Today's beaches are not even a glimmer of what they used to be when I was a grom, , , ,

http://spacecoastdaily.com/201...ighlights-cocoa-beach/

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Dora Hates You

yea, they are in color now

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Driving with the top down in a dress shirt and jacket. Must be global warming it's much hotter now.

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Replace turf grass with native plants that don't need irrigation and synthetic fertilizers or chemicals that can go into our waterways and ocean

Pie in the sky. Should have stuck with orange groves.

Edited: 10/30/2018 at 07:10 AM by Skunkape

I heard surfboards were 10' long and made of wood

And surfers were made of iron. We had to be tough and we had to know how to swim well. (No kook cords which kept a lot of kooks out of the water! Ahhhh, those were great times.)

gnar

For the record, people have about the same density as water so swimming is OK. If you were made of iron, much denser, you'd need to swim really really hard! Respect! Also, remember drilling a hole in your glassed in fin when you finally broke down a bought that first kook cord?

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Tom, good point BUT, , , , even today's most ripping rippers don't have near the "water skills" that us old timers had. 14 years old, 125 pounds soaking wet paddling a 9'6" pop-out in head high wind blown surf. Duck diving had not yet been invented and was otherwise impossible with those old logs, , , ,! I was on the swim team and still took a beating everyday.

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Dora Hates You

I heartily second Dingpatch's sentiment. We couldn't even get an arm around those old logs to carry them. Many times had to to fold a towel and carry them on our heads. Slipping them through the handle bars of a sting ray style bike, or getting a buddy to tandem carry both boards, one carrying both noses, the other carrying both tails was about the only way to get your board to the beach. Luckily my engineer dad made an aluminum dolly to tote my board. Many times we had two or three boards on it. And of course the thrills weren't over yet. Dodging loose boards from wipeouts and clean-up sets happened every time out. The upside was we could knee paddle those old boards with the entire board out of the water. I mean those old things were three inches thick and we only weighed 100 pounds.

Tom, Fortunately, there was plenty of flotation on my old Surfboards Atlantic for my iron butt. And, yes, I remember drilling holes in the fin for the chord. I had a buddy drill a bunch of holes, getting smaller as he went towards the tip. He said it made for "more radical turns". Not sure that worked, but, we tried a lot of stuff that didn't, like making my first leash out of nylon rope, and my second out of bungee chord and my third out of surgical tubing. (The first critical lesson being to STAY DOWN and cover the head.) Paddling out before chords on a big windswell usually meant a big bounce at the bottom and then a long swim. We had to be swimmers and we hung on to our board for dear life if we came down near/on it. I can't count the times that I sprinted for my board only to get within a foot or two only to have it wash another 25 yards, to which I sprinted again (often all the way to shore as each wave took it a bit further.) I saw a bunch of really gnarly times where guys would just not let go of their boards. We hung on for dear life when we could. I can't believe the times I have read on this forum, "My chord broke and I nearly drowned" stories. I have little sympathy for a surfer who uses a leash as a safety device. Stooooopid.

Laughing. Ya, I didn't start till around 70 (?). No leashes yet. Going over the falls backwards paddling out and having your arms and legs wrapped around the board so you didn't have to make the swim. Short boards though, only 7' or so, and about 3" thick. I think this pic is '79/80, leash present but still a single fin, back when the light was in the right place and they maintained the jetties. Man I don't miss those wetsuits though. Talk about "iron", they were like wearing armor.

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Edited: 10/31/2018 at 12:37 PM by tom

'67 Daytona V-Bottom
(still gots)
Yup, hold drilled for a surgical tube













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Puerto Rico 11 - 24 - 2013

not 56 yrs ago, more like 46... my first surfboard was my brother's hand me down "Taylor" anybody remember Taylor boards in Cocoa? Had to drag it down the sand, it was so heavy for a skinny 12 yr old.

Yes I was chided for riding a 7' Billy Barnfield as a hot dog stick and went. It seemed the surgical tubes leashes led to hand injuries a bit more as you come up and it was coming back at you. But I have an appreciation for the "young rippers". Plenty of the best ones can Surf, fish, and skate (which can be a nuts endeavor now a days). It's just a different deal. Swimming is important of course since leashes break. It's on us all to be prepared for what we might try to surf. I'm not sure how great I'd be now in some of the past situations. I would avoid some of them now and for sure have a friend out with me. I surf solo a lot when I visit California. I definitely tone it down now.

LOVE that retro fish (and Calvin and Hobbs) well done all

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^ I've taken that board pic to a couple people over the years and said "make me this". No luck yet. Never comes out like I'm remembering it; I think maybe I'm just chasing a dream. I might give Mayo a shot at next time, kinda looks like his Farrah with only one wing.

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mayo boards are sick, just a little pricey lol

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Edited: 11/05/2018 at 03:33 PM by dkaye