Museum History:
The California Surf Museum (CSM) was founded in 1986 and has been in operation ever since. The founding members were Mike Cates, June Chocheles, Don Fine, Steve George, Kevin Kinnear, Parry Payne, Stuart Resor, Jane Scgmauss, Ian Urquhart, and Catherine Woolsey. CSM was originally a small display of surfboards and surf collectibles at George’s Restaurant on Coast Highway in Encinitas. A small corner alcove of the restaurant was dedicated to promoting the museum’s notion. Several months later, Paul Rotsheck, an Encinitas businessman, offered CSM a rent-free space in his newly built Moonlight Plaza. CSM had a grand opening for its first exhibit, “Surfing: Trestles to Tourmaline,” at the space on Sept. 28, 1988. Shortly after, while a second exhibit was in place, CSM was told that the retail space had been taken by a paying tenant. CSM found a similar building in Pacific Beach and opened there in 1989. Two years later, CSM was informed of an available building across the street from the Oceanside Pier. The property owners, Jim Kennan and Jim Watkins, offered the building and city block on which it sat rent-free to CSM until they developed the property. Volunteers donated their time and businesses donated supplies to transform an old bar into CSM’s new home. Up until this time, volunteers had kept the doors open, but they decided that someone needed to be hired to run the growing business. Rich Watkins, a long-time surfer and Vietnam veteran, was hired as Museum Administrator, in 1991. Watkins was the first hired employee. CSM was satisfied with its new location, but the building was neither structurally sound nor weather-tight. In 1995, the City of Oceanside offered CSM a new space at the corner of North Coast Highway and Pier View Way. Once again, the building required lots of work, so volunteers and businesses donated their time and supplies. The doors opened on July 5, 1997, and CSM stayed in this building until 2009. In 2006, the City of Oceanside offered a larger space: 312 Pier View Way. Construction of the new space began in 2008 and doors opened in 2009. CSM remains at this location and showcases surfing’s history and culture daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
CSM's exhibit Courageous Inspiration: Bethany Hamilton Becomes A Hero is the most popular and compelling story that the museum has had in its 29-year history, according to CSM's website.
In 2003, at the age of 13, Hawaiian surfer Bethany Hamilton lost her left limb to a 15-foot Tiger Shark at Tunnels Beach on Kaui. The exhibit shares her inspiring story. It features the bitten surfboard Bethany was riding on the day of the attack, alongside the bathing suit she was wearing.
Bethany Hamilton's Story:
Hamilton was born and raised in Kaui. She learned how to surf young, with the help of her older brothers Tommy and Noah. At age eight, She won a Quicksilver “push and ride” contest. This was her first time competing in a surf contest. For the next five years, she continued to win competitive surfing competitions. She was a rising star with dreams of being the next Margo Oberg or Lisa Andersen. On Halloween day of 2003, Hamilton was involved in a shark attack, and her life quickly changed. She lost her left limb and nearly died from loss of blood. Nobody knew if she would survive, let alone ever surf again. She survived the attack with the help of Alana and Holt Blanchard. It was known that there were often sharks at Tunnels, so Holt was very prepared, a museum worker explained. To stop the bleeding, he used his surfboard leash as a tourniquet by tying it around Hamilton’s should.
Hamilton returned to the water just three weeks after the attack and learned how to adapt to surfing with one arm. While sharing this story, a museum historian described Hamilton as “unstoppable.”
In 2005, only two years after the attack, she won the 2005 NSSA National Championships. Three years later, she began competing in the ASP Qualifying Series, shooting for the World Title. She is now continuing to fulfill her childhood dreams as a professional surfer by chasing waves, getting photos and videos published, and “Living the Search.” Hamilton currently surfs in choice events of the World Surf League and in other special events upon invite. In fact, she recently competed in the Super Girl Surf Pro a few blocks away from CSM.
Hamilton married Adam Dirks in Aug. 2013 and became a mother in 2015. They have two sons, Tobias and Wesley.
The story of the bikini:
This is the two-piece suit Hamilton was wearing during the attack. Aaron Cheng, an artist and photographer, and his wife made this bikini. Hamilton was a factor in creating the design, so the Changs shipped it to her as a gift. The silhouetted surfer on the suit is Bill Hamilton, Bethany's neighbor. Coincidentally, Bill caught the shark believed to take Bethany's limb. While Bill was visiting Bethany at the hospital, Bethany's father, Tom, pulled Bill aside and asked him to try and catch the shark. Bill agreed. With the help of his surfing buddy Ralph Young, Bill composed a successful plan. The two tied a four-foot gray nurse shark up on an oversized hook to three buoys and used it as bait. They caught a shark and compared its jaws to the bite imprint on Bethany's board. The teeth marks aligned perfectly.
The story of the board:
This is the board Hamilton was paddling on when she got attacked. Experts were able to estimate the size of the shark by examining the depth and length of the bite. A museum worker said she remembers the day she saw the surfboard rolling into CSM. "I almost couldn't believe it", she said. She also explained how the museum has the honor of displaying the board. Years ago, the museum had an all-women exhibit and asked Bethany to donate the board. She said yes. The exhibit came to an end, but she allowed CSM to infinitely keep her board on display
Bethany's inspiring story and positive outlook on life continue to inspire surfers and non-surfers around the world. CSM does an exceptional job of sharing her story. The information in this post was obtained from California Surf Museum and California Surf Museum's website.
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