Crow’s view on the history of Surfing

Surfings early days.

Hawaiians rode waves on wooden hand carved boards, royalty standing up on 16′ Olo’s and commoners on shorter Alaia boards mostly ridden prone. Peruvians rode waves in when out catching fish on boards made from bundles of reeds tied up.

Hawaiian Duke Kahanamoku delivered surfing to the rest of the world in the early 1930’s, visiting many countires demostrating his surfing skills on a 10 foot solid wooden finless surfboard. Duke demonstrated the way of the aloha lifestyle and the rest of the world caught on. His famous quote – “out of the water I am nothing”.

Around 1935, Tom Blake, Duke’s good friend and fellow swimmer, drilled holes through one of his heavy redwood boards and covered it with a wood veneer, making it a lot lighter and managable. Blake then made a hollow chamber board, put a fin on it and then patented the model. This lighter more manouverable board won races, was used as the standard surf rescue board and then developed into a better wave riding board. Tom also wrote the surfers bible Hawaiin Surfriders 1935. Tom worshiped at the church of the open sky and his theory was nature=god.

Around the early 1950’s Californians Joe Quigg, Bob Simmons and Matt Kivlin developed the balsa and fibreglass Malibu Chip and then Dale Velzy starts manufacturing surfboards on a large scale.

Around 1955 the polyurethane foam board was developed and surfing grew like wild fire. In 1963 Midget Farelly wins the prestigeous Makaha championship and then the 1964 World Championships in Manly.

At the same time the surf culture grows with Phil Edwards showing style and manouvers and Miki Dora showing us surfing style with attitude. Dora summed up his feelings here – ” I drop in, set the thing up and behind me, all this stuff goes over my back: The screaming parents, teachers, police, priests, politicians – They’re all going over the falls head first … and when it starts to close out, I pull out the back , pick up another wave and do the same goddamn thing”

In 1967 Bob McTavish with Nat Young and George Greenough push surfing into the more serious involvment way of surfing by shortening and thinning and lightening boards with V in the bottom and so they now turn faster. Dick Brewer with team rider Gerry Lopez refine the shorter boards and prove they go in Hawaii’s powerfull waves when Brewer narrowed the width of the tail.

From there we got into smaller and lighter boards, all sorts of shapes and settle on the Simon Anderson Tri Fin as the most popular. Four time world chamion Mark Richards rode a combination of board types with success in competitions and his twin fin is still popular.

These days the old and the new co-exist (well almost) with the theory of ride what you like or horses for courses and its common for surfers to have several types of surfing equipment.

My own involvement in surfing started in 1964 as a 14 year old, some of my mates started getting boards and I was surfing with a surf-o-plane. I was lucky to live across the road from the beach. I came home from school one day and my Mum had just returned from walking the dog on the beach and said there was a board washed up down the second creek. I rushed down and pushed the finless dinged up balsa pig into a few foamies and got hooked and went home and patched it up.

My first surfing lesson:

I never hesitate to pass this lesson on to new starters.

I paddled out into the lineup with the local mob and straddled my board eagerly waiting my first wave.

A loud voice boomed out at me – “Crow…. F%#@ Off down there…” and I saw a finger pointing away from the rest of the pack towards the deserted southern part of the beach. I stayed away until I could handle the board and its a pity that learners don’t get this kind of expert advice these days.

Within weeks I had pestered my parents with promises of doing well at school and as an early birthday and christmas presents, into buying me a new board. (I just went to school to draw waves in my books and my birthday and christmas were still 6 and 8 months away respectivly)

I then got to order a 9′3″ Custom Warren Johnson – and it was awsome. No one these days seems to remember Warren’s board shop near Hamilton and I have no idea now who told me to go there but I still think this one was great and wish I still had it.

Crow's first 2 boards 1964

We could’nt wait to get pictures of ourselves surfing, Peter Kuba paddles out with a box browie camera in a plastic bag in his teeth and takes my photo. I am unsure how the camera survived from the look of the wave coming at him. I was wearing the state of the art wet suit of the time, a sleaveless singlet of 5mm hard neopreme rubber that rasped your arm pitts off and you had to put a T shirt under it or risk sawing your arms of as you paddled.

Crow water shot Redhead 1964

The Redhead surf crew consisted of varied aged guys, and I was the youngest, but I still got to go places with the older guys. Seal Rocks was uncrowded and camping on the beach with an open fire was just great.

Camping at Seal Rocks 1964

Crow surfing seal Rocks 1965

I eventually got my own car and what a beast – yep a Renault R4 a whole 750 cc’s of power and 3 speeds. However it did get us up the coast to Green Knob near Old Bar for 50 miles a gallon at an average of 50 miles an hour. By this time boards had thinned out but not yeat shortened. The board I had here was a Gordon Woods 9′ stringerless from Ray Richards Surf Shop.

Crow & R4 Green Knob 1967

Crow Green Knob 1967

Around late 1968 boards started getting shorter . Here Marty and I pose for a shot with our new boards before heading away to try them. Marty had a 7′10″ black railed Gordon Woods Pintail and I had an 8ft red railed Sam Egan Tracker with a clear plastic movable fin.

Martin & Crow with new boards 1969

The new shorter board went fine.

Crow 1969 on 8ft Tracker at Redhead

around 1975 the Redhead crew settled on rounded pintails with channels, made by Martin Littlewood and then Col Smith. Marty still makes boards and other surf stuff at Margaret River WA under the name Delta Designs.

Crow with 6'5" Delta around 1977

In the 80’s Mals and windsurfing added variety to surfing. Here is a bit of stuff in my garage from then.

Crow & Boards around 1983

A few bits and pieces

Father Nature feeling a bit frisky? A rock formation between Redhead and Dudley has been weathered into an unusual shape, or is it some fertility rites statue carved by a long forgotten tribe?

Rock formation below Redhead Bluff

A bush fire rages through dry pristine bushland and peters out on the sand at Mark Point on a scorching hot summers day around 1980. The fire fighters as always ensure the situation is under control.

Bush fire at Marks Point 1980s

A dazzling Lake Macquarie sunset. The sun surrounded by clouds powers though in a blaze of colour just before dropping into the hills behind the lake. Taken at Mark Point around 1980.

Firey sunset Marks Point 1980's

I’m just heading out into the brisk late arvo Sou-Wester for a chop hop run across to Swansea from Naru near Marks Point. My wife Sandy took this one. The sun was beaming in between the building clouds.

Crow sailboarding Marks Point

The winners of the Newcastle beach girl contest 1985 pose in front of the Redhead Shark Tower rocks.

Beauty Contest Winners 1985

The Hunter River passes through the rolling hills of the Hunter Valley at Pepper Trees near Muswellbrook.

Pepper Tree Mountains Hunter Valley

The water moving through reeds make a pattern in this typical sunny Australian bush river scene. Taken somewhere not far inland from Coffs Harbour around 1976.

Reeds in a pattern near Coffs Harbour 1976

Cold Chisel around 1978

You can now click on the photos to get a larger view.

Cold Chisel toured Newcastle constantly making Newcastle a Chisel stronghold. The music suited our town’s working class fans and were always great shows.

After another great gig at the Mawson, Don Walker gets to sit down and relax and takes the jar going around. Don was always thinking… and well, just maybe he comes up with inspiration and the first words for a new song (Cheap Wine).

Don Walker and Cheap Wine

Jimmy Barnes belting it out at Cardiff Workers Club around 1979.

Jimmy Barnes Cardiff Workers Club around 1979

Bass Player Phil Small same night as above.

Cold Chisel bass player Phil Small 1979 Cardiff Workers Club

Ian Moss into another great guitar solo Belmont Sporties Club around 1978.

Ian Moss Belmont Sporties around 1978

Ian and Jim same night as above.

Ian Moss and Jimmy Barnes Belmont Sporties around 1978

Cold Chisel Sydney Sports Stadium same bill as Peter Framton around 1978.

Cold Chisel Sydney Stadium around 1978

Jimmy Barnes claps to the rythm coming from Don and Phil behind him at Belmont Sporties Club around 1978.

Cold Chisel - Barnesy with Don and Phil around 1978

Ian Moss Mawson Hotel around 1978

Surfing Shots from around the 70’s

All the best wishes for the New Year to you all. I am still going through my old photos, negatives and slides I have had stashed away for years and picking out some interesting old shots. Also you can now click on the photos to get a larger view.

Peter Kuba jams a cutback on the inside rights next to Redhead Shark Tower around 1978.