I sincerely hope you all are having wonderful holidays and have been able to spend time with family and friends.
I love this time of year with all the cool lights and just the overall feeling of hope and happiness that comes with the spirit. I thought that for my wandering into the world of wordage this week, I would tap into what’s left of my memory bank and pull out a few surfing-related memories of Christmas past.
The first would be Christmas Day 1957. I was a small kid growing up in the Surfside Colony, just south of Seal Beach. I begged my parents for a surfboard.
I had been trying to learn how to surf on borrowed boards from the older guys in the neighborhood who surfed. They would usually get out of the water and leave their boards laying on the beach. Nobody bothered them back then; they were wood and very heavy. That is, except me. By “borrowed,” I meant snuck them out when nobody was looking. Only problem was they didn’t always get back to the beach without a ding or two.
Unbeknownst to me, some of those dudes ganged up on my dad one night and suggested I get my own board or “somebody might down him.” From what my dad told me, it was after mulling it over for a few weeks he decided to get me a board for Christmas. I am glad he did.
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Corky: Remembering the friends and surfers who influence your style Corky: Remembering a childhood with Mr. Surfside Corky: These dudes prove you are never too old to surfIt was a solid balsawood 8-foot-7inch pintail made by Dick Barrymore. It weighed 3 pounds more than I did. Dick later became famous for making ski movies.
It was one of those clear and sunny, yet super freezing, winter mornings. We didn’t have wetsuits yet. I used a bar of my mom’s paraffin wax on my new board, tied on a pair of swimming trunks and paddled that baby out. Surf was small and high tide.
I caught a white-water wave, maybe 2 to 3 feet, and rode it toward shore. There was a deep spot inside and the wave reformed into a green water swell and I rode it all the way to the beach. That ended my college career right then. (Although I did take music classes later in life at both Saddleback and Orange Coast colleges).
The second fun memory would have been Christmas Day 1971. I was on the North Shore in Hawaii competing in all the winter events over there.
I was invited to have dinner with a good pal, Al Dukes, and his wife, who lived up on the top of Pupukea Heights. They had also invited the colorful Malibu surfer Johnny Fain.
During the afternoon, Al and Johnny played a game of chess. I watched, having never played it myself. Afterward, Johnny showed me how to play and spotted me a bunch of pieces.
He cleaned my clock of course. Sparked my ultra-competitive side.
After dinner, the three of us went surfing at Kammieland. That spot doesn’t get good very often, it usually has a big rip current running right through it, which chops it up and pulls you out to sea sometimes faster than you can paddle against it. But on that day, it was perfect. About 8 feet with just the right offshore winds and very little current. Only the three of us out. Great memory.
The after story on that one was that I went out and bought two books on how to play chess and chess strategies. I got a cheap chessboard with plastic pieces and played against myself while reading the books. I was sharing a house with Rodney Sumpter, the English surf champ, and started practicing by playing him. He could play, but was a beginner; it took me no time to crush him.
After a couple of weeks, I invited Johnny over for dinner. Afterward, I pulled out my chess set and asked if he would give me a rematch. He agreed and spotted me the same number of pieces that he had the first time. This time I won. He was kinda shook and said he would play me for $100 straight up. I agreed, and won. He never paid up.
Space for one more short one. Not sure exactly what year it was, late ’70s though, because I was working at SURFER magazine at the time. My pal and music partner, Chris Darrow, and I went surfing at Salt Creek.
It was a sunny and clear day with warm offshore winds blowing. Surf was perfect.
There was a couple on the beach who had set up a small table and a Christmas tree and also had a TV. The tree and TV were powered by an extension cord that hooked into an RV that they had parked there. They were having eggnog and were watching the Christmas day game on the set. Classic Southern California.
This kinda thing is why they started the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day. People all over the country see great weather on TV and book vacations to California.
Have a happy and safe new year.
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