“In the 1970s, the Sea Dawg Cafe on the Ocean Beach pier in San Diego was a place where fishermen and walkers and writers met and, over time, knew each other. As with many great good places, the key to the Sea Dawg was one powerfully social human being. His name was Craig Mueller. He is now a pilot; he was then a fry cook. He played the Beach Boys on the jukebox, flirted with the women, knew all of the regulars by their first names, drew out the shy or morose, and by force of personality made them talk. One day during a storm he leaped with his surfboard from the pier and swam out to save a pigeon floundering in the high waves. Awestruck, the regulars stood at the window watching his bizarre heroism. He was a unifying influence, and when he moved on, the Sea Dawg lost its greatness.” –Richard Louv, The Web of Life
This reminds me of Don Winslow’s detective surfer novels, which I haven’t read in years. There is a cafe hangout that sounds a lot like the Sea Dawg, as I recall. The first of the books is Dawn Patrol.