and I agree with deadshaper and monkstar right here on the two comments before mine
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Just recounting some of those memories makes me think of what Surfding is saying about a golden era. He's right that the surfers of today will have a perspective unique unto themselves 30 years from now. I wish I could see what surfing and all the fluff around it becomes in 2050!?
But I also have a very warm spot in my heart for those days gone by. Of going to the high school as a little kid, to see a personally narrated surf movie by the film maker. The simple humor that got us all laughing uncontrollably, the discovery of new surf spots just over the border devoid of surf camps and lavish resort settings. Those were the days of sterno, parafin wax, army blankets, Pendletons, and sleeping on the beach or in the back of your truck to avoid ants or other creepy crawlers. The world was a smaller more mystical place then.
For those younger surfers reading this that want to capture a part of what we lived, I suggest you leave your lap top and Blackberrys at home and go lose yourself out in the middle of nowhere..........then you might realize something far more precious than the latest digital gadget, and end up realizing you are out in the middle of 'everywhere'.
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Sorry to hijack, but that's a stellar set of paragraphs there. I've often had the same thought about how lucky we are to have been around surfing for these last 40-50 years, and to bridge into the 21st century AND have a perspective on what we did....
A topic worhy of it's own thread.
Young Hawaiian boy:
Sleeping under the Manhattan Beach Pier, working for 75 cents and hour. Late nights @ Doheny, around an old fire ring, the Park Ranger would bring you more wood @ 3:00 AM and sit with you. Running across the HWY and down the dirt embankment, then under the "trestle" and through the reeds ... to the beach. Malibu with, Bob Cooper, Yater, Henry Ford, Bobby Barron,Dora, Takayama, Johnny Fain, Rochlin, a place where the Lifeguards knew your name when you walked through the chain linked fence.... The Overhead, Rincon, Stanley on cold, yet pristine, glassy mornings. Sitting in a garage late at night, as huge waves pound the Point @ Makaha, listening to Diff, Curran, Trent, Buff, Patterson, Butch, Fat Art, etc. Most of the old time Waikiki Beachboys are gone now.
It's a shame, the "newbies" don't know anything about they're history, of surfing nor be able to continue the legacy that was set for them. Somewhere the link, was dropped .... sad ... that advertising has taken over and $$$ & "pro-ho" surfing is driving the young of today.
PPK
Time to talk a little story-
Haha. Now that does bring back some memories. Not quite your era but…the last week of summer vacation, 1978, me and a couple of friends decided to camp on the beach at Trestles for a few nights. The first night we were attacked by sand fleas and our faces (the only part of our bodies outside our sleeping bags) were eaten alive. So the second night we decide to sleep in the car, but it was a station wagon so one of us had to sleep on the sidewalk. To make a long story short we were escorted by Camp Pendleton MPs to the San Clemente jail. At least we slept on mattresses. One of our parents had to drive down and pick us up. Oh, and in my senior year yearbook picture I looked like I had the worst case of acne thanks to those fleas. Not cool!
Hell, I was an “East Coaster”. Thing was, I rode an Overlin or a Freeline, and my only mode of transport was a 3-speed bicycle. Plus, I was older than the average guy in the water (early 30s). So, no one would take me for an out of towner. That, and the fact that I already had a good 15 years of water time and could hold my own in a line-up.
Due to my lack of wheels, I mostly surfed between Capitola and Nat Bridges, with an occasional foray North of town, or down to the beachbreaks. PP and Rivermouth were my usual fare. Lived on 6th, a couple blocks from the harbor.
Were you PPNF? Did you know Jackson? You must have known Jackson!
Those are the very same people who run and write 'Er and 'Ing.
Uneducated upstarts.
PPNF? Pleasure Point Night Fighters??
Harry Conti
Gene Hall
Gary Benson
Jerry Benson
John Humphreys
maybe...... ?
some "oldies" ...... lol
RIP.... Jim & Tom Overlin ....
Went to high school with those guys, Bob Cates & Bob Fox as well... moved to Santa Cruz in the 60's. NOw make Kaua'i their home.
PPK
those old stories are good, keep them coming.young people read them,scoff at us,but they remember them,and the toch is passed.hawaiian proverb"don’t criticize us but teach us so we don’t offend you". came from Tahiti,went to Santa Cruz late 1975,surfed all over for a while before joining the army,asked for Hawaii,was sent to Germany instead,and took the train to France and surfed around Biarritz.Stoke still going.
If you guys want to read something surf related with more literary substance and less teeny-bopping and NO advertising, why not checkout kurungabaa. Twice a year, not for profit and it supports up and coming surf writers. Full of history for you old fellas and full of entertaining, interesting stories that aren’t about semi pro immature surfers getting drunk in indo. there’s even some poems in there for ambrose.
their website is a good read on its own - http://kurungabaa.net/
go on, check it out.
kurungabaa.net,that’s a great site,thanks.the music clip shows Duke Paoa Kahanamoku in Australia
I love reading these stories of days past. It makes me wish I was there to experience it. I grew (still growing) up surfing in the late 80’s, early 90’s era. I feel I really missed “something” but at least I got to experience something before the potato chip boards and surf contests/ads filled the magazines. There must be others out there or else back issues would never be available to buy.
I wish there was a way for all the surfers before me to scan or reproduce all the old Er and Ing issues they like and have them available either online or in print form.
It’d be like the Er and Ing online database. That would be great.
From a picture stand point that would be nice. As for written content. Once you have lived through all of it, you see it for what it was and still is…complete B.S. for the most part. It was a created magazine world that never existed anywhere, but in the minds of certain writers and clothing company execs.
As for the innovation, it was a great time to be surfing. Folks were ready for new things. It’s sort of like that now, but it’s not really geared towards performance as much now days as much as a different feel. If it’s the moves you see pros doing, it’s been pretty hard to beat the modern thruster for that type of surfing. Granted, most of that type of surfing is done by folks younger than 30 and who weigh under 180.
Wow, that brought back a rush of memories… by the way, add (Clark) Desert Boots to the list…
… and you’re right…
Thanks, that was nice… I can still smell that mix dampness and campfire smoke in my Pendleton.
kc