Taking it Back in Time

SAN DIEGO一 The Log was first published in 1971 by founder William O.Roberts, the paper was specified to San Diego and cost 25 cents at the newsstand. Through the next 50 years, the paper would change hands, extend coverage, undergo a name change, and continue to cover boating and fishing news throughout Southern California.

Throughout the 1970s the paper covered the opening of 1.6 million acres of ocean off of the Southern California coast for oil drilling, a proposal that is still being fought today as part of efforts to reverse the damage done to the ocean. And in 1979 the Log covered Dean Chenoweth’s survival of a 200-mph crash in the Miss Budweiser.

The Log itself changed hands in 1975 when Lou Gerling and his family took over the paper, running it from their home. Gerling wrote for the paper until his death in 2020. In 1978 Orange County and Los Angeles County were added to the news coverage and in 1979 it began to publish twice a month.

The 1980s brought along the opening of the Log office in Marina Del Rey, the office opened its doors in 1983. Within the decade, recreational boat sales skyrocketed, a lot like current headlines; an artificial reef was added off of Newport; A 23-year-old woman survived 41 days alone at sea, and three people stole the Catalina ferry and then it caught fire. In a bit of an ironic twist, history tends to repeat itself. The 80s saw familiar headlines involving boat paint regulations and registration increases.

As we moved into the 90s, the Log was picked up by Independent News Corporation and added AP News service coverage. Headlines ranged from a spike in boat sales to follow the previous decade and a series of conservation efforts like Doris Allen’s work on the gill net ban in 1992, and Gray the Whale’s removal from the Endangered Species list in 1993.

The past two decades covered major world events including the effects of 9/11, the COVID-19 pandemic, and oil spills. In 2000, the U.S. brought home gold medals in Sailing at the Australian Olympics and a bill was put out that ended the need to display a fishing license. The Log had a milestone with the first-ever Dana Point Boat Show hosted by the paper. In 2001 the country grieved the loss of life on 9/11, Huntington Harbor closed in response, and the Log shared sentiment from a reader who voiced the grief of the boating community.

In the same decade Dog Aboard made a debut as a regular feature and in 2004 McIntosh and his wife Teresa purchased the Log.

In the most recent decade, the Log experienced a couple more changes. The original home of the paper, the Red Sails Inn in San Diego, closed its doors after being sold to a multimillion-dollar restaurant group. In 2016 the Duncan McIntoshCo. acquired the Los Angeles and San Diego boat shows.

In 2020 the world was turned upside down when COVID-19 shut everything down. Both the boating and fishing communities had a surge in participation as people readjusted their priorities and looked for outdoor activities to fill their time.

For the past 50 years, the Log has covered news stretching from San Diego to Santa Barbara and everything in between, here is to 50 more years.