sebastião rodrigues soromenho, a portuguese sea captain who explored the coast of california for the spanish in 1595-96, was a native of sesimbra, setúbal, portugal, a fishing town 30 km south of lisbon where there is a place (part of the sesimbra sand beach) called california beach because a creek named "ribeira da california" empties at this beach. it is not known exactly when the creek and beach first acquired the name.