Santa Barbara Surfing

Transcripts of the Endless Summer.

No amount of googling could locate a place where the wit and wisdom of Bruce's classic was in writing, so here it is, a work in Progress.



chapter 1.

Summer means many different things to different people. To some it might mean the thrill of a high speed catamaran. Others like to float around and soak up a few stray rays. Still others like some kind of inland activity. But for us, it's the sport of surfing.

The thrill and the fun of the sport of surfing. Some people like to bodysurf. Others like to ride a short bellyboard, and get a short ride. Still others like a short bellyboard and a long ride, like George Greenough at Santa Barbara, California. Most surfers like to ride a regular board and perform on medium size waves. Most would like to perform as well as Australian Nat Young here. Or as well as American surfer Butch Van Artsdale. Some surfers prefer the hairy thrill of a big wave. You can go right or left, but you very well can't go both at once. If you do it is something commonly known in the surfing world as a wipeout. The only way to avoid a wipeout is to take this wide, stink-bug stance. Spread your legs and hang on till your trunks rip, right up the back.

Chapter 2.

No place represents summertime to more people than the Hawaiian Islands. To surfers summer in Hawaii means the reefs near Waikiki that break so well. Places like this spot, about a third of a mile out over the reef, it's called #3. Right next to #2. One of the outstanding surfers from Hawaii, Mr. Paul Strou. There are many places on the reef that break during the summer, and about 300 yards from #3 is another spot called Kaisers. Friendly surfers in Hawaii, "Hi there, Charley." Conditions are ideal, water temperature averaging 75 degrees, the air temperature, 75 degrees. One of the most popular summer breaks is just off the side of the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor entrance, a spot called, Ala Moana. On a weekend you see surfboards, boats, every imangiable thing using the harbor entrance. In fact the new sport over there is "trolling for surfers". If you can sort yourself out from the boats you can get a great ride, like Gene Harris is doing here at Ala Moana. Another outstanding surfer from Hawaii, Fred Hemming, Fred only stands up on alternate Wednesday's, but when he does, he really wails. Just across the entrance channel from Ala Moana, is another surfing spot, called "Garbage Hole." They built a breakwater that cut the surf off, but in it's day this spot produced fantastic rides for surfers like Wayne Miata. The ultimate thing to do in surfing is to actually be covered up by the wave. And here goes Wayne, doing the ultimate thing. This is summertime in Hawaii.

Chapter 3

California has a lot of places that represent summer to a lot of people. No place more then this 'secret spot.' Malibu Beach, California, famous for it's Malibu Outriggers, surfing, and girls. This a girl, and for those of you who are mal-adjusted, this is a Malibu Outrigger. A lot of good surfers ride Malibu, and one of the best is Lance Carson. Say hello to the folks, Lance. 'At a baby. When Lance goes out at Malibu, he really gives the place a going over. He stays in just the perfect spot on the wave, which is right in front of the whitewater, in the breaking part of the wave called 'the curl." The main object in surfing is to always remain in the curl, stay as close as possible to the whitewater without actually getting caught by it. All the manuvers in surfing, turning, stalling, trimming, riding the nose, are directed toward the ulimate aim of staying in the curl. Lance's real speciality is noseriding. A lot of surfers run up to the nose. A lot run up and right off the end. Lance usually stays around for awhile. He's so realaxed up there you get the feeling he could have a ham sandwich while he's waiting around. A surfer who can ride Malibu better than anyone in the world is Miki Dora. As Phil Edwards says of Miki, "His style is so advanced most surfers don't even understand what he's trying to do." He's very good at winding is way through the crowds at Malibu without losing any of his composure. On a small wave inside Miki with one of his unique manuevers, side slipping his board back and forth in the wave. He's the only surfer I've ever seen do this. Mr. Miki Dora. A young fella named Corky Carroll gets great rides wherever he happens to be surfing. Corky also comes up with some pretty strange things. Here's a pretty strange pull-out. An 'El Rollo.' When Corky does something strange everybody for 50 yards knows all about it. "Hey did you guys see that El Rollo, boy it was a beauty!" Yeah big deal Corky. During the wintertime in California the conditions really change. The water temperature drops down to 48 degrees sometimes at places like Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz. Steamer Lane, home of the worlds latest takeoff. The only person comfortable surfing in this cold water is Henry. Henry is a seal, nature's greatest body surfer. Other places in California get big during the wintertime like the Redondo Beach breakwater. Although California isn't known for it's big surf, you can see occaisionaly it gets big, and biggest during the wintertime. Many surfers ride summer and winter but the ultimate thing for most of us would be to have an endless summer. The warm water and waves, without the summer crowds of California. The only way to do this is by travelling around the world, following the summer season as it moves around the world. Two surfers, Robert August and Mike Kinson have been planning a trip like this for 'sometime.'

Chapter 4

The winter evening before their departure, in front of a warm fire, reading up on a few last minute books on Africa, which would be their first stop. Robert August, Mike Henson. Packing for the journey was important. Six pairs of trunks, two boxes of wax, some modern sounds and in case of injury, one bandaid. It was a cold, foggy winter morning in November when Mike and Robert were ready to depart on the first leg of their endless summer journey around the world. On the plane heading for Africa, Robert wondered what was in store for them. Would the find surf? Would they catch Malaria? Would they be speared by a native? He didn't have any idea. Across the U.S. Then across the Atlantic Ocean. Landing in Africa for the first time at Dakar, Senegal. They didn't know what to expect in Dakar, and at dawn at the Airport they were anxious to get underway and find an inexpensive place to stay. They were a bit perturbed when a government official informed them they didn't have any choice, they had to stay at a certain government owned hotel or leave the country. So they had their introduction to primitive Africa, at one of the primitive little hotels along the seashore. The rates here were unbelievable, thirty dollars a day each. As you walked through the front door they stamped sucker on your forehead. The joke turned out to be on the goverment however because right out in front of this hotel was a little island, about a quarter of a mile offshore. Off each end of this island was surf breaking, surf that no one had ever ridden before, and as far as we know, no surfer had ever seen before. It's pretty scary paddling out for the first time at a strange spot like this. They had no idea what they might find in the water. So they stuck pretty close together. For moral support they took off together on the first wave, they figured if anything happened to them it would happen equally and probably wouldn't hurt so badly that way. It takes awhile to get used to any new surfing spot, but here in Africa, surfing for the first time, it takes a little longer. Mike, on the left of the screen, pointing out a rock just underwater to Robert. You find out where the rocks are, how the waves are breaking over the rocks or reef. Find out if there is any funny little fish who might be mad, things like that. What we call, "getting a place wired." After you get it wired it's just like riding waves back in the U.S.A., except you aren't. You're in Africa. They couldn't get over being in Africa. Mike would pull out of a wave, paddle over to Robert and say, "Robert, guess what? We're in Africa!" I don't know what it was, but it was really hard to accept. They practiced the buddy system. If one lost their board the other would paddle over and pick up the board, or body, whichever was closest. You don't want to do a lot of swimming in the water down here. Here they were, only four hours off an airplane from the United States, and already into better surf then they'd left behind them, the day they'd left California. They are still in the Norhtern Hemisphere, and although it was officially wintertime, the water temperature was seventy degrees. They rode these waves, knowing they were the first to ever do it, and also knowing that the closest surfer to them was over 4000 miles away. This place broke a long way out, so most people didn't notice what was going on. A few of the native kids spotted the activity and came to watch. Being good Africans, they threw a few rocks. Some of the sharp eyed fishermen on the beach paddled out to get a closer look in their full race canoes. One of the fishermen was really stoked, he was trying to shoot the shorebreak in his canoe. Your surfing style in strange waters like this would normally be very conservative. You could hardly call Mike's or Robert's style conservative. Mike with a great ride. Dakar, Senegal, West Africa. Completely covered up. They figured the rates they were being charged at the hotel each wave was costing them about $9.95. Mike hit the bottom and picked up a little ding on his head. It was so expensive in Senegal they decided to leave. A cup of coffee costed the equivalent of one American dollar in Senegalese Francs.

Chapter 5

There next stop would be Accra. Ghana, about 2000 miles down Africa's Gold Coast. Landing in a strange country like this was pretty weird. The people of course knew nothing about surfing and had never seen a surfboard. They thought the boards were some kind of airplane wing. Commonplace things for us like getting a ride with your surfboard were major projects. They finally comandeered this taxi cab and are trying to explain to the driver that they want to tie the boards to the roof, they even brought rope to do it with. The driver didn't speak English and didn't understand. Mike kept saying, "Look they'll fall out of the trunk, let's put them on the roof." The driver kept muttering something that must of meant airplane wings go in the trunk. None of this was staged, the discusion went on for half an hour and the driver finally did it the way he thought was best. Can you imagine driving down the highway in the U.S. like that. They'd put you in prison. They made it to a little hotel without the boards falling out. Congratulating the driver for being such a good packer. He really like Mike and Robert, didn't even charge them for the ride, and offered to spend a couple of days with them, showing them around his country of Ghana. No charge, all they had to do was buy gasoline for his cab. When they stopped to buy gasoline for his cab it turned out to be not a very good deal. Gasoline in Ghana is very expensive. 5.45 shillings per gallon, almost one American dollar for a gallon of gas. It was, as the name of it implied, really Agip. In a few minutes in West Africa you can be out of a city into a very primitive area. That's where they are now, at a primitive fishing village in Ghana. Most of these people had never seen a white man before. As they walked down the beach, they really wondered if they were doing the right thing. They didn't know weather the U.N. had been there yet or not. They were a little nervous on the beach so the paddled right out in the water. Paddling out they had the horrible thought that maybe surfing would violate some religous taboo of the natives and they'd attack. During the first ride the hundreds of natives were dead silent, but went Robert pulled out they really went wild. That was the begginning of surfing in Ghana. The people couldnt' believe it they came down to the beach with thier kids and thier lunch and they still had both hands free. The natives had never seen, or even dreamed, of anything like this before. They stood there for hours, completely fascinated. If you lost your board it'd come inside and the native kids would hop on it and play with it until you come and ask for it back. Usually they give it back, but they were kids and you were bigger then they were. But you weren't bigger then the chief who was bigger then anybody, thats why he was chief. If you lost your board and the chief wanted to play with it there really wasn't much you could say about it. Watch Robert trying to be tactful here, "Hi there chief, nice day, huh, sir? May I have my board back please?" One reason the natives were so excited about surfing was because they themselves paddle out through the surf every day in their big dugout canoes to go fishing. So they have a real feeling for the sea and waves and could fully appreciete Mike and Robert's ability on their surfboards. This is really an interesting tribe of native fishermen. Their method of fishing has remained unchanged for thousands of years. Everything they have they make themselves. The ropes and nets are woven from some fiber they get in the jungle. The canoe is hollowed out of a single, gigantic hardwood log. When they go stroking out to see in their big dugout canoe and you're sitting outside looking at them paddling towards you, you think they're coming out with their forks to have you for dinner. They couldn't speak English and Mike couldn't speak their language. They paddled by and said something like "Om Gowa Mungie Wung Ow." Mike smiled and said, "Yeah man, hang ten." They thought that was great, they went stroking out saying, "Hang ten, hang ten." The only English word they know is "Hang Ten." That has to be unique. They lay the net in a big semi-circle. Normally they avoid riding waves in the canoes but they thought they'd give Mike and Robert a little thrill. They did when they took off on a wave in their two ton hardwood canoe. Surfing one of these things is like trying to surf the Santa Fe Super Chief. They fish the same stretch of beach every day, and have been for hundreds of years. If they move a mile up or down the beach they run into another tribe of fishermen who have that area all staked out. And if they infringe on each others area a big war starts and everyone gets massacred, it's really a big mess. So they stay pretty much in their own area. With the last of canoes coming in everyone in the village turns out to help pull in the big net. They all have duties. Here's the head rope coiler. It takes them about an hour to get the net in, and they usually catch quite a few fish. They have to divide the catch up among themselves. They don't have any money but they bargain for the fish anyway. The session goes on for half an hour with everyone hollaring at each other at full volume. There aproach is like, "Look Castle Boy I pulled harder so I get more fish," and the other guy says, "Yeah but I stayed up late last night worrying about it." The other guy says "well I'm bigger then you I'm taking the fish." Part of it has to do with how big and strong you are and what you know. This woman must have known karate. The surfboards really attracted a lot of attention as did Mike and Robert. Robert with a big group surrounding him. They were asking him questions in their native tongue and he was answering what he thought might be the questions in English. No one understood one word of what the other guy was saying. But when you get surrounded by a group like that you just don't just walk away. The kids in the village really got excited about surfing. They got so excited they started ripping down their houses. The start of bellyboard surfing in Ghana. The kids wanted to learn how to ride a real surfboard so Mike and Robert organized a little surfing school. First thing the kids had to learn was to rough up the wax on the deck of the board with some sand so they wouldn't slip off. Plenty of help. The biggest problem in the school was selecting one student. They all wanted to be the student and you can only teach one at a time so you just looked around and tried to find a kid with a pair of trunks. Teach him first. Robert starting his student off near shore, pushing him into a wave. First time this little African boy had ever been on a surfboard in his life. Mike didn't fool around near shore he started his students outside in the heavies. If they let go of the board they'd lose their turn as students, so they'd hang onto the thing sideways in the soup, they weren't afraid of anything. The best one of the day was a beautiful tandem late takeoff, sideways. As is usual in African when the little guys try something and survive the big guys take the boards away and try it themselves. A couple of the heavies got the boards and started stroking out. Keep in mind these men had never seen a surfboard, let alone ever tried to ride one. It takes most begginners a long time to just catch a wave. In my years of surfing I've never seen anything like this. The very first wave he tried. His buddies were really stoked. They started getting kinda cocky after ahwile, one armed paddles. These fellas were amazing, they didn't have much trouble catching waves, they didn't even have much trouble standing up for a short time, they had absolutely no trouble at all getting the board back from the people inside. Mike and Robert would have to argue but watch when the heavie comes in to get the board. No arguements. They started getting it really wired, some pretty hot angles going, and a beautiful el rollo. They even came up with a few orginial manuevers. A West African pullout here called a "Reverse Atrise Lamumba." These men were so excited about surfing that we felt sure after we left they'd shape their own surfboard from some jungle tree and are probably out there surfing right now. The only problem came when the local constable walked up and said, "sorry no surfing after 11:00." He didn't look too friendly, so we didn't argue. The kids didn't like that rule, they gave him a little lip like, "How'd you like a black eye, cop?" Their time just about up in Ghana, they strolled down the beach and said goodbye to the newfound friends.