Surf Mats

November 1976. Long before body boards hit the scene, matt riders were already investigating the potential.   Steve Downy was a fearless matt rider,  but this shot is of Dave Shaw spinning around for a late takeoff.  Tim Vanderlaan photo.

Hang Gliders in the Dunes

July 15. 1975 Hang gliding in the Wanda Sandhills. It wasn’t long after the invention of the hang glider that all sorts of flying adventurers were launching themselves off the Wanda dunes. Most times the sand made for a soft landing, but occasionally crashes would happen. At least back then there was plenty of open space around to land.  Tim Vanderlaan Photo.

July 15. 1975 Hang gliding in the Wanda Sandhills.      An early “GI Joe” with the typical 70’s mo.    I reckon his flares may have caused a lot of wind drag.      Tim Vanderlaan Photo

Bob Colligan

Bob Colligan at Sandshoes in the mid 70’s from Surfing World Mag, photo by Steve Core

G&S Flex Tail Kneeboard 70s

August ’76

August 1976. Wanda and Midway were renown for their rip breaks back in the 70’s and 80’s. Deep gutters and sandbars produced great surf conditions and put the newly invented leg ropes to the test. The early legropes were made from rope, but later were threaded through stretchy rubber tubing. Tim Vanderlaan Photo.

 

Peter Britton

May 1979. Back when this photo was taken of Peter Britton , a core crew of kneeboards rode the island with the same fearless abandon just as the modern day bodyboards do these days. Tim Vanderlaan Photo

 

G&S 6ft 11in Gun

G&S Swallow Tail 70’s

Don Dobie Meets Bikini Girls

Local Politician Don Dobie with bikini models Tanya Sauer and her sister, photo was around 1979  by Paul Sargeant it went in newspapers around the world. Taken at Cronulla Primary School.

Dave Lonsdale

July 1979 Dave Lonsdale sliding into a sizeable Cronulla Point wave. Tim Vanderlaaan Photo