South Surf 86

South Sea Surf Club at HB Cliffs

Other local clubs which were around at that time included Newport Beach Surfing Association, Long Beach Surf Club, Laguna Beach Surfing Association, San Clemente Surf Club, Point South Surf Club, and San Onofre Surf Club. Bay Cities Surf Club (and Hermosa Beach Surfing Association in the late 60's), Malibu Surf Club, Wind and Sea Surf Club, and Menehune Ka Kai of Northridge also existed in other parts of Southern California. The figure shows an award I won in a meet between South Sea Surf Club and Point South dated December 7, 1966.

It's difficult to trace the origin of HBSA itself. The club was originally called Huntington Beach Surf Club and had some rowdy types as members in the early 1960s. About 1965 when I first got involved with the club there was a contest and keg party at a vetrans hall in Huntington, between Newport Beach Surfing Association and HBSA. The party got a little wild and basically we wrote the place off. A story got into the paper about the club being made up of bad guys, and at that time it was invited to never have a contest again. Nothing lasts forever except the surf in Surf City. HBSA didn't fold but its members did start keeping a low profile.

While some clubs basically were made up of people who all surfed in one area and had no officers or meetings, several of the clubs were well organized with dues and regular meetings. The clubs with dues or sponsors usually also had jackets, T-shirts, patches, board and window decals, and other similar identifiers. However, major changes took place beginning around 1966, both in surfing and in individual thinking, which severely effected the established surfing organizations.

With the coming of shorter boards, a great many of the older, more organized individuals who kept these clubs together simply refused to transition. Also, young hot-shot surfers could not identify with most of these older surfers, and thus refused to get involved with many clubs.

Another problem was the mental attitude of the country during those years, which also effected the surfing community. This was the time of anti-establishment movements, anti-war demonstrations, and do your own thing. College age surfers didn't want to be involved, or went away in the services, leaving few to take over and coordinate the existing clubs. These conditions created a situation within the surfing community where only the strongest clubs could survive.

In Huntington Beach by about 1966, HBSA was in total disarray with most of the older surfers going away to college or, like Jim Angeley, being drafted, and only a few of the early members still sticking together. South Sea was down to about twelve members, and Warner Street, except for Raul Duarte and maybe Robert August (if he was actually a member), was pretty well gone. With interest in clubs falling, some surfers like myself decided to see if something could be done.

Since I was a member of HBSA and also president of South Sea, I contacted nearly every member of all the clubs still active and held a formal meeting at a HBSA member's home in early 1967. The purpose was to locate all past members left and still interested in clubs, and then decide what to do about the remaining organizations.

The meeting was held in Surfside, and I believe Pete Kobsev may have been president of HBSA at that time. Only a handful of surfers showed up, representing HBSA, South Sea, and a few other interested people. Some of those at the meeting besides myself included Sam Dusatko and the illustrious Murphy of Kanvas by Katan fame. I don't remember much about the meeting other then the general concern that something had to be done and that I ended up as president (I don't think I volunteered). I do remember receiving all the existing HBSA and South Sea club records in a cardboard box from the secretaries, most of which I still have.

From this meeting, one club, Huntington Beach Surfing Association emerged as the primary club for Huntington Beach. All surfers, the older surfers who had made the short board transition, young hot-shots, and long boarders, both past and current members were welcome at meetings. My one major responsibility as the newly elected president was the task of reorganizing the club and building it back to its earlier status.

Nearly every top surfer in the region joined or returned to the club by mid-summer. David Nuuhiwa, one of the top surfers in the world at that time, led the list to super stars. Regular meetings and contests were held, new members were voted into the club, social activities were hosted, and the club competed as a group in most major events throughout the late 60's until about 1976.