Surfers spruce up ‘the wedge’

Sue Doyle

NEWPORT BEACH -- The guys look like everyone else at the beach on Sunday,

sprawled in the sand and soaking up the sun.

But they didn’t hit the beach to relax. The bodysurfing enthusiasts came

to clean “the wedge,” a favorite surf spot at the end of Balboa Drive.

Bags of garbage lie by their sides.

They call themselves The Wedge Preservation Society, a group that

worships the art of bodysurfing and claims the wedge as precious

territory. The cleanup kicked off the beginning of “blackball,” which

only allows bodysurfing at the spot from May 1 through Oct. 31.

“We really care about our spot and appreciate the beach. This cleanup is

our way of showing it. We’re hard-core here,” says Mel Thoman, one of the

Wedge Preservation Society founders.

Thoman wears a big straw hat, old and cracked from the heat. He wipes

sand off his legs. His bare chest already gleams with a bronze from the

sun.

This year begins Thoman’s 27th season of bodysurfing at the wedge. Other

surfers gather around him and then plop back down in the sand while he

talks.

Thoman says the group previously lobbied the City Council for blackball,

mainly for a matter of safety for everyone in the water. Others were in

danger of getting hit by surfboards because there are too many people in

the water.

“When we get big swells, it’s wall-to-wall people here. Add boards to

that, and it’s just brutal,” Thoman says.

Other bodysurfers, such as J.T. Nickelson, say the short and intense

waves at the wedge are better for bodysurfing. The sport has continued in

the area for so long, it’s almost a rite of passage, he says.

The group, about 100 enthusiasts from Santa Cruz to San Diego, share that

passion for the sport and the wedge.

Many describe in disgust the garbage, from boxed fruit drinks to

cigarette butts. The group cleans the area about five times every year.

“People continue to use the beach as one giant ashtray,” Nickelson says.