Several years ago, Scott Holt – who grew up in Newport Beach – and his wife Susan were vacationing on Maui. He had just finished reading a book called “Waterman: The Life and Times of Duke Kahanamoku” by David Davis, a bio about the famous Olympic gold medalist swimmer, Hawaiian icon and the man who introduced surfing to the world.
Add hero to that list.
The book recounts the fateful date of June 14, 1925, when Duke was living in Newport Beach. He and fellow surfers Gerard Vultee, Owen Hale, and Bill Herwig saw a fishing vessel capsize in heavy surf while attempting to leave the harbor. Using his surfboard, Kahanamoku made repeated trips from shore to the capsized ship, rescuing eight men. His friends saved four more fisherman. Five others perished in the surf.
As luck would have it, a 2022 documentary based on the “Waterman” book was playing at a theater on Maui, so the couple watched the film.
“I got stuck on the fact that the city of Newport Beach was missing a huge opportunity to commemorate one of the biggest and first-time rescues with a surfboard right in our backyard,” said Holt.
Holt started to make phone calls—to the city, to the Newport Beach Historical Society and to his friends. His quest to honor Duke led to a three-year odyssey that culminated on Friday, Sept. 19 when a plaque honoring Duke and his friends for saving 12 lives that day was unveiled at Vista Point overlooking the entrance to Newport Harbor where the rescues were made 100 years ago.
Newport Beach Mayor Joe Stapleton, councilmember and Mayor Pro Tem Lauren Kleiman, and councilmembers Robyn Grant and Michelle Barto, along with former Mayor Nancy Gardner, performed the unveiling.
“I’m making this year all about celebrate Newport Beach. That’s been my theme from the very beginning, and it’s all about the history of the city of Newport Beach, the people, the projects that have made this city,” said Mayor Stapleton at the unveiling. “Understanding our past to better understand our future has been one of the things I’ve been most passionate about. And we talked about a rescue like the Duke and what he’s able to do. I think this is the best of Newport Beach, a community that comes together and does something to honor a legacy like Duke.”
Councilmember Grant noted that she was recently asked what a professional basketball team would be named if they were from Newport Beach.
“I had no problem coming up with our team’s name, because when we talk about Newport Beach we talk about legacy,” Grant told the crowd gathered for the unveiling. “In my mind, if our city were to name a basketball team, I said the Dukes would be the perfect name. The name honors two powerful connections. John Wayne was famously known as the Duke. He holds a unique place in our history, and he is also the namesake for the John Wayne Cancer Foundation. We hold in equal esteem Duke Kahanamoku, the other Duke. He paddled his surfboard into the pounding waves over and over, pulling the drowning men from the sea, saving eight lives. It remains one of the most heroic rescues and it happened right here. Beyond his incredible courage, Kahanamoku inspired lifeguards around the world to adopt surfboards as standard rescue equipment, a practice still in use today. His legacy lives on every time a board is used to bring someone safely back to shore.”
Former Newport Beach Mayor Nancy Gardner recounted the time when her father, Judge Gardner, was 12 and working at the bathhouse in Pirate’s Cove.
“His job was to hand out bathing suits,” recalled Gardner. “One day this guy comes in with a surfboard. That was very exciting because nobody had a board. They body surfed, but no boards. They watched as he paddled out into the waves, stood up, and then rode so gracefully just as the wave died. It was a revelation. Of course, it was Duke Kahanamoku. He came there several times. About the third time he said, ‘I’m going to leave my board here, and I want you to keep an eye on it.’ My father laughed. He said, ‘it’s 12 feet of mahogany.’ Most people couldn’t lift it.”
Holt then introduced Paul Burnett, who with his wife Claudine wrote the book “Surfing Newport Beach: The Glory Days of Corona del Mar.” Burnett recounted in detail that day when Kahanamoku and his friends saved the 12 fishermen.
First, said Burnett, “I want to thank Scott Holt, who read the book Claudine and I wrote about surfing at Corona and decided that some kind of permanent memorial should be built to honor those who took part in the great rescue. His tireless work has made this all possible.”
Burnett then described the events of Sunday, June 14, 1925.
“That morning, 17 people aboard the Thelma fishing boat tried to go out through the harbor mouth, but the boat was capsized by waves. When the engine stopped, the first wave threw 15 men overboard, and successive waves knocked the other two over as well. A few made it back to the boat and hung onto the keel, but the rest were left to the mercy of the high surf. Fortunately, Duke Kahanamoku and others were camped on the beach that morning and witnessed this catastrophe. Duke immediately grabbed his surfboard and began paddling out to the drowning men. The others ran to the bathhouse to get their surfboards.”
Several others saw what had happened and came down to assist. One man went out in a rowboat, another swam out. Kahanamoku saved eight men, the others saved four more.
“Twelve of the 17 men thus made it through the waves and to the safety of the beach,” said Burnett. “The other five were brought to shore, and all efforts were made to revive them, but were unsuccessful for their efforts. Today, we are here to honor all of the men who participated in the rescue and whose names are now on this plaque: Kahanamoku, Gerald Voltee, Bill Herwig, Owen Hale, Anton Deraga, Charlie Plummer, Thomas Sheffield, William McElhannon, and J.W. Porter.”
Holt noted that the plaque was donated to the city and paid for by funds raised through the Ben Carlson Foundation as well as donations of all sizes from people in the community who wanted to see Duke Kahanamoku and the others honored this way.
Holt’s son, Nick, created the artwork for the plaque, which was made by Southern California Bronze.
The Newport Beach Historical Society and the Corona del Mar Historical Society assisted Holt in his quest to have a plaque installed.
