Ratso

Ian  “Ratso” Buchanan blew into Cronulla around ’79 from  New Zealand and over the next decade he called The Shire home. He hooked up with Cronulla Boardriders Club and had a shot at the Pro Ranks. His best result being 36th on the World Tour in ’84. Recently Ratso was made a life member of CBC. This photo caught the Kiwi battler on a Rockpool left during a size-able North East swell around 1990, pic by Stroh

Grant “Grub” Coulter

As a grom , Grub was a member of the Cronulla Junior Boardriders Club in 1978. The club under the direction of Jim James (Spikes dad) gathered together the best young riders in the area. Every month 20 to 30 of the best groms would gather at The Alley to create a competitive atmosphere for the kids that had been lacking in the area. Grub was one of the standouts  winning a place in the ’79 Schoolboys Titles at Merewether. Over the next decade Grub grew a taste for more powerful wave situations and became a regular Point and Island standout on those big demanding days. This shot Circa 80’s Grants deeply involved negotiating the White Rock section at The Island. photo Chris Stroh

 

 

Ken “Wheels” Williams ’65

This shot taken by Jack Eden of Ken Williams surfing The Point was one of the best water angle photographs getting around in the sixty’s. With his Da Bull style trunks the photo first appeared in Surfabout in ’65. More images from the same session were featured in the book Pictorial History of Surfing. Check out the wooden Paipo belly board rider getting pitched, a classic image from that era.

Rusty

Years honing  his skills on  Cronulla’s heavy reefs and a natural love of ocean power made RustyMoran’s transition to Hawaii’s Northshore a natural progression. Below Rusty tunnel time at Backdoor. Photo Around January ’94 by Chris Stroh

 

Steve Core Surf Shop

Steve Core turned a former doctors surgery into a thriving empire in the 80’s opposite Munro Park near Cronulla station before relocating to where Pure Sea now stands in the main street today.

Spike

The caption read…Richard James slotted. Throughout the late 70’s and 80’s Cronulla was blessed with plenty of surfing talent and also plenty of great surf photographers. Very few beaches can claim the amount of talented water photographers that Cronulla has produced during this period. Peter Simons who took the classic shot below of Spike was one of the best.

 

Ross Marshall

When this snap of Ross Marshall and Peter Harris was snapped around ’79 on top of  The Point , Rip Curl wetsuits were dominating the wetsuit market. Every kid worth his salt had one with the round circle logo on the upper arm in their wardrobe. Photo Peter Simons

Dog S.W. Cover

Richard Marsh was one of Cronulla’s most successful surfers throughout much of the 80s and 90’s competing on the pro tour and maintaining a Top 16 position for many years. When Dog was back at home the first hint of a south swell and he would be heading south to a certain reef near Nowra. This day featured heavily in Surfing World Volume 202 saw  Dog and Occy and a full crew hit Aussie Pipe going off. Dog scored the fold out front cover. Photo Bruce Channon.

Matt Clarke

Matt “Sparky”Clarke out manoeuvres a warping Shark Island wall. This is the first shot John Frank had published. This was in tandem with another shot of Steve Austin. It was published in Tracks, same day swell (winter 92 tracks issue).

 

Occy Versus Voodoo

This arvo at Vooey was massive. It looked 8 to 10 feet from shore when Occy paddled out. He made it almost out the back when the horizon went dark. Smurf had just walked all the way out along the beach from Cronulla Point with his board tucked under his arm and as we watched this humongous set caught Occy inside. My guess it had to be 12ft or more. He got pumped by the first wave which snapped his legrope. He then copped around 5 more set waves  on the head and was washed towards the bend. For a while it was pretty sketchy. His board had disappeared  and Occy was heading out to sea in the rip towards the reefs. Luckily he braved it and made a dash towards the rocky shoreline past the bend. If another set like that last one hit he would have been history as he scrambled to safety. Its the biggest waves I had ever seen at Voodoo. I didn’t get any photos of the set, only the aftermath. That’s Occy and another surfer after surviving a good old Vooey beat down…Words and photo Chris Stroh early to mid 80’s.