Bodysurfer wants the Wedge recognized
June Casagrande
BALBOA PENINSULA -- With its short, steep, intense waves, the Wedge is
known worldwide as the ideal bodysurfing location. But one local man
wants to make it official.
Kevin “Mel” Thoman said he wants the city to officially designate the
spot as the world’s top bodysurfing site and to punctuate the point with
a statue.
“I used to drive through Huntington Beach -- Surf City, USA -- past
the surfer statue on the way to the Wedge,” Thoman said. “I always
thought it was cool and that the Wedge deserves something similar.”
But it’s an idea Mayor Tod Ridgeway says requires caution.
“You’ve got to keep in mind that that’s a residential area back
there,” said Ridgeway, whose district includes the peninsula. “A lot of
people have reason to not want to draw that kind of attention in that
kind of area.”
Ridgeway said he would prefer to see a statue commemorating the Wedge
in Balboa Village instead of at the actual site, where it could be an
encroachment on homes.
The Wedge owes its waves to the artificial jetty that shelters the
entrance to Newport Harbor.
“Everywhere in the world people have heard of it,” said Thoman, a
veteran bodysurfer who helped win a battle to reserve the Wedge’s
powerful waves for bodysurfing exclusively during summer days. “Everyone
knows it’s the top bodysurfing place in the world.”
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