My long time friend bought this board for me recently, it is so light, I fixed the dings and rode it yesterday, soft waves ate Greenmount. It’s 6’4" x 19 1/4" x 2 7/8", see pics.
Still looking good to me, Harris. "77 is now part of the good old days. I saw PT awhile back, and I told the people around him that he was the first modern surfing World Champion in '77; he corrected me and said it was '76. Whatever it was fun, and cool to be an Australian since America was in decline, and surfing here in some ways was too. It would take a couple of years before Ronnie, and Tommy would change things. Weird thing is we had the same Governor back then, and our economy sucked. Hey I heard its harder to get on the dole over there nowadays; perhaps you Aussies could come over here illegally, and Ole Jerry will hook you guys up, with food, education, and driver’s licenses.
Hey Harris the board looks good! What did your friend have to pay for an old classic shaped by the man himself!
I don't have many pics from that time period, man I wish I had kept more of my old photos! Here is a '73 shot of my first car a 64 Nova, and another from the 80's. These are the closest I could find. John Mellor will know the spot in the second shot.
hi john. did u enjoy the ride boss
.....thanks for posting those shots !
I wonder how many of TODAY'S boards will be in that good condition , [let alone still AROUND?!]
35 years from now ?
did you ride it again , John ?
My 2nd car was a '64 Nova! Loved that thing…
I know the 2nd spot…
Nice pics Huck
Hi Guys, I only got 2 waves, it felt really loose, I havn’t surfed much this year, it felt good, I didn’t fall. My 7 year old boy rode it yesterday and today, I noticed a couple of times when he took off wrong, like a bit sidways, the board righted itself.That doesn’t happen when he rides the thrusters. I originally saw it on ebay but it was a long way from me, the guy only showed the logos and dings so I wasn’t excited. I had a friend who lived there and he went and checked it, said I’ll buy if you don’t want it, he got it for $150, another friend brought it home, abt 200 yards from my place, it had a few dings, nothing major, I thought it was brown, just faded orange tint, cant wait to ride it in some stronger waves,
cheers H.
NICE FOIL.
can I see a closeup shot of the fin too , please , Mr. Harris ?
....it looks nice ...
green tinted and ? in good condition ?
cheers !
ben
1977 Great memories!
John you are a Living Legend!
Kind regards,
surfding
That’s a bit much Ding, living will do me. Here’s the closeup Ben. You can see the front has been added on. This is why I think it was one of my boards, I almost remember doing it, think I must have foiled too much out of the back. I repaired the back just now when I fixed the dings. On this board the only thing I didn’t do was blow the blank, it’s got a nice flex and foil as has the shape, 2 things you do’nt see too much of now,
cheers H.
thanks John !
that's a nice green world you live in there too eh ?
cheers
ben
Harry , this would be an excellent 70s retro single fin in wood…(nudge )…few people understand these boards these days, let alone shape 'em.
classic name “Free Glide” I remember the movie with a similar name, and seeing it at the “Surf Theatre” in Huntington Beach, with the smell of cheap Mexican herbs permeating the place. Come on a take a free glide, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
I
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AVOCADO GROVES: I always
knew about Huntington Beach, because of the many years my family drove
back and forth from our avocado grove in Vista to wherever we were
living in L.A. County; and I always voted for the coast route where we
could enjoy watching the ocean all the way until turning inland at Hwy
39. – Marty Green
SURF THEATER: I grew up in downtown Huntington Beach on Walnut at 6th St. My bedroom window looked out at the back of the Surf Theater, one of my favortie places to hang out on Saturdays with my brother. I loved living downtown and going to Waites Drug Store. - Jo-Lynn (Worthy) Wesolek
RIDING BIKES:
I remember teenage me riding my bike to the Beach via Goldenwest to
Yorktown to Lake Street…back when Lake Street didn’t make a turn and
change names to PCH. – PJBFish
EARLY DEVELOPMENT:
When my husband and I purchased a house still under construction on
Branta Circle, a wonderful cul-de-sac in the Rancho La Cuesta tract at
Hamilton and Bushard, our homes were almost the only things between
Adams and PCH. Magnolia was still called Cannery, Bushard did not go
beyond Adams, and there was nothing but a vacant lot between us and
Brookhurst. We could clearly hear the surf at night because Brookhurst
was not the busy artery it is today. - Lynne Baker
OLD MAIN STREET:
Don Minney’s meat market became my source for main-meal dishes and the
two grocery stores and two drug stores were handy. I can still picture
the layout of Main Street; cleaners, a stationary store, Jack’s
Jewelers, Robertson’s men’s store, a barbershop and a little indent in a
building with a shoe shine stand. - Lois Vackar
GOLDEN BEAR: We migrated to Huntington Beach from Lakewood in 1970. This was when homes cost less than cars do now.
We
enjoyed meals at The End Cafe on the pier as well as Don Jose’s, which
was one of the few restaurants around. We were regulars at the Golden
Bear and saw talent that is still going strong today.
Huntington
Center was the mall and I still miss The Broadway and Barker Brothers.
Jose Feliciano lived down Pacific Coast Highway in Newport Beach and
played local venues. I have been here 39 years and can’t imagine living
anywhere else. - Barbara Shepard
1964:
In 1964 I was 6 years old and my 16-year-old babysitter and her friends
took me to The Surf Theater in downtown HB to see “A Hard Days Night”.
I
remember the line to get in the theater stretched down Main Street. The
theater was filled with screaming teenage girls and there was one usher
trying to keep everyone quiet. That young man didn’t stand a chance. - Kim Fedele
These types of boards were a passing of time.
I had a very simular shape when I lived on the North Shore 77’ - 81’.
Kind regards,
surfding
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Huntinton in '77, beachsweepers in the morning, blackballed at 11, Chris Hawk the man, and a significantly smaller Llamas, Bobby Neishi skating the southside with his Gerry bowl cut, and the rat infestation under the pier. Single fins were the board of choice, and a swallow tail cutting edge, “off the wall” radical.