Bob Smith interview By Jim Lischer:  "It's summer 1934, standing on the 15th Street pier you gaze north upon a fenced in area of the beach. Lifeguards are cleaning the beach with rakes. This was the first duty each morning for the first lifeguards of Del Mar. These lifeguards were paid by the Stratford Inn, which was later known as the Del Mar Hotel.   They lifeguarded both The Plunge (a salt water swimming pool) and the ocean, which were used by guests of the Inn and the Del Mar residents exclusively. These lifeguards were Phil Jefferson, Crossen Hayes, Bob Bertencini, Dick Stumm, and Bob Smith.

When at the plunge, you would go to the Pergola (snack bar) and be able to rub elbows with many of Hollywoods stars.  Jimmy Durante was always there, Dixie and Bing Crosby with Pat O'Brien, the roots of the Del Mar race track, they were there, along with the Ritz Brothers and also Oliver Hardy.  All and more could be seen on a weekend on the beach by the pier or at the plunge.

Bob Smith remembers those days well.  Bob first moved to Del Mar in 1934 with his parents.  As his parents were building their home on Van Dyke, Bob rented a house on Stratford Court with fellow lifeguard Dick Stumm.  Together, they paid $60 per month.  Bob Smith and Dick Stumm would travel up to San Onofre or Palos Verdes to watch other surfers ride their boards, and then they would ride borrowed boards.  One day, they decided to build their own board with balsa and redwood and held together with three bolts drilled widthwise.  At over nine feet in length, about twenty four inches in width and weighing over eighty pounds, the first surfboard in Del Mar was built.

Bob Smith and Dick Stumm were the first board surfers in Del Mar and would always surf alone.  The board was only used in small to medium breakers because of its limitations.  When the swells were big and breaking at the end of the pier, you would find the body surfers jumping into the surf from atop the pump house at the end of the pier (the pump house was used to pump seawater into the salt water "Plunge").  The surf was always better on the south side of the pier recalls Bob Smith.

Bob also recalled how much more sand was on the beach then. "Over twice as much as there is now", he said.  With that much beach, skim boards were popular at low tides and could be rented at the pool area.  With a tow rope and a car, you could see Bob and friends skimming along the oceans edge, all the way past Torrey Pines beach and back.

Bob Smith lifeguarded for four summers and those summers were over sixty years ago.  But, he remembers them so well, I think he holds those years in a special place in his heart.  Just imagine, one surfboard and all of the great surf along the Del Mar beach to use it on."

Note:  Bob's two sons, Bob Jr. and Brad eventially worked for the City of Del Mar Lifeguard Department in the '60s and '70's.

Continue to next section:  The County of San Diego lifeguards in 1941

Home