Motion Pictures Old Cars + Surfing = Paradise

Hello C,

Yes, doing some home re-arranging and during this heat wave, it is tiring for these old bones. Short breaks and lots of water is the mode of the day. The good thing is, my wife is doing just as much work as I am and we are both pushing 80... very soon. It is too hot to keep our outside yard work modifications going, until it cools off in a week or so... the plants are taking a break, too.

It was the first time I/we have rearranged our office and removal of a spider web tangle of cords and wires in many years. They were all hidden nicely, but when a new desk or furniture gets moved or put in place, the old stuff comes out with a big smile of a tangle. What a mess, but now, each wire is laid nicely, no crossovers and is now organized. My wife can no longer call it a mess or a tangle of "awful-ness..." Ha! But, for the umpteenth time, I had to battle the cause to keep our old remaining color slides in their protective slide box, even though they are all copied and preserved in digital files.

Jnaki

The good thing is, when we are finished with all of the morning's work, the afternoon breeze has kicked up and we have a nice relaxing rest of the day ahead of us. Blue ocean, blue sky, sunny day, but the ever present lurking fog bank sitting just a few miles off of the coastline keeping the temps relatively low compared to other places. That is good for a couple of old folks... Reading, doing some old art work on hot rods/surf wagons and custom cars on my art folder, as well as a well deserved nap or two. ha!

Thanks for thinking of me... I did uncover my old surfboard, all nice and neat sitting in its protective travel bag. But, that was when we were out in the garage clean up stage... The work is never done and I guess, either are we... That is funny, when I tell our granddaughter those stories about the both of us, always on the move. She remembers all of those days from 6 months to 18 years old... yikes, we are getting old...

 

Here's a couple of photos I just acquired from Phils collection.

 

Days Now Gone...

 

Coupes Work Well...

 

What happened to Doug?

 

We have Not Heard From Him For Many Years...Thanks...

 

Such and iconic panel!

 

Leo H. photo taken in Baja, Mexico, but the 56 Chevy is a Long Beach local.

Hello,

Out of all of these guys in the photo and my brother way in the background, no one knew what to do in our early surf adventures in Seal Beach, CA. (the exception will be given later…) We began surfing as close to home as possible due to not knowing what car, if any, was available to take our 9 foot plus heavy surfboards to the closest beach for the day.

If a parent was available with a station wagon, then we could go with friends. But getting a ride to the surf spots was mostly a phone call away. But, getting home was another problem. Most parents worked and could drop us off, but the after noon pick up was usually during work hours and we were far away from home. For my brother, not everyone wanted to see a lowered 51 Oldsmobile or 58 Impala pull up to the parking lot with surfboards sticking out of the back.

For most, those cars, as cool as they were, happen to fall far from the normal surf transportation modes.

So, securing a ride from Long Beach to anywhere along the LA coast line or Orange County Southern coast lines was a problem. Who from the Westside of Long Beach surfed? Although it was only a few miles to the ocean and one spot on the shoreline was once a great place to surf, it was a working class area. People were not into the odd ball surf adventures. Except for a couple of young brothers.

Jnaki

Note:
One time, my brother had already gone to the beach with some of his older friends. I was stuck at home with no ride to the beach. I was not going to ask my dad on his day off to take me to the surf spots. So, I grabbed my longboard, army green backpack full of stuff and walked to PCH three blocks away to “thumb” my way to the beach. I waited for an hour, had a nice grilled hamburger at the place right behind me and stayed on that corner until some kids from the South Bay area of Los Angeles, Torrance Beach area stopped to pick me up. We all went to the Seal Beach Jetty. Better known as “Ray Bay.”

So, for the first part of securing a form of transportation to the surf spots, the next problem was one that was a surprise to all of us, especially those guys from the LA South Bay beaches. It is known as the

“Sting Ray Shuffle.”

We were all accustomed to surfing in cold water for So Cal. Not as cold as up in Northern California areas, that is for sure. But, cold enough. So, upon arriving at Seal Beach during a good South Swell hitting the Northern jetty was a sight to behold. Peeling waves coming down the jetty, creating some outstanding down the line surfing in the narrow somewhat enclosed water area. Check out the industrial plant in this old photo. That bridge connected Long Beach to Seal Beach and was wonderful to all, except for boat owners in the inland water areas.

At the end of the Southern jetty, the waves break and line up all the way to the white sand on the Seal Beach side. On the other side, the Florida shaped white water shows a wave already breaking toward the Long Beach side and creating quite a line of power heading that way. Very few people rode those waves back then. (No Long Beach Breakwater wall of rocks running all the way to the San Pedro harbor)

Now, in 1960, the bridge from Long Beach to Seal Beach was taken out closest to the breaking waves. A new Northern jetty was created years ago and now allowed the flow of warm water from up stream to enter the ocean at this site. On the other side of the newly created jetty is the main channel entrance to the Long Beach Alamitos Bay communities and Belmont Shore.


The “Ray Bay” notoriety started when the small stingrays enjoyed the warm salt water location. Who does not like warm water to catch some of the best waves in this whole coastal beach area? Yes, the warm water usually made the wax on top of the board melt or get soft enough that our feet created its own patterns and if one used the weight transfer to make a sharp turn, slide off of the board surface. Yikes…

But at least when we were all sitting outside waiting for the arrival of the next set of waves, it was warm water our feet and bodies were enjoying. It was the first approach to start paddling out to the waiting area that was the danger point. Unsuspecting folks walk normally in the shallow water and usually stepped on a sleeping stingray. Which caused them to be angry at being awakened in warm slumber with a heavy foot on their bodies, so mother nature told them to sting who or whatever was causing the heavy weight, or possible attack by a larger thing…

Perhaps our friend from Seal Beach that is sitting on the headlight area of the 56 Chevy station wagon was the first to know about these creatures, since he grew up in the local waters. But, he jokingly told us to “pee” on the wound and it would feel much better. That philosophy got some wonderful comedic laughter from everyone. Pee on your foot… what the *****…

So, with this background from the beach sandy area, over by the rocks there were kids “peeing” on their own feet where the sting ray barb hit dead center. Now, that was a funny site to see, a row of young surfers lined up along the jetty or on the other side peeing on their own feet. Ha!

Note 2:

In figuring out why our friend from Seal Beach said to pee on the stingray hit was valid. No, not just the pee itself. That was gross, but effective. So, how is it effective? The local lifeguards have learned that warm to hot water does the best effect in treating or calming the effects of a stingray attack. No, they do not want people to pee on themselves, but to come to the lifeguard stations for warm to hot water treatment. At home or at medical offices, the treatment is always warm to hot water as much as you can stand without getting burned.

In figuring out why our friend from Seal Beach told us to pee on our feet was valid. Pee is 98 degrees when in our bodies. So, when applied, it is warm to the touch and effective somewhat in the procedure. The local Seal Beach Area kid’s father knew his son would be away from lifeguard towers and just told him to pee on the wound(s). Great advice!!!

So, one, we figured out our surf transportation means to get to the beach and two, learned to treat our Sting Ray battles as young teens. YRMV

 

Hello,

On a recent Southern Hemisphere swell, it was impressive to see the whole So Cal coastline rolling in white water. From various view spots high on a cliff, one can see the strong lines to the horizon as the term goes… Wave swell after wave swell lining up in sets to head for shore.

Back in the sailing days, it was challenging to go out of the protected harbor to sail on big swell days. The constant direction between the deep swell faces and wind direction was certainly exciting, and a little intimidating. Sometimes, the tall masts of the next sailboat a hundred yards out between the swells was the only thing we could see. The deep wave troughs causing a disappearing sailboat 50 yards away.

Jnaki

Does the Killer Dana Point break today? On certain swells, on a certain low tide situation, yes, it does.

But, only the crazy locals even try…no one else does. On high tide, the waves end up rolling onto the jetty and tall cliff surfaces. So, any entry/exits out of the water and loose boards are shaky at this juncture.

As posted on an old vintage surf photos thread, I had several older photos of the time we spent 50+ miles from home for a day or two. The local surf areas of Orange County, Seal Beach/Huntington Beach were our normal beach surf spot. It was easily accessed from Coast Highway and we always knew what we were going to surf that day/morning.
Leo H. photo taken in Baja, Mexico, but the 56 Chevy is a Long Beach local that has/had seen its days at various Orange County surf spot parking lots during this time.

Out of all of these guys in the photo and my brother way in the background, no one knew what to do in our early surf adventures in Seal Beach, CA. (the exception will be given later…) We began surfing as close to home as possible due to not knowing what car, if any, was available to take our 9 foot plus heavy surfboards to the closest beach for the day.

If a parent was available with a station wagon, then we could go with friends. But getting a ride to the surf spots was mostly a phone call away. But, getting home was another problem. Most parents worked and could drop us off, but the after noon pick up was usually during work hours and we were far away from home. For my brother, not everyone wanted to see a lowered 51 Oldsmobile or 58 Impala pull up to the parking lot with surfboards sticking out of the back.

For most, those cars, as cool as they were, happen to fall far from the normal surf transportation modes.

So, securing a ride from Long Beach to anywhere along the LA coast line or Orange County Southern coast lines was a problem. Who from the Westside of Long Beach surfed? Although it was only a few miles to the ocean and one spot on the shoreline was once a great place to surf, it was a working class area. People were not into the odd ball surf adventures. Except for a couple of young brothers.

But, there were plenty of times that our friends from farther South in Dana Point/San Clemente would tell us that the south coast is “firing…” So, we knew it was a longer road trip and an overnight in the campgrounds or just pull over in a deserted quiet street late at night. Old hot rods and sedans were the mode of the day, being in the 60-65 era.

Later on, one more sedan delivery sitting on an empty side street was no different than the rest, parked along the road, in later years. Yes, the official campgrounds were safer and varied, but time was money and money was lacking.

Then, the later years, a red El Camino made its presence known in the same parking lot, until the lot started its destruction phase for the future of this coast line.

The one thing we enjoyed as much as a long line up of waves blasting around the actual Killer Dana surf spot were the Southern peaks farther down the rocky shoreline. No one could see those surf breaks from the popular Doheny beach parking spots and surf break. A large cliff jutting out prevented the sight line to see the peaks rolling in and breaking. (Good for us)
Doheny Beach break. Note the large rock and the tall cliff nearby. That view was the preventative sightline for other surf breaks “around the rocky shoreline” heading up toward the Killer Dana Cove. The majority of surf visitors were usually satisfied with the waves at Doheny and did not want to challenge the Killer Dana larger waves. They also did not want to spend the time walking on the rocky shoreline to get to the paddle out spot for those “other peaks.”

Note:

If we were out surfing larger, longer lines at the Killer Dana surf spot, there were plenty of waves that had the power to roll all the way past the small pier. It was fun to be on the larger waves from outside doing the maneuvers past the pier and hear our friends hooting and hollering as we rode past the end of the pier and wave.

Sometimes, instead of paddling back out, we would get out and walk back up the rocky shoreline to the paddle out spot for the Killer Dana Point waves, past the parking lot.

Note2:

As of the most recent storms to hit So Cal and the West coast, mother nature has created problems for the coastal areas with landslides blocking the Amtrak train service from L.A. to San Diego. Several places have collapsed onto the railroad tracks and have closed the beach + train service.

But, the old 60s house built a long time ago on the tall cliff above the Killer Dana point break is still standing. Since it is on the Dana Point Headlands Peninsula and sticking out as far as any structure built up there, it is a target for the oncoming storm systems hitting the West coast.

It finally was a worrisome point as the cliff rocks below began to slide. Now it is questionable as to the safety of that old house and the others next to it. YRMV

Killer Dana surf is below and to the right of the photo

From the time we used to paddle out around the Dana Point headlands point known as Killer Dana, we looked up and saw this cool home perched out on the edge of a cliff top. Many times, we used to make up stories about how we could buy that house, wake up and check the surf from the porch and make our decisions on where we would surf that day, week or take a road trip.
This is the current view at the breakwater and final destination of the famed Killer Dana Surf. But, think back before 1971 and see the Killer Dana surf break right below where the breakwater attaches to the cliff side beach. Then picture the endless sight of surf breaks all along the tall Dana Point harbor cliff areas that were sight unseen from any road normally used for North/South daily travel.

Monarch Beach Point at the top middle, far left is Killer Dana and into the cove are the other hidden surf spots not seen by the general public. The lower right is the Doheny Beach area and surf spot. The surfers and families in their beachside parking lot at the Doheny surf spot could not see the cove surf breaks and usually stayed in that popular location, instead of making the long walk on the rocky shore at low tide.

Summer is still fun in this little coastal city, despite the increase in daily traffic. But, timing during the odd hours of the day still allow fairly empty freeway or coastal highway road trips with simplicity and fun, like it used to be all of the time...

 

Killer thread! I have surfed all over, but the best time was on det to Pt. Mugu in the Navy. Det Chief didn't need me (thanks Terry M!!), so I started at Ventura Harbour and worked my way south...I hit all the spots, Leo Carillo, Malibu, you name it.. At the end of the day, I was down just north of San Deigo. What a day!

Another one, doing the cross deck from the USS Indy to the Kitty, we were in Pearl for 2 weeks...I was a freshcut and loaned out. They didnt need me, yet again...So I rented a longboard and slept on the beach for three days in Waikiki...There was a fish taco food stand down the road, things were good!! Epic surf times and a mini vacay while still in the Navy!! Orange board has done the majority of my travels, picked up that Yater a couple years ago in Ventura on Det...

 

You've got some wonderful stories jnaki! Great time and place to grow up!

 

Hello,

My brother and I always talked about a station wagon to pull our Willys Coupe to the drags location all over So Cal. The weekly drives to Lion’s Dragstrip were done with the 58 Impala towing the Willys. But, if we went to Northern California drag strips for competition,, it would necessitate a different tow car.

Our goal was to tow the finished Willys Coupe back to the U.S. Nationals before Labor Day in 1960. We definitely would need more space for the goodies to be stored away.

This was my brother’s version of our complete set up before we were to go to the Nationals. Plenty of room for supplies, suitcases, food cooler, spare parts, tool box and a place to sleep at campgrounds instead of motels.

Jnaki

But, over the years, our friends who surfed had plenty of different station wagons to hold camping stuff and those long boards.
Baja Mexico surf trips with friends…


But, locally we have seen two turquoise colored Chevy station wagons in finished and being worked on over the years. The latest is this 56 Chevy 4 door with chromed reversed rims, small center hubcaps and a nice two tone paint job. It was getting a newly re-chromed bumper that was missing in the photo.

With the back seat lowered, there is plenty of space to sleep comfortably. Perhaps a couple of old folks with a nice mattress could still sleep back there. The hundreds of times camping in the El Camino was nice, but then again, we were in our 20s. YRMV…

 

Surf, or no surf, I would drive this everywhere.

 

The woody hauls surfboards just as well today as she did 71 years ago.

Last month we had our annual guys trip and took the woody beach camping at Sauble Beach.
All the guys tried the cheap yellow surfboard my neighbour gave me and we all just fell in the water.
We had a lot more success with the stand up paddle board.

 

I guess a decade later it was Oak st and Rock Pile a little more north.....I just knew some of them....I wasn't built for surfing.

 

I've owned this about 8 years now. Original wood and paint, wood has been refinished by Nick Alexander. Flathead powered. I have a Columbia two speed rear end bulletproof by John Connely ready to go in, maybe this winter. It's a fun driver......