"'NUMBER ONE HARDCORE' GOES FOR THE RECORD," DALE WEBSTER ARTICLE IN THE PRESS-DEMOCRAT (1978)

Martha Lynn's feature on Dale Webster, "'Number One Hardcore' Goes for the Record," ran in the June 20, 1978, edition of the Press, published in Santa Rosa, California. This version has been slighted edited.

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Small craft warning, high waves, high winds, smooth water, low winds. Dale Webster of Valley Ford has ignored the weather as each of the past 1,016 mornings he has paddled his surfboard out and ridden at least three of those ocean waves back in.

"I've gotten carried away by it all." Webster admits. But since he is this far, this man (whose mail from surfers now comes addressed to “Number One Hardcore") is going for recognition in the Guinness Book of Records.

He may be the only person who remembers there were five Sundays in February 1976. He remembers because he surfed each of them and intends to surf five Sundays again when it happens in 2004.

His quest started when he talked friends into a surfing contest in 1975, and he was the only one to surf the required number of days. "I just kept on going," he said.

Now 29, he started surfing at age 10 at Laguna Beach while on holiday with his parents. At 13, he bought a surfboard with money earned by cutting grass. He recalls It was a beautiful nine-foot, four-inch board weighing 35 pounds. He now has a more sophisticated board with a plastic skeg, weighing only 15 pounds.

He has been riding the waves off the Sonoma Coast since 1967. “When the waves on the winter ocean are nine feet or above," he said, "you can still surf at Doran Beach. In springtime, when northwest winds come, we go to Goat Rock. In the summer, Salmon Creek."

The conditions at the Russian River entrance are especially good this year because rains have created sandbars at the entrance which form a bottom for waves to break on.

Webster said he and a friend were waiting for a wave off Goat Rock recently when a whale surfaced so close that they could see it's eyelashes. "It came up and looked at us, frightening us both," he said. Surfers are unafraid of dolphins which sometimes cruise the water under their surfboards, and sometimes ride the waves as if accompanying them. "I've seen sharks once or twice, but actually feel other surfers are more dangerous than sharks," he said.

Webster claims surfing is a heightening experience because of the constant danger that must be overcome.

"It takes timing and practice to synchronize your movements with those of the waves. You must stand up in one smooth motion to ride to the bottom of the wave. You balance yourself on a 20" wide board in 46 to 52-degree water on a constantly moving mass. But once you get going there is a certain stability in the motion," he enthused.

The most dangerous time is a sudden wipeout when waves can unexpectedly break and erase you. There is now a "kook cord," an elastic band connected to the surfboard which is attached to the surfer's ankle. This makes surfing safer by preventing boards from floating away. You still have to learn to fall away from the board and you have to learn when to come up to be sure it's not coming at you, Webster warned

His longest ride on the north coast was at Bolinas, when he stood riding the wave approximately a minute.

It isn't all riding the waves. Surfers must paddle out to those waves and headaches—which they call ice cream headaches because they resemble the sharp ones homemade ice cream gives on a hot summer day—can plague surfers when they have to roll too many big waves.

Other complaints are calcium deposits on the knees as well as swimmer's or surfer's ear, which is a calcium buildup in the ear canal formed by the body as a natural protection against the cold water.

Getting to the water is another hazard. Webster's cars have been typical surfers' transport. His first one at Valley Ford lasted 85 days, and getting from Valley Ford to the ocean has been an adventure in itself. He has hitched rides in cars which have caught fire, had wheels fail off, or run out of gas. Frequently, he says, he has walked.

The hours Webster works at his job at the Tides Wharf allow him to be on the water by 8:00 each morning. He has kept careful records of his surfing, recording each day's surfing conditions and having each outing signed by a witness.

He and fellow surfers hold a Buckhorn Beer invitational surfing contest when the waves get good in December off Doran Park, and are planning to have one this summer when the waves are good off Salmon Creek. The surfers rotate as judges of the contest, with as many as 20 taking part.

[Dale Webster surfing photo taken by Martha Lynn]