Frustrated with the 1 mile of close out on Bondi, smokin’ the chariot to south Sydney options was rewarding. The swell spiked up overnight and is now coming from the ESE (@ 11secs). The winds are good – NW – which is perfectly offshore. Many options for a wave today – it’s hard to be sitting indoors. Cronulla put on few great waves earlier today – the Alley and beachies were 4-5 foot with 6 foot bombs, but that evil Island had some pretty ‘Teahupposeque’ slabs. Serious bit of gear right there. This NW wind is going to bloooow 25 knots this afternoon, which I think will detoriate surface quality and probably knock a couple of feet off the waves. So earlier the better.
Forecast for the weekend is healthy. Offshore all weekend. Swell will drop overnight but 3-4 footers will be common. Swell direction is very southerly (not like today). So you’ll need to hit the south facing magnets.
Aquabumps Gallery
The little white cave in North Bondi is open all weekend 10am to 4pm should you require a gift for a friend, need to fill a blank wall or just want to look at these shots blown up (screen resolutions just don’t do them justice). Have a great weekend of waves ::uge
Deys some beautiful pics, Spiro.
I am a 51 year old Ex-Sydneysider & surf tragic, living in Perth for 29 years, who is fortunately able to exist on a diet of quality Strickland Bay (Rottnest Island) but can’t forget growing up surfing Cronulla Point, Bondi, Manly, Nth Narra and (in times of temporary insanity) large Fairy Bower (before those new fangled legrope things). Your site is a daily dose of the old town and I look forward to it every morning………. Thanks & keep it up…….Murray Brown.
Why thank you de Brito…why thank you. Was smoking down there today.
Great shot, all that nasty business in the background is the beginning of the desal plant! What a shocker!!!!
Those pics are insane ! growing up in the Nulla,it is a far too familiar site. Shame about the Kurnell nasties in the background. Try taking some pics down at Sandshoes…..
Looking at your picture ‘Oil refinery rights’ from about 4 weeks ago had me trying to work out where you took the picture from. Same thing happened when looking at pictures of Shark Island, sort of lining up the line of bush/housing at Bundeena to ascertain where the shot was taken. Looks to be 3-4 foot at the island until you see the guy in the centre of the wave! I remember surfing the left-hander at the Island about 1972 when the right was about 8-10 feet and closing out as the swell was really north nor east and just wrapping around into left barrells that went for 40 -50 yards all the way to shore. I didn’t want to go out but my mates were all much better surfers than me -all Gordon & Smith workers. current Hot shot Josh Kerr’s father ,well known old local Greg Kerr(Rip Kirby)was one, and Colin Eagle another. When conditions were like that “The Bay’ sometimes worked,depending on the tide,you could see the white water from Lilli Pilli, you could get a ride for miles on a good day. It took so long to paddle back out to the line-up that sometimes half way out a wave came along and it was perfect and no-one was on it so you grabbed it and off you went. If you fell off you ran the risk of stepping on a small sting-ray and if you were full of psychedelics it really gave you a charge. Those were the real gnarly days but I also remember when there was only a small southerly swell and late on a Sunday afternoon we would drive out to the sandhills,park, and walk over to Green Hills where the ever present Nor’easter was a bit offshore and two to three foot glassy tubes were had to sunset. Frank Latta would dazzle the small local crowd and Rip Kerrby had a new spear every second week. I got my best surfboard from Rip after watching his nuggety frame cruising and planing on these small waves. The board had cleaner lines in the water than anything anyone else was riding. It had a concave bottom and really hard turned down rails, a diamond tail with a red fluoro bottom with gold flakes in the paint, shaped by Dave Wilson and called The Fairy Prince Model. If Dave Wilson is still around,I have noticed his name in the masters section of some contests, I tip my hat to a largely unacknowledged master shaper. This was just before Wayne Roach and Denny Childs got Southern comfort together, and before that I had ridden Brian Jackson surfboards as Jacko was a father figure/mate/fellow surfer to everyone in the shire in those days. Jacko- A true gentleman, I remember after a christmas party at Voodoo when Jacko threw the Yearly Keg party and we sat at Northies on the old terrace and watched Voodoo burn. It seemed like the end of an era. Let me know if I have raved on for too long, I still have some photos of KIRBY that Josh Kerr might like to have-contact me if you know him, or his manager ,Rabbit.
To Ron Beckett
Its amazing to read what you wrote, it wa only 2 days ago that it was my dads 13year annerversary since he passed away.
I am josh’s older sister and i still live in coolangatta, i see josh when he is in town and i cant wait to tell him you would like to pass some photos of dad to him…it seems you have alot of stories you can share about those days.
Please contatct me and i can pass joshs info to you.
kind regards
shell
Ron, my email is shelleykerr11@hotmail.com
Ron…
oh and i know that dad was nic named kerby, but this is the first time i heard of “Rip Kerby”, thats pretty cool, i love finding new things out about dad. I cant wait to here some stories you could share.
Oh and josh is known as “Kerzy” of course there could only be one kerby…
I also have this old photo of dad in his teenage years with a group of boys, i never knew who they were, mabey you are one of them.
I cant wait to hear from you
shell
Hi Ron
You don’t know me but I’m Denny Childs daughter from Dale Duncan, not sure if these names ring a bell but anyway here goes. I was hoping you might be able to point me in the right direction to anyone related to Denny. I know he has 4 sister’s and many years ago I did get in touch with one but have since moved and lost numbers. Denny also had another daughter in 1988 the year before he died. I’m trying to track her down aswell. Any other info would be great
Thanks
Kate
G’day Ron
Kerby was 1 of my all time best mates, we made boards together for various factories around Coolangatta, G’coast etc, he’s daughter Shelly & her family are visiting me this very moment @ my house here in Angourie where I have lived for the past 11 years & she showed me this articule, Josh has also called in & stayed from time to time, I also know Jacko, Col Eagle & some of the guy’s you mentioned as well as Bones & Danny Childs RIP as well I think, Steve Core & I have just made contact after many years, I would apreciate you sending me some pics of Kirby (I used to spell it like this also) & if you like join my facebook & Check out a couple I have of him
Cheers
Hey Ron
My email is gillysk@bigpond.com or please Phone me on 0400142970.
Hey Ron
My email is gillysk@bigpond.com or please ring me on 0400142970.
Hi to Shelley, Kate and Kerry. I hadn’t been back to this site but the recent big swell made me re-visit to check the action. I’m amazed at the contacts that have popped up. I went and lived in Cooktown FNQ from 1978 to 1986 and then Darwin until 1991,so missed out on a lot of what happened. To Kate, Dale was coming up to visit me after sorting out something but she never made it.
I also have a really nice photo of Dale and a few of us at Cronulla Point in about 1972. I’d love to send you a copy and at least communicate by e-mail. I will send Shelley and Kerry an e-mail. Most of the photos I have have both Kirby(Greg Kerr) and Denny Childs in them as they were taken at North Cronulla one afternoon when we were all just hanging around up the top of the hill.
My e-mail is rbeckett@unwired.com.au
Kate Dukes, I have plenty of info for you and did you ever see the photos of Denny in Paul Hamlyn’s ” A Pictorial History of Surfing.” I was close to Denny and Dale and I would love to share my memories of them with you. My e-mail is above. I have a clipping out of a local surf mag that I kept as it has an article about Denny. I hope you or someone who knows you lets you know I have finally answered your message.
Hi Ron
Wow, I was so happy to read your message. I was just googling Denny childs tonight.
I would love to see any photo’s of Denny & Dale. I do have some photo’s from Dales mum, but finding out the history of them is very hard. I did try your email but had no luck with it going through. I hope you see this soon.
Email kitty.dukes@gmail.com
Phone: 0411 461 676
I’m so looking forward to hearing from you.
Cheers
Kate
I stumbled on this page by accident. I also grew up at Cronulla in the 60s and would love to see any old pics you guys might have.
regards
Chip
chip
i will be getting some photos from one of my dads mates soon. They are all photos of cronulla and people in it from the 60s.
did you know my dad greg kerr?? i just love hearing stories about him.
shell
hi to everyone, i was born in cronulla and started surfing from the start, i still do yes of course i knew denny childs, his brother and in fact, his whole family. kerbs of course was well known to all of us if any of you want any info relating to cronulla, i have the lot from 1949 to last week my mobile is 0417442858
… and who’s this chip person, we’ve never heard of him, or, is this just another cronulla ruse
Bruce, this chip could be the bloke who used to hang out with fish.
After writing this years ago my e-mail has changed and I have learnt not to write it but to put “and” insted of “@”. Or “A”, as the case may be. Keeps the bots from trwling your e-mail.
Found a nice picture of Denny(Danny from now as thats what we called him), in an old Tracks magazine.
It was number 41, must be about 1973 or 1974 as Danny was advertising “Southern Comfort” Surfboards, which started out just him and Wayne Roach. Roachy could fill the gaps.
Great work Eugene keeping this archive alive and current. Pictures are always great. New Wet and Wild and the surf is going to take over Western Sydney.
Hi Everyone, my new e-mail is ronaldbeckett at bigpond.com
I’m so tired I wrote at bogpond instead of bigpond. Ha! Getting that way.
Kitty Dukes I have some info if you will e-mail me. Shell and Gilly Hi . New scanner. Can send better scans of photos now. I know I’ve been slack. Another old surfer from our mob called Gordon Peasley died last week.
Good to see Josh going well at Bells. Aloha.
what killed Gordon Peasley ?
I hadn’t seen Gordon for a while but it is fairly obvious from the pictures that Christine showed me that his liver damage was bad from the early days, and if you have a damaged liver and use alcohol it will killl you quick smart.
So liver damage, poly drug use and alcohol all played a part.
I’m just surprised he lasted so long. He just loved to party too much. I prefer to remember the early days when he surfed with Danny, Bones and the Wanda Boardriders Club.
He and Curly could raise a laugh. Zombie(Wayne Johnson) was sometimes the butt of their jokes but the best “Butt” of all was Bert. Bert and the girls doing handbrake skids while Beret tried to drive. PS. Bert still remembers that “Ronny Fisher owes me One and sixpence.” Watch out Ron.
g,day ron, dave wilson here, stumbled onto this site. thanks for the accolade, floyd smith did teach me to shape, but booby brown was killed and i became the glasser at G&S , BUT I STILL USED TO SHAPE AND NOT PUT MY NAME ON THE BLANKS. I WAS VERY CLOSE TO KERBY, HE WAS A FEW YEARS YOUNGER….WHOOPS .LEFT THE CAPS LOCK ON…but he and i made a lot of money working as the G&S glasser/ sander team, from september to may each year kerbs was under threat of mutilation if he did,nt sand each board i glassed [50 to 80 per week], i used to lay the fins up and filler as well as i was married and paying off a house. after may kerby would head off up north and we would,nt see him till sept, then he,d let terry ham mil know he was coming back to cronulla and the season would start again and away we,d go…..just sold G&S to golden breed…..we owned it for 20 years…..keep in touch….ps…i won the o/65s at the big noosa festival this year, you can see the finals on youtube, noosa festival of surfing 2015……thanks david wilson
hey Dave ….you still around….contact Mike at mikejcooney@gmailcom …cheers….trying to find Lee Wilougby
Sorry. Typo Not Beret just Bert. Bertrand F D. Uge . We need an edit. With a one hour limit for the poster.
Love you my father xx missing you and your smile everyday . Please surf the world over. Tristan and I love you to the moon and back . Love jazzy numbers . P.s. Mum’s doing fine. They’ve cured her , I know to much to say goodbye , so I’ll see you around. May you rest in peace. ❣️❣️❣️🏂
P.s.s your a gransfather for the 5th time. Congratulations poppy gordon ✌️🤰👣🌊🐞