Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Windansea shack saved

High tide and crunching surf leaves behind raw material for rebuild

The shack was tied to an agave plant...saved it from getting washed into sea
The shack was tied to an agave plant...saved it from getting washed into sea

On the morning of December 24, Mark Bromley, a photographer, was at Windansea Beach in La Jolla with Mark Frapwell and Derek Dunfee. Bromley had just taken the money shot of the Windansea surf shack (which is also a registered historical landmark). Moments later, he says, it was struck down by a huge wave.

Moments before one of the posts gave out

"Sometime between 7:10 a.m. and 7:15 a.m.," said Bromley, "a mother of a wave came crashing down on the shack and made one of the four pillars collapse. That morning there was a high tide of 7.2 feet and the waves were about four to six feet."

Ozstar de Journay said he put out a “coconut hotline alert” that “the shack was going down and [he] needed help ASAP.”

Bromley said that any surfer knows that this means "red alert." Surfers and community members responded and tied the surf shack to an agave plant so it wouldn't float out to sea.

Sponsored
Sponsored

On December 29, Mark Bromley was busy pulling out nails and palm fronds from the wreckage of the shack.

"I want to get ready for the rebuild and make sure the nails don't wash out to shore and back in for someone to step on,” Bromley said. As far as the rebuild, "I'm not sure when it will happen, just that it will happen. Everyone in the surfing community will just come together and rebuild it without fanfare….

"Windansea Beach is my church and temple; it's where I come to re-energize my soul. It reminds me that nothing is more important than being kind to each other."

Bromley has been visiting Windansea since he moved to San Diego from Upstate New York in 1980. He can't remember the last time the shack was in shambles, but he guessed it may have been about 15 years ago. (You can check out more Windansea surf shack photos at Markbromley15 on Instagram or Mark Bromley on Facebook.)

Carol Olten, the historian for the La Jolla Historical Society, says she doesn't recall the last time the surf shack was wiped out but does remember a big summer party at the shack years ago when everyone there was wiped out.

As far as historical designation of the surf shack, Olten said, "The surf shack got historical designation in the 1990s. But it first became iconic beyond San Diego in the 1960s, after Tom Wolfe wrote about it in his collection of essays titled The Pumphouse Gang.”

Woody Ekstrom is one of two original surfers that is still around from the old days. He's now 88 and living in Leucadia. He has some funny jokes from the old days.

"It starts looking tacky and needs rethatching often," says Woody Ekstrom.

"We built the shack in 1946 because the fellows were coming home from the war,” said Ekstrom. “Most of them were stationed in the Navy and were coming home in August of 1945. Don Okey was the father of the whole thing. His wife asked him to build some shade for their kids, Candy and Michael. We went to Scripps Hospital and cut down eucalyptus trees to built the shack. It finally got built in the summer of 1946. We had a big luau after it was built with electricity supplied from across the street for the shack. We had stages and Hawaiian dancers….

“The first time the shack wiped out was about five years in. But it needed maintenance all the time. It starts looking tacky and needs rethatching often. It started out closer to shore but had to be moved to the rocks over time."

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tyler Farr, Blue Water Film Festival, Mustache Bash

Events March 21-March 23, 2024
Next Article

Looking back at race relations in Coronado

A former football player recalls the good and the bad
The shack was tied to an agave plant...saved it from getting washed into sea
The shack was tied to an agave plant...saved it from getting washed into sea

On the morning of December 24, Mark Bromley, a photographer, was at Windansea Beach in La Jolla with Mark Frapwell and Derek Dunfee. Bromley had just taken the money shot of the Windansea surf shack (which is also a registered historical landmark). Moments later, he says, it was struck down by a huge wave.

Moments before one of the posts gave out

"Sometime between 7:10 a.m. and 7:15 a.m.," said Bromley, "a mother of a wave came crashing down on the shack and made one of the four pillars collapse. That morning there was a high tide of 7.2 feet and the waves were about four to six feet."

Ozstar de Journay said he put out a “coconut hotline alert” that “the shack was going down and [he] needed help ASAP.”

Bromley said that any surfer knows that this means "red alert." Surfers and community members responded and tied the surf shack to an agave plant so it wouldn't float out to sea.

Sponsored
Sponsored

On December 29, Mark Bromley was busy pulling out nails and palm fronds from the wreckage of the shack.

"I want to get ready for the rebuild and make sure the nails don't wash out to shore and back in for someone to step on,” Bromley said. As far as the rebuild, "I'm not sure when it will happen, just that it will happen. Everyone in the surfing community will just come together and rebuild it without fanfare….

"Windansea Beach is my church and temple; it's where I come to re-energize my soul. It reminds me that nothing is more important than being kind to each other."

Bromley has been visiting Windansea since he moved to San Diego from Upstate New York in 1980. He can't remember the last time the shack was in shambles, but he guessed it may have been about 15 years ago. (You can check out more Windansea surf shack photos at Markbromley15 on Instagram or Mark Bromley on Facebook.)

Carol Olten, the historian for the La Jolla Historical Society, says she doesn't recall the last time the surf shack was wiped out but does remember a big summer party at the shack years ago when everyone there was wiped out.

As far as historical designation of the surf shack, Olten said, "The surf shack got historical designation in the 1990s. But it first became iconic beyond San Diego in the 1960s, after Tom Wolfe wrote about it in his collection of essays titled The Pumphouse Gang.”

Woody Ekstrom is one of two original surfers that is still around from the old days. He's now 88 and living in Leucadia. He has some funny jokes from the old days.

"It starts looking tacky and needs rethatching often," says Woody Ekstrom.

"We built the shack in 1946 because the fellows were coming home from the war,” said Ekstrom. “Most of them were stationed in the Navy and were coming home in August of 1945. Don Okey was the father of the whole thing. His wife asked him to build some shade for their kids, Candy and Michael. We went to Scripps Hospital and cut down eucalyptus trees to built the shack. It finally got built in the summer of 1946. We had a big luau after it was built with electricity supplied from across the street for the shack. We had stages and Hawaiian dancers….

“The first time the shack wiped out was about five years in. But it needed maintenance all the time. It starts looking tacky and needs rethatching often. It started out closer to shore but had to be moved to the rocks over time."

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Celebrate Holi, Borrego Springs Music Festival

Events March 23-March 27, 2024
Next Article

India Hawthorne is common in coastal gardens, Citrus trees are in full bloom

The vernal equinox is on March 19
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.