"Closed Out," by Sam George, ran in the June 1990 issue of Surfing Magazine. * * * Is it just me or has anyone else ever noticed that Sunset Beach is just not that good of a wave? Or that for some inexplicable reason no one is allowed (or has the nerve) to ever say anything bad about this hallowed Hawaiian reefbreak? I was in Hawaii this winter, watching hapless Triple Crown competitors paddle ...
Buzzy Trent's article on Sunset Beach ran in the November 1964 issue of Petersen's Surfing magazine. This version has been slightly edited and shortened. * * * Sunset Beach is like a fickle gal. Sweet and light one moment, wild and uncontrollable the next. She can change from a six-foot hot dogger to a rip-roaring twenty-footer in less than an hour. She can dance the youthful swing with fast-mov...
The Young Sportsman's Guide series was published by Thomas Nelson and Sons, in New York, during the early- and mid-'60s. Alphabetically, the book titles range from The Young Sportsman's Guide to Archery to The Young Sportsman's Guide to Wrestling; other featured sports include all the obvious ones—baseball, soccer, tennis, etc— but also a few obscure choices, like fly tying and pocket billiards. A...
Drew Kampion's "Project Avalance" feature ran in the November 1980 issue of Surfing magazine. This version has been slightly edited. * * * SYNOPSIS On January 1, 1980, a manned canoe launched into two of the largest breaking waves ever ridden. Fortunately, photographers were present to record this incredible event. More fortunately still, everyone survived. The scene of the action: a rarely-ridd...
This article ran in the September 1964 issue of Surf Guide magazine. It has been edited and shortened. To get a better look at the guide pages, below, drag each image from EOS to your desktop. * * * The Buyers’ Guide was designed as a service both to the surfboard industry and to the customer who at some time will buy its products. As for the guide itself, it is mostly self-explanatory; those fe...
This article ran in the January 2000 issue of Australia's Surfing Life magazine. * * * As a kid I remember this little shop up a side road in Newport Beach. It had the ubiquitous seagrass floor matting, which was probably something to do with hippiedom, but actually seemed to go all right with the saltwater that poured from our noses as we sat around and talked about the waves we thought we'd ri...
This article ran in the December 1989 issue of Surfing magazine. * * * I used to think that if I died and went to heaven, it would look like a surf shop. And I'm sure I wasn't alone; surf shops have been hallowed ground since 1951, when irate city fathers rooted Dale Velzy out from beneath the Manhattan Beach Pier and forced him into the semi-legitimate business of selling surfboards under a roo...
This article ran in the December 28, 1967, issue of the Honolulu Advertiser; the version here has been slightly edited. Martha Sunn went on to win the 1967 Makaha International. * * * What is the first thing a lithesome 18-year-old bikini-clad beauty says after she has won her heat in the Makaha International Surfing Championships? She says, “What's to eat? I'm starved!" The hungry beach cutie...
Joan Didion's short review of Ride the Wild Surf ran in the November 1, 1964, issue of Vogue. * * * I have recently fallen under the spell of teen surfing movies, an enthusiasm I should probably try to pass off as sociological. In fact, they amuse me. Of the current crop, I am pleased to report that Ride the Wild Surf is a first-rate surfer, with Fabian, Tab Hunter, and Jim Mitchum bobbing about...
Curry Kirkpatrick's 7,000-word feature article ran in the February 22, 1971, issue of Sports Illustrated. This version has been slightly edited. * * * From a boy I wantoned with thy breakers—they to me Were a delight; and if the freshening sea Made them a terror—'twas a pleasing fear. Lord Byron Body surfers are not all drunken, longhaired, pothead jerks. Kevin Egan Bitchinoutasightunrealrigh...