Wednesday, July 27, 2011 at 1:10 p.m.

Robert Lee “Black Mac” McClendon. Courtesy of the McClendon family.

Robert Lee “Black Mac” McClendon started surfing on a redwood board as a teenager in the 1940s and became one of [...]]]>

Robert “Black Mac” McClendon, local surf legend dies at 83

By Linda McIntosh , Reporter – North County listings

Wednesday, July 27, 2011 at 1:10 p.m.

Robert Lee “Black Mac” McClendon. Courtesy of the McClendon family.

Robert Lee “Black Mac” McClendon started surfing on a redwood board as a teenager in the 1940s and became one of the early surfing legends of San Diego. He surfed until he was 79, sharing his love for the ocean with everyone he met.

He surfed at Tijuana Slough in Imperial Beach and later at Tourmaline Surfing Park in Pacific Beach, where friends remember his storytelling, his ukulele music and his aloha welcome.

Mr. McClendon died of prostate cancer on July 17 in Clairemont. He was 83.

He was among the early members of the Windansea Beach surfing community and got the nick name “Black Mac” because of his jet black hair and deep tan.

He joined the Windansea Historical Surfriding Association, was recruited as an honorary member at the Pacific Beach Surf Club and served as adviser of the California Surf Museum in Oceanside, where one of the foam boards he made is periodically on display.

He shaped his first boards from balsa wood and later foam and fiberglass and created balsa wood belly boards with handles for his children before the days of the boogie board. He taught not only his children how to surf, but also his grandchildren and great grandchildren.

“He had a deep, abiding passion for the ocean and he wanted to pass it on to the next generation,” said Jerome Hall, a friend who got to know him at Tourmaline.

“He’d take time to get to know you,” Hall said. “He’d visit with you at the beach or in the parking lot and slow you down if you let him.”

No one was a stranger to him, his daughter Mary Becker said.

“He exemplified the early surfers and their sense of camaraderie,” said Jane Schmauss, cofounder of the California Surf Museum and historian.

He liked to tell stories about the early days of surfing. “If someone talked about a board or a surfer or a beach, he could tell a story about it,” Hall said.

“He had a love of the water and love of the people who felt the same,” said Jack “Woody” Ekstrom, a local surf legend.

Water was a big part of his livelihood and life. Mr. McClendon started diving as a 16-year-old and was a founding member of the Manta Ray Diving Club. In 1953, while diving for Standard Oil off Northern California, he tested the cutting edge neoprene foam wet suit developed by the Engineering Development Company known as EDCO. He worked aboard the Scripps research vessel Horizon in the late 1940s and early 1950s and was a member of Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s Ancient Mariners Club. During the 1950s and 1960s he was a tool designer at local aerospace companies such as Ryan Aeronautics, Rohr Industries and General Dynamics where he later became an estimator.

He played the ukulele with a local San Diego band, “The Polynesian Seranaders” during the 1950s and 1960s and later became a luthier, crafting his own “Black Mac Ukeleles” with his manta ray logo. He enjoyed sculpting in wood and gave a solo show of Polynesian and modern pieces at the Athenaeum in La Jolla in the mid 1960s. He taught ukulele as a volunteer at local groups and brought his ukulele and his stories to many gatherings.

He was born Aug. 21, 1927, in Roswell, N.M. to Paul and Lovella McClendon, who moved to San Diego in 1930. He grew up in Otay and Ramona and attended Sweetwater Union High School in National City. He joined the Marines during World War II, serving out his enlistment in San Francisco. He married Rose June “Dolly” Clint in 1952.

The couple lived aboard a 60-ft. sailboat, the “Les Go” in San Diego Bay until they moved to Pacific Beach in 1954.

Mr. McClendon is survived by his wife of 59 years, Dolly McClendon and three children, Mary Becker (Elliot) of Escondido, Molly McClendon and John McClendon, both of Clairemont; five grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.

A paddle out will be at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Tourmaline Canyon Surfing Park in Pacific Beach.

Come and Join us in all the events… Longboarding all Age groups Paddle Race Shortboarding & Stand up Paddle (SUP) Menehunes Div. Friends, Vendor’s, Food, Fun and much more… Join in & Help Support this Great Event For more information contact: Otis at 760-753-1935 1818 Playa [...]]]> SWAMIS
19th Annual Club Challenge
The Tourmaline Beach Classic
In Memory of Tommy Lewis
October 16th & 17th

Come and Join us in all the events…
Longboarding all Age groups
Paddle Race
Shortboarding & Stand up Paddle (SUP)
Menehunes Div.
Friends, Vendor’s, Food, Fun and much more…
Join in & Help Support this Great Event
For more information contact:
Otis at
760-753-1935
1818 Playa Riviera
Cardiff, Ca.
92007
otisthedude@hotmail.com

Saturday July 31st 2010 at 8:30 AM

A memorial celebration of his life will be held on July 28th, 2010, at Rosecroft Lane, [...]]]> Surfer’s Paddle out for another one of our Honorees — Ralph Barber at Tourmaline Surf Park

Saturday July 31st 2010 at 8:30 AM

A memorial celebration of his life will be held on July 28th, 2010, at Rosecroft Lane, Point Loma

Photography contribution: [...]]]> Friday July 23, 2010 Everyone Gathered to say Aloha to Hadji

Photography contribution: Jay Peters

One morning while surfing the great lefts at the “beloved” Pumphouse break (south of Tourmaline) with the usual array of G & S riders, someone suggested that we should become organized. Larry, Rich, Bart, Ron and Dave were there and considered the idea. We all laughed and went on riding. At some [...]]]> G & S Pumphouse Crew

One morning while surfing the great lefts at the “beloved” Pumphouse break (south of Tourmaline) with the usual array of G & S riders, someone suggested that we should become organized. Larry, Rich, Bart, Ron and Dave were there and considered the idea. We all laughed and went on riding. At some later date, we had another board meeting in the lineup. We agreed it would be fun to form some kind of surfing group. We also agreed that there would be no dues, no meetings, no officers, and no competition. We agreed to follow Skip’s advice to “Share a wave and hoot a kook”.

We were in the process of determining what we should call this new organization. Just then, Larry caught a great wave and came back out saying how much he enjoyed riding at Pumphouse. We responded “Yeah!” We ride G & S boards and we love surfing Pumphouse. We are the “G & S Pumphouse Crew”. The “Crew” was born. We had T-shirts printed and packaged. We then distributed them to the Tourmaline locals at Christmas. Being a part of the “Crew” is not subject to any organized criteria. Inclusion is simply a free gift to our Tourmaline surfing family.

The “Crew” has grown each year from those early beginnings. Shirts or hats appear according to no particular schedule. There still are no officers, no applications, no application fees, no initiations, no dues, and no meetings. Being part of the “Crew” continues to be a free gift to our Tourmaline surfing family. The steering committee of the “Crew” includes Larry, Ron, Bart, Dan, Kenny, John, Kelley and Dave. Since the main goal of surfing has always been (or should be) to have a fun soulful experience in the water and on the beach, the focus of the “Crew” is to simply reflect that goal. The stoke of riding the wave yourself or watching another surfer on a great wave is in accordance with the true “Aloha” spirit of the sport. That is the G & S Pumphouse Crew.

I’ve been called ,“Gidget,” from time-to-time. My boyfriend nicknamed me, “Gidget of San Diego.” I started surfing about 1961- 62. I was 15 years old. The real Gidget, Kathy Kohner, also started surfing when she was 15 years old. She surfed from 1956 – 1960. I had the pleasure of [...]]]> Still Surfing at 60….. by Barbara Bordieri-Hoffman

I’ve been called ,“Gidget,” from time-to-time. My boyfriend nicknamed me, “Gidget of San Diego.” I started surfing about 1961- 62. I was 15 years old. The real Gidget, Kathy Kohner, also started surfing when she was 15 years old. She surfed from 1956 – 1960. I had the pleasure of meeting her at a lecture at UCSD in 2006. She told me that she was 5′ 1.” I’m 5,’ or at least, I used to be! My love affair with the ocean started in Mission Beach in the early 1950′s. My mom and dad brought the whole family to the beach and to Belmont Amusement Park for the day. We rode the waves on black inner tubes and rubber mats.

My older brother, Paul Bordieri, introduced me to surfing. We bought our first surfboard together from a guy who had it in his garage. I don’t remember what kind of board it was, only that it was a green longboard, about 9′ 8” with redwood and balsawood stringers. It was probably an early G&S. Paul and I shared the board in the water. We’d stand in waist deep water together and push each other off into the white water in Pacific Beach . There were no surf schools.

We didn’t have any designer, manufacturer surf clothes such as shirts, shorts, shoes, trunks, accessories, etc. There wasn’t much for girls. My first surf trunks were my black gym shorts with the white strip down the side of the leg. After that, I actually made my own surf trunks that were low-cut with a drawstring in front, made of an orange, floral-print material.

In the early 60′s at the age of about 16, I was recruited as a member of the prestigious Windansea Surf Club. I was entered into my first contest. I blew it off. I just didn’t show up. I was just a kid; kind of on my own; extremely shy. The contest was at La Jolla Shores . I remember that it was cold. I just wore a bikini in those days. We didn’t have wetsuits. I didn’t want to drown in front of everyone, since there were no leashes. I hid out at my brother’s house on Toulon Court in Mission Beach , while the phone went crazy at my parent’s house. Calls came in trying to find out where I was and to tell me that I should be at the contest for my heat. I just didn’t go back to the club. I was too embarrassed. Looking back, I wish that I would have stayed in the club. If I had been a stronger swimmer, I would have.

In the very early days, I surfed at Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach . I wore a bright yellow, polka dot bikini (yes, polka dot), but I probably wasn’t noticed too much, since I rode the soup, and also for the fact that I was so young. I rode the center break at Emerald Street . No one ventured over next to the pier where the really good guys surfed. I very vividly remember Skip Frye surfing there with his fluid, graceful style. As I recall, some of the other guys surfing there were David Nuuhiwa, Barry Kanaiaupuni, and Gary Cooke, the resident local. Gary lived in one of the cottages along the cliff where the green grass and condos are now. He was actually one of the few older guys who talked to me regularly.

I remember, one day, paddling out at Windansea in La Jolla . It was a small day and crowded. Mike Hynson and Skip Frye were out and paddled by me. I remember the legendary, cement statue, “Hot Curl,” looking out over us as it stood near the historical, well-known, thatched hut.

In 1961, at Montgomery Junior High School , I was one of the very few girls who surfed. In high school I was the only girl who surfed. I’m the only one who continued surfing. In high school I surfed with the guys. We surfed near Crystal Pier at Diamond Street in Pacific Beach . I only surfed with them because they were there. I was very shy. Some liked me, probably like a sister, most tolerated my presence, some called me hurtful names, and some tried to push me off of my board as they rode along side of me. I kept to myself, most of the time. I was never giggly or talkative in the water. I learned to be tough like one of the guys. Even now, the guys don’t cut me any slack in the water. I’m often told that I’m just “one of the guys.” That’s not always a good thing! I still have to compete for the waves just like them.

In the early days, all of my boards were shaped by my brother, Paul. He agreed to shape them, but he told me that I would have to go to Larry Gordon and ask for Larry’s permission first. Each time, Larry and I would sit down at his desk and I would formally ask if it was okay to have a board made. It became a ritual. Larry would always say, “yes.” (Who would have known, that years later, I would end up surfing with Larry for many years at Tourmaline Surfing Park .) The cost of my board, then, was $75-$100 for the blank and materials. Paul would shape it for free. He would pay the glasser to glass my board with a case of beer. Now, I ride 8′ boards shaped by Bob Mitsven, and I also ride a Ben Aipa epoxy board. It’s easier to maneuver and to carry. Glen Horn, who was featured in an article in The Surfer’s Journal, also shaped a board for me several years ago. I’ve surfed with Glen and his wife, Roberta, on many occasions in the Pacific Beach area.

Winters are especially hard for me, since I have to wear so much gear to keep warm. I wear a 4/3 mm wetsuit, 2 thick, long-sleeved rash guards, 6 mm fin socks, 7 mm over-sized booties, and 6 mm gloves. Wearing all of this is very tiring and cumbersome, but it means the difference between surfing and not surfing in the winter. I get teased a lot by everyone for all of the things that I wear.

The best surf-session that I ever had was at Poipu, Kauai in 2002. The surf was a perfect 6-8 feet. I didn’t fall once in the week that I surfed. Everything just clicked. The waves were all lefts, which I favor, since I’m a goofy-foot. It was shallow on the inside break with lava rocks just below the surface, so I was careful not to fall. On one of the larger, steeper waves that I took off on, my fin side-skipped on the face, as I rode parallel with the wave. I wasn’t phased, and I got a great ride. Watching, was the only local Hawaiian surfer who was out at that time of the morning. He was sun-bronzed, with orange, sun-bleached hair. He told my boyfriend that I was a good surfer, and that I was very brave. I guess if I had fallen that week, I would have been more fearful.

The biggest waves I’ve ridden have been 8-10 feet in Kauai, Cabo, and Del Mar, California . That’s the maximum for me. If they’re any bigger, I really get pounded, since I don’t duck-dive. Then, it’s not fun anymore. Today, I prefer smaller surf; 4-6′ maximum.

I’ve surfed Maui, Kauai, Oahu, Cabo San Lucas (every year), Puerto Vallarta , Zihuatanejo, and Costa Rica from Pavones to the south, to the Nicaraguan border to the north. Future trips will include Fiji and Tahiti . I would like to go back to Zihuatanejo. But, I’m nervous about that, since there were 3 shark attacks 6 months after I was there. Now, the poisonous sea snakes that I was concerned about don’t seem so bad!

A Memorial/Monument was built in 2008 at Tourmaline Canyon Surfing Park . The Monument is a tribute to surfers of the past, present, and future, and to their families and friends. It was funded completely by the sale of granite bricks to the public. The inscribed bricks were laid at the base of the Monument. My boyfriend, John Pruitt, was on the committee responsible for making the Monument a reality. He honored me with a brick which reads, “Barbara Bordieri, Gidget of San Diego, Surfer-1961.”