My story post - 4

I don’t remember what the time period was but I’d guess it was by late spring of ’63 I had my board finished and ready to go to the beach. I didn’t live in a beach town so it wasn’t that easy to go surfing. But I did have a few friends that wanted to surf too so I got rides now and again and began the learning curve having gotten all the basics from surfing lessons.

It’s interesting the things that stick in our memoirs. Early memories of surfing for me are scattered around mostly large events like the family vacations to Newport Beach. Six to eight days of surfing in a row was a big help to learning.

The first family Newport outing that I got to take a surfboard on was in ’64. We stayed in Balboa on the bay side down the peninsula at about the Balboa pier. Surfing was done at the Newport pier. So I’d walk the distance between the to piers everyday to surf for a few hours before the black ball went up. Sometimes I’d get my brother to help me carry that 30lb board of mine, if I let him ride it a little. One guy at the nose one guy at the tail, off we’d go to Newport pier. I think I let him ride it a bit less than a little because he lost interest in helping after a few days so I ended up going the distance by myself.

A blanket neatly folded into an 18 inch square was the padding used on top of my head where the board would be perched the mile or so walk for a daily surf. Lucky thing I had a flat top hair cut!

Circa ’64, posing with family for a picture just before we took off for Newport Beach? You gotta believe I would do it if it meant a week of surfing. My mom on the left, my older sister’s friend, next my younger brother and sister then my older sister and me on the right. My surfboard tied to the luggage rack with all the other stuff. We actually all piled into that Rambler for the 2 hour drive!

D.R.