Just Cruising by Alastair Waddell

In 1976, when he first screened his movie Just Cruising – An Australian Surf MovieAlastair Waddell had been surfing around Cronulla for almost 20 years and closely involved in the local boardriding club scene. He shot the affectionate flick using a camera bought from Jack Eden and a lengthy lens that used to belong to Bob Evans, two of surfing’s big hitters of the 60s. His aim was to promote Australian surfing overseas and give Cronulla surfers a rare opportunity to shine on the big screen.  Words and photo courtesy Surf City.

Bobby Brown Contest 1970

Voodoo Chill

Back in the 70’s my mates and I discovered Voodoo after Brian Pringle took a bunch of us grommets in his car out to this mysterious left that Mr P said was a piece of cake. He ended  up having to rescue most of us. Undetermined we kept at it and as anyone knows when you surf this reef your going to get hammered at one time or another. Getting caught inside by those sneaky sets or wiping out on the triple suck. My worst wipeout or so I thought was when I was caught inside on a size able day. When the sets hit I tried to paddle for the horizon but my board stood motionless as the water drained off the reef it felt like I was going backwards as the rocks below began to stick out. As the first wave of the set jacked. My immediate thought was I’m dead. As the wave pitched I managed  to dive into the trough right under it waiting for the inevitable. Instead I popped out the back like it was a two foot shorey. Ive never felt more relieved. Still copped the rest of the set though and got washed almost to the Reefs. The photo below is typical of what I’m talking about. Unknown about to go over, good luck ….Words and  photos Chris Stroh. Image late 70’s.

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

G&S Boardshort Patch.

The G&S boardshort patch .

Peter Townend & G&S

Gordon and Smith had a huge profile in the mid seventies attracting the best local surfers and shapers plus many international stars to wave the G&S flag. The PT  the 1976 World Champ riding the fish below was one of the high profile sponsored star shapers/riders waving the G&S flag. Photos Steve Core.

 

 

Greg McMasters ’78

Greg was a lot like Gerry Lopez. He didn’t do a hell of a lot of tricks on a wave but he made it look good just pulling in and he could ride the barrel as good as anyone else at  The Point. This pic taken with my Nikonos was shot on a cloudy day as Greg lines up the next section. Photo Chris Stroh ’78.

 

Wanda “Bad Boys”

Craig “Wally” Mackay was part of a group of guys called “The Bay Boys” ( about 15 of them ), who lived in and around Kogarah Bay and surfed Wanda and Greenhills  EVERY weekend from 1974 to 78. Like most kids who were too young to drive Wally and his mates  would get to the beach anyway possible on weekend’s either by lift with a mates parents, or catch a bus to Hurstville railway station, then train to Cronulla and walk to Wanda surfboard, surf mat, and “dagbag” in hand (that’s a long walk).  Best thing about Cronulla train line from the City was if you fell asleep you’d just wake up in Cronulla . The photo taken in 1977  was of Craig ( 17 years old) standing at Greenhills with his G & S ‘tubeshooter” fish tail stinger shaped by Peter Townend. Bought new from G & S factory at Caringbah.

 

Gary Hughes

From the pages of Steve Cores “Surf Magazine” that was around in the late 70’s. Gary Hughes carving for Dave Shaw’s camera lens. Core’s mag was chock full of Cronulla based riders and waves  and it gave the Southside some much deserved recognition and a breath of fresh air rather than the usual Northside push in all the other Oz publications at the time.

 

Peter Townend

The first official World Tour Champion Peter Townend hooked up with G&S to produce his custom shapes. This advertisement mid 70’s.