Cortes Bank

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Coordinates: 32°28′41″N 119°12′54″W / 32.478000, -119.215000 Cortes Bank is a chain of underwater mountains in the Pacific Ocean, about 100 miles (170 kilometers) west of San Diego, USA, and about 40 miles (65 kilometers) south-west of San Clemente Island.

The chain of peaks is about 18 miles (30 kilometers) long and they rise from the ocean floor about 1/2 mile (about 1 km) down. Some of the peaks come to just 20 feet (6 meters) below the surface. The peaks are a hazard to shipping, but help create a noted big-wave surfing spot.

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[edit] General

Bishop Rock is one of the peaks in the underwater mountain chain that rises to within 6 feet (2 meters) of the surface and is marked by a nearby warning buoy. It was named for the clipper ship Stillwell S. Bishop that struck the rock in 1855 (and with a patched hull made it to San Francisco). Nine Fathom spot is about 4.5 miles (7 kilometers) northwest of Bishop Rock and also rises to about 98 feet (30 meters) below the surface. Both are noted scuba diving locations featuring clear water and abundant sea life.

In 1969 a group of promoters bought the World War II surplus troop ship SS Jalisco, renamed her USS Abalonia, and sailed to the bank, intending to sink her in shallow water to form a tax-free island nation and shellfish processing plant. But during that sinking rough seas broke a mooring line and pushed her into deeper water. Another company planned to build a platform on the bank and form a nation called Taluga, but the US government declared that the bank, as part of the continental shelf, was US territory.[1][2] The wreck of the Abalonia today lies in three pieces under about 40 feet (12 meters) of water and is another dive spot.

On 2 November 1985 the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65) struck the Cortes Bank reef about one mile east of Bishop Rock during exercises, putting a 40-foot (12 meter) gash in her outer hull and damaging a propeller. She continued operations then went into dry dock at Hunter's Point Shipyard in San Francisco for repairs.[3]

[edit] Surfing

In the early 1990s Larry Moore, photo editor at Surfing magazine, made flights out across the bank on rumours of giant waves. By 1995 he'd seen and photographed waves and that year he led an expedition with a small group of surfers out there (including Surfing magazine editor Bill Sharp). But conditions were poor and they only surfed a few small waves.

A kind of inner-circle of surfers planned for the ideal conditions at the bank. In 2001 a storm called "Storm 15" in the Gulf of Alaska and a high pressure ridge over California came together to create huge swells but light wind over the bank. A team of surfers went out on a fishing boat, with big-wave tow surfers Ken Collins, Peter Mel, Brad Gerlach and Mike Parsons, plus paddle-surfers Evan Slater and John Walla. On the morning of 19 January 2001 they found smooth glassy conditions and enormous waves breaking across about 1 mile (1.5 kilometer) of reef, with the last part of it ridable.

Larry Moore photographed from a circling plane, Dana Brown shot from a boat for his surf film Step Into Liquid, and Fran Battaglia shot from two other boats for his wave science film for Surfline *Making The Call: Big Waves of the North Pacific, his documentary for Swell, XXL, NBC Dateline, The Billabong Odyssey and Activision's Kelly Slater Pro Surfer video game. Parsons was towed into the wave of the day, estimated at 66 feet (20 metres) on the face. It won him the Neptune Prize for the biggest northern hemisphere wave surfed in 2000/2001.

On January 5, 2008, Mike Parsons, Brad Gerlach, Grant "Twiggy" Baker and Greg Long challenged the spot again. Mike Parsons was photographed on a wave bigger than his award winning ride of 2001, judged by the Billabong XXL judges as 70+ feet on the face.[4]

Although very difficult to get to, the reputation of Cortes Bank draws crowds when conditions are good. On a trip with the Billabong Odyssey in January 2004 Sean Collins (surf forecaster and one of the initial inner circle) counted 10 or 12 boats with about 40 surfers. With a circus like that he thought it fortunate the waves weren't huge.

[edit] See also

Surf films featuring Cortes Bank,

[edit] References

Samuel Pyeatt Menefee, "Republics of the Reefs": Nation-Building on the Continental Shelf and in the World's Oceans, California Western International Law Journal, vol. 25, no. 1, Fall, 1994, pp. 102-03.

  1. ^ James L. Erwin, Atlas of Forgotten Nations, quoted in A Shoal Less-Traveled... Until Now by Michael Kew
  2. ^ Republic of the Reefs page
  3. ^ USS Enterprise (CVN 65) page
  4. ^ Casey, Susan, “Reef Madness”, Sports Illustrated, Vol. 108, No. 2, pages 50-52, 2008, January 21, [1]