10 things you remember about the good old days

3,8,9 I wish I could have been older to experience

 

#4-- we bought paraffin wax at the local Gulf fuel stations....sex wax was not yet on the market.

additions:
a) each one of us four surfers in the Opel Cadet donating 25 cents for fuel to get to the beach; it filled the tank!!
b) $1 was enough for lunch on the beach--a hot dog with "everything" on it and a large Coca Cola.
c) climbing on the roof of my parents home in PR in order to view the ocean to check the surf with a telescope.
d) my CON Ugly surfboard
e) my Sidewinder surfboard (made in Florida but I cannot remember the Brand name--anyone remember?? The name started with H)

too many others for me to recall


just googled the board and found this: http://www.thesurfboardproject.com/holmesy-sidewinder/
only 200 were made, and I owned one; too bad I did not keep it. Great nose rider!!

 

11) watching the weather channel to see if the wind switched
12) not giving a **** about equipment and just surfing the only board you own no matter if it was 1' or 10'
13) hanging at the pier all day long. Every day.
14) thinking that older locals were cooler than any pro surfer you'd see in magazines
15) surf magazines seemed way cooler and way more action packed as a kid
16) surf videos having actual music and not some electronic crap
17) not getting super pissed when somebody else paddles out when you're surfing by yourself (this one might just apply to me, I'm more selfish than the average person)
18) being able to buy a new surfboard for $400 or less. And we're talking name brand here
19) no Instagram or Facebook or color-coded surf forecasting sites or any other internet crap that I feel like is making it more crowded by the day. I realize the irony on this one
20) hating on longboarders and boogie boarders just because that's what you were taught to do. Y'all got lucky that SUPs were invented

For me the good old days were really from like 2000-2005, when I was in my early teens. Things have changed a lot since then but I'm sure people felt the same way then about the "good old days" of the early 90's

 

Pulling the posters out of the Surfing magazine and hanging them on the bedroom wall. Then, sneaking the centerfold out of the Playboy magazine and hanging it underneath the surfing poster!

4) sexwax was the only wax
22) Everything was fluorescent, and cool. LOL
23) Gotcha
24) paddling out at IRI on an overcast 4-6' glassy day and about 2 people out besides me and 3 buddies
25) Hanging out at the surf shop was actually cool. (Mandalaly Surfshop, Clearwater, FL)

 

26) ditching school with friends to catch a swell.( boss man and my mortgage co. frown upon this lately.)

 

Even though I started surfing in the 70s, I still believe these are the good old days. I look forward to every swell with the same anticipation and the occasional surprise swell. All we knew is that the weather systems moved west to east and heavy onshore winds meant something good to come. Earlier times my bud and I would hitch hike or take the train with our boards to the beach and we where about 14 at the time. Getting my drivers license opens up new travels. I could get from Jersey to Hatteras and back, eat ,sleep and play for days for under 80 bucks. Gas about 57 cents a gallon. The smells of fiberglass resin, coconut wax, and seawater all bring me back to those earlier times. I still laugh about the leash system when the boxed fin had the securing screw kind of like an eye bolt to tie your leash to. Custom boards and off racks were 200-300.o yea beaver tail wetsuites.
The industry makes way better boards and equipment now and is producing some phenomenal surfers for those willing to put the time in under all conditions. Too bad the pricing hasn't stayed the same for these up-starts.
Always in my mind are the beginnings, which keeps me going forward and waiting for the next wave.

 

1) $5.00 worth of gas got you to the beach
2) called local surf shop for swell forecast
3) 7'6" Con Butterfly
4) drilled a hole through base of fin to attach leash
5) Sunshine House G & S 's came with Frye Wings
6) No high rise condo's from 94th St to Bobby Bakers @ 118th St. O.C's old surfing beach area
7) Hippie girls in bikini's

 

Ditching school on a midwinter day to surf, keeping warm between sessions with a fire in the dunes.

Driving myself to the beach when my parents were on vacation when I was 13.

Hanging out in the corner of the shaping room watching Dan Heritage Sr. do his magic. If I stood there long enough, he'd dig out a reject blank and some lumpy resin and sell them to me.

"Hellooooo, this is Clay...."

Watching surf FILMS at Cape May Convention Hall... and the crowd getting ROWDY.

A quart of Miller and a Slim Jim for $.99.

 

The Piping Plover was just another bird. Not anendangered species that dictated our beach access.
Rockaways was not a trendy place and at times very dangerous.
King David Manor
Farmer John wetsuits and booties w zippers
Surf East dry suits with velcro straps to seal the wrist and ankle.

 

1) Bayley wetsuits
2) Black rubber "goon cords"
3) All boards were Clark Foam
4) The smell of Sex Wax lasted for days
5) My first used Lis Fish costed $90 from Select Surf Shop
6) Saving up Sick Days at school to ditch during swells
7) Leaving parties at 2 am to illegally siphon gas to surf Baja
8) Surfing Baja before the condo's and hotels were built over the best waves
9) Gas was 65 cents per gallon (California)
10) Cigs were 75 cents per pack
11) my '64 VW Van

 

Columbian red $35oz
Columbian gold
thai sticks $20
super suits
rolling rock nips at school lunch
mr natural
mad magazine , alfred e newman
calling coast guard station for marine weather forecast
putting slugs in payphones at beach so you couldn't call your buddies and tell them how good it is
being an outcast of society , f the man
being able to just flip a load and go on an extended surf trip
raggety ann at that Halloween costume party, would love to find her again

in the land of the blind only one eyed jacks are king

o those were the days

 

Mr. Natural, o bagus??
How about Fritz the Cat???
Zap Comics
Janis Joplin Cheap Thrills.....great album!!
Panama Red.
Lebanese Hash

o bagus

 

crappy paki

 

Great tread! Keep it up forum followers!!

 

The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers
Midnight Movie decision: "The Song Remains The Same", "Rocky Horror" or "Andy Warhol's Frankenstein"?
Hitchhiking
Hare Krishna's
Original Churchill swimfins (all green, all soft)
Heavy localism
Laughing at the "New Wave" kooks like Danny Kwock

oh yeah...and hairy beavers

 

And Spam was something that got stuck in your teeth too.

 

Driving to the campgrounds at Hatteras, arriving at night & always finding a spot no matter what time of year.

Hatteras light. In the original spot.

Sunshine House in OCMD & Claude Codgen's boards: still have my 6'7 Codgen.

Those stupid beads that dudes wore around their neck.

Surf movies at OCMD convention center.

I think these days are better, though. Seriously.

 

micro dot

 

Duuuuuude!