloughs with Dempsey for 10 years and surfed with Mike Richardson and Jim Barber. J.B. would sit way outside and wait for the largest wave. He was a power surfer, a real good surfer.”

Barry started surfing in 1964 at the age of four; “My first board was a Mudpie Maker a logo design from an iron-on t-shirt transfer I got from the Rexall at 9th and Palm. The board was a Richard Jolie template. I started surfing the Sloughs in the 6th grade. My dad, the Duck and me surfed middles. I was on a 7’2” Plastic Fantastic. It scared the living hell out of me. It was hollow and acting like IB—throwing out. By the time I was in high school I was charging it. My friends and I would paddle out and I surfed with John Emory, Richard Cacanindin, Mark Meister, Kelly Kraus, and Mike Kelly. In 1978 I rode the biggest surf at the Slough outside way past 3rd notch. I was riding an 8’6” gun made by the Duck. It was too small and I was airdropping the drops.”

The Palmatiers spent lots of time surfing in Baja at what is now 38s (or 38 1/2 as some old-timers call it). Ken said, “We called it Outhouse and then it became 38s. There was a rock in the lineup at 38s so Geoff Logan took a sledgehammer out at low tide and knocked it down. That rock was like a fence post. What is now Gaviotas back then was called 41s. The Gaviota developers ruined the wave when they bulldozed the cliff, totally changed and destroyed the spot.“

“One day my dad pulled me out of school and said, we’re going to Mexico,“ said Barry. “It was so good, offshore, eight foot and makeable. 38s was closed out.”

The Palmatiers are an integral part of the Coronado Avenue Regulars and I look forward to surfing with them for many, many years to come. Thanks for sharing your memories!

IB surfers thanked President Obama for canceling the $70 million Army Corps sand dredge and fill project that would have involved dredging an area near the border sewage outfall pipe that was also used as a WWI gunnery range. According to The San Diego Reader, the city has so far spent $450,000 on sand studies and lobbyists. Congress still might revive the Corps project. Another $166,000 bill is now due for a SANDAG sand project that would in theory be carried out at the same time as the Corps project. Funds spent on sand studies, junkets and lobbying could have been used to build a very nice skatepark for our children or help to resolve our coastal problem—beach closures caused by pollution from Mexico.

And congratulations to IB resident Josie Hamada and Chula Vista resident John Willet for receiving Cox Conservation Hero awards last week. Josie planted a 9-11 Cherry Tree Peace Grove at Beyer Elementary. John, a WWII veteran who turns 88 this year is the grandfather of the wonderful Otay Valley Regional Park. Congratulations to Josie and John for improving our communities for our children.

Serge Dedina is the Executive Director of WiLDCOAST. Contact him at info@wildcoast.net.

Watch out Imperial Beach, you’ve got competition in the “Great places to catch waves as well as waterborne diseases” category. Surfers in the Ricon Point region between Ventura and Santa Barbra counties have long complained about getting sick and blame has been placed on the leaky septic tanks of the exclusive, multimillion dollar homes of Rincon point. It’s ironic that these people can afford luxury houses yet they still have leaky septic tanks. I guess there are some things money can’t buy. But apparently it can buy a new sewer system, which has been proposed as a solution to the septic problem.

Overall, it’s pretty sickening to see how much of a dumping ground the ocean has become. I spent my afternoon surfing, and while watching a pod of dolphins play in the surf while the sun was setting I noticed a diaper floating a few feet to the left of me. I felt sick watching it float by.

Whether you swim, surf, fish, or just walk along the beach you’re bound to notice the trash and waste that’s ending up in the ocean. It’s not always plastic bags and bottles that you see floating but its fact that you can smell the wastewater and see the way the waves turn a sickly tanish color. Stories like Ricon Point and Imperial Beach are just some of the few stories that demonstrate how we’re dumping what we don’t want into the ocean and endangering the health of those that use the beach as well organisms that live in the ocean.

Support the Clean Water Now campaign by writing to your local congressional leader about the problems our beaches face and why they’re important to us. There are  other ways to help as well, such as helping out with beach clean ups and being conscious of your impact on the beach. Don’t hesitate to ask others (politely) to pick up their trash if they leave it behind. It’s a public beach, not a public dumping ground.

Calvin Lee

Even with the polluted water last week, beach conditions have been calm in Imperial Beach with looping hollow lefts off the North Side of the pier, and a hardcore group of groms and early risers taking advantage of the best south swell of the season. Despite the idyllic conditions on the beach, things are far from serene at the Imperial Beach City Hall, where Mayor Jim Janney and the City Council have ignored the growing community concern over the lack of public involvement in the planning of large capital improvement projects. On Sept. 19, the City Council approved a policy banning council members from “attending city sponsored public workshops,” in a move that appears to violate the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. (What is the punishment for a council member who violates the ban — a waterboarding session at Ye Olde Plank Inn?)

The bizarre ban on council members meeting with the public was most likely influenced by a July 11 meeting in which more than 25 residents met with Janney and City Manager Gary Brown, to discuss the $56 million dollar dredging project proposed by the city and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. At the meeting concerns were raised by longtime residents, many with professional and technical expertise in coastal engineering, about the viability of the project, the incompetence of the corps, and the enormous expenditure of public funds on what is a public subsidy for wealthy beachfront property owners. Meeting participants became alarmed when Janney informed them that the city of Imperial Beach might have to use redevelopment funds to provide up to over $1 million in required local matching funds for the project.

After the meeting, Janney promised to hold a full public hearing on the dredging project. Unfortunately, after being pressed for a date for the forum, the Mayor backed away from his commitment. In a August 27th letter he stated that a public hearing would only “be held after funding had been granted to carry out the project” and only if he believes it is necessary to be “open to suggest to the Council” that we have a hearing. Janney also wrote that it is a “waste of the community and City Council’s time” to hold a public hearing (the last one was held in 2002) on the most expensive project in the history of Imperial Beach. Within a month of his letter had had banned any council involvement in public workshops. So much for democracy in Imperial Beach.

Generally an attempt is made by elected officials to listen to the concerns of residents regarding expensive taxpayer-funded projects prior to having them approved. Instead Mayor Janney will solicit public input on the sand project only after the Army Corps and the lobbying firm of Marlowe & Company (who according to the Center for Responsive Politics earned close to $1.6 million last year from Imperial Beach and other cities) design and approve the project themselves. More recently, City Manager Gary Brown promising to spend an additional $31,000 on a new SANDAG study for a proposed $22 million dollar sand countywide sand replenishment project.

It is unfortunate that Mayor Janney and the City Council trust the Army Corps to carry out a viable cost-effective project in Imperial Beach. Surf City, New Jersey, learned the hard way about the trustworthiness of the federal government’s most incompetent agency. The corps carried out a $71 million dredging project in Surf City that dumped more than 1,100 WWI-era explosives on the beach. As a result Surf City had to close its beach for three months over the spring to remove them. Despite the cleanup effort, more than a dozen explosives were found in the sand over the summer. The corps has proposed closing Surf City’s beach over the winter to search for additional explosives. As a final insult, the Army Corps billed Surf City for the cost of removing the ordnance (the city has refused to pay). Mayor Janney and the City Council are unconcerned that the corps has proposed dredging in an area that according to the city of Imperial Beach’s own website was used as a WWI bombing and gunnery range.

The blind support for the seriously flawed and costly dredging project is an excellent example of how Mayor Janney and the City Council no longer consider the residents of Imperial Beach to be their primary constituents. Instead the Mayor and Council members appear to be concerned first with appeasing the interests of city staff, government agencies and private lobbying firms who have little interest in the future of our town. The council’s disregard for the public is highlighted best by the expenditure of $415,000 to remodel the council chambers with flat-screen TVs while delaying a popular initiative to provide a skateboard park for Imperial Beach’s growing population of at-risk and low-income children that would be an ideal and well-justified use of redevelopment funds.

The top priority of Mayor Janney and the Council should be to build a healthy and sustainable city that reflects the diversity of Imperial Beach. For now, under the leadership of Janney and the City Council, our elected officials have retreated into a bunker and cut themselves off from the voters who elected them. It is time to for the mayor and council to return to the real world and embrace the needs, concerns and dreams of the people who make Imperial Beach such a cool place to live.

– SERGE DEDINA

Originally published in the Voice of San Diego  

Check for our Clean Water Now signs in the first two episodes (displayed prominently in the surf shop) and for later episodes to feature Wildcoast t-shirts, staff members and events. Don’t miss the video clip in the opening credits of our “eco-lucha libre” stars in the ring.

Created by David Milch (HBO’s ‘Deadwood’), and “surf-noir” novelist Kem Nunn (Tijuana Straits), “John From Cincinnati” stars Brian Van Holt, Bruce Greenwood, Luke Perry, Rebecca De Mornay, Luis Guzman, Willie Gerson, Austin Nichols, Ed O’Neil and Greyson Fletcher. Set in Imperial Beach, John From Cincinnati tells the story of the Yosts, a family of surfers whose awesome athletic talents have seemed for generations to come with a curse attached. As things are looking like they can’t get worse for the Yosts, a stranger named John arrives, and the Yosts’ banal existence is lifted into something profound, miraculous and, possibly, universal.

The first two episodes of John from Cincinnati provide stunning vistas of Imperial Beach, including opening sequences filmed in the Tijuana Estuary and surfing south of the IB pier.

WiLDCOAST is thankful to David Milch and Kem Nunn as well as the entire cast and crew of John from Cincinnati for their support!!