In Cayucos there is an old guy with a red beard named Krog. Some call him “The Garbage Man”
He surfs a leashless log most of the time. His wavecount is at least 4 times what the average surfer gets
He surfs so well. But it really stands out when the surf gets good.
He surfs a short thruster with a HAND leash on the front and ALWAYS surfs frontside…very very well.
Lefts and rights…FRONTSIDE. He has Machado like ability to know where the waves will be.
RESPECT your locals.
known as “Caveman”. The guy’s a real character and loves doing multiple 360 slides on his shortboard. The board only has 2 or 3 very small trailer fins and a few deep channels in the tail. He wears one of those circus whistles around his neck that vaguely sounds like a fire engine horn, and when he takes off, he’ll blow it repeatedly.
Ashley w/ her Caveman award head dress at the Cleanwater Classic
not to leave out all the crazy drugged out haole’s we ran into on the northshore on the early 70’s but here’s a couple from my home break.
First of all there was a psycho hardcore ex-con we called “caveman” because that’s what he self tatoo’d himself with using a BIC pen into his arm among other things. First psycho moke bald headed guy we knew. One day in trying to save his board from the infamous rocks fronting “sharkcountry” he body surfed head first into them cracking his bald head open. Lucky my grand aunt was around to call the ambulance and he never forgot her for that and always protected her from all the other wannabee badasses trying to rob my grand uncles beachhouse back then. Watch out for guys who actually enjoy going to prison for one reason or another. I think he died of a drug overdose years later.
The next was a guy we all called “bush-tree-shrub” at 5’4"-5’6" and built like a squashed hawaiian-samoan pro linebacker with a huge afro he stood out not only for his looks but because he rode a small 5’6" twin fin fish back in the day of Parrish miniguns. We used to call these kind of guys trolls or mini-mokes cause not only did they look like those trolls from the mothergoose stories, they looked like someone took a giant 6’4" moke and slammed him down into a 5’4" version. The guy could surf though, the fastest thing on two fins we ever saw back them and a no scare attitude about getting crunched when he didn’t make it. Maybe that’s what happened to him… He just got crunched in the close outs too many times. My brother and I always smile when thinking about him and those days surfing with him.
Anyway funny thing about those trolls…
They always seem to have real high pitched voices
JBG could qualify as a modern day version
but you see them everywhere on the westside and town.
thick stocky highly compressed chunks of muscle that when you get on the beach with them only stand about 5’4"-5’6" tall.
funny how they look so big in the water and in the magazines.
That’s why I admire anyone thick, 6’6" and above who can rip with the best of them
that’s a sign of talent
well, I know this string is supposed to be about locals, and these guys kinda are, though I’ve never seen them on a wave or a board.
I just felt that Carl and “Space” had to be mentioned in this post … even if I despise Carl with a contempt that wishes his whole body would swell up like his arm did that time he got bit by the Brown Recluse that inhabits his otherwise cozy bush.
But space, on the other hand, is a more intelligent and affable character. This guy hangs out at the Bu, but not as much now as he did in summers past (Since he was banned from setting foot on the sand by the local law enforcement). You can find Space sitting peacefully at Starbuck’s EVERY morning at about 05:30. Feel free to carry on any conversation with him at this hour, and you will be rewarded with good stories and a pleasant conversation to accompany your morning Latte. However, if you see him at the break, you can often hear him yelling at tourists on the sand from the lineup… something about the moon and the stars and the “space-noir.”
I don’t know what he is talking about, but he once told me he used to work for NASA developing a Magnet Propelled space shuttle … some kinda trip…
anyway, you guys are right, it is characters like these that bring our local spots alive and, in a way, make them ours.
Interesting------------- I am thinking the old guy with the hand leash could possibly be more than just a character, but a true “classic”. The last I heard John Eichert (aka “IKE” aka IKe Surfboards) was living in Paso Robles. Working on boats in Morro Bay. Something along those lines. I was told that by his brother who lives or did live in Santa Maria. The guy is known to use a hand leash and is a flashy surfer. If it isn’t him it might be a clone. If he does headstands, it definitly is Ike. IKE was ghost shaper for Yater and had his own trip in the '60’s. I have heard that he was pretty damn good at that R. YATER signature on the stringer. He has been sighted from time to time in SB, Nipomo, Pismo and Morro Bay. The words “character” or “classic” don’t even come close. McDing
" Magnet Propelled space shuttle
Linear motors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_motor "
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???
"… please move away from the bong , Allen ! " [aka: ‘Kai’]
ben
One incident that comes to mind was this one time I was surfiing small Sunset Point. I caught a wave and as was weaving my way across the wall, I gave a small hoot to a guy trying to drop in on the shoulder. As I passed by the guy, I heard him say…hoot my a$$! As I paddled back out, the guy, a heavy looking moke type, commented to me…“What brah you tink you own the place?”, I replied, “…eh I was just trying to let you know I had the wave already”. After a few intimidating comments from him, he asked me where I was from. When I told him Pearl City, he asked me if I knew a Mike K. I replied yeah, I know him and actually worked at the same plant as he did. His demeanor totally changed then. He started mentioning how he and Mike were good friends…blah blah blah. I let out a sigh of relief knowing I wouldnt have to fend this guy off. When I got to the beach, he was sitting next to my car…we talked story for a bit then I left. I was glad he didnt ask me for a ride as he lived in Waianae.