Emil Sigler
Emil Sigler moved to San Diego in 1928 and the day after he arrived, he found an old board belonging to Charlie Wright who wasn't using it much except for an occasional exhibition. This board as Emil describes was “two pieces of thick pine, bolted together. And it had an iron tip.” Sigler tracked down Charlie, who let him use it as much as he wanted as long as he leaned it up against the seawall when he was done. The board was 125 pounds, massive and steady. Sigler's spot was off Queenstown Court in Mission Beach .
One day while jogging on the beach, Sigler noticed another spot that looked promising. At the north end of Pacific Beach , just south of Pacific Beach Point, the waves seemed particularly well formed. The board was too heavy for Sigler to carry that distance, so he hauled it aboard a ten-foot wooden dory and rowed north from Mission Beach . He unloaded Wright's board at the beach that's now known as Tourmaline and caught some impressive rides. He never saw anyone else surf there for years; he thinks he was the first.
Sigler will tell you he was the first serious local surfer. Sigler just turned 100!
See the article http://www.nctimes.com/mobile/article_ce672a81-ee4d-5746-ba4e-153cd92abd4d.html