Surfing and Psychedelics

General Discussion
21

Hey Kelpcutter, you can debate the collateral damage, you can debate the powerful and sometimes irreversible effect on brain chemistry, you can debate the merits of even talking about it lest impressionable young hipsters try and copycat it but the one thing you cannot debate is that it actually happened.

Too many of the players are still alive, too many people have spoken about it and committed it to print.

The facts are: Pyschedelic drugs had powerful mind altering/expanding effects on people and as a result of this they saw surfing and surfboard designs in radically new ways.

Please no more moral majority historical revisionism.

It accomplishes nothing.

Steve

22

lennox76

Thanks you much

Shoots…

23

I’m sorry my little story was taken as some sort of positive endorsement for the use LSD. It wasn’t meant to be. I posted it as a snapshot of that era particularly living and surfing in Encinitas at that time. Did psychedelics enlighten me or make me more creative? Not really.

I’ve been in this industry since the mid 70’s and I’ve been witness to how the whole drug thing has been interlaced in its culture. I’ve seen more than my share of people destroy their lives on their drug of choice. Most of them from alcohol. The rest of them from coke, heroin and meth. It’s not a good thing.

If there is any drug that has had a profound effect on shapers while shaping-that would have to be beer.

25

It’s not confusing. I’m not talking outside my mouth. If you don’t understand the difference between a lava lamp being cool, and a lava lamp being some sort of drug propaganda then this isn’t your forum.

But then again you nailed one of the artists down that would be a great subject for this forum.

So… uhm, who’s talking out the side of their mouth? Hahaha.

Easternpacific… you da man

Shoots

26

Sorry , I was wrong to go the way I did. We all dream a new design and make it. The resin swirl and he likes are great I really like them and would love to know how to . Yes there are more survivors than not but also a lot of wounded.

27

I would also add a cautionary tale or anecdote is not necessarily taking a ‘moral’ positon. I think you should do what you want with your own body. The only thing I insist is you take responsibilty for whatever happens and consider how your actions may effect those around you. Do it in a safe place. I admit I did not follow this advice when I was young. Young guys are risk takers that usually don’t consider this. Personally, I don’t know how I survived my adolescence. I bet a lot of you can relate. I will say the thing that got me threw all the partying and experimenting was surfing. I couldn’t do both. It sucks when you have been up all night and you are watching the early morning surf, but are too tweaked to even think about paddling out. Good luck. Mike

28
Quote:

Psychedelics is a loose term, that can incorporate a certain image and style also.

I think image and style relate more to ego.

I never really thought of Psychedelics as a loose term, but more specifically a group of mind altering drugs.

I always preferred the natural derivatives over synthetics. Also, I didn’t consider that consciousness through surf stories or movies. It’s kind of like apples and oranges

I should probably add that in the big picture, it’s just a waste of time. I was lucky when I was young.

29

I wuz there!!! What I find most interesting to ponder these days is the incredibly powerful human drive to get “altered”. Even at theoretical risk to health and sanity let alone social approval people do it in many forms and variations. Where does that come from? Why is it so strong? Even the “moral majority” will scream if you try to take away their caffeine, nicotine, alcohol

not to mention prozac and friends…

30

I surf weekly for the same reason I like to partake in the spice periodically.

it gives me perspective and reminds me of the insignificant and magnificent.

both have brought a lot of benefit to my life.

to each his own…one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

31
Quote:
I wuz there!!!! What I find most interesting to ponder these days is the incredibly powerful human drive to get "altered".

Some valuable comments in here so far:

Van Gogh- is it the drug that creates or the person? Which is the “vehicle” the drug or the artist? Both??

Take a look around you and it is easy to see why some minds may actually benefit from being altered. It may benefit others also. Is a, b, or c - the answer?? What happened to individuality?

The problem is maybe control and results. I check the surf and it is almost flat, no tube rides today but I can still go for a surf. Should I fear the ocean because it can kill me? I have learned not to try to control weather, even if I tried would I be successful?

The nature of your beast and the clashes with nature.

Thankfully it isn’t always a clash. Some glassy days and perfect rides. I don’t like pinning the wrong tail on the wrong donkey and that is why I posted the earlier link to “mkultra”

To the thread - the movement began not within the surfing community however the surfing community may have had better experiences with “mr natural” than others. Can it kill you? Yes and those around you like the ocean kind of.

I personally can’t recommend acid but I can suggest surfing or making your board. I wouldn’t want to say, “wow that acid surfed great today,”

To me it is more personal, I want to feel that about myself. I actually get sick of the swirls, to me its a bit too much. What this thread could accomplish is someone steppin up and saying, I’m proud of this particular board because blah blah blah.

I don’t own a lava lamp anymore but I do have some wiped-out friends. They don’t surf much anymore. Was I lucky? Well, I have met a couple guys like me, we still surf.

good luck with this thread, If I had to choose the ocean or acid… see what I mean?

32

I think that it is kind of sad that so many people here are so negative with regards to mind altering substances. No wonder some of you guys don’t like the stuff, you are too negative.

If you are going to partake in these mind altering activities don’t do it with inexperienced people, people who are downers, or people with weak minds.

Also, people with preexisting mental conditions (schizophrenia, depression, OCD), should be extra careful with these drugs as they can exacerbate the problems.

I have a degree in Cognitive Science, have studied the brain, and brain chemistry and to make wholesale generalizations about the effects of the drugs is very short sighted. They don’t kill your brain cells. They effect different people in different ways, and your environment has a lot to do with your experience.

Some of the best lessons I have learned in life have been through the experimentation of some of these substances. My mind still works fine, better than most, and using these drugs has been positive in my life. (Although it has been a while since I have expanded my mind in such a manner)

33

I think the whole psychedelics deal gets/takes too much credit for anything that happened in the late 60’s. Honestly, I think rock-n-roll had more to do with expanding minds than the drugs. My perspective is from the SF Bay Area during my formative years; '64-'70.

The underlying current in those days wasn’t “Expand your mind”, it was “**** the Establishment”. It started in the 50’s with the Beats and Elvis. It built to a crescendo in ‘68 with the Democratic Convention. Yes, the drugs were part of it but no one I knew in Santa Cruz cut 2’ off their surfboard because of a trippy vision. They cut it off because it was ok to mess with the “establishment” 9’ nose rider. (well, that and Greenough). That was the key; it was ok to mess with anything (Far out maaaan).

Tripping was an intensely personal thing. It affected art (the fine arts, music, literature and film) for sure but that was pretty much the extent of it’s impact on Western culture. What happened to all those expanded minds, anyway? I don’t see Leary as anything but footnote in History.

The rebellion though, that was the lasting effect. It is ok to question authority, in fact it is a requirement. And it worked until the day we threw Nixon out. Then we got all fat and happy and the the momentum died with Ford and Carter.

Thankfully the rebellion still lives in surfing. These days, the establishment is a 6’2"x18"x1.5" thruster! It’s pretty darn far out that there is more diverseficaton in wave vehicles now than ever. I don’t think psychedelics has anything to do with it. Sways is our drug of choice.

“Got a Revolution, got to Revolution” Jefferson Airplane 1969

34

Excellent post, LeeV, and I think you’re spot on. Like you said, nobody cut two feet off a board because they were on acid. Logo design, films, etc, reflect drug use probably more than anything else. Whoever brought up those scenes in “Innermost Limits” is also right in that it is impossible to deny the influence of psychedelic drugs on surfing culture as a whole because the historical record clearly reflects that influence.

This thread is interesting and seems a topic worth exploring, in my opinion. Tales of lives ruined by drugs are worth telling, as are tales of lives enriched by drugs. Drug use is a fact of human life since time immemorial.

35

I refer you to this commentary by (not naming names but I believe a famous shaper) starting at 2 minutes in: (stay tuned for end of video, which concludes with “I don’t need no acid, man…”)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-OkxEItgWY

36

This is just a global observation

But I belive I’m speaking the truth here

Nothing is good about the recreational use of man made drugs like LSD

Nothing

period

To say anything else is lying to both yourself

and to those that don’t know any better yet

we need to take some personal responsibility

and quit perpetuating these myths

getting high for the sake of getting high

means you’ve got no better purpose for your life

needing chemicals to expand your mind

means you are probably mentally(chemically imbalanced) ill in the first place.

to be a surfer and not understand the beauty of what’s involved in that entire concept

means you’re just a poser like most all the rest who drifted in from the mainstream

who were looking for something else in the first place

other than the joy of being in the water and riding waves

because in the end that wasn’t enough…

37

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT2ZlYHFy2Q

While we are thinking of the seventies…this one just about sums it up. Classic.

38

the key word is recreational…interchangeable with ‘reckless’, ‘misguided’ or ‘superficial’.

39

You don’t have to look much further than Mike Hynson. His contributions to modern surfboard design are well documented.

I learned first hand that vitamin L can have a positive effect as well as a negative effect. It’s an eye opener for sure. There was a show on MTV or VH1 about the 60’s and the drug years, and the effects of vitamin L. A lot of the things I’ve seen happen to me are now better understood.

I always tell people if you haven’t tried it don’t. If you do and you like it, you may not be able to stop. Look at what has happened to the waves. People try surfing, then get hooked. And all us hard core surf junkies have to share the supply with more people.

I got off board building in 1980. Then around 2004, my brother coaxed me into building a board again. Now I can’t stop thinking about how the next board should be. I’m totally hooked.

40

…How can you say that to a hawaiian, winner of Pipe masters in former times?

he and others were and are high on cocaine in “daily” basis

and thats no good example for the Hawaiian kids

that are lots of skilled ones that look for a pro life but without success…

no brand wanted nuthin with a guy stoned all day