Surf City, Sydney

Shane advert in Manly Pacific vs Windansea boardriding contest booklet, September 1968, courtesy John Smythe

Absolute pleasure to meet the unstoppable Shane Stedman at his cliff top ‘shack’ this morning, with photog/writer Bruce Usher, for a few yarns about surfing’s mid 60s coming of age, the idea of ‘motion economics’ for filling big department store orders with so-called ‘standards’, his upfront approach to promoting his business and himself, the various up and coming stars (like Anderson and Fitzgerald) that outgrew the Shane stables and rode on the wave of cooldom that in many ways he inspired, his pre-teen aspirations of greatness bagging and selling cow shit and pippies at Crescent Head to buy his first guitar and his band Shane and the Trojans (aka Shame and the Tragics), his SUP workouts and sparklingly positive take on life. A truly ‘bright’ spirit indeed. Looking forward to Bruce Usher’s Shane portrait piece when its published.

Denise Hoogendoourn (now Faunce) with the girl board riding club, the ‘Kuranulla Wahines’, on the beach at Cronulla 1966, photo courtesy Bob Weeks

Talked to Denise Hoogendoourn today about her stint with the ‘Kurranulla Wahines’ and the kind of things a 17 year old Maroubra surfing girl got up to around 1966. According to Denise, the Wahines formed in 1966, spurred on by Caringbah sisters Sylvia and Sandy Hoogeveen, to give ‘girl surfers a sense of belonging and confidence in the surf…which the boys treated as their domain’. Denise remembered the surfer boys of mid 60s Cronulla as being pretty tough on the girls… ‘they didn’t give us much opportunity and thought of us as a bit of a joke’. The Kurranulla Wahines wore board shorts and home made bikinis in yellow club colours and competed against the Manly Femlins and girl members of the Manly Pacific Board Riders, before winding up around 1968. The old clapped-out car Denise and her girlfriends shared, took them on many a fun-filled surf trip although once fellow Maroubra surfer and future husband Rhys Faunce appeared on the scene, Denise’s parents began to get worried. Denise gave up surfing around 1968, when marriage to Rhys and kids got in the way, but there’s plenty of sandy memories and a camper van called ‘the endless summer’ keeping the 60s alive…

Ralph Callaghan on his Scott Dillon 9’6″ at North Steyne, February 1965, unknown photographer, courtesy John Smythe

According to John Smythe, this is Ralph Callaghan on his Scott Dillon 9’6″ at North Steyne, taken the same day as the group shot of the Manly Pacific Boardriders in front of the surf club. The image was used in Surfing World. Photos taken on the same day by Ray Joyce, of Warwick Smith, Dave Smythe and Robbie Lane appeared in American Surfer.  This one may have been taken by Peter Rae.

Received this photo of young Peter Hellmrich (centre) heading off to the Vietnam War, from Kerrie Hannan today along with some other great stories of her late husband Bill Hannan, the Manly big wave surfer of the 60s.

Kerrie writes…

I have a couple of shots of Pete surfing in Vietnam, or not actually surfing, exiting the water carrying a surf board and the other standing on a beach. The beach could be any beach – no barbed wire or anything – the only thing that makes the photo a bit different is the fact that Pete is wearing an Army dog tag ID around his neck.

Pete was definitely a Sydney surfer in the 60s, from North Steyne along with John Smythe, both founding members of the Manly Pacific Board Riders’ Club. A few years after returning from Vietnam Pete moved to Ballina and then to Pambula where he lived for several decades before passing away on 1 January 2010. He remained a keen surfer all his life.

[Thanks for this Kerrie]

Peter Hellmrich, Vietnam c1969, photo courtesy John Smythe

Peter Hellmrich and mates in tent, Vietnam c1969, photo courtesy John Smythe

Gordon Woods Malibu on the beach at Vung Tau, Vietnam, titled: Back Beach, Vung Tau, November 1968, Photo Kerry Seebohm.

Photo courtesy of the fantastic blog Charlie Don’t Surf

John Adair sent this in yesterday. I like the chopper alot. This is what John says about it… Here’s a drawing/advert I did of SHANE surfboards around 69/70, after Shane was featured on a gaming show on TV. He was seen shadowy behind a curtain veil. [[does anyone remember this?]] Contestants were asked to guess what was going on… he appeard to be shaping/glassing a board on trestles.

Big thanks to John Adair

Great photo of Baba Looey’s illustrated ’37 Ford, with a load of boards in the early 1960s. Names and details to follow…

in the meantime Steve Core dropped me a line today… hmmm Gary… I might have to bring you to task on the new photo caption…That’s not a ’34 Ford. I am pretty sure that’s definitely a ’37 Ford. Maybe even might even be a smaller Lincoln Zephyr [which was also made by Ford]. I’ll need to do Google image research x-comparison exercise to identify it correctly! Would be nice to point out too that it’s a pre-WWII vehicle! Interestingly, the car would have been manufactured in the US at the legendary Dearborn Assembly Plant, which started producing Model A’s in the late 1920s and continued production through 2004.  (big thanks Steve)

Photo courtesy Baba Looey/Ron Graham

Ross Bailey – Mel Gibson’s stunt double in Phil Avalon’s Summer City – poses for promo pic at Tamarama, 1977

Mel Gibson made his big screen debut in Summer City, directed by Phil Avalon in 1977, which tells a story of surfing up the NSW coast in the 1960s. Newcastle surfer Ross Bailey stood in as Mel’s stunt/surfing double and even helped out with the storyline and action. Big thanks to Murray Walding’s Surforama for info and Ross Bailey for photo and ongoing support.

Mona Vale film maker and surf history archivist Russell Shepherd sent this in today with the following comments…The Ultimate Life was shot on a Bolex 8 mm camera 1963-5, for music i mixed Beach Boys, Dick Dale etc onto an old 3 inch reel to reel (kinda sync)!! It featured Nat Young, Richard Harvey, Geoff and Bruce Channon, Peter Hughes, Bob McTavish, Midget and Peter Wilcox surfing at MONA VALE, NARRABEEN, BALMORAL, SOUTH COAST, NOOSA, SCOTTS HEAD. It was shown at Mona Vale surfclub and various board riding clubs along the coast [in 1965].

Thanks Russell

Manly Pacific Boardriders Club gathering 1965, photo by Vic Joyce, courtesy Bryan Hughes (who also produced the numbered list below)

John Smythe writes… Manly Pacific was formed in 1964 at a meeting in Pacific Hotel.

Thanks to Ray Joyce, John Smythe and Bryan Hughes, who are working to get all names listed. Please email Bryan Hughes if you can fill in any blanks.

1. Sandy Graham

2. Ron Graham (Babalooey)

3. Lyn Holmes (holding Tracey)

4. Darryl Holmes

5. Peter Neal

6. ?

7. ?

8. Chris Peel (Squeek)

9. Geoff Hannan

10. Bill Hannan

11. Judy Malonyay

12. Peter Dunshea

13. Judy Nunn

14. Sue Cullen

15. Bob Munro

16. Ian Goodacre (Goody)

17. David Treloar (Baddy)

18. Derrick Lyon

19. ?

20. Robert Thomas (Tag)

21. Liz Rimmer

22. Peter Wall (?)

23. Bruce Anderson

24. Dave Smythe (Big Miff )

25. John Brunskill (Brunny)

26. Michael McCormack (Macka)

27. John Smythe (Little Miff)

28. Brook Koopman

29. Phil Booth

30. Trevor Booth

31. Bryan Hughes

32. Ted Spencer

33. ?

34. Ross Le Bris

35. ?

36. Tony McNevin

37. Graeme Hulme-Moir

38. Ray Joyce

39. Glen Metcalf

40. Tony Ayres (Dummy)

41. Peter Wright

42. Max Doerner

43. John Calligan (Bones)

44. Graeme Bennett

45. Peter Amiot (Foddy)

46. Frank Ericson (Erro)

47. Paul Watkins

48. Bob Pike

49. Steve Gillett

50. Jane Farrelly

51. Bruce Campbell

52. Glynn Ritchie

53. Bob Mills

54. ?

55. ?

56. Lester Priday

57. Dave Darley

58. ?

59. Mick Hall

60. Andrew Nairn

61. Barry McDonald

62. Barry King (Kinga)

63. Alex Chobanoff

64. John Fleck (Fireman)

65. Peter Hellmrich

66. ?

67. Peter Bido

68. Mick Murphy (Murf)

69. Ralph Callaghan

70. John Watson (Bomber)

71. Peter Greenwood

72. John Williams (Nipper)

73. Malcolm Dutch

74. Cathy Skein

75. Gail Sorby

76. Charmaine Cornell

77. Sandra Lane

78. Viv Doerner

79. Grace Hopewell (Viv Campbell)

80. Paula Hopewell

Please add or change any names (include nick-names) and any other info.

Peter Bowes over at petebowes.com posted this recently along with details of blokes pictured and a few tales from his old friend Scott Dillon.

Thanks to Peter for passing this on and for the use of the above pic.

Sydney newspaper clipping from 1962 courtesy Barry Magoo McGuigan