The board club season continues to roll along nicely with two rounds of the open aggregate completed and the first of the mal comps in the bag. Once again our membership base is looking strong and most pleasingly we are having some ex members return to the fold after some time in the wilderness. One of the things that I am most stoked about as President is the feedback that is generated by the can of worms articles printed in the newsletter. Check out the responses in this issue on some of the questions that were raised when we opened the Lighthouse canÕo. We have an interview from contest director Michael Pinney with his dad the semi legendary Stretch Pinney on the topic of who first surfed the Lighthouse. Stretch who ??? I hear you say. If you are still at a loss after reading M.Ps interview talk to some of the original board club members and by that I mean the sixties version. As it happens I reached the same conclusion as M.P. on the subject of who was the first to surf the Lighthouse after having a quick history lesson from Pete and Chris. Another question answered was how some of the surf spots came to be named and in particular why Colgate came to be called Colgate. Supposedly the word was that if you surfed the place it would clean your teeth well and truly. So before we get into the serious stuff have a squiz at M.Ps interview with his dad.(Point Lonsdale Boardriders : bringing families together!!)

 

In response to SparxÕs article on the Lighthouse. I would like to thank Sparx for opening his can of worms and Chris Laker for letting me know that he thought my dad was the first to surf Lighthouse. So I decided to pop the question at work one day.

M.P. So dad do you remember when you first surfed the Lighthouse

G.P. Yeh, I remember it like it was yesterday (grins)

M.P. Were you the first person to surf it?

G.P. Yeh I was the first to catch a wave, but Gordon Baker will say it didnÕt count because I took off on the shoulder. I thought I would move a bit further inside on each wave.

M.P. Do you remember when it was

G.P. Nah no idea

M.P. Cmon you must remember how old you were

G.P. Mmm, I think I was about 18

M.P. Holy shit thatÕs about 1961 or 2. Would you be interested in writing a paragraph about it for the Boardriders newsletter?

G.P Nah, that would be blowing my own trumpet.

M.P. Well IÕll see what I can do

I reckon its pretty cool, weÕve still got the board he used that day (10ft long, round fin  and it weighs 20 to 30 kgs) and IÕve got a photo of him out there in his Q.F.C. shorts on a pearler from a following session. They saved their woollen footy jumpers for winter. M.P.

 

Anyway todayÕs can deals with the Glanuese Reefs and as per usual I am going to preface this by saying that this is just my opinion. Who is the best changes on a daily basis and so what I will try to do is bring to your attention those who have surfed consistently well over the 28 years that are familiar to me. As far as who was the first to surf it, the answer according to Chris and Pete is the same as for the Lighthouse. Stretch Pinney and Col Ferrier were supposedly the first and one would imagine it would have been at around about the same time. Before we get into Glanuese proper what about Ledges? I dare anyone to deny that ledges absolutely smokes on its day. Super full tide, offshore and the right combination of sand and reef and Ledges can absolutely wail. ItÕs a reasonably mellow take off followed by of all things ÒLedgesÓ which can translate into some insane barrels. Former Ledges masters would have to include Dugga, John Joubert and Tony Schott. Of late I have noticed Lachy and Cam sniffing around over there whenever it looks to be on.

Glanuese in the early days was a whole different ball game to today chiefly because of board design. The wave itself remains the same, dredging takeoff barrel followed by a second section culminating in the end bowl. All of this in the space of around 7 seconds. Yep thatÕs right, wack a stop watch on it and shake your head in disbelief. If Glanuese were any shorter it wouldnÕt qualify as a wave at all!! As such the trick is to get in early and backdoor the first section hopefully putting yourself deep enough in the barrel to sit there all wave. If you miss it on the take off your only option is to ease around the section or stall for the end bowl barrel. Obviously in the early days equipment restricted available options.

My earliest memories of Glanuese are around the mid 70s when the Sladey shaped Lynchy round pin replica was the weapon of choice. On one of my first surfs out there I remember vividly a wave breaking on the Glanuese Bomby at which point I promptly undid my leg rope and started paddling for the horizon. When I realised that (A) I wasnÕt going to be washed to the beach by the Bomby and (B) that I was alone, I turned around to paddle back to the take off  only to see all of the assorted heavies of the day falling of their boards with laughter at me. Some lessons are learned quickly. I also have a Kodak moment memory of the same day sitting in the channel crapping myself watching Sladey. He took off on one particular beast that was dredging on the drop to the extent that The Spade started to go backwards up the face. At some stage gravity took over and the inevitable happened, the fin popped and Sladey sideslipped from the top to the bottom at which point he went into a full crouch grabbed the back third of his board and literally pulled the fin back into the wave face. At that point he was about two board lengths back inside the barrel which is where he stayed until he got blown out in the channel, right in front of me!!

Who was the best? Back in the single fin seventies there were two methods of attack. For the natural footers it was either off the bottom snap under the lip and get covered on the way down or the backhand layback (remember them). Rexy Stephens was the master of the under the lip snap and pulled them off with mechanical precision on his magic Ronny Ford. Others who ripped included Dugga of course, big Bear Lillies, Knoxie, Juppie, Vic Hurley, Johnnie Roberts and Mick Trewhella. The layback was pioneered by the likes of John Joubert and Gags, both of whom got some epic pits using this technique. The Goofies were a much more laid back Lopez (Gerry not Jennifer) inspired bunch. Buzz Sands, Pete Growney, Strop and Susta Glew all surfed Glanuese with a casual tube stall rather than backdoor approach. Kent pretty much blew that scene apart with some inspired ripping on a variety of surf craft. I donÕt want to dwell on it to much cause I end up sounding like a Kent Groupie but Stoney was an awesome surfer at Glanuese in the early days primarily because he didnÕt surf like any one else and basically he didnÕt give a stuff.

Fast forward to the thruster and a whole different approach to Glanuese became evident. The Pig Dog opened parts of the wave that had previously been off limits to the natural footers and the thruster got the goofies into the barrel from behind the peak. In short everyone was getting shacked. Pioneer Pig Doggers included John Joubert, Lachlan Manly, Tas and of course Phippsy. The Goofies through this era were spearheaded by Kent as usual, Wesso Blizzy and myself. But for my money the two guys who have been deeper at Glanuese than anyone would have to be Pinney and Col Gleeson. For me these two redefined the meaning of deep at Glanuese. By using the Pig Dog they would regularly grab rail from way to the wrong side of the peak and slide their way through the deepest of pits. I would go as far as to say that these two actually used the technique to get deeper on take off than any goofie possibly could. Pinney in particular was absolutely mental. He would take off on the sort of wave that no one in their right mind would even contemplate, the sort of massive gurglers that would make it more practical to jump off your board and run across the reef through the barrel. As such he paid the price on more than one occasion with blown ear drums and busted knees. Having said that, he also nailed some of the most epic pits that have ever been ridden at Glanuese, in my humble opinion. (bloody good lighthouse surfer to)

What of the future? A cynic would say that Glanuese is stuffed well and truly. It resembles more a flee circus than a surf spot these days and I cant see any way the crowd is going to thin out any time soon. However in the not to distant future the OrvisÕ the Cohens and the Ferriers are going to make there way up to the proving grounds along with some of the other hot Groms coming through the ranks. These guys will be ably led by the likes of Greeny who is absolutely ripping at the moment and Chris Martin who is not to far behind. Throw in the Cam and Lachy factor and a sprinkling of grumpy old farts and there might be life left in the old girl yet.

Insides!! What can I say? On its day itÕs got a take off thatÕs heavier than Glanuese followed by a workable wall and the potential to go on forever. Hands up anyone who has ridden a wave from insides through reef break? It can make 6.5 second Glanuese look positively shabby. And to sweeten the pot there is something that vaguely resembles a right hander out there on occasions.

Rather than run through the usual suspects who rip and have ripped Insides I would like to retell two personal anecdotes. First up a couple of months ago I was watching some of Schotties video footage. There was some tape of Insides on a nice four foot swell about 15 years ago and a few of the boys were out partaking. On one particular wave Codsa and Jamie Tippett split the peak with Cods going right and Jamie going left. They dropped in rail to rail and then both laid into their bottom turns, each going away from the other. Over a series of freeze frames we got it to the point were both boards were laid up on the rail to the extent that all you could see was the planshape of the bottom of the boards two sheets of spray and one fin out of three hanging in on both. Pretty impressive stuff!!

Anecdote 2. Easter two years ago and Phippsy and his little mate from Reunion were out at Insides. It was about as good as its ever going to get and Phippsy was ripping in his usual fashion. Anyway, when this little bloke took off I was interested, firstly because he looked about twelve years old and secondly because the board he was surfing was about four foot ten. He picked off a solid six footer came straight off the bottom, threw it under the lip and then went straight back into the barrel, busted out through the curtain, hauled it around the section and then proceeded to do it time after time to the beach. Needless to say I and all who were watching were totally gobsmacked. I think even Phippsy was impressed.

Anyway, enoughÕs enough. Stayed tuned for next episode when we go to Back Beach and beyond.