I started surfing way back in 1962 or so. I had a "Gidget like" cousin that got into it about then and one day she
and her boyfriend took me on my first surf outing at "Tin Can Beach" in Huntington Beach. I was hooked! My first
surfboard was a custom Gordon & Smith 9' that was purchased at their shop in Dana Point. In 1965 I joined the
Peninsula Surf Club in Palos Verdes (surf clubs were BIG back then!) The club held local surf events in the South
Bay area and also put on surf movies at various locations in the South Bay. I traveled to Baja many times during
that period for some uncrowded waves. After serving in the Army from 1967-1969 I returned to surfing but around
that time the surfing world was switching from longboards to shortboards. My first shortboard was purchased in
1969 and was about 7 1/2'. In December 1969 one of the largest swells in recent history hit Southern California.
At that time I was living in the Palos Verdes area and took advantage of the swell in that area. While attending
college at Orange Coast College I was a member of the intercollegiate surf team. We surfed against other colleges
in the California area and did pretty good. Also during this period I surfed competitively in the Southern California
area. I surfed shortboards until about 1989 when I switched to high-performance long boards. A few of those
boards are shown below. I still surf about 2-4 times per week (as my school schedule allows) in the Cayucos/Morro
Bay area and try to get down to Baja about 2-3 times a year (I have friends that have houses at a couple of the
better surf spots in southern Baja!)
 

One of my first trips to Baja, Mexico. This photo was taken about 1963 or so at San Miguel	This was taken at a spot in San Pedro in December 1969. I had just gotten out of the army and this was the start of the big swell of 1969
My wife took this picture at San Miguel around 1972	A friend of mine had a water camera and he took this photo just north of the Huntington Beach pier around 1973
My latest ride: a Steward 9 foot LSP high performance longboard	Surf trip to San Blas, Mexico, Summer 1970

Last Updated on 10/07/2008