LAST SAT COLUMN IN THE OC REGISTER BEFORE THE FREEWAY..PART 15 By Corky Carroll Finally my, what I thought was going to be a short little but wound up being big long, series on life in the surf scene here in Orange County in the years I was growing up before they connected the coastal communities of North and South County with the freeways and the route of choice, and necessity, was Pacific Coast Highway is coming to an end. (wow, hows that for a sentence?) This would be mid 1950’s into mid 1960’s. Through the past fourteen weeks we have worked our way up the coast from San Onofre at the south to our conclusion today looking at Seal Beach. This is one of those great little beach cities that, much like Newport Beach, boasted an incredible line-up of great surfing talent at that time. Starting off with the winner of the first West Coast Surfing Championship at Huntington Beach, later to become the U.S. Championship, Jack Haley. The “Raven,” as he was known by, was one of those amazing dudes with worlds of charisma and whose “adventures” are huge parts of Seal Beach surf lore. From stowing away on a cruise ship to Hawaii to “borrowing” a train in Mexico the tales are as tall as he was, and he was a tall dude. His son Jack, also a tall dude, played basketball for the Lakers and was a commentator for years after that. Jack’s brother Mike was the winner of the second West Coast Championship the next year and went on to become one of the top surfers in the world in the early 1960’s. Tim Dorsey, you know this dude as my pal and neighbor the “Iguana,” was one of the great big wave surfers of the era and made a huge name for himself surfing on the North Shore of Oahu. He went on to become chief of lifeguards in Seal Beach for decades before he retired. Robert August is perhaps the biggest name to come out of Seal Beach as he took his smooth surfing style and movie star looks with him to become the star of the epic surf film of all time, the “Endless Summer.” Robert was also student body president of Huntington Beach High School when I was a freshman. Total “soch.” The dude was smoother than silk in bleeding madras shirts, cords, blue topsiders and Ricky Nelson type sweaters. He had all the hot chicks. Along with those guys there was also Rich Chew who became number one on the USSA contest circuit one year, Pete Kobzev who was U.S. Champ, Bill Fury, Danny Lenahan, Eddie Bonham and Denny Buehl. All top surfers and big names in California surfing. The surf in Seal Beach can be great when it’s on, although it is not really one of those places you would put on your “I gotta stop and check it out” list. That is a good thing for the locals. The most surfed spot is at the mouth of the river at the north end of town and is known by most as “Ray Bay.” This is because it is the home of 90% of all the stingrays in the world. There is warm water there and it attracts them in hordes. There is also a great peak that can form outside next to the jetty and offers long rights and short lefts. Inside there is a short jetty on the south side of the river that can deliver some fast rights off the south side at times. It goes by the name of “Crabs.” This is either due to the crabs on the rocks or the fact that the first guy to surf it was Tim Dorsey, who was nicknamed the “crab” before he moved to Mexico and became the “Iguana.” Then there is the surf social center of town, the north side of the pier. A great lefthander can form off of the sea wall that lines the north side of the pier. And the parking lot on the beach offers the perfect setting to check the waves and hang out. There used to be fire rings there too. Between the pier and the south jetty there can be massive intense wedge shaped peaks that happen during the big winter swells and break very close to shore. You could get insane tube rides there and also break your neck. Sometimes peaks would form outside too, but the cream was the screaming shorebreak. Well that wraps up my “Before the Freeway” series, at least for now. Hope you enjoyed it.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 05:47:35 +0000
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