This is one I let get away. A 1934 Dodge Woody wagon. It matched my 34 delivery. I wish I { Wood of } kept it. lol Ron...
It was a great old driver. I found this thread, and I'm giving it a little bump. lets see some Surf wagons. Ron...
Hanalei Bay Hello, In the summer of 1971, we went to visit a good friend in Kauai. He had just finished building two identical homes in Hanalei and wanted us to visit. How could we turn this down? With a no return date involved, was that cool or what? Once we arrived, we mapped out what we were going to do during this endless summer stay. But, we needed transportation during this whole vacation, so we bought a car together. It had to hold 4-6 people and be reliable. We picked out a cool, used, British Army green, 4 door, 1962 Nash Rambler American for $350.00. It had 30000 miles and was in great shape. We drove it back to our house and it ran great. We all fit neatly in the car. Since I had brought clamps from the mainland for surf racks, we measured and cut some hardwood for the custom, wide, surf racks for this Rambler. Our boards fit neatly on these custom racks. We had some fix it items after a wild ride down a dirt road path to a hidden waterfall and a surf spot. We had a gas tank leak in the corner after bottoming out on a huge rut. The tank was removed, drained, and we patched it with multiple layers of fiberglass, fiberglass cloth shreds, and resin to make a hard shell over the small hole. (We could not weld over the hole, as we were scared of the fumes remaining after draining the tank.) Now, the 4 door Rambler was ready for more island adventures. Daily trips to the overhead, point/bay break at Hanalei, Tunnels, the drive to fastest left at Waikoko (across the bay) and numerous trips to the Longboat Break at the south shore. We stayed for a month and were happy to stay for the rest of the summer. But an unlucky happenstance worked against us. One day, I got extremely sick with food poisoning from a stew purchased late one afternoon in a small restaurant. I was the only one that ate that stew and no one else got sick. I must have lost 10 lbs. losing liquids at a high rate of speed, along with dizziness and numbness. So, our tranquil vacation ended on a low note and we flew home, after a month of a great adventure. Waikoko, across the Hanalei Bay Longboat, south shore We sold our ½ interest in the Rambler and our friends kept it for several more years. That Rambler had tons of room inside because of those 4 doors. Today, those tiny Pine Trees in front of the Rambler are taller than the telephone poles and cover this whole corner lot. We were able to pull out those small pine trees out of the shoreline growth in this little cove around the point. (soaked in fresh water, dug a hole for each one, and the outstanding topsoil and rain did the rest) A great way to spend time in a cool 4 door Rambler, enjoying the lifestyle, and surf. Jnaki During this surf adventure, we made a discovery that had implications later in the surf industry. Since the waves on Kauai were quite a distance out into the bays and coves (at least 1/4 mile), we did not want to swim through shark infested waters to retrieve our boards after a wipeout. So, we bought some dental rubber tubing, tied monofilament fishing line around the ends to make a loop, attached it to a rubber suction cup and it stuck to the nose area of our boards. We had created one of the first “surf leashes.” (“Tunnels”1/4 mile paddle to the break…Where Bethany Hamilton, pro surfer, lost her arm to sharks) We put them on our wrists and it worked quite well. When we fell, upon coming up to the surface, we stuck our hands straight up and our boards came right to the outstretched hand. We found out through bumps and bruises that we could not come up head first searching for air because our boards would come shooting back and bop our heads. Being on the wrist had some advantages as they helped turn our boards around quicker in the face of the waves. But, feeling that long stretch while underwater made you aware that our boards were not going toward shore and that a short swim was in store. This wrist leash version worked well, but bruises were not nice, so we moved the leash to the ankle. The suction cup was also moved to the rear of the board on a place directly over the fin. This final place worked well, but we had to still remember to come foot up first to prevent those head bangs. Little did we know that someone we knew several years later had the same idea and developed it into the actual first commercial leash. He put a nylon cord inside of the rubber tube. That allowed stretch, but the recoil stopped when the cord tension was reached. No more head bang injuries.
Great story, jnaki, looks like paradise to me. My 8 year old son took the tail of our long board square on the bridge of his nose this summer, so much blood in the water, but I had to keep calm. Thought for sure his nose was broken, concussion etc, but an hour in the ER, and he lucked out, not even black and blue the next day. If you look close you'll see our surf transportation, (on top of the canoe), and medical transportation unit, that day.
I had one of those tow behind the bike board carries that I built when I lived in SoCal so many years ago. I lived in Torrance at the time and I would pedal to the Torrance beach cliffs........phew! that was a long ride especially the ride home after surfing all morning..........ah, youth!
Hey Clunk... Sorry about your son's injury. My very first outing in 1960 with a surfboard resulted in ten stitches in the inner lips of my mouth. I was going out with a friend on a 4-5 foot day and the white wash was rolling in like crazy. We had to paddle out through numerous rollers. Finally, I decided (in my beginner's wisdom) to get off of my board and as a novice, pushed the board over the top of the whitewater. That did not go over too well as the wall of water immediately fought back and pushed the tail of the board right into my closed mouth. (resulting in stitches inside both lips.) My friend said I looked like a bloody vampire just after a meal. I was not discouraged, but my mother said surfing was too dangerous. She made a decree that I cannot go surfing unless I was with my brother. As if he could prevent further injuries...But, in 42 years of weekly surfing, I only had a strained shoulder falling down the face of a 10 foot wave in the 90's when I misjudged the take off point and tumbled down, over and over. That still hurts at times, today. You know the old saying...stuff happens... Jnaki For your "tough" son, keep trying...it only gets better. It is a lifetime activity. Also, in keeping with the surf transportation theme: The car we went to this beach was an MGA Roadster. How in the world did we get two 9 foot longboards to the beach? We made a rear rack straight up from the bumper and with those 50+ lbs. boards tied down to the front windshield frame, made for a very sturdy support. But, it was freezing in the 20 mile trip all the way back to the emergency room in Long Beach.
photo by Leroy Grannis Hello, This spot looks like our favorite spot in the North Los Angeles County, along Highway 1. “Secos” was such a cool spot to surf. The take off on the bigger waves was near a big rock. It lined up all the way to the beach. There were lots of fun “down the line” surfing and the waves held up nicely for some nose action. Malibu Beach was the most popular, but this place was less crowded early. Different times, different seasons, but all good surf spots in Los Angeles County. It was quite a drive to this spot from Long Beach, but was well worth it if the timing was right. Jnaki The bad thing was that if you got there early and had some great waves, then, that may be the last time. The beach and take off spot was clearly visible from Highway 1 going up/down the coast and parking was right in front of the break. Even if the parking along the highway was full, there was parking on the other side of the main highway. That made early morning surfing and the first day of the swell very important. By 8:00AM, it was too crowded to enjoy.
Trog 2014 by wagoon78 posted Apr 5, 2016 at 12:57 PM My sedan and surfboards at TROG. After taking a few years off we will probably be doing a surfboard display again.
Hey Wag, Nice boards on your sedan. Those laminated combo fins with beads all around were very difficult to make and stay straight when repairing them. But, how did you attach the boards to a rack on your sedan? Jnaki
Hello, If you have ever watched The Chainsmokers video of the ever popular "Closer" song, you were within a minute or two of this spectacular surf spot, "Secos." That video shows a lot of the coastline from Point Magu in the north all the way down to the Latigo Canyon coastline area. The inland portions of the film are part of this vast wilderness just a few minutes drive into the valleys. The beauty of this part of the coastline is shown in the aerial footage and the beach scenes. A good showing of the So Cal coastline for everyone. Definitely, a worthwhile area for cruising in your hot rod anytime of the year. The roads, surf, and valleys, it is hard to keep your eye on the road when driving on this Highway 1 up or down this part of the coastline. keep driving north or south as this photo shows the coastline. Jnaki I am sure that you have seen or heard this song...It is one of the best of the whole line of cool songs by The Chainsmokers. But it is the driving image of the coastline that is so striking...ok, so is the girl in the video.
Hello, Now I realize there are a 100 different versions of "Closer." Here is the right one that shows the outstanding Los Angeles County coastline footage, including beach shots. It fits right in with the photo of the pickup truck with the massive amount of surfboards sticking out of the back. Just pretend you are driving your 40 Ford Sedan Delivery, surf wagon, or hot rod roadster...in search of waves. Jnaki We ain't ever getting older No, we ain't ever getting older
The Jalopy Journal
