A surf gang at Lunada Bay harassed outsiders for decades. Can anything stop them?

Clara Harter | Los Angeles Times (TNS)

LOS ANGELES — Lunada Bay is the stuff big wave surfers’ dreams are made of.

During a heavy swell, 20-foot waves unfurl in a perfect right-hand line, delivering a potent blend of adrenaline and serenity.

“It feels like a little hit of a drug, honestly, because it’s just so beautiful, so magical,” surfer Sofly Matturi said. “The wave is your canvas.”

When the surf’s up, only a dozen or so surfers can be found riding the wave, tucked in a cove beneath the cliffs of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Visiting Lunada Bay is like taking a time machine back to 1960, before hundreds of surfers crowded Southern California’s coastline.

Many surfers say there’s a reason for that.

For six decades, a group known as the Bay Boys has sought to rule the waves here, slashing the tires of nonlocals, pelting rocks at surfers descending the steep cliffside trail and physically harassing anyone brave enough to paddle out.

Andre Anorga, left, Charlie May and Derek Forster, all of Palos Verdes, view Rocky Point at Lunada Bay in Palos Verdes Estates. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

Nonlocal surfer Jordan, recording any potential problems with a GoPro in his mouth, gets a tube ride at Lunada Bay on Feb. 5, 2016. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

A Palos Verdes Estates police officer checks on nonlocal surfers before they go into the water with a small group of outsiders challenging the Bay Boys’ intimidation efforts at Lunada Bay on Feb. 5, 2016. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

Show Caption

1 of 3

Andre Anorga, left, Charlie May and Derek Forster, all of Palos Verdes, view Rocky Point at Lunada Bay in Palos Verdes Estates. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

Expand

The Bay Boys’ reign has sparked years of controversy and emerged as a flash point for beach access in the upscale community of Palos Verdes Estates, culminating with a landmark lawsuit demanding the city do more to protect surfers from harassment.

The city agreed to settle the suit last month with a promise to protect public access to Lunada Bay. Additionally, 11 alleged surf gang members agreed to either pay steep fines or stay away from the break for a year.

But some surfers are skeptical the settlement alone will change the vibes.

Matturi, who lives in Long Beach, reports facing intimidation and harassment whenever he paddles out. During a swell in April, another surfer tried to push him off his board mid-ride, yelling, “Get out, you’re not supposed to be surfing here,” he said.

Several other surfers, some of whom spoke to The Times anonymously, said they had also faced harassment.

When attorneys for the plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in 2016, they identified at least 85 people — core gang members, friends, family — who were “allowed” to surf the bay.

John MacHarg, a born-and-raised Palos Verdes Estates surfer, said the settlement by itself would not put a stop to localism — the belief that local surfers own the break.

“I think [the Bay Boys] still …read more

Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment