Butch Towers passed last week after a battle with cancer. Owner of Anacapa Surf Shop and longtime Strand/Hueneme shaper.
Paddle out was last weekend, Jan 10, 2015.
Aloha Butch…
BT paddleout
Correction, former owner of Anacapa Surf Shop.
Ryan Imrie bought the shop from BT and is a knowledgeable and great local shop resource.
Butch was a long time contributor to the multi shaper staff offering thru Clyde Beatty’s label back in the day.
Vaya con Dios amigo.
This is an old post and it’s been a long while since i have visited swaylocks so I have a lot of catching up to do, especially in this catagory. Butch(Charles) Towers was one of my first surifng buddies going back as far back as 1964. We attended the same junior high school and both Butch and his brother Bob were constant icons at the Port Hueneme pier and beach. There were a lot of highjinks and mischief going on all the time, but it was always in fun. It seems like a melenium ago but those images are still etched into my brain. Butch was a real character and I am sure others who knew him would agree, but Butch had a good heart. One of the funniest memories was when I saw him try to patch dings on his board using pillow case material. In addition, he didn’t use enough catalyst in the resin so it never really hardened and was semi soft to the touch.
Over the years, Butch was plagued with a backed injury the occured from the rusult of being involved in a horrendous car crash with a semi truck. Becuase of the lack of medical insurance, the injury had never really resolved itself and Butch constantly endured a lot of pain. Depite the story of the ding repair, Butch went on to become a pretty decent surfboard repairman and surfboard shaper. He shaped a lot of boards over the years and I still see them come out during the summertime season.
When I first started surfing, my parents popped for a new surfboard for me and I got a brand new 9’2" Con surfboard. New boards were kind of special back then as few people could really afford them especially when first beginning. At that same time, Butch and Bob shared an old beat up Jacobs surfboard where the nose had been cut like a sharp stake style point because of the severe nose damage before they had got it. However, even with that funky beat up old board, both learned how to be really good surfers. Butch eventually got another board which was and older Hobie, but that board was absolute magic. He let me use it several times and from that, I learned what a truly good surfboard was all about. The Con’s days were numbered after riding that board. My experiences with Butch Towers over the many years(50) were always good and I will have the fondest of memories of him until the day I leave this earth.