Cortes Bank is a dangerously shallow chain of underwater mountains in the Pacific Ocean, about 115 miles (188 kilometers) west of Point Loma San Diego, USA, and about 50 miles (82 kilometers) south-west of San Clemente Island, Los Angeles County.
The chain of peaks is about 18 miles (30 kilometers) long and they rise from the ocean floor from about 1/2 mile (about 1 km) down. Some of the peaks come to just 3 to 6 feet (1–2 m) below the surface at Bishop Rock, depending on the tides. The peaks are a hazard to shipping, but help create a noted big-wave surfing spot.
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Bishop Rock is one of the jagged peaks in the underwater mountain chain that rises to within 3 to 6 feet (1–2 m) 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, then continued to San Francisco with a patched hull. Nine Fathom spot is about 4.5 miles (7 kilometers) northwest of Bishop Rock and also rises to about 98 feet (30 m) below the surface. Both are noted scuba diving locations featuring clear water and abundant sea life.
In 1969 promoters bought the World War II surplus troop ship SS Jalisco, and renamed her USS Abalonia. They sailed to the bank, intending to scuttle her in shallow water to form a tax-free island nation and shellfish processing plant. During the 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] The wreck of the Abalonia today lies in three pieces in 40 feet (12 m) of water, and is a diving location.
On 2 November 1985 the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65) struck the Cortes Bank reef about one mile east of Bishop Rock, putting a 40-foot (12 m) gash in her outer hull on the port side, and damaging three propellers. She continued operations, then went into dry dock at Hunter's Point Shipyard for repairs.[2]
In the early 1990s Larry Moore, photo editor at Surfing magazine, and Mike Castillo, veteran surfer and pilot, made flights out across the bank on rumours of giant waves. By 1995 Moore had 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. This wave swells located off of the coast of San Clemente Island are considered to be part of Los Angeles County.
Several 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 the F/V Pacific Quest from San Diego, 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 rideable.
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 m) on the face. It won him the Swell XXL Biggest Wave Award (now Billabong XXL) prize of $66,000 for the biggest northern hemisphere wave surfed in 2000/2001.
On January 5, 2008, Mike Parsons, Brad Gerlach, Grant "Twiggy" Baker and Greg Long returned to the location. 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.[3]
Although remote, the Cortes Bank draws crowds when conditions are good. On a trip with the Billabong Odyssey in January 2004 Sean Collins counted 10 or 12 boats with about 40 surfers.
Surf films featuring Cortes Bank:
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.