RENNAISSAINCE OF A KNEELO?
On my 60th birthday recently, my son woke me at 5am to announce he was taking me out for a surf, something I had not done in over three years. Not sure why it had been so long, perhaps it was akin to a love affair where the spark was missing or possibly with age comes a mellowing of one’s attitude towards anything that requires a competitive streak. I like to think I was improving my existing relationships with boating, fishing and diving, all intrinsically linked to the ocean. But maybe that’s an excuse for not getting off my butt! So, I dusted off one of my old friar tuck kneeboards, we took a dirt track to a favorite reef break, found a pleasant three foot wave, with a small, friendly crew and just like an old friend who I hadn’t seen for a while, the memories came flooding back:
- entering a Tracks competition back in the 70’s and being stoked as a grommet to win 2 tickets to see ‘Standing Room Only’ at the Sydney Opera House opening
- before internet, hearing the crashing swell all night, paddling out in the dark, just you and the ocean, adrenaline surging
- as a 13 year old westie in NSW, waking at 3am, walking 2kms to catch the train to central, then the ferry to Manly, being amped when the ferry was rolling as it passed the Sydney Heads, knowing the swell was up
- first trip across the Nullarbor in the 80’s to Cactus, surfing Witzigs in a howling offshore, returning to find the tent flattened, campsite emptied, Viv in tears sitting in the HZ V8 holden and then all is forgiven after a serious session at the Penong Pub
- driving to Black Point one Easter, sleeping in the mosquito ridden cave, waking to a storm, massive swell, teeming rain, packing up, driving straight to Kalbarri, arriving at midnight, sleeping on the beach and waking again to 6ft Jakes
- locals Clive Slater and Roscoe Komode getting deep inside Lefties
- seeing the excitement on my two kids faces, Jay and Lisa, catching their first waves as Huzzas
- last day of school term as a teacher, packed Landcruiser and boat hooked up to power in carpark, off at 3:20pm driving to Waroora station, sleeping on a mattress on the side of the road with the kids looking up to marvel at the star show
- memorable big days at Ellensbrook Bombie, North Point and Cobblestones
- completing a directed study at College in the 80’s, analysing the 360 degree turn on a kneeboard and using it as the perfect excuse to wag lectures when the surf was on
- arriving in WA January 1987 and first sighting the then mystical Margaret River Mainbreak doing its thing on a 6-8ft day
- bogged to the eyeballs taking the farm track to Willyabrup in a Subaru
- surfing injuries that brought me back to earth on occasions, two burst ear drums, face rearranged by barnacles, medial ligament gone
- surfing big Dee Why Point and watching Peter Crawford pulling off the impossible inside the barrel
- marvelling at George Greenough at Angourie, in the classic surf flick Morning of the Earth and playing the cassette over and over for many years to come
So is this the renaissance, an opportunity to rekindle that love affair? Only time will tell!