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Don't Tell Ian Crane Doheny's Only For Loggers

Originally posted on SURFER | By Jake Howard | Last updated Oct 29, 2024 6:20 PM ET

For over half a century, the soft, forgiving waves at Dohney have provided a fertile ground for the evolution of surfing. From the early days at Killer Dana, where a teenaged Phil Edwards first exploded onto the scene in the early 1950s, to Ron Drummond pioneering stand-up paddling (albeit in a canoe), to the experimentation of Hobie Alter and Grubby Clark, which ultimately brought foam surfboard blanks to the masses, the benign Dana Point beach even stars in the Beach Boy's "Surfin' U.S.A."

But that was then and this is now. Mention Doheny today and most people default to old men on longboards and little kids learning to surf. There is a core, dedicated, and oh-so-stylish log crew that frequent the place, but public perception is what it is. It's where world champs like Filipe Toledo go to teach their kids to surf.

"You would be hard pressed to find any pre-teen shortboard shredders, ripping the perfect soft peelers. It’s just too packed with big board beginners and soft top wave-stormers. Which is fine, I suppose," explain's ...Lost's Matt Biolos.

And that brings us to Ian Crane lighting up the Boneyard on his ...Lost Pisces (built in Black Sheep tech). A sight for sore eyes, Crane reminds us how user-friendly and fun Doho can actually be on a shortboard. You don't see it very often, which makes this video something special. But then Ian's also something special. He never appears to be straining for speed or struggling to connect the next section, it's just clean, graceful surfing the in the land of the stink-bug stance.

"Ian deftly navigates his #BlackSheepBuilt #Pisces, through the chaos, with creativity and flair. Something rarely seen here, since it’s been overwrought with SoftTop, Wavestorm-troopers and the perennial beginner boom of the new millennium," Biolos describes.

Who knows, maybe an edit like this was just what was needed to shift the mindset at ol' Doho? The sand around the San Clemente beachbreaks certainly isn't what it used to be, forcing local surfers to get more creative with the spots they paddle out at. And sure, for mere mortal surfers, riding a 5'10" is almost always going to be a losing proposition against someone on a 10'0" log, but in Ian's surfing we find hope ... and without hope we have nothing.