Hi Paul, how are you? Hope you got waves during the most recent swell.
I
was talking Wedge (a discrete subset of surf babble) with a friend of
mine, Steve, who grew up in the Corona Del Mar area. He shared a couple
of mat photos from his teenage years.
First is from his favorite spot
(not the Wedge), a bike ride from where he lived. He wrote:
"Great fast left at times. Good cliff jump too. Resident seal
gang bodysurfing on same waves. Lost my virginity and lots of brain cells there. Ah, youth... "
Photo: Woody Woodworth
I asked him to elaborate. Exercising discretion, he wrote:
"That photo from mid-1970s. And actually, my late great friend Tom
Delorenzo and I had running argument over if it was his shot of me or
vice-versa. The rafts were those old striped ones, I forget make, but
we called them “rubber ducks” and sometimes
glassed 2 small fins into the bottom (before twin-fin boards, even).
Which sometimes fell off. These were mainly the standard ride at Big
Corona jetty, “off the end” when big south swells hit, before anybody
rode actual boards there (or at the Wedge, for
that matter). Warm water, rarely with wetsuits, so beyond the rocks of
the jettys, nipple rash was the main hazard. Plus big debates over
whether Duck Feet or Churchill’s were better fins... "
Steve attached a second pic:
"Here’s my oldest pal Scott with his, Big Corona, 1975. October in fact ,
when the swells were best and school attendance got very sketchy...
Ps Churchills"
Take care,
Jonathan
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Saw the Surfmatters article submitted by Jonathan….stoked on that content!
Confirmed with Woody this evening that the “Scott” in the top picture is indeed one Scott Flanagan of CdM.
Who knows how many old Sea Kings (CdM alumni) will come from out of the shadows to share their jetty lore?
JJ
