From the Tales of an "Island of Women" to the History of The Missions; from the Golden Rush to the Golden wave - California, San Clemente and Trestles have it all! Stop 6 on the Foster's ASP World Tour! Boiling and Steaming at the Furnace!

"Know that on the right hand from the Indies exists an island called California very close to Earthly Paradise; and it was populated by women, without any man existing there, because they lived in the way of the Amazons. They had beautiful and robust bodies, and were brave and very strong. Their island was the strongest of the world, with its cliffs, rocky shores and big waves. Their weapons were golden and so were the harnesses of the wild beasts that they were accustomed to domesticate and ride, because there was no other metal in the island than gold."

Sounds like any men's dream!? Well, the above letter was written by Garcia Ordonez de Montalvo, in 1510, reporting information of the legendary island to his king. I stood there, as the light went red in the crossing of two of San Clemente's busiest streets, "El Camino Real" and "Del Mar", day-dreaming on what I read recently in one of the town museum's history books.

History tells us that the Californian coast was first explored by a Portuguese sailor at the service of the Castillan crown (1594/1595 when Portugal was under Castilian rule of Philip II of Spain (Philip I of Portugal). Roiz Soromenho (Sebastião Rodrigues Soromenho) was a native of Sesimbra, a fishing town 30 km south of Lisbon where there is a place (part of the Sesimbra sand beach) called California Beach.

Later on, the lure of an earthly paradise helped motivate Spanish commander Hernán Cortés, following his conquest of Mexico, to send several expeditions in the late 1530s and early 1540s to the west coast of New Spain. The first expedition reached the Gulf of California and Baja California, and proved that California was in fact a peninsula. Nevertheless, the idea that California was an island persisted for well over a century and was included on many maps. The Spanish gave the name "California" to the peninsula and to the lands north, including both Baja and Alta California.

Several origins have been given for the word "California". Some suggest that the word California may signify that a place is "hot as an oven" (cali > hot, fornia > oven). It may be derived from caliente fornalia Spanish for hot furnace, or it may come from calida fornax, Latin for hot furnace. In Arabic, 'Kal Furoon' means 'Hot Oven' and this is the most accepted origin of the word California. As we know, there are so many places and cities in North America having Arabic names. It is understood that these are originated from Arabic/Spanish by those people who arrived here after the invention by Columbus.

California was officially discovered by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, the leader of a Spanish expedition of two small ships in 1542, but it wasn't until the year of 1767 that its colonization took off.

As I'm waiting for my "Bombay Melt", a specialty dish from one of many San Clemente's cool spots to eat - Captain Culver, I can't help thinking that the same "corridor" that paved the way for this colonization process was the very "El Camino Real" where I was waiting for the light to turn green! Nowadays "El Camino Real" mixes with the PCH - Pacific Coast Highway and the 405 & 5 freeways.

Back in the XVII century, King Carlos from Spain, worried that the Russian explorers could set claim in some of the Pacific north coast, founded the Missions to explore Alta California, what is today the State of California. He appointed Father Junipero Serra as the leader of the Missions. Serra's intellectual acumen and enormous will power make the Franciscan a legend of his own time. Beginning in 1769 with the founding of San Diego, he would go all the way to the San Francisco region. With Herculean efforts subject to near starvation, afflictions of scurvy, and hundred of miles of horse riding through dangerous terrain, they founded one by one many of the today's famous California towns.

In order to facilitate overland travel, the mission settlements were situated approximately 30 miles (48 kilometers) apart, so that they were separated by one day's long ride on horseback along the 600-mile (966-kilometer) extension. The name of the way that connects them together? "El Camino Real" (Spanish for "The Royal Highway"). Serra gave saints' catholic names to the settlements, which often had only the "Presidio" (royal fort) and the "Pueblo" (town). Among the many cities that Serra founded were San Diego, San Jose, San Luis Obispo, Sant'ana, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, San Carlos (Carmel) San Juan Capistrano and many more. To please his king he called the way that connect the new towns "El Camino Real"- The Royal Highway.

It wasn't until 1925 that the city of San Clemente was founded by real estate developer Ole Hanson, who named it San Clemente after a town in Spain. Hanson envisioned it as a Spanish-style coastal resort town, a "Spanish Village by the Sea." Prior to the arrival of the Spaniards, the area was inhabited by what came to be known as the Juaneño Indians. After the founding of Mission San Juan Capistrano, the local natives were conscripted to work for the mission.

Today, San Clemente has a population of around 70,000 inhabitants, a great life style and one of the biggest surfing legacies in the state of California. The area catches swells all year long. Going from South to North, surf spots include Trestles, North Gate, State Park, Riviera, Las Wins, The Hole, Beach House, T-Street, The Pier, 204, North Beach and Poche.

San Clemente is also the surfing media capital of the world as well as a premier surfing destination. It is home to Surfing Magazine, The Surfer's Journal, and Longboard Magazine, with Surfer Magazine just up the freeway in San Juan Capistrano.

The city has a large concentration of surfboard shapers and manufacturers leading the way for trends and innovations of the sport. Additionally, many world renowned surfers were raised in San Clemente or took up long-term residence in town, including Hobie Alter Jr., Shane & Gavin Beschen, Matt Archbold, the Fletcher family, Mike Parsons (originally from Laguna Beach), Colin McPhillips, Rocky Sabo, Colleen Mehlberg, Greg Long, Dino Andino, Chris Ward, the Great Midget Smith and many, many others.

San Clemente is a nice coastal town to visit all year round, with cool shops and many places to eat, from the Fisherman's Wharf at the San Clemente Pier to the Beachfire and the Vine in town. The event coincides with the ASR (Action Sport Retailers), the biggest surfing tradeshow in the world, as well as the Surfer Poll Award, the "MTV Music Awards" of Professional Surfing, plus many parallel functions, so it is a busy week for all involved.

Trestles and its State Park (San Onofre State Park) are also the place for the Boost Mobile Pro presented by Hurley, the 6th and only stop of the Foster's ASP World Tour in the mainland USA. The park is one of the last pristine areas in Southern California, part of the San Mateo Reserve, and currently faces great danger as a project to build a new freeway was recently approved. There are no doubts that will affect its fragile environment. "Save Trestles" is the campaign that local residents and surfers are engaged in to try to save the place from destruction.

With a track record of great wave quality and swell consistency, arguably the most rippable wave on Tour - where surfers can apply their entire repertoire in one ride, expectations are running high for the event. Boost guaranteed what they are calling the best webcasting production in the history of the sport, with 35 people working on it. As we have one of the most exciting World Title races in years, make sure you get the time zone right. Come September 9th, log on to aspworldtour.com to watch the Foster's 45 boosting their engines in the "Hot Furnace" of Lower Trestles.

Renato Hickel
Foster's ASP World Tour Manager