Gangway 5, Dana Point Harbor
Robert Harrison Gangway 5, Dana Point Harbor 1926 Schooner, Curlew Website: http://sailcurlew.com Featured as part of the 2009 Historical Society Home Tour, the Curlew is moored in Dana Point Harbor. The historic 1926 schooner is described as being built in Wiscasset, Maine for a member of the New York Yacht Club and was raced often in the Newport to Bermuda race. Originally configured as a standard schooner, the Curlew was redesigned as a staysail schooner. She served the Merchant Marine Academy as a training vessel during WWII and was then transferred in 1944 to the U.S. Coast Guard in...
read moreCurlew Receives Historic Designation
On Monday, October 19, the Dana Point Planning Commission approved historic designation for Curlew, a 1926 Schooner moored in the Dana Point harbor. The commissioners started the meeting with a site visit aboard Curlew, adjourned, and then reconvened at the Council Chambers for the remainder of the meeting. The Historical Society, along with Curlew’s owner, Bob Harrison, advocated for the designation based upon the fundamental historic port character of Dana Point. When Richard Henry Dana sailed from Boston, anchored, and subsequently wrote of Dana Point, he established a clear link between...
read moreSurfing Legends
Dana Point Surfing Legends Many surfing legends lived, worked, and surfed in Dana Point. Brief descriptions of some of these men and women follow in alphabetical order: Drummond, Ron: learned to surf as a kid on his mother’s ironing board; “his creativity in ‘shooting the curl’ has been a legend of Capistrano Bay for several decades and several generations”; “one of California’s champion water sportsmen, he went on winning gold medals in his 70s”; last of two surfers to surf Killer Dana prior to the harbor.1 Edwards, Phil “Guayule Kid”: best surfer in the world in the...
read moreThe Outrigger Canoe
Lorrin “Whitey” Harrison and the Outrigger Canoe “Lorrin ‘Whitey’ Harrison lived life totally for the moment. All of those moments were steeped in tradition. They ranged from his wife Cecelia’s family adobe dating back to the late 1700′s, where she was raised and where they resided together from 1946 to Lorrin’s death in 1993. Another tradition was Lorrin’s early surfing along the California coast beginning in the late ’20s and Hawaii in the early ’30s. Outrigger was added to this list in the late ’50s. Dana Outrigger (Canoe Club) is...
read moreHome of the Catamaran
Dana Point/Capistrano Beach: Home of Catamaran and Sailing Champions Alter, Hobie: Designer/Manufacturer of the Hobie Cat; Catamaran Sailor Magazine’s National Hall of Fame Schafer, Wayne: two Hobie 14 National Championships, two Hobie 16 Southern California Divisionals, retired the Ancient Mariner Series trophy at Newport Beach after winning it three times, and won the McCullock Trophy for best all-around sailor in a Hobie 16 at Lake Havasu in 1971; Catamaran Sailor Magazine’s National Hall of Fame Alter, Hobie Junior: 1978 Hobie 14 and Hobie 18 Nationals; two more Hobie 18 Nationals,...
read moreSurfing and Sailing Heritage
Surfing & Sailing Heritage Projects The Society has discovered that there are at least 68 historical first and bests discovered and listed to date in the Oceanic Historical Outline for Dana Point. This document dramatically points out that Dana Point truly is historically unique. Dana Point is where the modern surfing lifestyle originated, as well as where surfing industries as the world now knows them started. From Dana Point came the first world champion surfers, the first modern surfboards, materials, and techniques, the first full retail surf shop, the first and still greatest surf...
read moreAbout Us
The Dana Point Historical Society advocates to formally acknowledge the collection of historic buildings that contribute to the eclectic visual character of the community and serve as reminders of Dana Point’s rich and colorful past, for the enrichment of current and future generations. Dana Point’s historic buildings give a sense continuity and security to the citizens of Dana Point.