Summer is officially over. And what a summer it wasn’t.

Here in Ventura we received one decent summer swell. And it was during the Ventura County Fair. Getting a nice south swell during the Fair is predictable. It last for 10 days so getting something during those 10 days is likely.

Thing about the fair is that parking gets shut down. The formally free lot gets closed and the pay lot up into pipe is also closed. So the only place to park close to the beach is at inside point. That gets filled up during the Fair before sun up if there is a swell. And that’s what happened the day of the only decent south swell this now past summer.

Fortunately when I got down at the point, when it was still dark, I found a parking space so I could park and go for a walk up the point as the day was just getting light. Check the conditions, see where the swell was focused and of course see all the guys that would have parked up in the upper lot, that was closed, walk all the way up to Pipe. Some guys even running. Not that the surf was that great but it takes several minutes to get up there and then several minutes to get back to you vehicle after you surf. When you’ve got to get to work every minute is crucial.

Not everyone will make the trek up to Pipe so they just go out at the point or surf inside point. Which makes for very crowed conditions. Even though the swell produce pretty consistent sets unless you were really aggressive getting a set wave was though. This ole guy wasn’t feeling very aggressive that day so I got a whopping 4 waves during the hour plus I was in the water.

Days like that have me longing for my younger days when there where fewer surfers and you could surf for a hour or two and get worn out. Getting plenty waves and lots of paddling to get back in the lineup for another go at it.

The other thing about this now past summer was the water temperature…. call it cold. Wearing a winter suit into June is a bit much. But if you didn’t want to shiver for an hour…. Well that’s what if did. It did finally warm up but didn’t stay that that way. Even now the water is just above 60 degrees. The water temps last winter got pretty cold so looks like there could be repeat of cold water  this winter.

With no real summer surf maybe we’ll get some nice fall surf. In my neck of the woods fall can offer up some nice consistent surf.

Hoping for the best.

D.R.

 My wife and I have been going through some stuff we’ve had in storage. In a box of board games this surfaced….

                                                 

Anyone ever seen this. I can’t say I tried playing the game and honestly don’t remember anything about it.

It looks to be laid out like the game of Monopoly. There are 2 sets of cards that a player gets to draw from similar to Monopoly that are labeled Trivia and Challenge. 

So what the heck… lets look at what these cards say.

Challenge Question: What was the first surf magazine called?

The answer says, The Surfer

I don’t think that’s right. I believe it’s just Surfer, or Surfer Magazine.

Ok, another one: What does ASP stand for?

The answer says, Association of Surfing Professionals.

Kind of dated since the ASP is no longer. I’m pretty sure we have the WSL. World Surf League. The games was made in 1996… we’ve moved on from then.

How ‘bout a Trivia card.

Is there really a famous surfer known as “Da Bull”?

Answer says, Yes. But the card doesn’t say his name. Sad that one, The late Greg Knoll may he rest in peace.

One more: When 2 people surf together on the same board, what kind of surfing is that?

Answer, Tandem. Not sure Tandem surfing is much of a thing these days. But there it is.

Maybe I’ll post some more surf trivia question another time.

D.R

I've not updated or uploaded surfboard pictures to my web site for some time.  So there are a good 16 different models listed.

However,  here are some images of a few board models I make that are currently not listed on my web site.

D.R.

Mini T&G

The DR Vee

DR Wing Nose

DR Wing Nose

The 70’s Single Fin

 

Of the 40 some miles of coast line that is inside Ventura County about 30 of those miles one could actually live at the beach or a few blocks from the beach.

Maybe 20 miles are homes on the beach or areas that are beach breaks. Ventura town itself has a short area of home on the beach and there are some condos and apartments on the beach on the point.

As a kid if you were fortunate enough to have lived in one of those beach communities and started surfing…. well, most likely that’s what every surfer would like. The Campbell brothers Malcolm and Duncan lived along the beach in Ventura County in what is called Oxnard Shores. That’s where one of the most world renowned surfboard designs got its start. https://www.bonzer5.com/

Over the years there have been a number of surfboard labels that have come up out of Ventura County that have held up over the years. William Dennis being one of them getting started in 1967 and still being made today. Ventura surf shop is one of the longest established surf shops on the California coast and it is home for William Dennis Surfboard as well as a home for Campbell Bros.

In the early days of surfing there was Morey-Pope that had success and reach outside of its home of Ventura County. In contemporary times I’d say it’s Campbell Bros. that have certainly had success and reach outside of Ventura County. As a matter of fact, Campbell Bros have continued to grow. The reach of their unique design is global. There are very few surfboard labels that have a global audience. Not only a global audience but also a surfboard design like no other. If you know surfboards and see a Bonzer you know exactly what it is…. Not your normal run of the mill kind of shape. As well as many surfers favorite boards.

The population of Ventura County has grown in large proportions. Still certainly not as populated as other places along the coast of California. The more populated coastal towns and counties have certainly contributed to surfing and surfboards in very large ways. And I would say that Ventura has its contributions too. Both in the early days of the surfboard industry and now.

My post this past May got me started writing about all this Ventura stuff because… “I was recently told that a certain surf magazine publication turned away a story about Morey-Pope. The  60’s surfboard company from Ventura  and it’s very significant contribution to surfing and it’s history…..”

Well that Story has been published. In Australia not California https://www.pacificlongboarder.com/

Go figure.

D.R.

 

The first ever surf contest that paid money to the top competitor was at “C” street in Ventura.

It was put together by Tom Morey in summer of 1965. Morey was head of the USSA at the time and seems with that position would be the right ingredient for a successful event… which it was.

Keep in mind that in the mid sixties the only surfboards being ridden were what we now call long boards. As I’ve said in past posts we just called the boards we surfed back then  a surfboard. One of the most difficult things to do on a long board is to execute a nose ride. Some people can nose ride and get pretty good at it. Others have a difficult time even getting close to the nose let alone hang what we call toes over the nose.

What Morey did with the first ever cash prize surf event ( pro surf contest ) was make the judging of the event objective. The objective was record the length of time the contestants spent on the nose… 25% of the boards length from the tip of the nose. It didn’t matter what you looked like getting to the nose or after, your style or anything else. The judges held stop watches and recorded the time a contestant spent in the 25% area of their board while on what ever wave they caught.

The surfer with the highest total time on the nose won the event. No subjective judging at all. That’s never happened since. Of course how could you have an objective surf meet when riding the surfboard of today? Unless the event is a long board event. The nose riding event the judges only had to do a little math as opposed to deciding how well a surfer maneuvered through the wave that was caught.  And, if the surfers style was more likeable than other competitors.

Then there is the luck of the draw on what competitors were in the right place at the right time to paddle into the better waves that come through the time of day and time of the heat being surfed in. Morey’s surf meet had that part sure, the competitors had to find the best waves that would give them the best opportunity to hang on the nose. That’s a skill that is developed but still when the better waves were caught only the time spent on the nose was counted.

At some point a “pro surf event” had to happen to set up the possibility for a future of professionals. Someone had to be first and it had to be somewhere…. That place was Ventura. Not just a surf spot in Ventura County but in the town of Ventura.

The point in Ventura  produces a nice long board wave that can have a nice line for nose riding if not one of the better ones on the coast. Though the waves are pretty much thought a bit soft. However the secrets to the spot are held close by the locals. Like tides, winds, best swell directions, when the sands have moved around some to produce the better lines for nose riding   Or, for good all around recreational surfing.

Even gets surf all year long.

D.R.

 

Aside from a significant number of good surf spots in the short 42 miles of Ventura’s coastline, there have been some pretty significant surf industry contributions to the sport from people in Ventura as well.

The surfboard industry got it’s start in the 1950’s and by the early 60’s it began to grow exponentially.. There were a few surfboard builders in Ventura that started in the early 60’s One of the companies in Ventura in the early 60’s was a company called Ventura International Plastics.

VIP had a surfboard production process to make what was later called pop outs because they weren’t made in the traditional hand shaped process. The person that ran the company I believe was a man named Bill Fisher. These boards were sold all across the country in places like Sears. Not unlike the mass produced surfboards you can buy at Costco now days. Though the boards you find at Costco are what we call foamies, VIP boards were built with a fiberglass process.

Tom Hale also made surfboards in Ventura in the 1960’s and sold them at his store called Ventura Surf shop. Now the home of William Dennis Surfboards that was started in 1967. William Dennis Surfboards is one of the longest established surf board labels in California.

One of the most influential people in the business of making surfboards… Tom Morey,  started making surfboards in Ventura in the early 60’s. First as Surfboards Australia. Then teaming up with his friend Karl Pope and building a very influential board and surf accessories companies at the time and is still considered that to this day.

With the demand for surfboards and media exposure the various surfboard companies sponsored guys and gals that were recognized for their surfing abilities and these surfers would have a special surfboard model made for them. Moery-Pope had 2 of them. The John Peck Penetrator and the Bob Cooper Blue Machine. Of all the surfboard models that were made back then those 2 boards are in the lineup with only a few others as the most iconic of the period. If not the most uniquely different.  In 1968 they produced what has been considered the first short board in production. The McTavish Tracker.

They also developed a removable fin system. The system was developed for the industry and several other surfboard labels used the system and were able to have their own proprietary fins made specially for their label.

You know we didn’t have surf wax in the 60’s either. We used paraffin we got from the grocery store.  Morey-Pope developed a spray on product to use on your board to take the place of paraffin. That product was sold virtually everywhere you bought a surfboard. If it was still available there's hardly a long boarder that wouldn’t be using it today. But alas it wouldn’t be available because it was a solvent based material… now banned…. At least in California.

After Morey and Karl went different ways around 1970 Morey went on and developed the Morey Boogie body board and Karl stayed in Ventura and started making a sandwiched molded surfboard with a honey comb core. W.A.V.E. Water Apparatus and Vehicular Engineering.  Very innovative stuff. He later developed a travel board technology you could make a surfboard into 2 pieces for a suitcase type traveling arrangement. And  developed another hollow board that was virtually indestructible. I watched him throw one of those boards on the pavement to show how nothing would happen to it if you lost it on the rocks or something.

And yet that’s not all that's been created for surfing that has come from Ventura.

D.R.    

 Morey-Pope produced some very deferent magazine adds. Not like what you would see from some of the other labels from that time period.

Where I live, Ventura County, has right around 42 miles of coastline. Are there places to surf along the 42 miles? Absolutely.

Coming up the coast from just a short distance past the L.A, Ventura County line is a surf spot called County Line. It’s a very popular destination to surf for both L.A. surfers and surfers that live in the east south east inland area of Ventura County.

But County Line is just the first of…. well, I don’t know how many places there are to surf along those 42 miles of the coast. I’ve surfed many but not surfed them all. That could be a fun exercise. Go to every place there is you could surf along the 42 miles of coastline that fits inside Ventura County California.

I’ll tell you what…. You’d find some really good ones.

I know of one that can handle size and produces spitting barrels at size. I know of another that can offer up such a long line your legs laterally will tell you they’ve had enough. And, you’ll either straighten out or pull out because you don’t think you can make another turn off the bottom without collapsing. Honestly for all the surfers in the world few experience that sensation.

There is a spot at the county line of Ventura and Santa Barbara.  At the end of the  42 miles of coast line from the spot called “County Line”.  Speaking of the world of surfers….   This spot is known the world over and is a destination spot for surfers that travel to California to find surf. It has a name but is often called the Queen of the Coast. Why? Because it is the Crown of the surf spots of California.

I was recently told that a certain surf magazine publication turned away a story about Morey-Pope. The  60’s surfboard company from Ventura  and it’s very significant contribution to surfing and it’s history…..  My response was to say… “Typically the Ventura area and into Santa Barbara is mostly overlooked by the more populated southern end of the California coast surfing community.”  So it wasn’t really a surprise to me. But sad.

The city of Ventura is a beach town. The street to enter down town Ventura is California Street. California Street is just 3 and a half blocks long. It starts at the beach and goes those 3.5 blocks straight up to a majestic looking building that is the Ventura City Hall. Climb the steps to the front doors to City Hall turn around and look back down California Street. You’ll be looking a the start of a surf spot best known as “C” Street, short for “California Street”

Keeping in mind that surfing is the state sport of California… I think The City of Ventura is the only place in California that the City center looks straight at a surf spot. Just a short 14 miles up the road from “C” Street is the “Queen” of the coast. From there back down to “C” street there are 3 other fine point breaks. “C” Street being one of them. Someone tell me out side of the area of coast called The Ranch , which is all private property, is there any other 14 mile stretch of coast in California that has 4 very surf able point breaks?

How many thousands of surfers have developed their skills at those surf spots? How many surfers travel specifically to Ventura to surf those spots?  Plenty!

Ventura has largely contributed and is still contributing to surfing and its history. Morey-Pope was a part of that contribution during the earlier days of surfing.   

D.R.

If and when you find this spot looking like this and you pick off one of those waves... It can lead to wobbly legs as mentioned above.