unclegrumpy posted a link to this in the 40’s redwood board thread. i figured it needs its own home here. so much fun to watch and so inspiring/incredible the work that was done on those boards. i can’t imagine having 10 of those flying around the beach break though, ha!
Surfing Riders of the California Surf 1947 Hermosa c from Randy Nauert on Vimeo.
Soo cool! - NOTHING about that shaping looked fun! Hahaha
I’d be the kid in the back eating the ice cream cone!
I would love to get a copy of this. My Dad is in some of these clips along with my godfather, Ben Davis (both RIP).
He had a short time between WW2 and Korea where he was discharged and surfed from PV Cove to Malibu. He
met my mom in '48, got married in '49. I was born in 1950. He kept his kook box (with a hand shaped “skeg” like what’s
on the green board) Until the '60s where he made the jump to foam. BTW, I think that’s Velzy with the draw plane,
don’t know about the arm tattoo, tho… Just my 2c…
While Velzy did have a tattoo, the fellow with the jack plane and draw knife, is not Dale Velzy.
Bill, after watching the clip, it seems the planks tended to ride high on the wave. Or was it rider influenced because they had more control up there? Harder to control when it was mostly soup?
that’s really cool that your dad and godfather are in there! this link may get you closer to who uploaded the movie (i think you can send him a message through vimeo) - Randy Nauert - good luck!
A green water wave was much preferred, over a white water wave, as you speculated. For the reasons that you speculated about. It’s what the rider preferred. It’s where they wanted to be. Just like surfers do today.